[Q] Hardware idea - General Questions and Answers

Ive had a simple idea of how to make a charger that can be left plugged in but once the phone is removed the charger disconnects from the mains until the phone is reconnected.
i would like the idea to be open to all manufactures to use for free as i think it would help the environment anybody got any ideas how to proceed maybe offer it to google?

Not sure what you mean by disconnects from the mains. Are you saying that it will not use any power?

I do not understand your idea, you can explain better?

If you leave a charger plugged into the mains with no phone connected, it still uses electricity which is a waste.
The OP's idea would be to have the charger break the mains circuit when a phone is not connected.
Sensible idea.
Off the top of my head, with an old transformer model, you'd have a mosfet to close the mains circuit when the 5v circuit is closed. To start it off you'd have a push to make switch in parellel to the mosfet.
So you connect the phone, push the start button, the mains circuit is completed energising the 5v circuit which activates the mosfet keeping the mains side closed.
When you disconnect the phone the 5v circuit is broken, the mosfet opens the mains side and power is totally cut.
Not opened a recent charger though but given their size I don't think they work like an old chunky transformer type.

This is done on several larger devices, all you are doing is creating a loop that recognizes load or no load, when no load is on, the shunt (elec gate) is in the open position, when it has load it creates a closed position allowing power to pass through. My guess is the cost verses benefit is not there to implement yet on such small elec demand devices. FYI even a plugged in extension cord will draw a micro amount of power, so the Zero use when not plugged in would not happen, but near zero is doable.
Good thinking on this........

I just switch the socket off

xaccers said:
I just switch the socket off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol probrobly the simplest, easiest and best solution

My idea would be to have a small magnet on the back of the device to pull a relay in this would be isolated from the mains but act directly on the power circuit without additional power.
or make a flexible ferrite core not dissimilar to those rubber magnets to a cable and add it to a usb cable and do much the same thing.

Related

Not all charging methods created equal?

I am really frustrated with charging my phone.
From the wall, using the stock 700mA Samsung charger, I get 5% every 10 min.
From a USB cigarette lighter charger modified to source 750mA, I get 3% every 10 min.
From a USB cigarette lighter charger that can source 3A, I get hardly anything.
I assume from these findings that one or more of the following is true:
1. The phone knows when it is plugged into a stock charger.
2. The phone has a current limiter that prevents overcharging.
Does anyone have a charger, other than stock, that they recommend?
I'm half tempted to hook my stock charger up to a cigarette lighter inverter and power it that way.
(I'm also half-tempted to grab a current probe tomorrow and measure what the device is pulling.)
i havent really used my oem samsung wall charger much, but i know when i try to charge from my computers usb it takes 4EVER, thats why i jumped on this ebay deal
IBNobody said:
(I'm also half-tempted to grab a current probe tomorrow and measure what the device is pulling.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd probe the chargers and see how accurate their ratings are as well....
does anyone know if using a 1mA charger would be okay? i have one left over from my evo.
The phone won't draw more than 500mA from a charger unless the USB data pins are connected.
Be careful, though... 99.9% of the chargers from China that claim to be 700mA (the nominal value of Samsung's) or 1A will overheat and die (or worse) if you try to actually draw that much current for any sustained length of time. I'd almost go so far as to say that it's SO EASY for a manufacturer to support high-power mode, I'd be automatically suspicious of any allegedly high power charger that doesn't ship with the pins shorted together.
Manufacturers know that most consumers don't know the difference (hell, most users HERE don't know the difference, and XDA is the upper crust elite of the Android phone universe), so they omit the shorting bridge and ship a charger with quoted power capacity that it MIGHT be able to sustain for a couple of minutes if you operated it in a walk-in freezer, knowing that most phones will never draw more than 500mA and it'll work fine for them. It lets them sell the charger for 99 cents AND pretend to be better than the others on the rack because it has a bigger "max power" value.
It's "RMS-vs-Peak" all over again.
Yeah I'm one of those that don't know much about the charging. I did figure there was a different charge rate when plugged into the wall and when plugged into usb or a usb converter like powerjolt.
I also found that one of the usb to micro's that I bought for using with my car powerjolt coverter won't let me connect via debugging/adb shell. was a little surprised at this... is it just a bad cord?
bitbang3r said:
The phone won't draw more than 500mA from a charger unless the USB data pins are connected.
Be careful, though... 99.9% of the chargers from China that claim to be 700mA (the nominal value of Samsung's) or 1A will overheat and die (or worse) if you try to actually draw that much current for any sustained length of time. I'd almost go so far as to say that it's SO EASY for a manufacturer to support high-power mode, I'd be automatically suspicious of any allegedly high power charger that doesn't ship with the pins shorted together.
Manufacturers know that most consumers don't know the difference (hell, most users HERE don't know the difference, and XDA is the upper crust elite of the Android phone universe), so they omit the shorting bridge and ship a charger with quoted power capacity that it MIGHT be able to sustain for a couple of minutes if you operated it in a walk-in freezer, knowing that most phones will never draw more than 500mA and it'll work fine for them. It lets them sell the charger for 99 cents AND pretend to be better than the others on the rack because it has a bigger "max power" value.
It's "RMS-vs-Peak" all over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
D+ to D- must be shorted to get the high power mode? Maybe that was why my 3A supply was not handling it.
The Epic pulls 380mA when charging from a USB port from a Dell T3400 workstation. The result was steady at 40% and 80%.
I'll try out my other charging methods later and find out everything.
Stay tuned!
EDIT 1:
380mA is the magic number. It draws 380mA from all USB sources, including my two car chargers.
It draws 600mA from the wall adapter.
The wall adapter does indeed have D+ and D- shorted. My other chargers did not.
Here is the pinout for a USB port: http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml
Here is the "beefy" USB charger I've been using:
http://www.wagan.com/index.php?page...ategory_id=22&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=98
This charger is rather nice because the step-down supply (AX3002) has a large heatsink soldered to the ground tab.
It currently pulls up/down the D+/- lines via resistors. Each port is pulled down separately.
What I plan on doing next is to remove the pull resistors from one of the ports and short D+/- together.
Well, this explains a lot. This was really getting frustrating. I bought a "high-curent" charger for my car and the phone blows through the battery when I'm driving around with Maps running.
Im always on the road and for me an inverter in cigarette lighter with stock wall charger works best.the slowest charge is using stock usb cable since theres a slot for it on the inverter.2nd was radio shack car lighter in inverter.the inverter was from radio shack as well
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
IBNobody said:
Here is the pinout for a USB port: http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is the official spec but there are actually not just four but six connectors on usb micro, which is how samsung can create a whole mess of pinut jumps for various amperage draws as well as data, entrainment dock and car dock.

[Q] Charge + USB Connectivity Simultaneously

(Yes I mention android development but this is regarding a 'general' topic)
As an android app developer, it's pretty much mandatory that I have my devices plugged into the computer for ADB. However, with wifi / bluetooth / GPS / screen brightness turned on or cranked up, I also need to have the device plugged into something that provides more than the measly 500mA that the computer's USB port can provide. From what I've been able to gather, the USB standard requires that USB hubs and ports cannot supply more than 500mA to a connected device. However, I suspect that there are manufacturers out there that are aware of the need for simultaneous charging + connectivity and have made special cables specifically for this (What I'm thinking of is a Y usb cable where one end plugs into the device, one plugs into the computer and only uses the data wires, and the other plugs into the charger which feeds and charges the device.) Do any of you know if something like this exists and where I can find one? I've definitely tried to Google for it but the phrases I'm using are long and not producing the right results. I obviously don't know the correct term(s) to search for.
If I knew a bit more about circuitry in general and the USB standard specifically, I could probably solder together a cable like this with a couple diodes to prevent the charger from zapping the motherboard's USB, or perhaps, as mentioned, not connect the power wires at all. I do have 6-8 spare cables laying around but I'd rather not start chopping and black-taping unless I get some confirmation Plus I only have one female end to mangle, so... yeah ;p
My idea for the splice & solder (in case no commercially available alternative exists):
Code:
computer - 2 data -----\
|----------------- device
charger - 2 power -----/
Most chargers and phones have some kind of regulator circuit built-in anyway, at least that's the impression I'm under. Generally if you crack open a charger there are only two cables black and red (+/-) which makes things considerably easier but that's assuming you have a charger that's just for charging and not one that requires you already have a usb cable to plug into it (like some that come with phones now). Standard wiring color schemes applied to all the cables I've cut open and spliced so as long as you go black/black red/red from the charger and leave the other wires untouched you should be ok. You'll know if something's wrong quickly because your phone will get quite a bit hotter than normal and do so faster, and you shouldn't need to add any components as they're already in the charger circuit (diodes to prevent current flow-back, resistors and the transformer to convert to dc, capacitors to smooth the current, etc). Just use common sense when working with this, don't solder until you test, don't splice wires together that don't seem right, use a multimeter to make sure you're getting the proper wires, don't work on anything while it's live unless you're properly insulated and even then not if you can help it, all that jazz.
Yeah, my biggest concern would be that I was told that some USB devices negotiate current requirements with the motherboard, which I'd assume goes over the two data wires, but I remember landline phones have 2 wires but both power and data flow over it, so I wasn't completely confident that the two power wires weren't passing data as well. If I run the 2 data to the computer and the 2 power to the charger, and it turns out that the negotiation requires all 4 wires be connected from the device to the computer, then I've just ruined two good cables.
I just am not so super confident in my logic and theorizing that I'd want to risk frying circuitry If I can nab a commercially available accessory that does this for $30 it's a lot less than having to buy another $700 device and a new $200 motherboard (at the least)
I don't think you really have to worry, but I wouldn't replace the charger wires, I'd connect the wires from the charger to the power lines inside the usb cable that way even when the charger isn't plugged in the phone is still getting some power and it'd basically be hooking them up in parallel when the usb and charger are plugged in. You could always go buy a $20/$30 cheapo phone that connects through microusb-to-usb and test the cable on that through a USB hub. that way if something goes wrong you're only losing a cheapo phone and a usb hub, but honestly things shouldn't fry as long as you get the wiring right and don't try to do something like black to red because then you're feeding power from the charger back into the usb socket which is where things get ugly.
I think i've found something on the interwebs, that will actually save you the wire-splicing and soldering
It is actually just what you described, it uses 2 USB ports in order to provide 1000mA to a device.
dealextreme.com/p/cable-style-dual-power-1000ma-usb-2-0-4-port-hub-13526
Sorry for the inconvience with the url, atm i'm not yet allowed to post links directly... :/
Xadro said:
I think i've found something on the interwebs, that will actually save you the wire-splicing and soldering
It is actually just what you described, it uses 2 USB ports in order to provide 1000mA to a device.
dealextreme.com/p/cable-style-dual-power-1000ma-usb-2-0-4-port-hub-13526
Sorry for the inconvience with the url, atm i'm not yet allowed to post links directly... :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that some of the smaller usb external drives have a cable that has 2 "type-a" connectorsto allow data connection/enough power for the drive. I have not seen these in micro-usb form, only mini-usb. SO, I do not see why it would not work.
papabear said:
I know that some of the smaller usb external drives have a cable that has 2 "type-a" connectorsto allow data connection/enough power for the drive. I have not seen these in micro-usb form, only mini-usb. SO, I do not see why it would not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, USB offers about 2.5v of charge aswell as data connectivity of course, I don't understand why it wouldn't work... I can tell you from experence through that it does take about 40% longer, and will suck the life out of a laptop if you are using it on battery mode.
The reason I was thinking about cutting the power wires from the computer entirely is I don't know what dumping 1-2 amps into the computer's USB port is going to do ;p
Edit: Looks like newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707145&cm_re=2a_output_usb-_-17-707-145-_-Product should do what I'm interested in, if the details are legitimate. Who knew finding a hub with full details would be so hard? ><
LycaonX said:
The reason I was thinking about cutting the power wires from the computer entirely is I don't know what dumping 1-2 amps into the computer's USB port is going to do ;p
Edit: Looks like newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707145&cm_re=2a_output_usb-_-17-707-145-_-Product should do what I'm interested in, if the details are legitimate. Who knew finding a hub with full details would be so hard? ><
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just as papabear already said, there are also external hdd, that use this kind of wire.. so it should be no problem. If the ports arent't capable of delivering that power (but as far as i know they are designed for 500mA each), simply you will not get the the full 1 A.
And i must agree, hardware vendors rarely add detailed power info -.-

[Q] Can't charge, won't charge

Plugged in Transformer last night to charge it up overnight when the battery hit 30%. I updated the firmware yesterday morning and everything was going swimmingly.
Woke it up this morning, and found it was at 9% battery remaining and had a low battery warning. I had a closer look and the battery icon shows no indication that it's charging when it's plugged in.
Right now I've plugged it into a bog-standard USB charger and turned it off, hoping it'll trickle charge (damn the lack of a charge LED!) and that it's a fault with the power adapter rather than the device itself.
Anyone else had this issue?
I had the same problem a few days ago, my charger was plugged in via a multi block and it would not charge.
I even went to the extreme of taking my device back to comet in the hope I could swap the charger out with their demo unit.
Man behind counter plugs my charger into some sort electrical surge protected socket and it starts charging straight away leaving me looking like a right tool standing their. (and they tried to sell me 3 years extended cover)
Brought it home and plugged it into the very socket where it wasn't working and what do you know? It starts working!
Not sure what the issue was but it now works again.
Ok well that's good to know!
On trickle-charge it's now gone up by 2% since I posted.
Looks like the power adapter has its own faults...
Oh, and what do you know... plugged wall charger back in (it's been unplugged for 20mins) and now it's all happy and charging again.
Hooray.
yeah maybe that 20 minute trip to comet fixed mine too..
the USB mains adapter plug has a fatal flaw - the middle part of the usb connection isn't as sturdy as it sould be so it is easy to plug a USB port in the wrong way around and it looks and feels plugged in correctly as the middle part just moves out of the way.
If it isn't charing always check to make sure the USB connection is in the right way around in the plug.
I am bummed about this proprietary power connector; and apparently proprietary USB cable with extra pins (negating the use of USB extension cables). I wish the TF had a standard round power adapter similar to the Acer A500.
Thank God, i thought i was the only one. Had exactly this problem with mine when it arrived a couple of days ago, i am lucky enough to have lots of USB chargers around so i tried and tested various combinations and tried to charge other devices with the asus charger.
The problem lies as far as i can see, entirely with the charger unit. The charger comes in two parts, one is the usb dock and the other the relevant country plug. The way the plug fits onto the face of the charger is the important part. There is a central 'locating pin' made from plastic and two contacts that slot into the charger carrying the live and negative. The construction of this part is very, very poor. The tolerances are not a match for the quality of the plastic, the T shaped plastic locater does not actually locate the bottom pins properly and needs a great deal of force to lock in placce, and here is the best part, it doesnt like STAYING locked. As the plastic is weak, and we are looking at just a couple of mm here, it will snap, that will stop there being a clean contact and no charge. As a remedy, i have secured the face plate to the charger very tightly with a high tech rubber band
I agree, the use of specific power connectors in this day and age is just as dumb a decision as any manufacturer can make, and the rate it recharges at from a USB to PC connection can only be described as comical, a full recharge in 26 hours . Aside from all that its nigh on perfect, but i can see power related alternatives being VERY popular until Asus catches up with the rest of the electronics industry.
havent even had mine an hour and i havent done the update because its not at 50% and it will not charg at all. when i first tried to start it i thought it was doa because it would not turn on. guess ill take you guys advice and leave it unplugged for a while. i hate the charging cable is so small too that definately sucks.
Hmmm... if only a few other people created topics about not charging...

Hard wired 12V TO 5V / 3A DC Power Converter Micro USB Charger | PROJECT NOW COMPLETE

EDIT: SCROLL DOWN TO POST #12 WHERE I SHOW YOU HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN FULL-1900 mAh CHARGER!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=43663686&postcount=12
-=========================================
Has anyone used this particular item before? Or can recommend a similar hard-wire unit that operates at 2A to 3A?
http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-Connectors-Adapter-Recorder/dp/B00D6B6CJI
I'm thinking about getting one for my SUV and Motorcyle to charge the S4 at normal 1900 rates like the OEM wall-charger. Get that FAST charge.
Yes, I know about cig lighter chargers. No, that is not what this thread is for.
hello did you buy it?
CZ Eddie said:
Has anyone used this particular item before? Or can recommend a similar hard-wire unit that operates at 2A to 3A?
http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-Connectors-Adapter-Recorder/dp/B00D6B6CJI
I'm thinking about getting one for my SUV and Motorcyle to charge the S4 at normal 1900 rates like the OEM wall-charger. Get that FAST charge.
Yes, I know about cig lighter chargers. No, that is not what this thread is for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this hardwired into my WRX:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CDL-WaterPr...35?pt=US_Power_Inverters_&hash=item1c34627e83
I ran it off the clock circuit (my clock is dead anyways) but any switched 12v source will do. It charges my car integrated Nexus7 without any issues, and at the faster rate.
I have another powering a servo and an aux USB port, but unfortunately I ran so much wire to get it into the center console by the handbrake it charges at USB rates.
paolopaulpaul said:
hello did you buy it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet.
Caferacer said:
I have this hardwired into my WRX:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CDL-WaterPr...35?pt=US_Power_Inverters_&hash=item1c34627e83
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's a great price! Does it charge at ~1900 rates? Here is an app that will tell you the charging rate:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccc71.bmw&hl=en
Just bought this one for $9 shipped.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-waterpr...34?pt=US_Power_Inverters_&hash=item3a7a051922
It's a waterproof box so it'll be better on my Motorcycle. I'll let you guys know how it works out by next week sometime.
There was a thread somewhere that explained why some chargers won't do the 1900mah charge. He figured out where and what size resistors to put across the wires to enable it. I think it was in a car dock thread, I'll try and find it.
Sent from my de-Verizonized Galaxy S4, CleanRom style! (using Tapatalk beta 4)
CZ Eddie said:
Not yet.
Wow, that's a great price! Does it charge at ~1900 rates? Here is an app that will tell you the charging rate:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccc71.bmw&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That app won't show the mA on my N7 but does show it charging near the same % as a fast charger.
MonkeyTime said:
There was a thread somewhere that explained why some chargers won't do the 1900mah charge. He figured out where and what size resistors to put across the wires to enable it. I think it was in a car dock thread, I'll try and find it.
Sent from my de-Verizonized Galaxy S4, CleanRom style! (using Tapatalk beta 4)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the shorting/grounding of the data pins that activates 'fast charge' mode on some phones. Nexus 7's and my E4GT (Sprint S2) when I used it didn't require the pins to be shorted to charge faster. Mostly it was the charger (duh) and the quality/length of the cable that affected the charge speed. As well, most of the heavy 1A plus chargers short the data pins in the charger itself so you can use any cable. I believe the S4 doesn't require it as well, but don't have any data to confirm it.
The way I wired mine was to sacrifice a USB female port from a USB extender, and attached the power leads and shorted the data leads. Figured it couldn't hurt. The converter doesn't care if it's putting out 500mA or 3A. It's not intelligent like some chargers in what current it doles out.
Caferacer said:
shorted the data leads. Figured it couldn't hurt. The converter doesn't care if it's putting out 500mA or 3A. It's not intelligent like some chargers in what current it doles out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yours is the second post I've seen where someone has shorted the data pins on a charging-only setup. Is there a reason for doing that?
Ehh, n/m. I remembered the "Google before you ask" mantra...
This explains it nicely:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/194362-wont-charge-over-usb-car.html
MichaelBR said:
There are some reasons why it won't work, and some ways to solve it. First, let's understand how it works:
The USB cable has four pins. The inner two pins are where the data goes through. THe outer, power.
When the USB cable is plugged in to a computer, the data pins are connected normally and the phone knows it can only draw certain amount of power
When the cable is plugged in to a charger, the two middle pins are shorted, and the phone knows that it's NOT going to be sendind/receiving data, so it can draw as much power as it can. That's why it charges faster with the charger than when plugged in to a computer
Most chargers short the two pins. Some cables have a switch to do that.
There are different cable cauges as well, with different power capacities.
Some USB chargers, notably car chargers and some low-end (i.e. not good brand) chargers that don't draw from the car/don't give the phone as much current as it needs.
So, if any of below, the phone won't charge, or won't charge fast enough. Or, worse: it may appear as charging, but actually losing battery charge!
Cable too long or incorrect gauge
Middle pins not shorted for some reason
Charger doesn't deliver enough current
And the solutions are:
Don't use cable extensions, cables that are too long. Stick with the cable that came with the phone or with the charger
Get a good car charger, that delivers the right amount of current
I imagine you just got the cable from your original wall charger and plugged it in to the car charger. If you did that, then chances are the cable is OK, and the charger is the culprit. If this is the case, then get a better charger. Check how much current that charger can deliver. Check how much current your device actually needs.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CZ Eddie said:
Yours is the second post I've seen where someone has shorted the data pins on a charging-only setup. Is there a reason for doing that?
Ehh, n/m. I remembered the "Google before you ask" mantra...
This explains it nicely:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/194362-wont-charge-over-usb-car.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be clear, there is no indication it is *required* for the S4. Mine quick charges just fine without shorted data leads. However I did this because my friends have a variety of phones and it only took a few minutes to do.
Caferacer said:
That app won't show the mA on my N7 but does show it charging near the same % as a fast charger.
It's the shorting/grounding of the data pins that activates 'fast charge' mode on some phones. Nexus 7's and my E4GT (Sprint S2) when I used it didn't require the pins to be shorted to charge faster. Mostly it was the charger (duh) and the quality/length of the cable that affected the charge speed. As well, most of the heavy 1A plus chargers short the data pins in the charger itself so you can use any cable. I believe the S4 doesn't require it as well, but don't have any data to confirm it.
The way I wired mine was to sacrifice a USB female port from a USB extender, and attached the power leads and shorted the data leads. Figured it couldn't hurt. The converter doesn't care if it's putting out 500mA or 3A. It's not intelligent like some chargers in what current it doles out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Caferacer said:
To be clear, there is no indication it is *required* for the S4. Mine quick charges just fine without shorted data leads. However I did this because my friends have a variety of phones and it only took a few minutes to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree with what you posted in general terms, below is the link to the thread I was talking about. He did some testing and found the pins aren't just shorted, but shorted w/ 82K resistors to get the maximum charging current.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2274321
Will it damage the phone to have a 3A charger plugged into it? Also If it does not damage would it be able to run the camera as a "blackbox" and not die? I currently have a 2a charger and when i use the black box software it dies after about an hour or so.
SUCCESS!
I got the little black box in from eBay.
Gave it a quick/test wire setup. This is NOT indicative of the end result which will be soldered & have shrink tubing, etc.
Okay, first I grabbed my stock S3 data/charge cable.
Snipped off the standard USB end.
Cut off the ends of the pin 2 & 3 wires since they were not being used anymore (data pins).
Then attached the red (power) from the S3 cable to the yellow (power) lead from the little black box. And did the same for the black (negative) leads.
Then hard wired the red & black from the little black box to my motorcycle battery terminals.
On the first test, I only got 460mAh.
Then I decided to short the 2 & 3 pin wires (green & white) on the S3 cable together (attach them to each other). This gave me 1120mAh!
Next I took the tin-foil and wire braid from the S3 cable and tied them together with the negative lead on the S3 cable. This gave me 1220mAh!
Still not satisfied, I then cut down the 5' S3 cable and made it a 1.5' cable.
AND THIS RESULTED IN A FULL 1920mAh!!!! Right on.
That is exactly the same mAh as the stock S4 wall charger & cable combo give me. Very stoked about this. So now I'll do a nice clean install on the bike and then duplicate it for my car dock sometime soon. FULL CHARGE AHEAD!
Crxdc said:
Will it damage the phone to have a 3A charger plugged into it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it will be fine. The phone only draws 1900mAh. If the phone were drawing 3000mAh then there might be a problem.
All done and installed now. And working great!
Negative battery connection (I forgot to shrink tube it but will do that later).
Braided negative wire (~16 to 18awg?) running under gas tank to front of bike.
I wish I would have waited till I got black zip ties in. I hate white zip ties.
The braided wire at the right side of pic that goes up above the gas tank is the pos/neg wire lead that plus right into the phone.
2A inline fuse connecting via blade connector (sorry MC) to a previously used power-on-ignition wire.
This goes to (+) on the little black box.
Note the shrink tube over the braid over the crimp connector (wire goes to top-right of screen).
Phone sitting next to the phone dock I made out of a holster that came with my phone case.
You can see the braided/shrink tubed MicroUSB connector already plugged into the phone.
It's not showing a charge though, because the ignition key is not turned on.
Phone is inserted into stable dock (it will never fall out unless I crash hard).
Ignition is turned on and battery is charging!
And proof that it's charging at the full 1900mAh. Success!
CZ Eddie said:
All done and installed now. And working great!
Negative battery connection (I forgot to shrink tube it but will do that later).
Braided negative wire (~16 to 18awg?) running under gas tank to front of bike.
I wish I would have waited till I got black zip ties in. I hate white zip ties.
The braided wire at the right side of pic that goes up above the gas tank is the pos/neg wire lead that plus right into the phone.
2A inline fuse connecting via blade connector (sorry MC) to a previously used power-on-ignition wire.
This goes to (+) on the little black box.
Note the shrink tube over the braid over the crimp connector (wire goes to top-right of screen).
Phone sitting next to the phone dock I made out of a holster that came with my phone case.
You can see the braided/shrink tubed MicroUSB connector already plugged into the phone.
It's not showing a charge though, because the ignition key is not turned on.
Phone is inserted into stable dock (it will never fall out unless I crash hard).
Ignition is turned on and battery is charging!
And proof that it's charging at the full 1900mAh. Success!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome.
Hard wire phone charger and Bluetooth Receiver to car battery plan...
Hello,
I'm planning to install the following in my car along with new stereo head unit:
1) CraigsDocks Samsung Galaxy S4 docking charger, with USB power out
2) Rocketfish Bluetooth Music Receiver (with aptX), with DC 5V power out (connected to 3' 5V to USB power cable)
Plan to use this to convert (found on EBAY - I can't post links here in XDA yet/new user): Dual USB Cable Connectors Power Adapters 8-22V 12 V to 5V/3A DC Volt Converters... to connect directly to my car battery to power both the Samsung charger and the Rocketfish.
I'm new at this and I'm wondering if you all think this will work, or if I'm missing any steps, or if there are other better suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
ebrowni said:
Hello,
I'm planning to install the following in my car along with new stereo head unit:
1) CraigsDocks Samsung Galaxy S4 docking charger, with USB power out
2) Rocketfish Bluetooth Music Receiver (with aptX), with DC 5V power out (connected to 3' 5V to USB power cable)
Plan to use this to convert (found on EBAY - I can't post links here in XDA yet/new user): Dual USB Cable Connectors Power Adapters 8-22V 12 V to 5V/3A DC Volt Converters... to connect directly to my car battery to power both the Samsung charger and the Rocketfish.
I'm new at this and I'm wondering if you all think this will work, or if I'm missing any steps, or if there are other better suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks good to me. :good:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-Ca...064?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51af639938
ebrowni said:
Hello,
I'm planning to install the following in my car along with new stereo head unit:
1) CraigsDocks Samsung Galaxy S4 docking charger, with USB power out
2) Rocketfish Bluetooth Music Receiver (with aptX), with DC 5V power out (connected to 3' 5V to USB power cable)
Plan to use this to convert (found on EBAY - I can't post links here in XDA yet/new user): Dual USB Cable Connectors Power Adapters 8-22V 12 V to 5V/3A DC Volt Converters... to connect directly to my car battery to power both the Samsung charger and the Rocketfish.
I'm new at this and I'm wondering if you all think this will work, or if I'm missing any steps, or if there are other better suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just realize that if you wire it to your batter there will be a small draw from the converter and chargers even when not in use. If you let your car sit for a week or long weekend you might come out to find the battery dead. I personally wouldn't wire anything directly to the battery, especially since you didn't mention an inline fuse. Find a switched 12v lead inside the car. Not only does this protect your phone, charger, and car, but it also means you don't have to run anything through the firewall, which is a pain.
You can either tie into the cig lighter wiring, or find something else (I used my clock circuit since it runs to a 10A fuse and is switched).
Caferacer said:
Just realize that if you wire it to your batter there will be a small draw from the converter and chargers even when not in use. If you let your car sit for a week or long weekend you might come out to find the battery dead. I personally wouldn't wire anything directly to the battery, especially since you didn't mention an inline fuse. Find a switched 12v lead inside the car. Not only does this protect your phone, charger, and car, but it also means you don't have to run anything through the firewall, which is a pain.
You can either tie into the cig lighter wiring, or find something else (I used my clock circuit since it runs to a 10A fuse and is switched).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your clock circuit is switched?
I agree with the firewall being a pita, but I'm not a huge fan of tapping on to other circuits either. With nothing charging, what would be drawing any current? If there's anything, it would have to be minimal. It also allows you to charge a phone/device with the car not running, sometimes very handy (and a modification I've made before for just that reason). An inline fuse is also a must, good point!
Sent from my de-Verizonized Galaxy S4, CleanRom style! (using Tapatalk beta 4)
MonkeyTime said:
Your clock circuit is switched?
I agree with the firewall being a pita, but I'm not a huge fan of tapping on to other circuits either. With nothing charging, what would be drawing any current? If there's anything, it would have to be minimal. It also allows you to charge a phone/device with the car not running, sometimes very handy (and a modification I've made before for just that reason). An inline fuse is also a must, good point!
Sent from my de-Verizonized Galaxy S4, CleanRom style! (using Tapatalk beta 4)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, my clock circuit has a switched lead to wake up the clock as well as a hard wired lead to retain the time. Both run to the same 10A fuse.
There is a small transformer in the converter and the receiver bluetooth will stay on. They have a small energy draw which is not negligible over a long period of time. At the very least I would include a dash mounted switch to completely shut the charger and receiver off. For instance I have a bluetooth OBD adapter (Not too much unlike your bluetooth receiver) that drained a 2 year old car battery over a week I left the car sitting while I was on vacation. For day to day driving it's not a problem but my OBD adapter isn't hardwired and I can just remove it when I know the car will be sitting.
Thanks
Caferacer said:
Just realize that if you wire it to your batter there will be a small draw from the converter and chargers even when not in use. If you let your car sit for a week or long weekend you might come out to find the battery dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oooh, good point! Makes sense to me. I have never done a mod to my car's audio system so I'll be paying a professional installer. I'm so glad to have this information before I shop around at the good places here and get some offers!
Thank you!

Back of phone producing 24v AC when charging

Hello,
For a while now I noticed that when my Xperia XZ phone was plugged in, the metal back of it had a somewhat different feel as if it was textured. Today I decided to test it with a meter to ground to see what the potential was. It delivers a 24 V AC charge when plugged in. It is always delivering 24v and the current is extremely low. This occurred with both the official charger and cable, and an anker charger with anker cable. Does anyone else get this? How on earth would a phone getting a DC charge put out 24V AC?
To test just plug your phone in and lightly drag your finger along the back. Do the same with it unplugged. If your phone is the same as mine you will feel a texture like feeling when it is plugged in, and none when it isn't. I can't see this being a defect as it would have to transform DC somehow to get the AC power. Strangely too my phone now always says that it is providing power as a USB device perhaps that is an issue.
That's common, it's the battery grounding itself via the back metal panel of the phone.
It happens in many phones and usually laptops or tablets, nothing dangerous or defect.
Happened to me once, I reconnected the charger to another socket & it was fixed. Never happend to me ever again.
This phenomenon is called Current leakage, although it might not be hazardous as the current is very low but any sort of leakage could be dangerous.
I would suggest changing the charging socket. If that doesn't work maybe you should try to change the wire & the charger and see if it happens again.
Are you using the original charger? It is likely to happen if the ground pin of the charger is actually not 0V.

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