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question about a car charger

my dad recently lend me his XDA IIs and i was wondering if i can charge it in my car using a usual ac chager (the one with the cig socket on the end and a circle ac with a yellow tip on the other) because the package came with an XDA IIs Connector Adapter.. a small connector that connects to the bottom of the xda and a plug where the xda 2 charger for the cradle on the other end..
can i use it to connect it with a normal AC plug for cars?
thanks a bunch!

ligther plugs from cars give DC i'm pretty sure not AC
and you may want to look at connectors in wiki
because ipaq's have the same plug as xda's
but different wireing and if the charger is made for ipaq's
then you need to mod them

you can buy xda2 2020i car chargers from any o2 shops for £19.99
jim

oh yeah cars give DC. sorry my bad.
my connector came with the xda IIs unit so i'm pretty sure its for the xda. i'm just thinking if i can charge it with a norml car cig plug DC.

well if the connector is the same
and + and - is connected the same
and it give the same volts
then you can use it

hmmmm + and - eh? hmm.. yeah.. i think it'll work. thanks!

It will not.
You need a 5 V DC outlet to your XDA II.
If you plug 12 V DC in you'll see what happens.
Sascha

Charging XDA2 from in-car charger
It does work fine. Have done this using 4.5v/600mA regulated dc/dc adaptor with plug matching that used on original XDA2 mains adaptor - centre is positive, outer negative . I know that mains unit is 5v/2A but my car adaptor works fine in car and boat. Of course you're not feeding 12v directly to your XDA.

thanks for the replies! yep. i wont put in 12v.. thanks for the advice. i'll probably do the same with tomdick. nice one. thanks.

Fast charging N1

It seems the only way to fast charge a N1 is with the supplied wall charger. Standard Micro USB chargers whould only allow at much as 450mA of charge current regardless of the adapter current capacity.
The bundled charger however, manages to push 900mA into the N1. I made a cut in the charger wires and measured the current draw to make sure.
Now.. I'd like my car charger to be able to do the same. There must be some hack in the plug of the N1 charger since there are only 2 conductors from the case to the plug. You can see that the plug is somewhat longer than similar Micro USB plugs..
So I tried to see if one of the 3 unused pins can tell me anything but.. they seem unconnected as far as I could tell. Diode measurement (to test for any digital part inside) also did not produce any results. The next obvious step is to take the molded plug apart but I'd rather not...
Does anyone have any clue as to what makes that plug so special?
And please - I did my tests with a bench power supply - not the car chargers - so don't go around telling me it has to do with charger current capacity.
Thanks,
Nir

are you sure the micro usb cords you are using are able to handle the amps? most chargers made prior to now, only push about 450mA, the G1, and N1 chargers i have push a full amp though. I just ordered a car charger that pushes an amp too. There is nothing "special" about the plug.

followinginsanity said:
are you sure the micro usb cords you are using are able to handle the amps? most chargers made prior to now, only push about 450mA, the G1, and N1 chargers i have push a full amp though. I just ordered a car charger that pushes an amp too. There is nothing "special" about the plug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ. All the cords can easily supply 1 AMP. It is the phone itself that decides how much to draw from the charger based on something IN THE PLUG.
I am an electronics engineer so do understand I know perfectly what I am talking about
And your 1A car charger does not supply anything over 0.45A to the phone.. you will see that if you are using the phone while it charges (say nav or phone call) the phone actually looses some charge albeit it being charged... This will not happen with the stock wall charger.

I have a 900mAh car charger that I use and it does in fact give 900mAh to the phone while charging. I can tell because I used a 450mAh charger at home before and it was slooow and I could drain my phone while charging it. With the car charger I can stream music with spotify, use the GPS, have the screen on full brightness and the battery % will still go up.
I also bought a new wall charger recently, which is 850mAh on the USB port and has a 350mAh charger for a loose battery as well, works quite nice.

Has anyone measured the voltage or put a scope on the output of the stock charger?
maybe stock charger has a slight variance in voltage over USB chargers or some signalling going on and this tells the N1 to take more current from it?
I would like a solution to this too I've seen my phone discharge while on a supposedly 1A car charger using co-pilot.

SBS_ said:
I have a 900mAh car charger that I use and it does in fact give 900mAh to the phone while charging. I can tell because I used a 450mAh charger at home before and it was slooow and I could drain my phone while charging it. With the car charger I can stream music with spotify, use the GPS, have the screen on full brightness and the battery % will still go up.
I also bought a new wall charger recently, which is 850mAh on the USB port and has a 350mAh charger for a loose battery as well, works quite nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forget the numbers on the chargers - what counts is what really goes into the phone and that needs to be measured with a current meter (test equipment). What you may think to be fast might not be that.
Original HTC chargers obviously do the trick of fast charging but this comes at a price compared to the $3-$4 garden variety on Ebay and the likes.

now I cannot help you with the electronics at all, but, my old HTC Touch Pro charger seems to charge the same as the one which came with the phone, is this correct?
(suits me if it is, as then I have a charger for home and work)
my blackberry bold 2 charger only says it outputs 700MAh, but both the google and htc chargers both say 1.0A

dnts said:
Forget the numbers on the chargers - what counts is what really goes into the phone and that needs to be measured with a current meter (test equipment). What you may think to be fast might not be that.
Original HTC chargers obviously do the trick of fast charging but this comes at a price compared to the $3-$4 garden variety on Ebay and the likes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is just anecdotal evidence as I don't have any equipment to measure it. But my phone no longer discharges when I use it while charging, which it used to do with the old charger I used. So while I can say for a fact that the charger I use now is faster, I can't say by how much (this goes for both the car charger and the one I put in the wall socket).

I ordered this charger a few weeks ago and it charges my phone as fast as the original charger. The label says 5v / 1200mA.
Genuine Nokia Mini AC-10U US Type AC Charger (100~240V)
$7,25 and free shipping. (Takes a while before you get it tho.)
GazzaK said:
now I cannot help you with the electronics at all, but, my old HTC Touch Pro charger seems to charge the same as the one which came with the phone, is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC Touch Pro = mini USB
Nexus One = micro USB

Not an engineering here, but I am guessing the phone not always drawing more than 500ma may be is to do with the charger itself.
There is this "fast charge" USB standard where a wall plug has the USB data pins shorted to indicate that it is a wall plug and hence the phone knows when to draw more power. So even if the charger is rated 1A, the phone might not know if it could utilize that if those pins aren't shorted. Try doing a quick Google on this ....
If someone can test if the stock charger that came with the phone in fact does have those pins shorted that would confirm part of this theory.

For all practical purpose - I used two cables/plugs with a bench adjustable power supply. Simple micro USB plug would only let me draw 450mA regardless of power supply voltage in the range 4.5-5.5V. Tried shorting data pins - nothing. Tried shorting spare pin to VCC or GND or any of the other pins - nothing.
Used original cable and plug - draws 900mA at voltages from 4.9-5.5.
So it's in the plug somehow.
Tried (very difficult) to see if the pins on the plug are shorted and all 3 spares (except for 5V and GND) seems unconnected.
Next step is the irreversible hot knife...

I'm bugged by this, too. I tested with my desktop dock connected to my car charger (which states 1000 mA): it loads slowly and my battery widget reports USB- instead of AC-charger.
Might it be that the phone tries to load more than 1000 mA at the beginning to be sure that it doesn't overload the charger? And if that fails, it falls back to 500 mA?

Could N1 use a simple logic of:
- always watch the voltage
- start drawing 500ma (or whichever is the lowest current as per USB spec)
- increment in say 50ma steps
- if voltage drops below 4.x V, back off and stay at that level

I just did a little test of my own. I have a Palm Pre car charger (actual Palm brand one labeled as 1000ma output) and I plunged my N1 into it on my way home from work. In twenty eight minutes, my battery went from 47% to 70%. Much faster than plugging into my computer, which is 500ma max. I don't have any fancy test equipment, and don't claim to know a whole lot about electronics, but seems pretty fast to me.

I have a 4-port 2A 5v USB charger, and connecting it to my Nexus OR Milestone with a MicroUSB cable (the one that shipped with either phone, or the one from my Kindle) yields painfully slow charging - it basically won't charge if you are using the phone.
Connecting the Nexus One charger yields fast charging on either phone - so it is not HTC (or Motorola) proprietary.
The Milestone comes with a 900mA USB plug, and connecting THAT to either phone with either of the MicroUSB cables yields fast charging.
I have another aftermarket 2 port 2A 5V USB wall charger (brand: T'nB) AND I have an iPhone USB plug, and both give fast charging on the Milestone, and I have not yet tried them on the Nexus One.
Breakdown (on things I've tried):
FAST CHARGING on Nexus One AND Milestone:
Nexus charger (either in the US (110v/60hz) or in France (220v/50hz) through an adaptor)
Milestone wall French USB plug (which I think is something odd like 850mA at 5.9v) with ANY microUSB cable (in fact, it seems to charge both of the phones faster than the stock Nexus One plug)
SLOW CHARGING on Nexus One AND Milestone:
USB plug on computer
One aftermarket 4 port 2A 5V USB charger (NOT a hub, only a charger)
FAST CHARGING on Milestone, untested with Nexus One
T'nB 2 port 5v 2A USB wall charger
Apple iPhone 1 port 1A 5v USB wall adaptor

Seems found the answer for Fast Charging N1
I had just do some test for Charging N1 With Original AC Charger , Other band USB Charger and PC USB charger.
1. Orginal Charger give N1 from 0% to 100% at about 2 hour and something.
2. The other band AC charger and PC USB Charger can only finish the same job over 5 to 6 hours.
The Fast Charging is Due to 5.1V (Measured at N1) and 5.2V(Measured inside AC charger). 0.1V Drop is due to resistance of USB cable.
The Slow charged is due to 4.8V (measured at N1) and 5.0V (measured on PC USB and Other AC Charger)
i.e. Original Charger mod from 5.0 V to 5.2V (about 10% increase in Voltage)

Looks my theory is correct then ? N1 watches the voltage and if it droops too much, it backs off the current.
So the key would be: get a charger than can maintain at least 1A @ 5.2V, use
a decent gauge, short wire from the brick to N1.

Has anyone tried a Blackberry charger on the N1? Will they work to full capacity as well? (They're on Amazon for a fiver)

Because the nokia charger is working
http://pinoutsguide.com/CellularPhones-Nokia/micro_usb_connector_pinout.shtml
see info under table.
I tested also HP charger + standard USB cable delivered with Nexus, and it is charching cca 1A.
Then I tested one noname Carcharger + standard USB cable delivered with Nexus, and also charging cca 1A.
I dismantle the noname carcharger and here is a result:
data line (pin2+3) is shorted and connected do + (pin1 ,Vcc) thrue resistor cca 630kOhm.
1 - 4 = 5.1V
2,3 - 4 = 3.2V
rashid11 said:
Looks my theory is correct then ? N1 watches the voltage and if it droops too much, it backs off the current.
So the key would be: get a charger than can maintain at least 1A @ 5.2V, use
a decent gauge, short wire from the brick to N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try to use power supply 5.2V 2A with cable without dataline (pin 2and3 not connected) and it is charging 480mA only.

I have now tested with an HTC car charger for the HD2. It's fast charging (tested with Waze running, two bluetooth connections and playing mp3 - and it's still loading the battery, whereas before it would be stuck at the current percentage) and even shows AC power instead of USB.

[Q] Scoshe reVIVEII

Anyone using this charger with their Inspire4G?
I've tried using this charger with my phone, with several different cables, including the OEM cable. I can only ever get the phone to charge at the USB rate, not the AC charge rate.
Is this normal or is my charger defective?
http://scosche.com/consumer-tech/product/1921

I would assume thats because the 2.1A is ment for Ipad/Iphone/Ipod devices as they require a larger amp charge.
The 1.0A is ment for all other USB devices.
States that in the description.
Charge your iPad and an additional USB powered device at once
Use your existing USB cables to charge any additional USB powered devices
2.1 Amp USB port for charging iPad
1 Amp USB port for charging additional devices
Were are you getting AC Charge rate / USB Charge rate ?

On both ports, I'm only getting the USB charge rate.

d00mz said:
On both ports, I'm only getting the USB charge rate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you meen USB Charge Rate..
I am going to guess ..
AC Charge Rate = Wall Charger
USB Charge Rate = Computer USB 2.0/3.0

Does car charger port provide enough amps to give full value?

metaldood said:
Does car charger port provide enough amps to give full value?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. See below.
xKrisx said:
What do you meen USB Charge Rate..
I am going to guess ..
AC Charge Rate = Wall Charger
USB Charge Rate = Computer USB 2.0/3.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you go into Settings -> about phone -> Battery
It will show you the charging status. USB Charging typically is no more than 500ma. AC charging should be 1a.
I have an old AT&T brand car charger that charges the phone in "AC" mode.

This is were I am still getting confused.
What ROM are you running, Stock / MIUI / CM7 / or a Rom based off of stock ?
Is it 2.3.3 or 2.2.1 or 2.3.4 ?
I don't have those reading under battery status.
Anyways, I will go ahead and make the assumption that your car charger is busted and need to get it replaced.
This is were I don't get were you are stating AC Charging.
Alternating Current = AC Direct Current = DC
You cannot charge a battery " DC " with an Alternating Current " AC " period. Thats why all battery chargers reguardless of type convert AC power to DC.
Then only thing I can think of is maybe your phone can detect what type of charger it is connected to, displaying it as an AC Wall Charger or a DC Car/USB Charger.
Wall Chargers will generaly charge quicker then a computer USB Charger. Car charger typicaly charge quicker then most wall chargers.
Most Car chargers are very poor at controlling the amperage being supplied. They may stay at the right voltage but rest assured, you hit a 5v 2amp battery with a 5v 10amp charge and your going to fry it. This is the reason I dislike car chargers.
I can only see one of two problems with your Car Charger ;
1: the Car charger is bad
2: your 12 Power source port is not supplying the correct amperage that your car charger requires. IE:
I have the HTC Car dock for my inspire. It has an imput requirement of 12V 5 Amps to operate efficiently. The Power supply I have it plugged into is the 12V 20A Accesory Port in the front of my truck. It works just fine.
If your device requires say 12v 5 Amps to operate efficiently yet your car is only supplying 12v 1 Amp due to bad wiring, old fuses or bad connections your car charger will not charge at idicated levels.

The ROM is simply displaying "USB" if it is drawing 500ma charge, or "AC" if it's drawing 1000ma charge.
I'm running the 2.2.1, the LeeDroid_HD_V.2.0.0 ROM

d00mz said:
The ROM is simply displaying "USB" if it is drawing 500ma charge, or "AC" if it's drawing 1000ma charge.
I'm running the 2.2.1, the LeeDroid_HD_V.2.0.0 ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so your saying that when you have the Car Charger plugged up and your device connected, your only getting a 500ma charge. When you use your old ATT Car Charger it shows 1000ma.
500ma = .5 Amps
1000ma = 1.0 Amps
If your not getting over 500ma out of your car charger then either 1 of two things.
Car Charger is busted, get it replaced.
Car is not putting out correct Amp - Voltage for the car charge to operate correctly.
Your old car charger could have different requirements and that is the reason it works, your new one could use a deifferent set and may not work.
Regardless, its not working in your car, try it in a friends and see if it works, if not then the charger is broke, if it does, then your car is broke.

Try usiing current widget while charging.. and see the readings
Inspired from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

i don't know what you are talking about here. The 2.1 Amp option is NOT the AC charging rate. It is pretty clear if you look at the stock HTC charger that comes with the phone, it says it outputs "1.5 V at 1A".
And anyways...if you look at the product description on the link you posted, it CLEARLY states the 2.1A is for charging an iPad.

buddy17 said:
i don't know what you are talking about here. The 2.1 Amp option is NOT the AC charging rate. It is pretty clear if you look at the stock HTC charger that comes with the phone, it says it outputs "1.5 V at 1A".
And anyways...if you look at the product description on the link you posted, it CLEARLY states the 2.1A is for charging an iPad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used both ports on the reVIVE II, both the 2.1a and the 1a. Both only report the phone charging at 500ma

d00mz said:
I've used both ports on the reVIVE II, both the 2.1a and the 1a. Both only report the phone charging at 500ma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry...i thought you were referring to the AC rate as the 2.1A port, and the USB rate as the 1A port.

Alternate micro USB wall chargers

After using a wall adapter to micro USB port charger that only supplies 0.7 A instead of the 1 A the stock charger does, the lower adapter got very hot. Does the phone still try to draw one amp if its not connected to a PC through usb? Considering the standardization of micro-usb it would seem like G2x owners will try to use chargers at friends houses for other phones and it may not be the safest thing. Any input?

My factory LG charger only provides 0.7 amps.. but I use my hd2 charger that provides 1 amp cause the phone charges a little faster on it.. so I don't understand what your actually trying to say?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

k00zk0 said:
After using a wall adapter to micro USB port charger that only supplies 0.7 A instead of the 1 A the stock charger does, the lower adapter got very hot. Does the phone still try to draw one amp if its not connected to a PC through usb? Considering the standardization of micro-usb it would seem like G2x owners will try to use chargers at friends houses for other phones and it may not be the safest thing. Any input?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone can only draw as much power as the charger supplies, up to something like 1 amp. If the charger supplies less than that, then it only draws what the charger supplies. If the charger supplies more than 1 amp, then it will still only draw the 1 amp that it needs. The more important thing to ensure is that the voltage of that charger is the same as the stock charger.
G2X CM7

squish099 said:
My factory LG charger only provides 0.7 amps.. but I use my hd2 charger that provides 1 amp cause the phone charges a little faster on it.. so I don't understand what your actually trying to say?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strange we got different chargers. This one outputs 4.8V at 1.0A. It also squeals when the phone is in standby. If i wake it it stops humming. Model STA-U13WR2. I wonder if charge rate has to do with anything bad? When the charge says completed and it is plugged into a USB port, it will charge for another hour at times. Makes sense since a high charging rate will cause the battery voltage to spike and read as if the charge is complete when it's still got room.

Optimus 3D car charger from Ebay

Hi All,
I bought a car charger from ebay for my phone and just had a quick question.
The output voltage on my indoor Optimus charger is 4.8v at 1amp
the car charger is 5 - 5.5 volts and 1 amp.
Do you think it's safe to use, being slightly higher in voltage?
Thanks!

Not an electrical expert here but ...
Considering USB is 5V i would say there should be no problem in anyway at all.
It would just be as bad as plugging it into your PC.
Most car chargers make use of the fact that most phones will charge @ USB power levels.

no problem