by upss » Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:01 pm
Chas, good advice, unfortunately this is not a new problem.
The problem stems from the quality of the car adapter (charger) and the GPS unit. What is actually happening is that the charger fails (ignition surge is only one reason that it could fail) and then it supplies the full car battery voltage (12V), instead of the typical regulated 5V output. If the GPS is of a better quality (such as Mio 520/320) they have right at the power input connection a Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS) which will clamp the input voltage to just above 5V. Typically, this TVS will protect the GPS if the energy is limited by a proper fuse. If the charger is not fused properly and the charger fails, the energy supplied is way too high, the TVS will short out but will still protect the rest of the GPS. In that case, replacing the blown charger and the TVS will revive the GPS.