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Car charger for Samsung Galaxy S4

Has anyone managed to get a car charger for this phone?
I've just tried to charge the phone with my car charger modded to "AC" mode by shorting the middle pins... and the S4 gets nada...
Have they changed the charging mechanics?

Is that what's going on? I was wondering what the heck was wrong with my charger!

Yup, the car charger still charges my old HTC, even with the Samsung cable... so there's definitely something different inside the charger...

I have a 2A usb car charger with generic cable to charge my devices. It's nothing special, but it works with my S4. Hope that helps.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10826&cs_id=1082603&p_id=8858&seq=1&format=2

I have this charger and it charges my GS4. Of course, I bought it 2 years ago.
EDIT: I guess it helps when I paste the link. Duh... http://www.amazon.com/Verizon-Vehicle-Charger-USB-Port/dp/B003NA0658

I have a 500mA car charger and it didn't work. Even though it worked on my Xperia Z. I bought a 2A charger from Maplin and it works just fine.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

delete

moobieboobie said:
I have a 2A usb car charger with generic cable to charge my devices. It's nothing special, but it works with my S4. Hope that helps.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10826&cs_id=1082603&p_id=8858&seq=1&format=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have the same charger works just fine.
Sent via Galaxy S4

Hmmm will have to look into getting a decent 2A charger then and NOT modifying it...

So I opened up my car charger and un-modded it back to original and it works like a charm now

I've got a 1A Belkin car charger and it seems to overload after a while when charging my gs4.
The green light on it blinks and my phone makes that sound when you plug in the charger.
Takes a while for it to happen but gets more frequent the longer you have it plugged in.
The charger works fine with my gf's nexus 4.

ttsprnkls said:
I've got a 1A Belkin car charger and it seems to overload after a while when charging my gs4.
The green light on it blinks and my phone makes that sound when you plug in the charger.
Takes a while for it to happen but gets more frequent the longer you have it plugged in.
The charger works fine with my gf's nexus 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the Motorola charger (big blue circle). Got it for my Razr Maxx a year or so ago (I've gone through like 4 phones since then) and it works wonderfully. It's the best micro-USB car charger I've ever seen. Coiled cord, huge blue light (but not too bright since it's an ambient-style light), and charges quickly.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA
Seriously, the best car charger I've ever owned. 950mA is also one of the highest car chargers I've used.

I used to have that same motorola charger but I just switched to this one by SPIGEN: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069EGLFY/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It charges at the same amperage as the stock wall charger that came with the S4. I use the Galaxy Charging Current app to check.

5280WRX said:
I used to have that same motorola charger but I just switched to this one by SPIGEN: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069EGLFY/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It charges at the same amperage as the stock wall charger that came with the S4. I use the Galaxy Charging Current app to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really 1900mAh??
if you say "yes" i'll order one

5280WRX said:
I used to have that same motorola charger but I just switched to this one by SPIGEN: ...
It charges at the same amperage as the stock wall charger that came with the S4. I use the Galaxy Charging Current app to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you use it with the original cable or a generic one? I read that there are some differences in charging amount using also different cables. This SPIGEN Car charger looks very interesting. Thanks!

TrueTenacity said:
Has anyone managed to get a car charger for this phone?
I've just tried to charge the phone with my car charger modded to "AC" mode by shorting the middle pins... and the S4 gets nada...
Have they changed the charging mechanics?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tired a few most only charged at 400-500 m-amps (aka running with gps and screen on discharged it faster then it was charging) with some random picks at fry's i found one that was marked 3 amp charger that whould do 780 m-amps so the phone still makes head way chargeing while being used as GPS
FYI the tool i use to measure says the Samsung charger is 1900 M-amps and my apple ipad charging brink is 1400 just for reference.
tool is Galaxy Charging Current Lite i would link it but the forum will not let me

Trueglich said:
I have tired a few most only charged at 400-500 m-amps (aka running with gps and screen on discharged it faster then it was charging) with some random picks at fry's i found one that was marked 3 amp charger that whould do 780 m-amps so the phone still makes head way chargeing while being used as GPS
FYI the tool i use to measure says the Samsung charger is 1900 M-amps and my apple ipad charging brink is 1400 just for reference.
tool is Galaxy Charging Current Lite i would link it but the forum will not let me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use elixir 2, the battery stats will give amps while discharging and change when charging. I think it uses the current_now as reference.

I have a 2a usb car charger and I just use the usb cable from the phone. I bought the car charger from best buy.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

fabian_b_m said:
Do you use it with the original cable or a generic one? I read that there are some differences in charging amount using also different cables. This SPIGEN Car charger looks very interesting. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different USB cables do pass different current even if using the same charging main. From tests I've done so far, a generic 3 ft USB 2.0 cable I randomly purchased online only allowed around 400 mA. An old Blackberry Torch 9810 cable allowed around 1200 mA. Original cable that came with the S4 allows 1900 mA. These numbers are from using the original wall charger main that came with phone.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda app-developers app

I bought an anker car charger and mediabridge charging usb cable and it's a great combo. The images of the anker car charger is different, should be dual usb ports.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-2-4A-2...=1375543576&sr=1-1&keywords=anker+car+charger
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009W34X1I/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I don't know the exact current I'm getting, but from the battery monitor widget app, I'm seeing at least 1amp or higher of positive current.

Charging slow???

Out of the blue I noticed my S3 was charging very slowly, it even was losing a charge while it was plugged in while I was using it. I figure it had something to do with my custom ROM so I reflash, still same outcome. The battery was still holding a good charge, so I figured it was something else. I then went out and bought a new charger, which came with a micro usb cord to see if that helped. Plugged in the new charger while using my old micro usb cord, still same outcome. Then used the new micro usb cord and old charger, charging went back to normal, problem solved! I would of never thought that the cord would malfunction from day to day use after such a short lifespan. Moral of the story, check your cords if you experience the same problem, it could save you some time and money!

I bought some cheap ones off Amazon. They won't charge the s3 but will my touchpad. But my s3 charger won't charge my touchpad. Stuff is weird at times.
Glad it was an easy fix.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Must have been charging in USB mode.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I believe it, using my old galaxy nexus cord for my s3 charges extremely slow (like 200 mAh) for some reason. I switched to a different cord and now it's all good, I have no clue why but that's how it is.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

That's weird mine started doing the same thing just in the past few days. I have to unplug and plug it back in multiple times before it goes into AC mode
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I really think that those cheap cables don't charge nearly as fast. Especially the Stock Sammy ones. I use the thicker LG cables and they seem to charge so much fast and transfer files faster..

I just went through the same thing. The phone was charging for twelve hours and only gained 50 percent. Took forever to figure out it was the cord.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

USB Cable
I think charging AC is not fast charge.
You should to charge USB cable.
Thanks.

cell128 said:
That's weird mine started doing the same thing just in the past few days. I have to unplug and plug it back in multiple times before it goes into AC mode
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
That's what my phone was doing, I'd unplug then plug it back in and would go from USB to AC, but it still charged slow. That cable, no matter what it said, would still charge slow as balls.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I had heard of "Buy Cheap, Buy Twice", but now we've got "Buy Cheap, Charge Twice"

A lot of times it's the DC power brick that makes the difference. Not all of them have the same power output. Rarely, if ever, is it the actual cord itself. USB cables use pretty thin gauge wire already and the only way you're going to get a difference from one cable to another would be if it was REALLY cheap and using an ultra-thin wire or if it was a REALLY long cable (increases in cable length equate to increased resistance to electrical transmission...)
All USB cables are 5 volts. However, there can be significant differences in the milliamp output for each DC adapter. Aside from being a computer geek and gamer who builds custom PC's, I happen to be a hotel General Manager. I just checked our catch-all box of phone chargers and found that while every charger has an output of 5v, the amperage put out varied from 350 mA to 1000 mA from one charger to the next.
This variance in output is why some chargers take so long as compared to others. I don't know what the actual Samsung charger output is, since my charger is at home, but my guess is it's between 800 and 1000 mA.

I use the stock BB charger to charge both my 9900 and GS3, the BB charges pretty normal but lately I've been having a problem with the charging time on my S3, I have to charge it everyday now, my usage isn't that heavy, it lasts me a day and a half normally. Going to start using the stock charger to see if there is a difference.

I'm using the Samsung stock charger after not having used it for a month and noticing that my battery levels have deteriorated after using my BB stock charger. The battery seems to be discharging while on the charger! I'm in for a world of pain, going to monitor it for a while. I could be stressing over nothing.

Discharging while using Navigation

Hey Guys,
So I was recently on a trip this weekend and was using Navigation on my Nexus 5 for a 4 hour drive. I had noticed though after a short while that while I had my Nexus 5 plugged into a charger it was still continuing to drain battery.
With my Galaxy Nexus in the past I was able to run Navigation / Music / Etc.. all whilst still charging so it came as a disappointment when I saw this.
I made sure that I was charging on (AC) mode and it still continued to fall, albeit a little slower than (USB) mode though. When I went to the battery usage navigation had taken up about 59% of the battery drain, I was surprised because I though it would have been the screen but that was only like 14% of the battery drain.
Anyone else run into this issue?

Check the Amp output on the charger. Anything less than 1A will not charge the phone while in use.
I had the exact opposite issue with my G-Nex, the "rapid" charger I was using only output 550mAh as opposed to the 1A that is required to charge while in use. I don't believe it is an issue with the phone, it's probably just the charger. $10 to $20 will get you a nice, reliable one with the proper output, and possibly an additional USB port.
Hopefully this helps

Don't buy cheap car chargers, just not enough power. I use a Verizon car charger that has an extra USB port for charging another device and it charges while the device is in use.

Thanks for the input guys, unfortunately the charger was 1 amp that I was using. I do have another car charger that I use and none of them are the cheap USB ones. I guess I'll have to do some more testing with the other car charger that I have.
I was just mainly concerned, not if there was something wrong with the phone, but with the fact that even when charging in AC it wouldn't keep up with navigation's wear on the battery usage.

Thought I would update to confirm that my Galaxy Nexus car dock charger charged it extremely well after testing while navigating.
Definitely was the other one I was using.

When you switched chargers did you happen to also use a different cable? I couldn't get any of three different chargers that I tried to keep up with the GPS battery drain. Then I realized I was using the same cable with all 3 chargers. The problem was that the cable kept the phone in DC charging mode at nothing more than 0.5 amps. I bought this fast charging cable on Amazon and now I actually gain battery percentage even while using my GPS full time.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088HTYUE/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

jalanjkcarp said:
When you switched chargers did you happen to also use a different cable? I couldn't get any of three different chargers that I tried to keep up with the GPS battery drain. Then I realized I was using the same cable with all 3 chargers. The problem was that the cable kept the phone in DC charging mode at nothing more than 0.5 amps. I bought this fast charging cable on Amazon and now I actually gain battery percentage even while using my GPS full time.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088HTYUE/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had exactly the same thing with my old phone and discovered it was the cable not letting more than 380 ma pass through it.
There are apps like this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccc71.bmw that let you monitor mah in and out etc so you can test out different leads and chargers
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Wireless charging

any one notice how the wireless charger blue light keeps blinking if the phone isn't in exactly in the right spot ??

I was considering buy one does it take forever to charge?
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

I tried laying a folded piece of paper in between my phone (caseless)and the charger and it worked as intended. I believe the magnetic field due to the phone being too close is too strong to maintain the intended current. Or vice versa. Using my case results in the opposite result. Not 100% sure, it's been 15 years since my electrical theory courses.

It works great for my wife and i and we have them both in different casses....

Mine wouldn't charge for more than a few minutes regardless of battery level. I tried it with a different cord/plug and it works fine. So my cord or plug is bad, but the charger is fine.

IT seems like it is the only problem with the wireless charging. I tried different 2AMP adapters and USB cords. I tried making sure the USB cord wasn't coiled and straight and vice versa. Tried the paper method, seemed ok but silly. I have a case coming soon. I put the Note 5 on 2 different QI chargers. Goes all the way up to 100. Its the charger/note 5 relationship. Not sure what it is. There are a couple other forums on them.

Experiment time....
Sent from my SM-N920P using XDA Free mobile app

This is way more picky on placement than my note 3 with the oem wireless back added.

Anyone else notice a relationship between wireless charging and notifications? It seems over night if I don't get any notifications, it charges no problem. However every time I wake up+ with a notification, the wireless charger is blinking, and my charge isn't full.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

anubis06660 said:
Anyone else notice a relationship between wireless charging and notifications? It seems over night if I don't get any notifications, it charges no problem. However every time I wake up+ with a notification, the wireless charger is blinking, and my charge isn't full.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got all my notifications last night no issues

I actually have been having problems, despite my optimistic previous post. I can't seem to get a bead on why, though. Problem seems worse with some of my electrical outlets than others. Turning on daydream seems to ensure a full charge, but then it doesn't turn off at 100% and gets warm. So, I dunno.

I took my Samsung circle piece of crap back doesn't seem to charge at a snails pace. Sprint rep ask "are you sure.you had it on there right?" Yea no no im not a damn idiot. Im ordering a qi stand hope it will at least charge overnight.

Right now only seeing good results on the Samsung wireless charging pad I have a duracell and it sounds to connect but no charge
Sent from my SM-N920P using XDA Premium HD app

lilmeanz said:
I was considering buy one does it take forever to charge?
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was at 2% when I placed the phone on the charger(free Samsung charger best buy gave) and it said it would be less then 2 hours for full charge

Having same issue phone starts to charge and when i get a text or email it quits charging have to completely remove from pad and put back on to start charging. Have not tried daydream option.. i unplugged it last night and used cord to charge.

I exchanged my charger and the new one has none of the issues I have been experiencing. Charges fully every time. No fiddling necessary. I should have done or sooner.

I will try different outlet but if it keeps up going to try to exchange it.

Yeah I tried different outlets, different cords. Eventually I talked to a Samsung rep in Best Buy who saps that Thai cam be fiddly, but what I was experiencing was not normal, Amma I should return it. So I did, and have had no problems since.

I ran some tests with Note5 and Nexus 7 and here is the result.
Samsung Wireless Charger: Note5 NG – Quits charging after few minutes, Nexus7 OK
Cheap wireless charger from Amazon: Note5 OK, Nexus7 OK
Anker wireless charger : Note5 OK, Nexus7 OK
Used 2 different brand new Samsung Wireless chargers with same results.
If I turn on daydream, Samsung charger works fine. But I don't want display on at night while I'm charging. I'm using the samsung charger for Nexus 7 and one of my other wireless chargers for Note5.
Update.
Used Samsung Adaptive fast charger wall plug with Samsung wireless charger and Note5 is charging normally without disconnecting. Weird..

halmo20 said:
I ran some tests with Note5 and Nexus 7 and here is the result.
Samsung Wireless Charger: Note5 NG – Quits charging after few minutes, Nexus7OK
Cheap wireless charger from Amazon: Note5 OK, Nexus7 OK
Anker wireless charger: Note5 OK, Nexus7 OK
Used 2 different brand new Samsung Wireless chargers with same results.
If I turn on daydream, Samsung charger works fine. But I don't want display on at night while I'm charging. I'm using the samsung charger for Nexus 7 and one of my other wireless chargers for Note5.
Update.
Used Samsung Adaptive fast charger wall plug with Samsung wireless charger and Note5 is charging normally without disconnecting. Weird..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im using the note 5 wall charger and cable with wireless pad and would not keep charging after i got a notification.. only way it work was turned day dream on.
Sent from my SM-N920P using XDA Free mobile app

Anyone tried using their samsung 2.0 amp charger?

Plugged my phone into a 2.0 charger from either b my s4 mini or my n3 before going to bed, woke up and phone wasnt fully charged. Didn't think anything of it, just went on my way. Now my phone just died completely went to use that same charger and didn't charge.
Downloaded a galaxy battery current charging app and it shows negative amperage when plugged into 2a charger. Also with the screen off it only shows one green dot instead of the trail leading to the battery.

Sounds like your 2 amp cable was defective. I've plugged mine into a 2 amp and it just takes a lot longer to charge

I thought so too, so I used the brand new cable that came with the n5, same result.

If the other cable was defective it could of damaged your usb port possibly. I use a 2 amp in my car sometimes then my 5 amp at home no ill effects

I use my note 3 charger every night because ive always heard a slower charge is better for battery longevity. I have had absolutely no problems and wake up with a full charge after a average 5 hour sleep every morning. I only use my note 5 charger for quick fill ups during the day. Im guessing your wall wart is bad. Try the 2amp cable on the note 5 charger then U will know its not the cable
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Same, no problems with the 2 amp here.
Sent from my SM-N920P using XDA Free mobile app