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Anybody come across a car charger that is high current like the HTC wall charger?
Most car chargers are classified as "rapid".
Anything designed to charge an iPad (2.1A versus the typical 1A) will give you plenty of juice. I use the Scosche reVIVE II with Pandora, Bluetooth, and GPS Navigation all on and still have enough power to positively charge my battery.
Fair warning, though, this will cause the phone to get real hot (I've had the overheating warning lights flash twice so far), so make sure you have plenty of ventilation around the phone, keep it out of the sun, etc etc.
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
If it has a replaceable cable, it must be the heaviest gauge, shortest cable, that you can use. I have seen long cheap thin cables that drop over a volt, and the Thunderbolt charges really slowly.
The charger or cable have to state that they for rapid charging. To rapid charge, you need to have the USB D- and D+ lines shorted. If that are not shorted, the Thunderbolt limits the charge current to around 0.35 amps. thinking it is connected to a PC. If they are shorted, letting the Thunderbolt know it can be rapid charged, you get up there around 0.85. You can easily modify the charger for high rate if it is good for at least an amp.
And in the end is heat. Heat and lots of it. It will damage the battery. So put it out of the sun and in cool air like near a vent.
Motorola Rapid Charger on Amazon is the best. I bought two.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...Q9CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309959388&sr=8-1
Review off Amazon
Genuine Motorola charger in retail packaging. 4.75-5.25V 950mA output, works w/ most micro-USB phones like Incredible, etc., June 11, 2010
By
David Pearlman "sound fanatic" (Arlington, MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
There are so many sketchy sellers selling phone chargers out there, that it can be a bit scary. The problem is that if the charger is poorly made, the output of the charger can be out of spec and can, in some cases, fry the phone you connect to it.
For that reason, when it comes to phone chargers, you should stick to name brands. (They are all made in China, but the name brand ones are usually subject to stricter QA).
When I found this charger on Amazon, SOLD BY AMAZON, I jumped on it. It's a MICRO USB car charger, made for Motorola and sold under the Motorola name, in retail packaging. The rated output is 4.75-5.25V and 950mA.
This charger should work fine with most any phone that uses the MICRO USB connector. The key number to pay attention to is the second one, the rated amperage. This is the MAXIMUM amount of current that the phone can request from the charger. A typical USB port on a PC provides as little as 100mA, and few provide more than 500mA. So this charger should charge your phone faster than when it's connected to a PC. A few phones out now can use up to 1000mA. But that just means they CAN use that amount. If 950mA is provided, they'll still charge, just a bit more slowly.
Note that the amperage (second number) merely tells you how much the charger CAN supply, if requested. The phone itself is responsible for asking for the current. That is to say, if this charger can provide 950mA, but your phone can only use 300mA--no problem. Your phone asks for 300mA and the charger provides all of what is requested. If, on the other hand, your phone can use 1000mA, this charger will provide all it can, which is 950mA--a wee bit less than the max asked for. That's also not a problem; it just means your phone will charge a little bit (not much in this case) more slowly. The rated voltage for this charger is presented in a range of 4.75-5.25V. The "ideal" voltage for a USB charger of any type if 5V. And most chargers for home use are rated right at 5V. But car chargers work in a noisier environment and thus you have the range. This is where a cheapo charger can really do damage, as some of them are poorly regulated and can provide voltages that are WAY out of spec. Again, when you can get a name brand charger from a seller you can trust (Amazon) for such a reasonable price, it's very foolish to consider the cheapo no-names.
This is an excellent quality name brand travel micro USB charger at a price that beats the no-name junk from third party sellers. What's not to like?
BE SURE TO ORDER IT FROM AMAZON AND NOT ONE OF THE THIRD PARTY SELLERS, as some of those have been known to make mistakes with respect to what they ship relative to the listing. I can confirm that Amazon is shipping the P513 /89143N charger, as pictured.
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ddgarcia05 said:
Motorola Rapid Charger on Amazon is the best. I bought two.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...Q9CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309959388&sr=8-1
Review off Amazon
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I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
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From what I've read in the past here on XDA and on the reviews for the charger (on amazon) you shouldn't have a problem. The second review for the charger on amazon states that the reviewer was looking for a charger which actually charged his phone will using GPS and that he found it. It's a very well built charger and cheap. It's made my Motorola and sold by Amazon so buy with confidence.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
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Click to collapse
It does indeed charge. I've had it since my original Droid and was concerned when I updated to the TB but it will charge the TB no matter what you're doing (I've had Nav running while on a phone call with BT and searching the internet and it still showed it was charging). Just be prepared for your phone to get HOT!! Great charger.
worwig said:
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
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Actually, the phone will pull more than 850 mA. You're probably basing that on using a battery monitor, which only shows the flow of current into/out of the battery. I've seen 800 mA into the battery at the same time I have display, GPS and a phone call going, which is definitely more than an additional 50 mA. It wouldn't surprise me if the phone can take advantage of something more than 1A, since I see a battery drain of more than 200 mA with all of that going when not on the charger.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
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Click to collapse
I have that Motorola charger and am a heavy GPS user. It charges the battery as if it were plugged into the wall. You'll be very satisfied.
mike.s said:
Actually, the phone will pull more than 850 mA. You're probably basing that on using a battery monitor, which only shows the flow of current into/out of the battery. I've seen 800 mA into the battery at the same time I have display, GPS and a phone call going, which is definitely more than an additional 50 mA. It wouldn't surprise me if the phone can take advantage of something more than 1A, since I see a battery drain of more than 200 mA with all of that going when not on the charger.
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No, that was measured at the 5 volt power supply, based upon a lab power supply. I did a lot of experimenting when I developed the charger and phone mount for my motorcycle. And to get the 850ma from the power supply, I used a very short, maybe 8 inch, USB cable, and a charge voltage close to 5.3 volts. With 5 volts at the power supply, it would only pull about 650ma from the power supply. That was due to the voltage drop in the USB cable. With the 5.3 volts at the power supply, I was getting close to an actual 5 volts at the Thunderbolt. I never measured the current at the battery, but I could see it being a bit more then the 850ma in, if there were a switch mode supply in there.
Though I like the Battery Monitor widget as a rough guide, I never tested to see if the battery current and the battery monitor are accurate.
Does anyone know if the included HTC ac adapter and cable will charge faster than using your pc with the included USB cable?
happimeal said:
Does anyone know if the included HTC ac adapter and cable will charge faster than using your pc with the included USB cable?
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Absolutely.
A PC USB port is limited to under 500ma. The Thunderbolt appears to to limit PC USB draw to about 350ma. I haven't measured the actual current in the HTC charger, but it is a high current charger, and charges my Thunderbolt very quickly. Battery Monitor widget shows high battery charge rates. I suspect it is getting near the max rate up near 1 amp.
worwig said:
Absolutely.
A PC USB port is limited to under 500ma. The Thunderbolt appears to to limit PC USB draw to about 350ma. I haven't measured the actual current in the HTC charger, but it is a high current charger, and charges my Thunderbolt very quickly. Battery Monitor widget shows high battery charge rates. I suspect it is getting near the max rate up near 1 amp.
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HTC charger states 5V/1A on the charger itself.
You can use the Palm car charger for $3.75+tax, free shipping. it is 5V/1A, same rating as the HTC wall charger.
Go here for 25% off
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...otion/accessories.jsp?source=EC0A0011600jtl10
Add product here, must add to cart to see 25% discount.
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...027&q_sku=sku4720234&q_manufacturer=&q_model=
Also, if so inclined, you can lop the top off of the charger so that you can use any usb cable (ipod, iphone, anything)
dpham00 said:
HTC charger states 5V/1A on the charger itself.
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That doesn't mean much. That is the MAX the charger can output. The amount that the Thunderbolt will pull varies. If it thinks it is plugged into a USB, it will be less then 500ma. even if the charger is capable of 10 amps.
worwig said:
That doesn't mean much. That is the MAX the charger can output. The amount that the Thunderbolt will pull varies. If it thinks it is plugged into a USB, it will be less then 500ma. even if the charger is capable of 10 amps.
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i have used the Palm car charger, checking with bmw, it shows around 850ma, same as on my htc charger.
worwig said:
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
If it has a replaceable cable, it must be the heaviest gauge, shortest cable, that you can use. I have seen long cheap thin cables that drop over a volt, and the Thunderbolt charges really slowly.
The charger or cable have to state that they for rapid charging. To rapid charge, you need to have the USB D- and D+ lines shorted. If that are not shorted, the Thunderbolt limits the charge current to around 0.35 amps. thinking it is connected to a PC. If they are shorted, letting the Thunderbolt know it can be rapid charged, you get up there around 0.85. You can easily modify the charger for high rate if it is good for at least an amp.
And in the end is heat. Heat and lots of it. It will damage the battery. So put it out of the sun and in cool air like near a vent.
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Click to collapse
um, i am aware that any charger that will do 1A will do. that was my question, what car charger will do 1A. Alot of times, they dont have that info listed on pages that are selling them.
and the whole thing about the D- and D+ shorted together, i do not believe. the HTC cable that came with the phone does rapid charging and i use it for data all the time too. if they D- and D+ was shorted, i would not be able to use it for data transfer. not unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
leoingle said:
unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
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Bingo!!
leoingle said:
um, i am aware that any charger that will do 1A will do. that was my question, what car charger will do 1A. Alot of times, they dont have that info listed on pages that are selling them.
and the whole thing about the D- and D+ shorted together, i do not believe. the HTC cable that came with the phone does rapid charging and i use it for data all the time too. if they D- and D+ was shorted, i would not be able to use it for data transfer. not unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
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Yes, it is hard to find the current info online or even on the package sometimes.
Yes, it is shorted in the charger. I have seen it done in the cable and the cable can't be used for data of course. Not sure why anyone would do that, but they do.
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
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Maybe you should try this one.
Install the battery monitor widget. Monitor the battery for about 20 minutes while charging. Tell us what the charge current is.
Does the Motorola charger include a cable? If not, you may just have a weak cable. I have seen cheap cables with wire so thin that the charging current is no better then charging off a weak USB port.
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
loonatik78 said:
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
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No need for that.
Cut a small piece of aluminum foil. Carefully place it where it shorts the two center conductors in the charger. Plug the USB cable into the charger. Make sure the foil stays in place over the two center conductors.
It is now a high rate charger. (assuming it can put out 1 amp.)
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
squeakyl said:
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
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The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
doodlebro said:
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
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To meet the USB charging spec (which the TB uses), the two inner (data) contacts should be shorted with no more that 200 ohms.
But, the cable can also be an issue for rapid charging. The voltage drop for a 1A/5V source, across only .5 M of 28 gauge copper is ~220 mV. If you use a longer cable, there's more voltage drop. The TB likely current limits itself when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. Best to buy 24 gauge USB cables, if you can, especially if getting longer ones (monoprice has them).
voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
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Click to collapse
I think its a matter of rated output current. BUT on the other side, the phone must be capable of drawing/using that much current. If the adapter is rated for more current than the phone can charge, the "extra" current wont be supplied.
Initially, Moto's standard car chargers output 5V and up to 550ma max (just like a standard PC USB port) so they didn't charge phones all that fast. Moto then came out with chargers that had higher current output, so they were capable of charging the phones "faster" than the original car chargers (but on par with the home/travel/AC chargers) and called them "rapid car chargers"..
Today, the current output on the Moto SPN5400A car charger is 0-950mA, and I've seen it sometimes referred to as "Rapid Car charger."
But as far as I know, Moto no longer makes/sells the lower current car chargers, and their web site only shows one MicroUSB and one MiniUSB car charger for sale, both of which appear to be of the 0-950mA output variety.
voxigenboy said:
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
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Click to collapse
Just because someone makes such a charger for the iPhone, doesn't mean one must exist for the TB, or other phones, does it? I know the iPad uses a 2A charger. What happens if you connect an iPhone to that? will it charge faster? I guess that depends on if the iPhone is capable of drawing more than 1A to charge it.
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
And btw, the Moto SPN5400A car charger DOES charge my TB in about the same amount of time that it takes me to charge my TB at home with the stock HTC charger. So while its not "rapid" compared to the stock home/travel/AC charger, its "rapid" compared to PC USB Port charging, or a plain lower current car charger.
KidJoe said:
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
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I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Also, even with about 850ma in, not much over 500ma is getting to the battery. So a totally dead battery is still going to take between 2 and 3 hours to charge, no matter what charger you have. And twice that long if the charger looks like a PC USB port.
worwig said:
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
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I was asking because of the OP's statement about knowing "they must exist" because they are out there for the iPhone.
I'm perfectly happy with my Moto car charger, and how fast it charges my phones.
I see that the wall charger for the Galaxy Nexus outputs 5V and 1A. Unfortunately, none of the extra chargers I'd like to use as additional chargers have this output. Some of them are 5.1V, and some of them all put out under 1A.
From what I understand, using a charger w/ a higher voltage could potentially damage the phone. I know that this unlikely considering it's only an extra .1V in my case, but I don't want to risk it.
As for the amps, I believe that using lower amps isn't dangerous, but may result in charging taking longer than normal.
Are these two assumptions correct? Also, does anyone know of any cheap chargers that put out 5V/1A? If you put in "phone charger" in Amazon, the second hit is a Samsung OEM charger that puts out 5V/0.7A, but I'd rather get one that is going to be an exact match.
700-800mah are fine and acceptable for charging. But if wanting to play games on a charger and still get some kind of charge, go with a 1000 mah charger. 1000 mah charger is also best to use while using mhl so you can hopefully not lose battery charge while streaming video over hdmi.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
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http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Micro-Travel-Charger-M540/dp/B002HJBM04
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Travel-Charger-Adapter-MicroUSB/dp/B0049IE70I
Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
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I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
alee said:
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
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it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
Dmw017 said:
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
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Click to collapse
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
alee said:
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
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...you say it folds too huh :/ ....
but for that price, i wonder if there are any samsung chargers that are just as good if not better..
that is Apple, after all
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Dmw017 said:
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
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Click to collapse
Same one.
Good question on whether it's putting out a full 1A. I guess what I do is check the charge times tomorrow with a few different 1A chargers to see if it measures up.
I use this for home:
http://www.amazon.com/Cellet-Charger-Retractable-Cable-myTouch/dp/B004XVM1T0
And this for the car:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Powerjolt-Dual-Universal-Micro/dp/B0042B9U8Q
Both are dual-USB and put out 1amp. Charges my GNEX and iPhone 4 (work) at the same time without issues.
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read that the wall charger drops the battery down to 90ish % after it hits 100% and just goes between the two levels until you unplug your charger
While a USB charge is slower and charges your device up to a "fuller" charge
...I may be unfathomably wrong though
---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------
man that little Apple charger is so damn cute ... lol , ill probably end up buying it once the 1A volt charge is confirmed
edit: just bought it lol, oh well.. it will probably maybe more or less somewhat possibly work like it should at 1A :}
assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an expert on the subject but I was under the impression that cycles (charge + discharge) were a bigger factor on battery life than something like this. The longer a current is running through the battery (charge or discharge) is detrimental to it's life span.
Leaving a laptop plugged in all the time ruins its battery is my source on this one. I would say it's because it has a constant charge running through the battery.
qreffie said:
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
rashad1 said:
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
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True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
[hfm] said:
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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500mA is the max before the PC will disable the port. So your actually get less current.
There are some ports, depending on the motherboard that have a option of outputting more power for charging devices, and also have the port powered when the computer is off. But a normal usb 2.0 port is limited to 500mA max per spec... so a normal usb 2.0 port charging a phone is drawing less then 500mA, or it would get and over current condition and disable the port.
I design electronics and work with USB and batteries often, so let me clear some stuff up in no particular order:
- PC ports are limited to 500mA so will only ever output a max of 500mA
- You can use a wall charger that outputs 1000mA but on most devices the data pins on the micro USB need to be shorted to tell the phone it can try to draw more than 500mA. This is true for HTC devices for example. That means if you get a cheap charger that doesn't short the data pins, when you plug your standard micro-usb cable into it, it will still only charge your phone at 500mA.
- The charging controller is actually in the phone. It decides based on temperature (there's a sensor in the battery), current, voltage across the battery (current charge) and characteristics of the type of battery to figure out how much current to allow into the battery. Although its true that a 500mA charger may have different affects than 1000mA chargers, there usually is very little perceivable difference. Which is (slightly) better really depends on the charging controller and how it decides when to stop charging.
- When the battery is full, the phone continues to 'trickle charge' for a period of time. This isn't a bad thing. Overcharging a Lithium battery can be extremely dangerous, so normal charging occurs at a high speed and then slows down at a safe limit below the 'true' 100%. After that the phone continues to trickle charge to top up the battery. This is the reason you read in phone manuals you should charge the phone for 8 hours or overnight for its first charge.
- When charging at 500mA, the battery does not get as hot. This usually means you get closer to the true 100% before 'trickle charging' starts. With a 1000mA charge the battery heats up a lot more so charging may switch to trickle much sooner. Here's an example with made up figures.
Lets say you charge your battery with a 500mA charger, and it takes 2 hours. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 99%, and trickle charging. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to its full capacity.
Now, lets say you charge your battery with a 1000mA charger, and it takes 1 hour. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 98%, and trickle charging - It stopped sooner because the battery was hotter. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to full capacity.
Conclusion.. the 500mA charger took 2.5 hours, while the 1000mA charger took 1.5 hours. However if you unplugged both when the phone showed 100%, the 500mA charged battery may last longer, and so you think the 500mA somehow resulted in a more thorough charge!
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which you use. the absolute charge cycles is what counts. Charge to 100%, then dont charge till its 0 for best battery care. Constantly plugging into a charger or dock all day on and off is bad. But having said that, your phone is there to be used, so a sensible balance of the two is the best bet.
Thank you so much for the detailed response, kam187. Would you recommend avoiding using a 5.1V charger, considering the phone came with a 5V charger?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I wouldn't use it. The 0.1v probably won't make any difference, but it may not be regulated. Chargers with these odd values sometimes don't have any regulator inside them. That could damage your phone as the voltage could shoot up and down as the current draw changes.
Just search amazon/ebay for any MicroUSB charger, and pick one from a reputable manufacturer like Motorola, HTC, Samsung etc. Since all phones now use MicroUSB, there's loads of these chargers around from previous phone models etc.
Here's just one I saw on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Trave...E70I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1322808220&sr=8-3
I was thinking about putting a new receptacle with USB and one outlet somewhere on my kitchen counter. Problem is the two better companies have two very different amperage's. Cooper is .7a and Leviton is 2.1a, both have two USB ports and one outlet. The charger for our E4GT is 1a and I also have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 that would need the higher amp version, but many have said to NOT use a higher amp charger than the one our phones came with, which is 1.
So what do you think? Is it really that bad for our phones/battery to charge it using a higher amp source? I know our charger cube is small but I also need it in various locations at home or at the office so having an outlet like this in my kitchen would be awesome.
I hate how slow USB charges our phones, so I assume .7 would still be kinda slow and not charge my tablet either.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooper-Wiring-Devices-TR7740W-K-Combination/dp/B007NC5GI4
http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-T5630...F8&qid=1350409796&sr=1-1&keywords=leviton+usb
My vote is for the 700. It will be better for your batteries over time.
Interesting thing that I have learned is that the Leviton version only pushes the higher amps on one of the USB ports. There is no where that states how much the one that gets less does though and I have read that if you plug in a device that does not need the extra amps that USB somehow puts out less amps and it charges slower.
I need to do more investigating though.
revamper said:
My vote is for the 700. It will be better for your batteries over time.
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I agree to an extent.
I feel that it really depends on how long you keep your usb charged devices. Battery degradation may not be an issue if you upgrade often or are the type that never has anything older than the 2nd, sometimes 3rd, newest model device on the market. Also, a lot of the newer devices require higher amps to charge at a reasonable time. This transitions into charging habits. On the 0.7A charger, you may find yourself leaving devices on chargers over night potentially hours longer after fully charging. This is arguably also damaging to the battery.
Either way you go, you may find yourself with a bunch of 6' microUSB cables from devices taking forever to charge or battery degradation. :silly:
Your phone is only going to use as many amps as it can. Say a GS2 charges at 450ma USB and 650ma AC. The phone will recognize if its USB or ac and allow it to charge according to that. Its not going to charge faster on a 1a charger unless you root your phone and hack those parameters. Doing that is what will cause battery life problems, if not cause a complete failure of the battery and/or the device.. The higher you you set the charging amperage, the more likely you are to have problems.
And phones now (especially any model of GS2) have circuitry to prevent overcharging. Leaving your phone charging overnight is not going to cause any problems.
I don't know if USB wall outlets act like USB or a/c (think about a USB cable with a wall adapter) but plugging into the USB outlet and checking in the battery info in the settings menu or a battery app can tell you.
Sent from my SGH-I777
What's next wireless charger outlets?
Get the higher-amperage Leviton.
Your device will only draw the amps it needs. The GS2 will draw < 1amp. But if you have a big tablet, they can pull the full 2.1 amps.
Since you're doing a 'permanent' wall installation, you're somewhat future-proofing yourself.
Good info, thanks all. I did not know that our phone will only pull the amps it needs, so that is good to know. I may get the higher amp version because I have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 that needs higher amperage.
So, I have powerbank and I have 2 ways of charging: 1A and 2.1A. which one to use when charging my note 2?
Handwritten from my Note 2
Depends on the cable you'd use. Samsung cable will go near 2amp, generic ones do about 1 amp
kebabs said:
Depends on the cable you'd use. Samsung cable will go near 2amp, generic ones do about 1 amp
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I have samsung cable.. So is it smart to charge via 2.1 A ? Can it do some damage on the phone ?
I have a Momax external battery and have charged the phone with the 2.1A port. It didn't heat up, it didn't have any problems. I was planning on measuring the exact amperage that comes out of the samsung charger and the momax battery (iPower Pro), but I didn't get around to it, because I suspect the difference is actually smaller. There are many people who used more powerful chargers to charge their phones faster, and the only thing that degraded was the battery lifespan, but the difference in those cases was upwards of 0.5A between the original and the new charger. I find the 0.1A to be a small difference and I have no problem using the 2.1A port on the iPower.
So to answer your question, no, it won't damage your phone. Theoretically it damages your phone's battery, but it degrades anyway due to charging cycles, so you won't notice any damage caused by the extra 0.1A unless you plan on still using the note 2 10 years from now.
sandulea said:
I have a Momax external battery and have charged the phone with the 2.1A port. It didn't heat up, it didn't have any problems. I was planning on measuring the exact amperage that comes out of the samsung charger and the momax battery (iPower Pro), but I didn't get around to it, because I suspect the difference is actually smaller. There are many people who used more powerful chargers to charge their phones faster, and the only thing that degraded was the battery lifespan, but the difference in those cases was upwards of 0.5A between the original and the new charger. I find the 0.1A to be a small difference and I have no problem using the 2.1A port on the iPower.
So to answer your question, no, it won't damage your phone. Theoretically it damages your phone's battery, but it degrades anyway due to charging cycles, so you won't notice any damage caused by the extra 0.1A unless you plan on still using the note 2 10 years from now.
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Thanks for reply mate ! I was thinking the same, but i needed some sort of confirmation tho
Use the 2.1A one.
The phone should only draw 2A from it anyway, that just means the port is capable of supplying 2.1A.
Using the 1A port will just charge your phone slowly, the 2.1A port should charge it as quick as the official charger, depending on which cable you use.
It is a matter of supply and demand. All USB devices can safely be plugged into any USB charger. Given an unlimited amount of current available from the charger, each device will still only draw only as much current as it is designed to draw. If the charger is rated 2.1 Amps or 5 Amps or 10 Amps, a 1.5 Amp device will still only draw 1.5 Amps. The charge rate will be at maximum Think of it like your house wiring. The circuit may have a 20 Amp circuit breaker in the basement but we plug in 40 Watt bulbs and 100 Watt bulbs and TVs and electric shavers that all draw different amounts of current. The 100 Watt bulb uses less than an amp but is unharmed being plugged into a 20 Amp receptacle (charger). Now we come to the flip side. If the charger Is rated lower than the device it just charges slower than it would if the charger could supply at least as much as the device uses. To go back to our example, the 1.5 Amp device plugged into a 1 Amp charger will take longer to charge that it would with a charger rated 1.5 Amps or higher. My analogy has one hole. If the stuff plugged into the house receptacles exceeds 20 Amps the circuit breaker pops. This will not happen with USB chargers as they limit the current and will not try to supply more than they are rated for. Stick to chargers rated as high as the one that came with your device or higher and you will be fine