It seems the only way to fast charge a N1 is with the supplied wall charger. Standard Micro USB chargers whould only allow at much as 450mA of charge current regardless of the adapter current capacity.
The bundled charger however, manages to push 900mA into the N1. I made a cut in the charger wires and measured the current draw to make sure.
Now.. I'd like my car charger to be able to do the same. There must be some hack in the plug of the N1 charger since there are only 2 conductors from the case to the plug. You can see that the plug is somewhat longer than similar Micro USB plugs..
So I tried to see if one of the 3 unused pins can tell me anything but.. they seem unconnected as far as I could tell. Diode measurement (to test for any digital part inside) also did not produce any results. The next obvious step is to take the molded plug apart but I'd rather not...
Does anyone have any clue as to what makes that plug so special?
And please - I did my tests with a bench power supply - not the car chargers - so don't go around telling me it has to do with charger current capacity.
Thanks,
Nir
are you sure the micro usb cords you are using are able to handle the amps? most chargers made prior to now, only push about 450mA, the G1, and N1 chargers i have push a full amp though. I just ordered a car charger that pushes an amp too. There is nothing "special" about the plug.
followinginsanity said:
are you sure the micro usb cords you are using are able to handle the amps? most chargers made prior to now, only push about 450mA, the G1, and N1 chargers i have push a full amp though. I just ordered a car charger that pushes an amp too. There is nothing "special" about the plug.
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I beg to differ. All the cords can easily supply 1 AMP. It is the phone itself that decides how much to draw from the charger based on something IN THE PLUG.
I am an electronics engineer so do understand I know perfectly what I am talking about
And your 1A car charger does not supply anything over 0.45A to the phone.. you will see that if you are using the phone while it charges (say nav or phone call) the phone actually looses some charge albeit it being charged... This will not happen with the stock wall charger.
I have a 900mAh car charger that I use and it does in fact give 900mAh to the phone while charging. I can tell because I used a 450mAh charger at home before and it was slooow and I could drain my phone while charging it. With the car charger I can stream music with spotify, use the GPS, have the screen on full brightness and the battery % will still go up.
I also bought a new wall charger recently, which is 850mAh on the USB port and has a 350mAh charger for a loose battery as well, works quite nice.
Has anyone measured the voltage or put a scope on the output of the stock charger?
maybe stock charger has a slight variance in voltage over USB chargers or some signalling going on and this tells the N1 to take more current from it?
I would like a solution to this too I've seen my phone discharge while on a supposedly 1A car charger using co-pilot.
SBS_ said:
I have a 900mAh car charger that I use and it does in fact give 900mAh to the phone while charging. I can tell because I used a 450mAh charger at home before and it was slooow and I could drain my phone while charging it. With the car charger I can stream music with spotify, use the GPS, have the screen on full brightness and the battery % will still go up.
I also bought a new wall charger recently, which is 850mAh on the USB port and has a 350mAh charger for a loose battery as well, works quite nice.
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Forget the numbers on the chargers - what counts is what really goes into the phone and that needs to be measured with a current meter (test equipment). What you may think to be fast might not be that.
Original HTC chargers obviously do the trick of fast charging but this comes at a price compared to the $3-$4 garden variety on Ebay and the likes.
now I cannot help you with the electronics at all, but, my old HTC Touch Pro charger seems to charge the same as the one which came with the phone, is this correct?
(suits me if it is, as then I have a charger for home and work)
my blackberry bold 2 charger only says it outputs 700MAh, but both the google and htc chargers both say 1.0A
dnts said:
Forget the numbers on the chargers - what counts is what really goes into the phone and that needs to be measured with a current meter (test equipment). What you may think to be fast might not be that.
Original HTC chargers obviously do the trick of fast charging but this comes at a price compared to the $3-$4 garden variety on Ebay and the likes.
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Click to collapse
Yes, it is just anecdotal evidence as I don't have any equipment to measure it. But my phone no longer discharges when I use it while charging, which it used to do with the old charger I used. So while I can say for a fact that the charger I use now is faster, I can't say by how much (this goes for both the car charger and the one I put in the wall socket).
I ordered this charger a few weeks ago and it charges my phone as fast as the original charger. The label says 5v / 1200mA.
Genuine Nokia Mini AC-10U US Type AC Charger (100~240V)
$7,25 and free shipping. (Takes a while before you get it tho.)
GazzaK said:
now I cannot help you with the electronics at all, but, my old HTC Touch Pro charger seems to charge the same as the one which came with the phone, is this correct?
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HTC Touch Pro = mini USB
Nexus One = micro USB
Not an engineering here, but I am guessing the phone not always drawing more than 500ma may be is to do with the charger itself.
There is this "fast charge" USB standard where a wall plug has the USB data pins shorted to indicate that it is a wall plug and hence the phone knows when to draw more power. So even if the charger is rated 1A, the phone might not know if it could utilize that if those pins aren't shorted. Try doing a quick Google on this ....
If someone can test if the stock charger that came with the phone in fact does have those pins shorted that would confirm part of this theory.
For all practical purpose - I used two cables/plugs with a bench adjustable power supply. Simple micro USB plug would only let me draw 450mA regardless of power supply voltage in the range 4.5-5.5V. Tried shorting data pins - nothing. Tried shorting spare pin to VCC or GND or any of the other pins - nothing.
Used original cable and plug - draws 900mA at voltages from 4.9-5.5.
So it's in the plug somehow.
Tried (very difficult) to see if the pins on the plug are shorted and all 3 spares (except for 5V and GND) seems unconnected.
Next step is the irreversible hot knife...
I'm bugged by this, too. I tested with my desktop dock connected to my car charger (which states 1000 mA): it loads slowly and my battery widget reports USB- instead of AC-charger.
Might it be that the phone tries to load more than 1000 mA at the beginning to be sure that it doesn't overload the charger? And if that fails, it falls back to 500 mA?
Could N1 use a simple logic of:
- always watch the voltage
- start drawing 500ma (or whichever is the lowest current as per USB spec)
- increment in say 50ma steps
- if voltage drops below 4.x V, back off and stay at that level
I just did a little test of my own. I have a Palm Pre car charger (actual Palm brand one labeled as 1000ma output) and I plunged my N1 into it on my way home from work. In twenty eight minutes, my battery went from 47% to 70%. Much faster than plugging into my computer, which is 500ma max. I don't have any fancy test equipment, and don't claim to know a whole lot about electronics, but seems pretty fast to me.
I have a 4-port 2A 5v USB charger, and connecting it to my Nexus OR Milestone with a MicroUSB cable (the one that shipped with either phone, or the one from my Kindle) yields painfully slow charging - it basically won't charge if you are using the phone.
Connecting the Nexus One charger yields fast charging on either phone - so it is not HTC (or Motorola) proprietary.
The Milestone comes with a 900mA USB plug, and connecting THAT to either phone with either of the MicroUSB cables yields fast charging.
I have another aftermarket 2 port 2A 5V USB wall charger (brand: T'nB) AND I have an iPhone USB plug, and both give fast charging on the Milestone, and I have not yet tried them on the Nexus One.
Breakdown (on things I've tried):
FAST CHARGING on Nexus One AND Milestone:
Nexus charger (either in the US (110v/60hz) or in France (220v/50hz) through an adaptor)
Milestone wall French USB plug (which I think is something odd like 850mA at 5.9v) with ANY microUSB cable (in fact, it seems to charge both of the phones faster than the stock Nexus One plug)
SLOW CHARGING on Nexus One AND Milestone:
USB plug on computer
One aftermarket 4 port 2A 5V USB charger (NOT a hub, only a charger)
FAST CHARGING on Milestone, untested with Nexus One
T'nB 2 port 5v 2A USB wall charger
Apple iPhone 1 port 1A 5v USB wall adaptor
Seems found the answer for Fast Charging N1
I had just do some test for Charging N1 With Original AC Charger , Other band USB Charger and PC USB charger.
1. Orginal Charger give N1 from 0% to 100% at about 2 hour and something.
2. The other band AC charger and PC USB Charger can only finish the same job over 5 to 6 hours.
The Fast Charging is Due to 5.1V (Measured at N1) and 5.2V(Measured inside AC charger). 0.1V Drop is due to resistance of USB cable.
The Slow charged is due to 4.8V (measured at N1) and 5.0V (measured on PC USB and Other AC Charger)
i.e. Original Charger mod from 5.0 V to 5.2V (about 10% increase in Voltage)
Looks my theory is correct then ? N1 watches the voltage and if it droops too much, it backs off the current.
So the key would be: get a charger than can maintain at least 1A @ 5.2V, use
a decent gauge, short wire from the brick to N1.
Has anyone tried a Blackberry charger on the N1? Will they work to full capacity as well? (They're on Amazon for a fiver)
Because the nokia charger is working
http://pinoutsguide.com/CellularPhones-Nokia/micro_usb_connector_pinout.shtml
see info under table.
I tested also HP charger + standard USB cable delivered with Nexus, and it is charching cca 1A.
Then I tested one noname Carcharger + standard USB cable delivered with Nexus, and also charging cca 1A.
I dismantle the noname carcharger and here is a result:
data line (pin2+3) is shorted and connected do + (pin1 ,Vcc) thrue resistor cca 630kOhm.
1 - 4 = 5.1V
2,3 - 4 = 3.2V
rashid11 said:
Looks my theory is correct then ? N1 watches the voltage and if it droops too much, it backs off the current.
So the key would be: get a charger than can maintain at least 1A @ 5.2V, use
a decent gauge, short wire from the brick to N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try to use power supply 5.2V 2A with cable without dataline (pin 2and3 not connected) and it is charging 480mA only.
I have now tested with an HTC car charger for the HD2. It's fast charging (tested with Waze running, two bluetooth connections and playing mp3 - and it's still loading the battery, whereas before it would be stuck at the current percentage) and even shows AC power instead of USB.
Hi Here in Mexico dont have a UK plugs and of corse my phone charger dont fits o the outlet but i have a USB Charger I can plug the Data cable to carge but the only question i have is this specs
Samsung Original Travel Charger is output : 5V = 0.7a
My USB output : 5V = 0.5a
Please Help
I think the only diff is the charges Times is less amp takes more time to full the battery.
i use the uk charger here in the u.s. i believe they are set for multiple power inputs just get a cheap adapter to change the plug configuration. that is what i am using.
i posted the below in another charger thread but in case it serves here
not sure if a lot of folks are just unaware, but every phone i've had charged fine from a usb port off my computer
since i started tethering my phone to my laptop (browse the web from family couch) december 2009, i haven't used the wall charger
even if i'm not tethering, i've got a spare usb cable on the desktop, that when i sit down at the desk, the phone or whatever device, gets connected to - far more convenient and fewer items occupying space on the desk
plus, i've got that Tmo car charger that just has a usb port on it's end - so the same cable that i use to tether to the laptop (when in the car), if i'm using the phone in the dock for nav, runs down to the charger - the charger, with no cable hanging off it when not in use, let's me leave the charger in the socket 24/7 - no looking for it in the glove box and untangling it etc
that charger is simply converting the 14V car voltage to 5 V the USB port normally delivers
2 - 3.5 hours seems to take my 1150mah battery from low charge to full
for what it's worth
celtichazard said:
Hi Here in Mexico dont have a UK plugs and of corse my phone charger dont fits o the outlet but i have a USB Charger I can plug the Data cable to carge but the only question i have is this specs
Samsung Original Travel Charger is output : 5V = 0.7a
My USB output : 5V = 0.5a
Please Help
I think the only diff is the charges Times is less amp takes more time to full the battery.
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Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with that. 5V is all you need. As long as you don't supply too high a voltage, your batteries should be safe. Don't worry about the amperage (current). Lower current (0.5a vs 0.7a) just means that it takes longer to charge the batteries.
And for those who really must have a wall charger that charges the batteries directly, you can buy a universal USB charger (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15264). It works great. It plugs into any USB charger or laptop USB port, and charges any battery rated 3.7V. You can find them on eBay for just a couple of dollars.
I bought the SlingPlayer app as a way to listen to news at work while I do my work. What I have noticed is that plugging it into my USB port slows down the battery drain of the app, but the power draw caused by the app is more than the USB port can provide, so after enough time, I have to shut down SlingPlayer to let the battery recharge.
Are there any settings that I can do (under clock?) to reduce the power draw?
Would finding a two male USB to micro USB cable from somewhere(?) do the trick, or is that dangerous doubling the amperage?
I am hoping there is an option that does not involve a power adapter, because all the plugs are already taken.
Usually computer usb ports are only 500mA. The wall charger that came with the phone is 700mA and the phone itself it's 1000mA.
So the phone is using 1000mA while you're providing it only 1/2 of the power it needs.
I would recommend getting a usb wall charger that supplies 1000mA or if you can find the Y usb cable for your computer that would work too.
Reduce brightness by 50% see if that helps , screen is biggest power consumer on cell phones. Or just power it from wall charger not computer USB port.
Currently using BuoyAOSPsy v131 ROM
I have noticed that my battery still drains while I am plugged in and the phone indicates it is plugged in. Have not tested this while plugged into a wall jack, only in my car or via USB to computer.
When this occurs I am using GPS/Navigation software, active data connection (ofc), and playing music.
Does USB or car adapter not supply enough "juice" for this phone to run multiple applications/features? Is there anything I can do to remedy this, such as try a different car adapter? What specs do I need to look for to ensure appropriate power transfer?
Thanks!
**@ Moderators: Hopefully I placed this in the correct forum. Since it is not necessarily directly related to the ROM I thought it should be kept out of the ROM's thread.
Yes you can easily draw more power then its supplying when using computer or car charger. Most of the time its only charging 500 ma when charging that method. Wall charger's I believe are 1000 ma. Navagation is a HUGE draw on battery.
u921333 said:
Yes you can easily draw more power then its supplying when using computer or car charger. Most of the time its only charging 500 ma when charging that method. Wall charger's I believe are 1000 ma. Navagation is a HUGE draw on battery.
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Thank you for the info. Guess I'll just have to find a higher quality car adapter.
Actually ive read when using a data cable ie stock or regular micro usb cable on a usb port on your pc or a regular charger the max it will get is 500ma. one of the oem wall chargers (block with usb port) is able to supply 1000ma and the phone is only able to sense this the data pin + and - are shorted together. this tells the phone its charging ac plugged vs usb. now check the output of your car charger and if its able to supply more than 500ma then you can either short pins 2-3 on your cable or on your charger and you will get maximum current draw. Research it you ill there was an article posted on xda somwhere.
I'm getting 1000ma from both my ccar charger and AC adapter. u don't want to pin short a cable and charge from usb. drawing that much power will damage the port, it wasn't designed for that (1.0,2.0). USB 3.0, on the other hand :-D