RX-65 spontaneous power-off?

[parasonic]

Hello all,

I was on the Interstate today, and my RX-65 just went blank. The screen "disappeared." I actually had the cigarette lighter plug plugged in, and the light was green on it. Hitting the button on the left, which I believe is the power (CORRECT?), did nothing. I unplugged it and plugged it back in (Edit-->) and it started up as usual. Strange.

Had I had the thing hardwired as it usually is, I would have plugged in my Stalker ATR Ka gun which was in the passenger seat in order to get an alert.

Any ideas?

[vonivogtp]

i would check the fuse to start.

[parasonic]

i would check the fuse to start.

Once a fuse blows, it's blown, chief.

EDIT: I mis-posted! Nothing happened, as in, the detector starts as usual.

[TSi+WRX]

^ Unless the fuse end-contacts (outside) are somehow dirty....unlikely, but it's still possible.

---

I'd also check, parasonic, your vehicle's lighter socket, especially if you have an older vehicle.

The recess itself is a great magnet for dirt, grime, and even enough dust accumulation, combined with the condensation cycles that occurs in a machine that operates outdoors year-round, such as any roadgoing car, can easily cause the crucial contact areas to be corrupted.

And this is not even considering if road-vibrations and/or other causes of corrosion, over the years, may have loosened or corrupted contacts BEHIND the socket, which can cause troubles.

On one of my older DSMs, I elected to simply hardwire, as the socket was so ill taken care of by its previous owner so as to render it inoperable.

Best of luck!

[parasonic]

The light on the plug was still a solid green. I'm sure that there's nothing wrong with the socket and wires as I just rewired them last week. Everything's been steady connection-wise, i.e. no noisy power from the connections.

[GTO_04]

A noisy electrical system can cause that. I had a BEL 645 STi in my '96 Grand Prix that would do that. If I had the 645 already turned on, then started my car, it would sometimes power down by itself, leaving me without protection. Turning it on after the car was started took care of the problem.

Because of various issues with the BEL, including poor K band reception and excessive Ka band falsing, I switched to the V1. After a few months, it started acting strange, but was fine if used in other cars. It would power down, then power up and go through the test sequence. Then the A/C on the car quit working. Then the transmission (which was electronically controlled) malfunctioned. Turned out that I had alternator problems.

If your RX 65 works OK in other cars, you may have a problem in your electrical system.

GTO_04

[proudNMAmember]

It may be in your power cord. I have had at least 4 p/cd's go bad. I just sent 3 of them back to Beltronics.