DH got me one for Christmas and I tried it out on our drive today. I didn't have the battery in it, since I hadn't had a chance to charge it yet, but I hooked up the cigarette lighter plug. The DVD player would only work when just the battery or engine was running, not when it was in the position you'd put it in to drive the car. I don't think I'm explaining this very well, but hopefully you know what I mean.
Is this normal? Just wondering if something is wrong with mine or if that's the way it works. It doesn't make sense to me that you'd have to turn it on before you got moving. What if you had it off and the kids got restless in the backseat while you were driving and you wanted to turn it on. You'd have to stop and turn off the car in order to turn the DVD player on. Very confusing....
Yes, if your battery to the DVD player is not charged, then when the car is off, keys out, no power to the car), the DVD player will not work -It's not because of your DVD player, but because of your car. Some cars will be able to run accessories while not running, but most cars have battery protectors, which this is. (Can you imagine stopping for 2-3 hours on a trip, Little Johnnie had forgotten to turn off the DVD player and you forgot to check and now the battery is dead?) It should be able to run if the keys are in the car, and turned enough to turn on the radio and fan. If your car's cigarette light can heat up when the car is turned on in this way (battery is on, but engine is not), then your DVD player should be able to play. if your Cigarette lighter only works when the engine is actually running, then you know the answer to the power to the dvd player.
Now once your DVD battery is charged, it will automatically you switch to battery power while th car is off and it will charge back up when the car is turned back on.
Melissa
It sounds like you're saying it only works in Park, not in Drive? That could be a safety feature, making sure drivers are not watching while trying to drive. The old ones wouldn't have that, and not saying your does, but it could. There should be an 800 number to check this out. Also, one of our cars gets more power through the cig lighter while in park, but cannot power heavier charge appliances while driving. The other can handle it either way. Could be the vehicle wiring, if it's not the player itself. I believe most can be hardwired to vehicles, so there are a few things to check out.
It sounds like you're saying it only works in Park, not in Drive? That could be a safety feature, making sure drivers are not watching while trying to drive. The old ones wouldn't have that, and not saying your does, but it could. There should be an 800 number to check this out. Also, one of our cars gets more power through the cig lighter while in park, but cannot power heavier charge appliances while driving. The other can handle it either way. Could be the vehicle wiring, if it's not the player itself. I believe most can be hardwired to vehicles, so there are a few things to check out.
Doy, shouldn't have responded when I was too tired to understand the message. No... it doesn't make sense that it won't turn on while the car is in drive.
before blaming the DVD player, check your car's cigarette lighter. See if it will run/work when you put the car in drive. If it doesn't work then, then it's your car. Could be a safety thing, but that doesn't make too much sense... it would probably be a wiring thing. I know our car had a wiring issue once (and it's an expensive fix). The brake lights worked the headlights weren't on, but didn't work if the headlights were one... how safe is that? So, it's possible for some wires to have melted together or something that is causing this. doesn't sound like it's an issue with the dvd player as you did say it came on and worked.
Also, you might want to check if your backseat has a lighter. Ours has one at the base of the middle console for backseat use. (Actually, it's not a lighter at all, just a plug for use with appliances and our car isn't fancy or new, but 6 years old, so yours quite possibly has this feature too. Check that out too then to see when/how it works. Of course, do all this checking without the battery on the dvd player to be sure of what you are checking/finding out.
Melissa
Call the company.
We have a 2 screen unit that doesn't have a battery at all, it has to be plugged in to use and we take different vehicles all the time and have never had a problem (my husband works at a Chevy dealer and they let him borrow stuff or send him on dealer trades).
Yes, the DVD player only works while in park (or at least when the key isn't turned all the way, like it would have to be if you were driving).
Our cigarette lighter definitely works while in drive...we use it all the time to charge our cell phones while we're in the car.
I'm going to try some different things today, but if I can't get it to work I'm going to do something. I don't know if it's just a defective one or if they're all like that...
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