Develop Bugs

USB Cable / Car Charger / Wall Charger combo

Hey guys,
Looking for a combo micro-usb wire that also comes with a dual car/wall charger. I dont care if its two pieces or three pieces, but I just care that I can keep the Captivate plugged in and not have any issues using it. The last one I bought was a Duracell three way usb combo that had a retractable wall charger on the travel charger piece, but it wasnt giving enough power to the phone, so i couldnt use it while plugged in.
I have been looking at the "Premium USB power kit" by A Days Tech on Amazon, but im worried its going to be a generic POS and not give enough juice.
Anybody know which of these works?
I guess I can also buy a high quality micro-usb wire and then a high quality USB car charger/wall plug seperately as another option. So any opinions on those are also appreciated.

jbl7979 said:
Hey guys,
Looking for a combo micro-usb wire that also comes with a dual car/wall charger. I dont care if its two pieces or three pieces, but I just care that I can keep the Captivate plugged in and not have any issues using it. The last one I bought was a Duracell three way usb combo that had a retractable wall charger on the travel charger piece, but it wasnt giving enough power to the phone, so i couldnt use it while plugged in.
I have been looking at the "Premium USB power kit" by A Days Tech on Amazon, but im worried its going to be a generic POS and not give enough juice.
Anybody know which of these works?
I guess I can also buy a high quality micro-usb wire and then a high quality USB car charger/wall plug seperately as another option. So any opinions on those are also appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a bunch of threads on charging these phones. Unless the charger or the cable has the data lines shorted, the phone will only charge at USB rate (~500mA). Even if you have a 1A car charger, the best you will get is USB speed UNLESS you connect the data lines on the cable. I have not seen a car charger that does this.
The most current the phone will draw is around ~750 mA. It will do this when it thinks it is attached to AC.

Hi,
I bought the Scosche HC12V Dual Home Charger, but I haven't received it yet, but from what little I know of the brand they supposedly make good accessories. I should receive it in a few weeks (shipping a captivate and accessories overseas).
Both outputs are rated at 1amp, the only thing is that it does not come with it's own cable.
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-HC12V...X0DER&s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1285613609&sr=1-207

I bought a car charger and separate car-to-wall converter from Monoprice. Total for both items about $5. Maybe it only charges at 500 mA but seems fine to me.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Change your charger from USB to AC

I have been on the hunt for a charger for my car and home that shows up as an AC charger so that I can get a faster charge. After a bit of tinkering I have found that all you need to do to get ANY charger to show up as a AC charger is to have 5V on the standard USB + & - leads and simply connect the two data wires together. This will tell the phone that this is an AC adaptor.
I actually bought a cheapo 1A USB car charger from DealExtreme and it was supposed to show up as an AC adaptor but it didn't. So I carefully opened it up and de-soldered the resistors that were connected to the data pins on the PCB and verified that there were no more connections going to the two data pins on the USB connector (the two middle pins) and then put a small dab of solder across them. I plugged my MonoPrice USB cable into it and went to my car. Lo and behold it shows up as an AC adaptor AND actually charges at the full 1 AMP capacity!
Just wanted to share this with you guys. If people want to send me their chargers I would be happy to mod them for you (just pay shipping). I was also thinking about picking up a bunch of the USB 1A car chargers from DealExtreme, modding them, and then re-selling them. Would anyone be interested?

houseofbugs said:
I have been on the hunt for a charger for my car and home that shows up as an AC charger so that I can get a faster charge. After a bit of tinkering I have found that all you need to do to get ANY charger to show up as a AC charger is to have 5V on the standard USB + & - leads and simply connect the two data wires together. This will tell the phone that this is an AC adaptor.
I actually bought a cheapo 1A USB car charger from DealExtreme and it was supposed to show up as an AC adaptor but it didn't. So I carefully opened it up and de-soldered the resistors that were connected to the data pins on the PCB and verified that there were no more connections going to the two data pins on the USB connector (the two middle pins) and then put a small dab of solder across them. I plugged my MonoPrice USB cable into it and went to my car. Lo and behold it shows up as an AC adaptor AND actually charges at the full 1 AMP capacity!
Just wanted to share this with you guys. If people want to send me their chargers I would be happy to mod them for you (just pay shipping). I was also thinking about picking up a bunch of the USB 1A car chargers from DealExtreme, modding them, and then re-selling them. Would anyone be interested?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the post! I just wanted to add to it a link which includes some more information about performing this "mod." I haven't done mine yet, but I intend to soon.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767961

Sb22 said:
Thanks for the post! I just wanted to add to it a link which includes some more information about performing this "mod." I haven't done mine yet, but I intend to soon.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767961
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that link! I didn't know if anyone else tried this yet. But I can verify that it works perfectly! The best part is that my car charger looks stock as I used 2-part epoxy to glue it back together.

i have said it before and i will say it agai , fast full 1amp charges a bad for your battery and do not allow proper charges this you get **** for battery life.
nice mods but not good for battery life
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

v_lestat said:
i have said it before and i will say it again , fast full 1amp charges are bad for your battery and do not allow proper charges. you get **** for battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i heard you say that before, and i thought you were full of crap. after trying it for several charge cycles, it is plain as day. your battery charge WILL last longer from a slow usb half amp charge. seriously.
sometimes, however, it isn't worth waiting for. in a "non-primary" charging location such as a car, I can see the benefit in catching a quicker "top-off" charge.

I know your post is old, but THANK YOU MAN !!, i was having trouble obtaining only 100mAh from a AA-battery portable charger, modded a cable and now it's working so fine !!

Hmm, I could probably modify one of my short USB extension cables and cut off the data pins and keep that cable somewhere for cases where i'd prefer the turbo charge... Just snap on this usb extension cable (or maybe even an adapter) and boom you're getting the 1A charge
PS: my old WinXP box actually complains and shuts off the usb port if it sucks more than usual 500 mA, you would need to solder two usb connectors in parallel to fix that

Lost charger

Hi all,
I lost my charger unfortunately.
I did search around but found amazon out of stock.
Where can I buy the charger.
Thanks.

drpratik said:
Hi all,
I lost my charger unfortunately.
I did search around but found amazon out of stock.
Where can I buy the charger.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-SPN5...SKM8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312842851&sr=8-1
http://cgi.ebay.com/Car-AC-Charger-...758129?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item588f078a71

Thanks a lot.

ANY charger that puts out 1000mA will work with it. Motorola makes "travel" wall chargers that sometimes go on sale for a buck, and have the plug folding into them so it takes less space in a bag. As long as it has a micro-USB plug or takes your USB cable, it will work, does not have to be specific for the phone.
The whole idea of microUSB chargers is part of a larger EU plan to allow for standard chargers with microUSB tips, so you can replace your cell phone but "never" have to replace the wall wart for it.
Just check the power output, most of the Motorola chargers put out 1000mA now because some phones with big batteries (like the Atrix) can use that power to charger quickly. Lower power rating, longer charge times.

You read my mind,
It was just the info I wanted to know.
Thanks.

Bear in mind though, not all micro usb chargers work on atrix. I have a few that dont work but work fine on my other stuff. Im not sure why though. I have an external battery that worked with my nexus one but not my atrix.
I voided my warranty.

Rred said:
ANY charger that puts out 1000mA will work with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one that comes with the phone in the US is 800ma actually. But as you said, 1000ma would charge it faster.

My atrix charger died so I'm currently using a blackberry charger with 750ma output. The iphone charger works too but it's a slower charge.

Whaddayaknow. The one supplied with my phone says 850mA, the one supplied with my bt earbud is 1000mA. Maybe someone at Motorola is paying attention to profits.<G>
But this is all part of why he industry is moving to standard chargers and why "all" standard chargers should work with standard phones. If a charger doesn't work with this phone, odds are it is too low power or simply a cheap piece of Chinese quality control which has one or more broken contacts in it.
I've gotten USB cables that have the same problem, charge or data not both. that isn't by design but at least one of the four wires in them was broken. Cheap cables is cheap cables--and I've seen cheap cables shipped as OEM from brand names.
Like cables from WD and possibly Moto that have the USB log on the wrong side of the plug--which means they are not entitled to use the logo at all, and the maker does not understand the USB spec.

If you live near a hotel, walk in and say that you left your phone charger in one of the rooms. They usually have boxes of forgotten chargers.

Thanks all for your help.
I started using lg micro USB charger which gives 700 ma.
Will get original one as well.
Thanks again.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Go to monoprice.com and grab a dual USB / 3 port electrical outlet for like 3 bucks. Then stock up on 6-10ft micro USB cables for a buck a piece.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

Nice idea.
Will surely check out monoprice,
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Automobile Quick Charging Solution

What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?

I have started to use 12-220 volt converter so I can use wall chargers.

I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY

ellisz said:
I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 .. this solution has been working great for me, as well.

I've been getting 2.1A car chargers (look for ones for the iPad), most of the ones I had prior to this were 700mA or so and they can't keep up with my 1A phones. Be careful of dual port chargers advertising 2A, they may only be 1A each and may be "optimistic" about that rating. And don't worry about getting one rated for too much current, the Galaxy Nexus won't pull more than an amp no matter what the charger rating.

Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.

I've never run into a car adapter that looks like a USB port, including the VZW charger with a spare port or the cheap 2.1A chargers I got from Amazon. My guess is that a charger not built correctly and leaving the data pins open only supports ~500mA anyway. Even if that's not the case I have a moral objection toward buying a cable to fix a design flaw in another cheap product - but that's just me

Grant H said:
Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a charger similar to http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-Car-...ccessories&hash=item4ab18358f4#ht_1638wt_1392
All I had to do was undo the screws at the top, put a bit of solder between the middle usb pins, and my phone recognises it as a AC source rather than USB.

There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA

Grant H said:
What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA

I've heard that Motorola one mentioned a lot as a good one.
The nice thing about having the low-profile usb plug is (a) it is low profile, (b) I can use it to charge other devices. The charge-only cable is only about $4, so I had no issues buying it to work with this to charge as an AC charge over a USB charge.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this one and it charges just like it does from the home outlet and its says "AC" charging. I bought another 8 for family and friends and they all love it.

I think I've figured out the disconnect, I've run into chargers that appear as a USB host which limits the charging to 500mA on previous phones I've had.
You guys are concerned about USB vs. AC charging mode. Of the chargers I've got, this one lists as AC while the rest as USB. However, the fact that the other chargers all work just fine keeping up with GPS+streaming music indicates that the USB vs. AC really has no bearing on the charge current delivered. I'd stay away from charge-only cables just because they'll get mixed in with your standard USB cables and you'll knock yourself out wondering why they don't work. On the other hand, if you really want AC in your battery info order the one I linked.

I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.

jdbower said:
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
makes sense.. the one I use has dual usb (1.0 and 2.1)

You went and gave me a project for the weekend, and once again science prevails over anecdotal evidence. I took each of my 5 chargers and hooked them up to a 12V power supply that measures current. I then recorded whether the charger reported AC or USB, for the ones with USB I modified a right-angle adapter to short out the data pins, and I measured the current. The contenders:
Verizon Wireless Dual Charger
XTG Dual Port Charger
Griffen Powerjolt Dual USB Charger
Griffen Portjolt Micro
CostMad Dual USB Charger
The VZW model was USB out the external port as I had tested before, however AC out the built-in cable which I hadn't bothered to test. It pulled 0.25A @12V via the USB port and 0.59A via the cable. Hmmm... A hole develops in my previous observation. While I had used this on a long car trip with no issues, it was via the built-in cable.
The XTG was new, I hadn't used it before as it's in the car I rarely drive. It reported USB and 0.22A. With the adapter to make it report AC it pulled 0.48A.
The pattern was set. I had expected the Griffen adapters to be built more appropriately but the dual charger reported 0.22A without the adapter and 0.42A with. I had used this without losing charge in the past so this was surprising to me, but it's possible I just wasn't drawing as much current because the screen was dimmer or something.
The compact Griffen adapter (which is great for a laptop bag, BTW) pulled 0.21A and 0.47A respectively.
The cheap CostMad adapter was the only one that performed well out of the box, both reporting AC and pulled 0.57A.
In theory, a perfect adapter should pull 0.42A. Anything more is waste, anything less means it's not keeping up. I have doubts about the Griffen 2x allowing for a full amp, but the VZW and CostMad chargers are pretty lossy. What's even worse is that I'm pretty sure the VZW charger is rated for 800mA (but I can't find an actual spec on it) which would mean that it pulled the most power for the least current. Not that this really matters unless you've got an electric car.
Sorry for misleading you earlier, I should have checked the other port of the known-good VZW charger and probably doublechecked the numbers on my other "known good" charger. Still hating cables that work for charging but not for data, I ended up modifying each of the chargers to short the middle pins (except for the VZW one). If I didn't have the soldering iron for this, I probably would have gone for some of these instead.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyberPunk7t9 said:
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the same one and it works perfect. Charges even when GPS navigation is running.
Make sure you select Amazon as the seller though. I heard there are a lot of fake ones.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to those recommending this one. I have this exact model and it does indeed charge at the "AC" rate, about twice as fast as the "USB" rate.

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Motorola one will charge even when using GPS. I have a friend I bought one for that uses his GPS all day and loves the Motorola charger.

Car Charger - Slow Charging

Hello,
I'm trying to find a car charger that will work right with my One. So far I've tried two different 2-USB port car chargers and both 2.1A chargers and I've gotten an error of "Slow Charging" on my one. I've tried various chargers I had from before when I had an iPhone and they are giving me the same warning. Is there a charger that is known to work well with the One?
Thanks,
Tim

Try using a different USB cable as some of them have different pin configurations. I am using http://www.amazon.com/Anker%C2%AE-Output-Simul-Port-Charger-Built-/dp/B0080AWCTY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1373316550&sr=8-4&keywords=anker+car+charger this Anker car charger and I have never got any messages. Although every charger does charge the One slowly. If you leave the screen on and use the phone (like ingress or navigation) the phone looses charge while charging.

Hi, i'm using this one for myself
Two USB ports and charges pretty fast
Also works at home
http://www.amazon.com/Sprint-Vehicle-Battery-Charger-Travel/dp/B0050FDFQQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_cps_1

I just went through this as well and have solved it by buying the HTC vehicle charger. You can check your phone charging in the car by going into "Settings" and then to "Power". When the phone is plugged in it will indicate charging either by USB (slow) or AC which is faster.
I have several car chargers including 2.1 amp models and every single one would only go to USB charging mode. Another quick way to tell if you're in USB charge mode is that the screen will turn on when you plug in the charge cable. In AC charge mode the screen stays blank when you plug in.
I picked up the HTC single port USB charger online at Amazon for around $10 bucks. Plugged it in with my existing USB cable and boom, AC mode. Model of the charger I believe is C200 (pn 25531) and it comes with a coiled charger cord as well. They also have a dual port charger which is the C300 but I haven't tested that one.
I also feel a little more comfortable using the HTC charger as I know it's tested and sanctioned by HTC. Not that I haven't used a lot of really good in-car USB chargers by other manufacturers but in this case, the HTC charger is doing the job and was inexpensive. Cheers!

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. I like having two USB ports, but it's pretty rare I charge both my Blackberry and One at the same time so I'll probably just get the single port. I see it on Amazon for less than $6, whereas the dual port is $25!

linedpaper said:
Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. I like having two USB ports, but it's pretty rare I charge both my Blackberry and One at the same time so I'll probably just get the single port. I see it on Amazon for less than $6, whereas the dual port is $25!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using that one and i charge my one and an iphone without any issues

darkriff said:
I'm using that one and i charge my one and an iphone without any issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're using the two port one? I just didn't want to pay so much extra to have a two port charger when I can get the one port for so cheap. Also, I did just discover that while running ARHD GE I don't get the error, so it seems to only be the Sense related error, but either way I ordered the HTC charger from Amazon, thanks!

joudbren said:
I just went through this as well and have solved it by buying the HTC vehicle charger. You can check your phone charging in the car by going into "Settings" and then to "Power". When the phone is plugged in it will indicate charging either by USB (slow) or AC which is faster.
I have several car chargers including 2.1 amp models and every single one would only go to USB charging mode. Another quick way to tell if you're in USB charge mode is that the screen will turn on when you plug in the charge cable. In AC charge mode the screen stays blank when you plug in.
I picked up the HTC single port USB charger online at Amazon for around $10 bucks. Plugged it in with my existing USB cable and boom, AC mode. Model of the charger I believe is C200 (pn 25531) and it comes with a coiled charger cord as well. They also have a dual port charger which is the C300 but I haven't tested that one.
I also feel a little more comfortable using the HTC charger as I know it's tested and sanctioned by HTC. Not that I haven't used a lot of really good in-car USB chargers by other manufacturers but in this case, the HTC charger is doing the job and was inexpensive. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official htc one car charger in the htc website is only one works for me. 24.00but worth it.
Sent from my HTC One

these duel USb chargers from just wireless charge 1A per port in AC mode ... can pick them up at walmart or target
http://www.target.com/p/just-wirele...sku=14365620&gclid=CNq_yZzcrbgCFZBAMgodwnkAvw

I use Avantek. This little guy did an excellent job. With its combination of power ports and USB plugs it works perfectly for everything from iPads to radar detector. Charges my phone as fast as my home charger and always gives full charge to my One when I'm using the navigation app. FYI I found it on Amazon.

I buy from Amazon

Only have had my phone for 3 months but I have only used the HTC charger and cable one time. The charger got extremely hot when I charged my phone, since that first time I have used a samsung galaxy tab charger and samsung galaxy tab 6' usb cable. I have a 2.1 amp dual charger from pepboys in my truck. Phone charges quickly and does not overheat or any of the other issues i've heard of on here. I just chalk it up as samsung having good chargers and usb cables.

See my post regarding fast charging for specifics on the electrical damage in a car and the value of having a good charger:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=55802702
Is a fast USB car charger harmful?
On that note. Monoprice.com offers great chargers at a great price. Guaranteed to charge at stock speeds. Great internal parts and quality control at near eBay pricing. I've bought many many of their products over the years and never has it once failed in me.
Alternatively, and unpractically, buy stock chargers.
Sent from my One

The best car charger that I've found is from TechMatte. They have a black one and a white one, and I use the black one. It charges pretty quickly, and was only $8 to purchase, which was not bad at all for a high quality charger.