9500i - "Powering down, Please unplug.

**srhawkins** · 03-19-2008, 09:18 PM

When I have what must be a heavy load on my electrical system in the car. I'll step on the brakes and I get the "powing down, please unplug" voice. I had a V1, X50 and V995 in the same car with no problem. Anybody else have this happen?

**djrams80** · 03-19-2008, 09:21 PM

I had that happen on my 9500i as my alternator was dying.

**CJR238** · 03-20-2008, 09:32 AM

There was a guy here that had the same thing and his 9500I was stolen the next day. :cry:
Its a safety mechanism in the 9500I, it has to do with power supply problems. Check your battery and alternator.

**Esoterica** · 03-20-2008, 12:05 PM

It sounds like your alternator or voltage regulator on your car is possibly going out on you (all we can do is guess). With a volt meter across your positive and negative battery terminals while the vehicle is running you should see on average about 14.4 volts DC, then with the vehicle off your battery should be showing about 12 volts DC.

You can take your vehicle into just about any major auto parts store and they will quickly in the parking lot be able to test your vehicles electrical system for free. Some may want to charge for this, some may tell you to pull the alternator and battery to take it into the bench to test, find one that will just do it right in the parking lot for you for free, most these days are capable of doing this and hopefully the guy doing it knows how to do it properly.

Most voltage regulators these days are considered part of the alternator itself and no longer considered a separate replaceable item. This is not the type of problem you want to put off having looked into, it can leave you stranded on the side of the road as well as potentially cause other damage to your vehicles electronics. Getting it taken care of now will be significantly cheaper than putting it off till it goes completely on you. The towing charges alone would be more than the repair.

**TSi+WRX** · 03-26-2008, 10:03 AM

Start with the easy stuff.

First make sure that your wiring is sound.

If you're hardwired, make sure your taps are secure, and that violent (or even routine) vehicle actions will not cause momentary loss-of-contact.

If you use the 12V plug, be sure that its contacts are clean (as well as the inside of your receptacle, which can easily get gunked up over years of on-road use or storage - yes, even when it is, itself, covered), and that its own leads, from the backside, aren't in need of repair (many older vehicles often have this problem). Also, make sure that the plug makes good contact with the receptacle walls, different vehicles may present different situations, which may cause trouble in this regard.

Finally, switch on the voltage function on the pilot display (option "Pilot V"). This provides "instantaneous" readout of the voltage that the detector is seeing (note that this may not be actual voltage provided by your vehicle's electronic supply, since a defect in either the hardwiring or the plug [including the SmartCord itself] or the receptacle can cause the voltage seen in this area to be "false low"). Typically, the 9500i will prompt for such "power downs" when it sees insufficient operating voltage, and this is a good way to get a heads-up (if you see voltage dipping below 11.0V, you can be pretty sure that you're about to "lose" the detector).

Again, don't just assume that your vehicle's charging/electrical system is at-fault, right away.

Work the problem, start with the most common possibilities and the easiest troubleshooting, first.

**srhawkins** · 04-07-2008, 09:49 PM

This seems to be releated to the thin telephone cord I used to go around the A-pillar. The other day it was warm here and the AC and fan came on. I couldn't keep the 9500i on. I swapped out the cord with the coiled cord and all was fine. Since I have used this same setup with a V1 and 8500, I can only assume the 9500 draws more current and the thin cord causes more of a voltage drop that the 9500 doesn't like.

**TSi+WRX** · 04-08-2008, 07:08 PM

^ Although my setup is not totally dissimilar from yours, I have, indeed, noticed the voltage requirement issue between my old Rev5 x50 and this new 9500i.

CJR/MEM-TEK, any known technical reasons lurking in the background, that you guys know of?

**CJR238** · 04-08-2008, 07:22 PM

The 9500I has stricter power requirements for GPS and other things so any weak link in the wiring will cause the "powing down, please unplug" message or "Reset Power". This feature/message was added specifically to the 9500I as a safety tool or notification to power down and clear the error. I don't believe the X50 has this safety feature so you would never see it.