Qi Charging Pad

Hope someone knows this. My new Taco has the Qi charging plate built in to the console. Even when turned off, is there any current going to it? Is it safe to put a phone or other electronic device on it? I ask, due to my good ole' iPod Classic died on it last weekend. 1st road trip in my new truck, it worked fine for the main drive, connected to the USB port. I still use iPod as a mass storage device, 100+ albums from CD, in WAV file format, can't beat it. Anyway, after making my first stop, when I got back in the truck and started it, I get an "iPod Authentication" error on the screen, iPod was dead. Anyone else experience similar?

 

I don't have a charging case for my iPhone yet but I put the phone in that cubby. It's plugged into the cord and I have had the charger on and off. Hasn't hurt it so far. Only about 350 miles of driving though.

 

Thanks! I think my iPod's death was probably age, it was 6 years old. A friend has already asked it it's safe to put a phone there, guess it is!

 

tl;dr version - your ipod died a normal death from old age and it's perfectly safe to put whatever in there you want to.

As far as I know there's no current to the Qi pad if you don't have it turned on. If you do have it turned on, it should only start inductive charging if a Qi compatible receiver is on the pad. A key part of the spec is that charger determines if there's a receiver sitting on it before it ramps up the charging power, and then switches into standby mode once charging is complete. In my Tacoma, it lights up an orange light at the left corner of the cubby when it senses a Qi receiver and starts charging.

See http://www.qinside.biz/en/support/how-does-wireless-charging-work

 

So if the WAV format files are on a iPod the system will read the files?
I tried using a USB flash card loaded with WAV files but it would not work

 

Yes! I've used an iPod with CD's imported as WAV files for years, with 2 Volvos, a BMW and 2 Audis. Never had an issue. While I am using an iPod, I recall seeing a list of compatible file formats in the owners manual and WAV was on it.