I think you guys should have slammed the woman who was using her SUV to charge her cell phone a lot more. I’m no “tree hugger” but that is just plain stupid! She is the same type that will be drinking her decaf-double latte while adjusting her lipstick while driving her kids to soccer practice(which is within walking/biking distance), who are ignoring her mindless comments on their behavour while destroying their brains with some tech device.
Yea, I have an ax to grind! Love your show.
My cig. lighter charger for my cell phone doesnt charge my phone as fully as does the wall unit (the parasitic beast it is)
I did not hear the show, but I think you are over reacting. There is nothing wrong with charging the phone in the car. You are driving the car, the phone only takes a few milli amps to charge, and it just sits there quietly while charging. Talking on it and driving is another thing.
I charge mine that way all the time. It’s convenient. Phone is now 2 years old and no problem at all.
It sounds like you need to grind on that ax some so at least you’ll have something sharper than a butter knife.
Skipper
I also don’t understand, does the OP think they were running the engine just to charge the phone?
That’s the way I understood it. Maybe he thinks it’s like one of those flashlights you shake for 3 minutes and it shines for 20 seconds.
Skipper
Hey, guess what? The cell phone draws very little juice while charging. And guess what else? The alternator will recharge the vehicle’s battery starting as soon as you start the engine. So what’s the problem there? ?? The alternator will turn. The vehicle’s battery will be recharged. What? A couple of extra milliamps put out by the alternator is going to cause—what? Those chargers work right off of the vehicle battery, usually a cigar/cigarette lighter female socket, running engine or not. The only thing that would pi$$ me off is if he/she was using the phone while the vehicle was in motion with him/her driving. The lipstick application while sipping on a mug or cup while checking the back seat to see if the kid(s) are still properly secured and then using the rear-view mirror to check the make-up while combing/brushing out the hair-do always ticks me off, but you can’t legislate common sense. You can’t fix stupid. Stupid is as stupid does. Here’s your sign! But using the car’s electrical system to recharge a cell phone? Come on. Gimme a break.
I did not hear the show, but I did see the text version this item in today’s (June 8) Sunday paper. The car, a small SUV, was left running in front of a house for a LONG time. The questioner knocked on the door of the house to alert the owner that the car was running. The owner replied that she was running the car to cahrge her cell phone.
Tom and Ray did explain the foolishness of this method.
That is very silly, but the person paying for the fuel can turn their SUV into the world’s most expensive cell phone charger if that’s their choice. I can also go ride my motorcycle around for four hours for no good reason, or someone can burn through several 100 gallons of fuel to take their boat out for the weekend. It’s probably no worse than me leaving my car running in a hotel parking lot on a cold morning while I have breakfast (along with many others if you happen to be in a hotel in green bay in the winter). How about everyone jumping on a cruise ship for a weekend “cruise to nowhere”? If fuel ever gets expensive in the US, we will see less waste.