Alternator Whine w/Cig Ipod Charger

[theKnifeArtist]

i get an alternator whine in my speakers when i have my ipod charger plugged in. what i could just do is get a spare cig lighter and run it directly from the battery to the cockpit, bypassing all the RFI and use that...but i want to find a way to fix this. why you ask?
i found this ipod dock i want to invest in sometime in the near future. it is a little pricey, but its exactly what i was lookin for. this would position my ipod in the exact place i want it, and it has a line in port that i would run my auxilary cable to..PERFECT! clean and neat, beautiful.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod/review/ten-technology-flexibledock-adjustable-car-dock-and-charger-for-ipod-ipod/

so, how do i get rid of this alternator whine?

[mattjk]

power filter, or run an extra ground to the input jack.

[theKnifeArtist]

input jack, input jack..brain fart. elaborate please.

[mattjk]

you have a ground loop. take a wire, ground it, and touch it to the input jack, see if the whine goes away. or any exposed metal part of the ipod or adapter.

[theKnifeArtist]

how would i ground a part of the iput jack and have it plugged in at the same time

[Fletch124]

Got the same thing heading to Vegas with my cousin for SEMA. We had a notebook charger, radar detector, and phone charger plugged in.

[Quin]

I think he meant a different wire

[mattjk]

yes, separate/new ground wire.

[theKnifeArtist]

man, i am confused. someone smack me.
a seperate wire going from ground to what?

[mattjk]

you should not attempt anymore electrical things in your car.

[theKnifeArtist]

hey hey lets not be haste, for i am just a little confused on this one. a little more explanation would be smashing, please?:icon_razz

you mean reroute the cig lighter ground to another ground?

or do you mean run another ground from the headunit aux ground?

[suprahooked]

hey hey lets not be haste, for i am just a little confused on this one. a little more explanation would be smashing, please?:icon_razz

you mean reroute the cig lighter ground to another ground?

or do you mean run another ground from the headunit aux ground?

He means run a second ground from your cig lighter.

[CRE]

What he means is that the ipod and the car do not share a coupled ground.

Try connecting a thin wire to a good ground point on the chassis.
Now plug headphone jack into the ipod, now most headphone jacks will still have a small ring of exposed metal before the rubber body that tapers into the cord, wrap the ground wire around that and see if that gets rid of the whine.
If not try holding the ground wire to another piece of exposed metal on the ipod, such as a screw.