At 08:36 AM 5/21/2010, Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\" wrote: >... I noticed that the dash and headlights were brightening and >dimming, just perceptively, and very regularly, with a period of >slightly over a second > >... can anyone tell me if this sounds like an alternator voltage >regulator thing? It does not vary with engine rpm. I'm curious, too, because I've got some noise in the audio system that cycles at roughly that rate. I don't yet know what it is. I haven't tested whether it varies with engine RPM. When I connect my Droid to the aftermarket stereo in my '84 Westy, the audio sounds great. Until I plug in the charger cable to the Droid. The charger cable is powered by a little Griffin USB car charger, which I love, by the way: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001Q2FM5E/sbw/ When I plug in the charger cable, I can hear a hissing, buzzing noise in the speakers, constant but pulsing in volume once per second or so. It's inaudible except at high volume settings (on the stereo) during silence from the Droid. A classic ground loop, right? The cigarette lighter plug isn't grounded in the same place as the stereo, so weirdness ensues when I run that potential through the Droid's power jack to the Droid's audio jack and back to the stereo. No surprise there. But why does the noise cycle like that? I thought maybe the ECU has a sampling rate in its circuitry, or something. |
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