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Car dock charger

Does anyone have pictures of the internals of the charger for the official Nexus One car dock?
The reason I ask is because I'm thinking of buying the car dock and hiding the charger out of view. The problem is that where I'm wanting to put it, there is not enough room to install a 12v outlet alone, much less the outlet and the charger, so I'm wanting to hard wire it all, but need to know how much room the internals of the charger are going to take up to see if it will fit where I want to put it.

i ran into a similar problem to you. I ended up not bothering to pull apart the 5v regulator as it appeared to be glued together. unless someone was very determined to get it apart you you not find anybody who has. I ended up buying a cigarette lighter socket and sticking it and the regulator in my fusebox out of the way.
if this isn't an option you can you any standard microusb charger cable as long as it is rated for 1 amp. I'm pretty sure all 1 amp chargers have the signal pin shorted to the power pin to indicate to the device they can pull 1 amp as opposed to 500ma. If you get one that can be taken apart that would work for your project.
Best of luck with your install! I've hardwired 4 different gadgets into my car and love how clean and tidy everything is. just one cable dangling in my car is too much. please post pics if you get it tucked away as you want, i'd love to see how it works out!

Sounds like space is at a premium. Another option is to hard wire in a Belkin USB charger which is heaps smaller. Then just run a USB charge cable from it to the car dock. Check out the harness I made up in the center bottom pic to get an appreciation of how small it is. Downside is the Belkin Micro USB only puts out 1A as compared to 2A from the genuine charger. So the car dock may struggle a bit.

logger said:
Sounds like space is at a premium. Another option is to hard wire in a Belkin USB charger which is heaps smaller. Then just run a USB charge cable from it to the car dock. Check out the harness I made up in the center bottom pic to get an appreciation of how small it is. Downside is the Belkin Micro USB only puts out 1A as compared to 2A from the genuine charger. So the car dock may struggle a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your setup, I may do something like that myself, but not for the project at hand, but rather just to have a 1amp USB charger for whatever.
Now as for the original project itself, what I'm wanting to do is mount the car dock in my 98 Chevy Blazer right below the review mirror. My Blazer happens to have the Temp. and millage computer readout right above the review mirror mounted to the headliner. There's plenty of places to hook into a switched 12v line in the housing for the millage readout, but as I stated before, it's not enough to house the entire car charger and/or and 12v socket.
I'd prefer to use the original charger that comes with the dock so as to not starve it of power. I'm hoping it's just a small circuit board with wires running to the various connectors. I guess I'll just have to buy it and check it out myself. I don't want anyone to ruin theirs just to satisfy my curiosity, not that I would expect anyone to do that to begin with.

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.

Car charging : definitive answer please??

I'm a soft - not a hard - guy!!
I bought a 2 port, 2A/1A charger offa hee-heebay. I doesn't charge so fast USB specs tell me to short the data pins, on here theres talk of resistor values across pins 4/5.
What do I need to do to get the most current down a USB cable for charging?? Well, apart from holding it in the air in an open field in a thunderstorm.....
Thanks, H.

Just go and buy an original Samsung car charger ... they're only 10 Euro or something like that.
The cheap ones from fleeBay have poor quality components that don't output enough current. I've tested one that from 5.3V on a 0mA load dropped to 3V on a ~500mA load and it didn't got past ~700mA, this adapter was rated 1A at 5V ... and don't make me get started on the safety .

Isn't it ok or simplier just to connect the phone to USB port on the CD Player ?

Yes, you can. but the USB port on most head units rarely have a high output so expect the charging to go very slowly or just keep your battery with the same power level. So a car charger is still recommended if you want to charge your phone fast.

Well I figured it out. Thanks. It might be that shorting the data will do it. The iCharger (tm) I bought has resistors across the data lines, presumably for charging the eyes.
Solution: 1A car USB and Semaphore / fastcharge.
Thanks
Sent from my MOMO9 using xda app-developers app

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!

****Official Quickcharge 2.0 Car Charger Thread****

I found this one, but I am not sure I want to drop $25 on a charger (call me cheap)
http://smile.amazon.com/Powermod-Charge-Certified--Vehicle-Charger/dp/B00P9UILUM/
Has anyone else found a cheaper one out there?
Edit: I joined the circle jerk with this title. Don't flame me.

Stoodo said:
I found this one, but I am not sure I want to drop $25 on a charger (call me cheap)
http://smile.amazon.com/Powermod-Charge-Certified--Vehicle-Charger/dp/B00P9UILUM/
Has anyone else found a cheaper one out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any 2amp charger should work. you should be able to find some for cheaper then that

xile6 said:
any 2amp charger should work. you should be able to find some for cheaper then that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The QC 2.0 spec can use higher than 5v and as much as 3A.

Several 2a and 3a chargers on ebay and amazon for less than $15. Works fine when I use a generic 3a charger since the phone will scale power on need and availability.

I ended up buying the original charger linked in my first post. Will report back.

Isn't the quick charging a factor of voltage as well as amperage? Simply buying a 2am charger won't get you the built in quick charging if you don't have the voltage to back it up..

ReggieSmith said:
Isn't the quick charging a factor of voltage as well as amperage? Simply buying a 2am charger won't get you the built in quick charging if you don't have the voltage to back it up..
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You are correct.

Ok I got the charger. While I have installed it, I haven't had time to test it fully.
When connected, it does display the Adaptive Charger Connected message.
How it differs from the Samsung home charger, it adds 12V to the mix
Charging at 5V is 10W, 9V is 14.4W, and 12V is 14.4W. (As is labeled. I haven't measured)

ReggieSmith said:
Isn't the quick charging a factor of voltage as well as amperage? Simply buying a 2am charger won't get you the built in quick charging if you don't have the voltage to back it up..
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Depends on scale. It's more about the supply at the end really. From a car charger your converting 12v (supply limit amp) to 5v 5a or 12v 2a easy. Since its DC to DC stepping is fairly straight forward. The phone will never hit the amp limit in a car. Unless you drive a soap box. Smart chargers are like having mutiple chargers in the same device. It detects what's being asked and delivering accordingly. Much like pressing your thumb on a water hose and watching the water shoot out further.
As a side note just to be sure anyone isn't thinking about upping the voltage on a charger DONT. It doesn't work that way lol. Do a quick Google search on voltage conversion and you will understand how electrical supply can change.

The Powermod charger charges my phone in the car at least as fast as the OEM Samsung charger.... Highly recommended.

not all usb cable are the same !
not all usb cable will shows "adaptive fast charger connected" when connected to phone.
i have bought IXCC microusb cable 5 packs from Amazon,
i tested all 5 microusb cable, it DOES show "adaptive fast charger conncted" when connected.
5 packs = 9.99$
3 packs = 7.99$.
http://www.amazon.com/iXCC-Charger-Samsung-Android-Tablets/dp/B0092HWU7S/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

Got the Powermod permanently installed behind the dash in my car. Charging rate is fantastic.

I'm using this car charger with a rocketfish usb cable before I hard wire a solution...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KGUTB86/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Charges VERY quickly... in line with Quick Charge 2.0 claims...

I am starting to think the Powermod car charger wasn't all that fast.
I have replaced it with this one. The charge percentage goes up VERY quickly on this one.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q0WTOXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

pieces of cake said:
Got the Powermod permanently installed behind the dash in my car. Charging rate is fantastic.
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When u say permanently, what do u mean? Some kind of customization or you just leave it there?

misterwal10 said:
When u say permanently, what do u mean? Some kind of customization or you just leave it there?
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It's plugged into a 12v hub that I hardwired to the car's electrical system. I hid the hub behind the dash and then ran the charging cable up through the middle of my dash panels. It is perfectly positioned and comes out of the dash directly where my phone mount is located. I had to disassemble my dash to do it. Wasn't a big deal for me, as I already had my dash apart to flush mount my Nexus 7 as a "detachable" head unit for my sound system.

Does this do Fast Charge like the ac outlet ?
Thanks

OEM WolfGuard 2.1A Dual Car Vehicle Adapter + 6 Ft USB Charger Cable for Verizon
I bought this, it says 2.1A but I will see when it comes in.

I got this and is amazing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OZ5OIFE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That one isn't a QuickCharge 2.0 charger and is likely not as fast.