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Charging on a Motorcycle

Ok, I have a strange problem, and wondering if any of you have basic electronics knowledge.
I am trying to charge my blackstone on my motorcycle, but having some problems.
Setup:
- 12V cigarette lighter (power outlet) hooked directly to my battery.
I also have an inline switch and an inline 10A fuse.
- Standard USB car charger. (this charges my phone in a car just fine.)
Problem:
- It drains my phone battery very fast.
- I installed HomeScreen Plus so I could see the mA drain/charge on my battery. When I have the phone hooked to the bike and 'charging,' it reads +100 mA (charging) but the battery will drop down about 6% in about 5 minutes or less.
I am really confused by this...
Thanks for your time / input!

You should measure the amount of electric charge actually coming out from the outlet using a proper measurer.

is the battery in your bike good? ive seen bad batteries act this way. they seem normal and have the amps to start the bike but under any other load the voltage drops.

12.3V on the Power outlet and 4.9V on the end of the USB cable, which is why I am all the more confused.
I haven't tested the current yet, but that is slightly more difficult, as I have to disassemble it first. Although its not like I have any current limiting hardware in the way, its hooked directly to the battery (through the fuse)
Ill play around with it more tomorrow... :-(
If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks!

Yea, the battery is good. Brand new. Cranks the bike and run all accessories just fine.

ryoojin83 said:
Yea, the battery is good. Brand new. Cranks the bike and run all accessories just fine.
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It's absolutly impossible that a bike's battery problem discharge your phone through the adapter.
I guess you should try another adapter.
I own a bike and i charge my diamond through a car to usb adapter too. The only problem i sometime ran into is that the phone get so hot that it disable the voltage input to preserve itself. It happen only when the phone is exposed to the sun through the plastic window of my tank bag.
I now own a bike "ram mount" with a native diamond holder, it's really great.

ryoojin83 said:
I haven't tested the current yet, but that is slightly more difficult, as I have to disassemble it first.
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Click to collapse
It should be a problem with D+ D- pin, if your adapter is specific to a phone model...
try another adapter.

I have tried 3 USB chargers, and all of them do the same thing.
the phone connects with a standard USB cable (mini-a?) I have tried with 2 or 3 actual cables.
I am planning to head out to NAPA, to get a new 12V connector and rewire it. This time I am going to get the 'sealed' one... *sigh* I will let you know if I figure it out or not. Hopefully its not the switch I have wired in... 10A switch, so I doubt it

[Q] 1.2 amp charger work on gtablet

I have a 12 volt 1.2 amp charger that fits into the DC in Jack. Can I use this to charge the Gtablet in an emergency (if I lost or broke my original charger) without damaging my Gtab? Want some expert opinions before I make the attempt. Rather be safe than sorry. Thanks in advance.

I'm no expert, but a little math tells you that the charger that you have will only output 14.4 watts VxA=W (12Vx1.2A=14.4W). Since the G-Tab is rated at 12V,2A or 24W you will be under powering it. If I remember correctly a 24V1A supply would work just fine as the output is still 24W. A 12V3A charger would work just as well, as it is designed to feed up to 36W. In this case it would only feed the 24W that the G-Tab pulls.
In the end it would still power the device, however the battery charging would come to a crawl as the the available output is 60% of the rated charger.
I'd be cautious though, as your 1.2A charger may get really hot trying to feed the G-Tab.
I'm sure that someone else can explain this more elegantly than I just did.

Given the lack of voltage it may not work at all. You need enough voltage to overcome any resistance in the circuit or the result is a lot of nothing, or just heat. Been awhile since electronics school though.
Sent from the awesome ZTab

Phantom_Midge said:
I'm no expert, but a little math tells you that the charger that you have will only output 14.4 watts VxA=W (12Vx1.2A=14.4W). Since the G-Tab is rated at 12V,2A or 24W you will be under powering it. If I remember correctly a 24V1A supply would work just fine as the output is still 24W. A 12V3A charger would work just as well, as it is designed to feed up to 36W. In this case it would only feed the 24W that the G-Tab pulls.
In the end it would still power the device, however the battery charging would come to a crawl as the the available output is 60% of the rated charger.
I'd be cautious though, as your 1.2A charger may get really hot trying to feed the G-Tab.
I'm sure that someone else can explain this more elegantly than I just did.
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't be charging while using the Gtab. It would be powered off so there would be no drain and should only be charging. In my layman thinking, it would be a safe charge but only at a slower time rate than a 2 amp charge. If it won't damage my Grab, I'll try it with it powered off. Is this a safe go?

I have one from a tv. It does not work. It makes the charging indicator flicker...

Phantom_Midge said:
I'm no expert,
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Click to collapse
Given the nature of electricity, always a good idea to know what you're talking about before you recommend a course of action, since improper advice can result in death and destruction of equipment. A two-lecture treatment of electricity in physics class that basically boils down to V=IR and P=VI is not sufficient for giving advice about things like this.
Phantom_Midge said:
but a little math tells you that the charger that you have will only output 14.4 watts VxA=W (12Vx1.2A=14.4W). Since the G-Tab is rated at 12V,2A or 24W you will be under powering it. If I remember correctly a 24V1A supply would work just fine as the output is still 24W. A 12V3A charger would work just as well, as it is designed to feed up to 36W. In this case it would only feed the 24W that the G-Tab pulls.
In the end it would still power the device, however the battery charging would come to a crawl as the the available output is 60% of the rated charger.
I'd be cautious though, as your 1.2A charger may get really hot trying to feed the G-Tab.
I'm sure that someone else can explain this more elegantly than I just did.
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Click to collapse
Please do not plug a 24V charger into a device that is supposed to take 12V. Bad things are likely to happen. At best, the GTab has internal protection circuitry to shut things off and prevent internal damage. If not, you're going to ruin the battery or cause things to blow up. It's like plugging your 120V hair dryer into a 240V outlet in Europe. Much smoke to follow.
Power (wattage) is not the relevant issue here. There are actually quite a few things that matter, but for the purposes of this discussion, voltage is the most important one. A 12V 1.2A charger *may* not be able to supply enough power to both run and charge the GTab, but it is unlikely to cause problems. I don't know the internals of the GTab specifically, but my guess is that it regulates the charging current, meaning you could also probably get away with a 12V 3A charger, though if the internal circuitry of the GTab is poorly designed, that might shorten your battery life.
As to your specific concern about heat on the 1.2A charger, heat production is a function both of the efficiency of the particular charger and the amount of power it produces. It's likely the 1.2A charger wouldn't get as hot as the 2A charger, given that its power output is 60% as much, unless it was significantly less efficient. Assuming, of course, that both were operating at maximum power.

ByByIpad said:
I have a 12 volt 1.2 amp charger that fits into the DC in Jack. Can I use this to charge the Gtablet in an emergency (if I lost or broke my original charger) without damaging my Gtab? Want some expert opinions before I make the attempt. Rather be safe than sorry. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bottom Line, without all the Hype and Hyperbola....
Yeah, it'll work and destroy nothing, but will take longer to fully charge the battery.
Do not use the tab while it's connected.

ByByIpad said:
I have a 12 volt 1.2 amp charger that fits into the DC in Jack. Can I use this to charge the Gtablet in an emergency (if I lost or broke my original charger) without damaging my Gtab? Want some expert opinions before I make the attempt. Rather be safe than sorry. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't use it. The GTab expects 2 amps to be available, and will not know to throttle the charge back to 1.2. You risk overheating or otherwise damaging the charger, which could then turn around and damage your GTab, depending on the charger's failure mode.
12v and at least 2 amp is what you need. More than 2amp is fine.
Jim

jmdearras said:
I wouldn't use it. The GTab expects 2 amps to be available, and will not know to throttle the charge back to 1.2. You risk overheating or otherwise damaging the charger, which could then turn around and damage your GTab, depending on the charger's failure mode.
12v and at least 2 amp is what you need. More than 2amp is fine.
Jim
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Click to collapse
Yes.
Lithium Polymer batteries require a CV/CC charging scheme. This means "Constant Voltage" and "Constant Current". One after another. Without knowing how the charging circuit is setup, you COULD damage the battery or the charging circuit by not supplying the appropriate power to the circuit.
To summarize.
1.) NEVER use a higher voltage supply, unless you are 100% sure the internal power supplies can handle that voltage. 24VDC = most likely really bad
2.) NEVER use a power supply that is under the rated current of the device. For good quality external AC/DC bricks, it's usually not a concern. For cheaply made, haphazardly designed bricks (mostly from China), this can cause fire.
3.) You can ALWAYS use a brick that is rated at MORE current. That's available current, not "I'm going to shove this current down your throat". Typically, bricks rated at a higher current will supply the required current at a higher efficiency anyway, so pending you don't care about the size increase, it's better. They also tend to supply cleaner power (voltage really), which is always a good thing.
That concludes todays electronics seminar. Class dismissed.

Touchstone teardown / schematics, anyone?

Being the DIY kind of guy, I'm wondering if anyone tried to disassemble the Touchstone charger and post a schematic so that anyone with some electronics skills can make their own, in whatever shape or colour they desire.
Just wondering.

Ifixit has a pre touchstone tear down. They are similar, maybe you can request that site complete one on the TouchPad version.
I just looked mine over, there are no exposed screws. Any screws must be under the rubber foot, or the back may snap off. I'm not risking breaking mine. But, for $40 you could find out yourself
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

All you need is a USB source with an output of 5.3V and 2A. But on that note, doesn't the higher level of amps charging the TP batteries more quickly kill the overall battery life of the batteries?
I use other brands of usb chargers unless i'm in a hurry, because the TP official charger will get it all juiced up in no time. Lower amperage, slower charging, longer overall battery life (i presume.)

teddyspaghetti said:
All you need is a USB source with an output of 5.3V and 2A. But on that note, doesn't the higher level of amps charging the TP batteries more quickly kill the overall battery life of the batteries?
I use other brands of usb chargers unless i'm in a hurry, because the TP official charger will get it all juiced up in no time. Lower amperage, slower charging, longer overall battery life (i presume.)
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Click to collapse
Not sure about the truth of that, because I think it has something to do with the actual cycles. I'm not 100% sure so if I'm wrong someone correct me.

The OP was referring to the wireless induction charging in the Touchstone, not just a generic USB charger.
As to the whole more amps = lower health battery debate, I won't touch that. I've seen "proof" both ways. What I know is the OEM charger is 5.3v at 2 amps. I am going to trust HP that is the proper specs. Plus, any "smart" device doesn't pull more amperage than it needs, so its software controlled.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

Indeed, I am not talking about the wired charger, I am talking about the wireless Touchstone charger.
50 USD wouldn't be a problem for a Touchstone. However HP hasn't brought Touchpad's or accessories in Romania and offer no support for them, and I don't want to wait for 2 weeks for delivery.
And I also am the DIY kind of guy, and in the near future I'll be designing and building a custom desk which I would like to include a nice built-in stand for the Touchpad.

teddyspaghetti said:
All you need is a USB source with an output of 5.3V and 2A. But on that note, doesn't the higher level of amps charging the TP batteries more quickly kill the overall battery life of the batteries?
I use other brands of usb chargers unless i'm in a hurry, because the TP official charger will get it all juiced up in no time. Lower amperage, slower charging, longer overall battery life (i presume.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any old 5.3v/2A source will not give 2A to the TP. The device relies on switch signaling on the data lines which aknowledges that it is connected to the correct (ie HP barrel) charger and this allows the full charge rate to be applied.
In all other cases the charger only gives a low level trickle charge with the resulting longer charge times.
LiPo batteries and their charging profiles are very efficient and are perfectly capable of handling higher charging currents without detriment.
If they become very drained these higher currents are required to start the charge cycle whereas lower power chargers would not.

This thread is not about charge current or cycles, not sure why you haven't gotten a real answer yet, so I decided to register to give you one.
Even if you had the schematics and a source for the components, winding the coil for the inductive charging would be your biggest issue. At best it probably wouldn't be efficient enough to be worth it and it would likely take a long time to charge if it did at all. All the parts and work it would take for a kind of crappy result wouldn't be as good as just spending the $50 or whatever.
That's the negative side though, so don't get me wrong. If I could I'd totally be building one myself as well. I wish more people were into DIY stuff like this. I also really like the idea of building it into a desk and you may be able to do that with an official Touchstone charger.

FjarrKontroll said:
This thread is not about charge current or cycles, not sure why you haven't gotten a real answer yet, so I decided to register to give you one.
Even if you had the schematics and a source for the components, winding the coil for the inductive charging would be your biggest issue. At best it probably wouldn't be efficient enough to be worth it and it would likely take a long time to charge if it did at all. All the parts and work it would take for a kind of crappy result wouldn't be as good as just spending the $50 or whatever.
That's the negative side though, so don't get me wrong. If I could I'd totally be building one myself as well. I wish more people were into DIY stuff like this. I also really like the idea of building it into a desk and you may be able to do that with an official Touchstone charger.
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Click to collapse
While the OP was not about charge current or cycles I do sincerely hope that you understand the value of correcting misinformation and wrong assertions about any aspect that may raise it's related head in these threads.
To jump into a thread and the forum with such a comment is perhaps an indication of the levels of accepable politeness at large in the world today.
But I for one don't take too kindly to it.
But then us 'older' members may be a little too sensitive.
Any impropriety and the mods will deal with it!

Need some help with otg + charge mod

Dear XDA, i really need your help,
I am planning to make this (see thubnail)
i want to make a custom case for my htc one s. (I know it will be a little bigger but that's ok)
I want to charge my phone using a usb cable or a micro usb cable, and at the same time doing OTG. I don't know what resistor i will use yet (tips?)
Also add an extra battery. It is an old phone battery. So if i want to charge from the battery i need to stop the solar cell and guide the electricity through the 5v regulator to charge. What ya think?
I am new to modding so please comment cause i need a lot of help to make this one succeed!
Greetings, pro-one1000
sent from htc one s ville

Don't mean to be negative but I see a couple issues right of the bat. First, where are you going to get a 5 volt charger? I would guess most dc chargers are going to be 12, 24, or 36 volts. I don't think they'll run on significantly less. The solar panel is only going to output about one half of one watt. Assuming no friction loss or inefficiencies that would hardly slow your phone's discharge.
If you want to power the phone and hub I would suggest a small sealed lead acid battery. They're available in 12 volts in many sizes. Easily enough power to keep phone totally charged. Will work with cigarette lighter car chargers so you won't need to customize that part. Depending on the size it'll last a week to a month non-stop. Unfortunately, it probably won't fit in your pocket but if you carry a book bag or briefcase you could hide it there... I use a battery like this at work when I'm using a lot of phone battery and moving around too much to plug in.
Good luck with which ever route you choose!
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

thanks
lampel said:
Don't mean to be negative but I see a couple issues right of the bat. First, where are you going to get a 5 volt charger? I would guess most dc chargers are going to be 12, 24, or 36 volts. I don't think they'll run on significantly less. The solar panel is only going to output about one half of one watt. Assuming no friction loss or inefficiencies that would hardly slow your phone's discharge.
If you want to power the phone and hub I would suggest a small sealed lead acid battery. They're available in 12 volts in many sizes. Easily enough power to keep phone totally charged. Will work with cigarette lighter car chargers so you won't need to customize that part. Depending on the size it'll last a week to a month non-stop. Unfortunately, it probably won't fit in your pocket but if you carry a book bag or briefcase you could hide it there... I use a battery like this at work when I'm using a lot of phone battery and moving around too much to plug in.
Good luck with which ever route you choose!
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply!
First about the charger, i will use my 5v 1amp charger (micro usb) or an usb male to male usb cable from my pc to charge. So i'll be able to get a charger.
You're i think right about the solar panel, i need to find a better one indeed, trying to get one cheap on ebay! If i try to search for a "smal sealed lead acid battery" i get 40 dollar + big cases of batteries, could you please give a example in the form of an ebay-link?
Anyway thanks a lot and when i have ordered the parts i will try to upload the stuff!
Greetings

I'm assuming the 5v charger you're talking about it a car charger; which means it would have an input voltage of 12 - 14 and won't run on 3.7 (and even if it could run on the lower voltage the amperage would go up dramatically draining the usable power in the battery in minutes. And I wouldn't connect anything to a USB port for two reasons: first, if you connect two batteries in parallel (red to red and black to black) and they're not identical one will usually drain the other as they try and equalize (unless you isolate them from each other). Second, I don't think most USB ports (USB 3.0 i believe has provisions to receive power) are designed to receive power on a computer and your schematic doesn't include anything to prevent back feeding power to the computer.
There are many solar chargers I've seen that would give you the output you need - I've seen them designed to trickle charge RVs, boats, cars, and motorcycles - but I think they would be way to larger for what your looking for.
And I guess I should clarify what I meant by small... Was a bad choice of words for a cell phone forum, I guess. I meant small relative to other lead acid batteries; i.e. car or boat batteries. This is similiar to what I use:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12VOLT-5AMP...US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item589ef11aed
Attached is a pic of my batteries and the adapter that gives me a cigarette lighter type receptacle. And I use a spare motorcycle float charger to keep them charged. And because they're 12 volt batteries they'll power and accessory that is designed to run in a car.
I guess I should probably have asked what is your ultimate goal? And do you carry anything where you could stash the battery?
giesse1996 said:
Thanks for your reply!
First about the charger, i will use my 5v 1amp charger (micro usb) or an usb male to male usb cable from my pc to charge. So i'll be able to get a charger.
You're i think right about the solar panel, i need to find a better one indeed, trying to get one cheap on ebay! If i try to search for a "smal sealed lead acid battery" i get 40 dollar + big cases of batteries, could you please give a example in the form of an ebay-link?
Anyway thanks a lot and when i have ordered the parts i will try to upload the stuff!
Greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for your reply,
After thinking I want to use a second1-5 volt boost regulator attached a small high capicity battery of 3.7 volt. (like a galaxy sIII battery or something. So if i put the switch to on the extra battery should charge with 5v my phone battery. Or i could charge my phone directly from a high efficient solar cell with 5v.
I indeed have no idea how to prevent backfleeding. Do I need diodes / light emmitting diodes for this? And indeed the batteries you mentioned are way to big. I am planning to use an old battery from an other phone with the 5v boost regulator mentioned above. Further i don't understand where you see a computer in my scheme?
Your mod ( i think i it deserves that wonderfull name) with the 12v battery is a good idea. Very handy when going out without a charge point. I usually go to school and am probably able to put the large battery in there, but as i mentioned i want to keep it a "phone case".
My ultimate goal is to make the tiniest possible case for the htc one s ville with,
- a very small usb hub 4 port for 3 female ports and inside a micro sdhc memory for more storage.
- Add the charge ability, so i don't need to take the phone out of the case to charge
- be in otg mode and charging mode at the same time (i guess the hardest challenge)
optionary:
- Add a battery so when i get the actual phone out of the case the solar cell can keep providing power to the battery
- Add a solar cell
- make it actual work with multiple switches
Really appreciate your help!
Greetings,

I misunderstood "First about the charger, i will use my 5v 1amp charger (micro usb) or an usb male to male usb cable from my pc to charge" to mean you might have a computer available to charge. I guess you just meant the cable itself. Understood.
I'm not an electronics expert by any means but yes I believe diodes will prevent the current from flowing in an undesirable direction but they won't prevent one battery from draining another. Two batteries connected in parallel can drain each other and the diode will slow that but I don't think it will eliminate it. Might be able to mitigate the affect by opening one of your switches when the auxiliary battery is not in use. When two batteries are wired in parallel they are frequently connected to an isolator that has three terminals (for a two battery setup). Terminals one and two go to batteries one and two and terminal three goes to the system it's connected to. Batteries one and two never 'see' each other and therefore cannot affect or drain each other.
Not sure I have anything else that can really help... GOOD LUCK! And post pics and details if you build a working prototype.

Thanks again!
I'll try to order a couple extra diodes with low consuption, that plus the switches will hopefully do the job. I ordered yesterday the parts out of China, so it'll take a month to get it in my hands. Now I have more time to consider how it can be assembled all together, but if i get anything i will post it directly!! If it works i may try to make a tutorial for other people so they could also enjoy more ports on their phone!
Greetings

[Q] Wireless Charging + Daydream Bizarre Performance

This is my first experience with wireless charging so I'm probably missing the obvious here so please, anybody, point that out.
I'm newly using a wireless charger with my N5 & performance just doesn't make any sense to me. It's the Korean/Chinese knock-off of the N4 Orb which others on XDA have used successfully. On basic charging it does work but I can't make any sense of these numbers:
Charging I get roughly 10% per hour -- not great, but okay for bedside/overnight.
Charging with daydream on (Dashclock) on I get a loss of roughly 10% per hour! Yes, the phone keeps indicating it is charging in spite of this heavy drain.
But sometimes daydream just turns off & it returns to charging -- this seems to happen if I start off with the phone (mostly) charged. For the most part though, if I leave the phone on the charger overnight with daydream enabled I'll wake to a nearly empty battery.
As I said, these numbers make no sense to me at all. Part of the problem may be the power source for the orb - it's only 1A but even if it's underpowered I can't see the drop from +10% to -10% /hour.
Second part of my query -- does anyone know if it would be effective (and safe!) to feed 1.2A to the orb & maybe get faster charge. Or maybe that would be enough to keep up with the Daydream drain?
FWIW the the USB charger (1.2A) is very fast, I get better than 1% per minute -- unaffected by Daydream.

im using this and mine gets full charge within 1 and half hours
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

10% per hour? Something's wrong. A wireless charger shouldn't take much longer than wired.
It's possible your adapter is a dud. Try using the 1.2a adapter, it'll be fine. If it still isn't faster, you might have a bad charger.
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.

NotFromMountainView said:
This is my first experience with wireless charging so I'm probably missing the obvious here so please, anybody, point that out.
I'm newly using a wireless charger with my N5 & performance just doesn't make any sense to me. It's the Korean/Chinese knock-off of the N4 Orb which others on XDA have used successfully. On basic charging it does work but I can't make any sense of these numbers:
Charging I get roughly 10% per hour -- not great, but okay for bedside/overnight.
Charging with daydream on (Dashclock) on I get a loss of roughly 10% per hour! Yes, the phone keeps indicating it is charging in spite of this heavy drain.
But sometimes daydream just turns off & it returns to charging -- this seems to happen if I start off with the phone (mostly) charged. For the most part though, if I leave the phone on the charger overnight with daydream enabled I'll wake to a nearly empty battery.
As I said, these numbers make no sense to me at all. Part of the problem may be the power source for the orb - it's only 1A but even if it's underpowered I can't see the drop from +10% to -10% /hour.
Second part of my query -- does anyone know if it would be effective (and safe!) to feed 1.2A to the orb & maybe get faster charge. Or maybe that would be enough to keep up with the Daydream drain?
FWIW the the USB charger (1.2A) is very fast, I get better than 1% per minute -- unaffected by Daydream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm using DashClock also and when it doesn't crash, my phone will charge just fine. Seems like about 3 hours total with daydream on, and about 2 hours with it off just regular charging. Here's my charger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOW1RD0/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Seems like you have a defective charger but it is a really weird situation.

Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! It still seems strange, but I guess there's a minimum threshold for the phone to properly charge. (I am really guessing!) Plugging the OEM charger into my qi orb I finally get a positive charge with daydream -- not fast, but good enough to wake with a charged phone! Without daydream I just got about 36% in the past hour.
A quick scan of eBay and the only 1.2A USB supplies I can find are refurbished LG & cost as much as the full qi orb! (from US with crazy shipping costs on these - I'm in Canada) But there are lots of 1.5A blocks, cheap (and free shipping from China). So... do you think it would be safe to try the 1.5A? According to Play the Google qi comes with a 1.8A supply but I have no idea how much the pad modulates the power or if that is all in the phone itself. It would be nice to have fast wireless charging, but with the dramatic jump with just the .2A increase I may be looking at something too powerful.
My concerns are (in order) 1. Don't want to fry the phone!
2. Don't want to burn down my apartment!
3. Would rather not trash the orb. The orb was inexpensive so I'm willing to gamble on point # 3.
Advice / assurances / suggestions? Please.
Mr. Sprinkles said:
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.
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Click to collapse
I assume you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.

NotFromMountainView said:
Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! It still seems strange, but I guess there's a minimum threshold for the phone to properly charge. (I am really guessing!) Plugging the OEM charger into my qi orb I finally get a positive charge with daydream -- not fast, but good enough to wake with a charged phone! Without daydream I just got about 36% in the past hour.
A quick scan of eBay and the only 1.2A USB supplies I can find are refurbished LG & cost as much as the full qi orb! (from US with crazy shipping costs on these - I'm in Canada) But there are lots of 1.5A blocks, cheap (and free shipping from China). So... do you think it would be safe to try the 1.5A? According to Play the Google qi comes with a 1.8A supply but I have no idea how much the pad modulates the power or if that is all in the phone itself. It would be nice to have fast wireless charging, but with the dramatic jump with just the .2A increase I may be looking at something too powerful.
My concerns are (in order) 1. Don't want to fry the phone!
2. Don't want to burn down my apartment!
3. Would rather not trash the orb. The orb was inexpensive so I'm willing to gamble on point # 3.
Advice / assurances / suggestions? Please.
I assume you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official orb charger comes with a 1.8a brick. You should be fine.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

NotFromMountainView said:
Thanks guys, the jump to 1.2A made a world of difference! [...] you mean USB out from PC since OEM charger is USB and orb power supply is USB as well. Point taken on PC charging though.
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I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.

Mr. Sprinkles said:
10% per hour? Something's wrong. A wireless charger shouldn't take much longer than wired.
It's possible your adapter is a dud. Try using the 1.2a adapter, it'll be fine. If it still isn't faster, you might have a bad charger.
Also, if it came with a USB cable, don't use it. The wires are too small to carry a reasonable amount of current.
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Mr. Sprinkles said:
I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.
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El Daddy & Mr. Sprinkles thanks, that's just the type of reassurance I needed!

just use the 2,1A amazon kindle charger with your orb... its cheap, safe and wont fry your phone
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Mr. Sprinkles said:
I mean if your orb uses a USB cable and came with one, don't use the cable it came with. They're often very cheap and add a lot of resistance which will increase charge time.
It wasn't the step up to 1.2A that made a world of difference, it's using a quality adapter that made the difference. Your 1A adapter must have been faulty or grossly overrated. Sounds like it was putting out less than 500mA.
As for a higher amperage power supply somehow damaging things? Not possible. The circuitry in the wireless charger is only going to use what it needs, you could hook it up to a 50A power supply and it'll still draw around 1A. The N5 is also input current limited to 1.2A, so using a crazy high amperage adapter won't have much benefit anyway.
Still, not a bad idea to get a 1.5A - 2A adapter to compensate for whatever current the wireless charger itself uses. This is probably why the official one includes a 1.8A adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So from what I heard wireless charging, like a pogo plug can charge at a higher rate than the micro USB port in some devices (I've heard pogo plug can go up to 2.5A where the micro USB in that device is limited to 1.8A). So I'm wondering as these qi chargers get better, will this also be true. Mine is a 1A but seems like it charges around .8A so it's maxed out. I guess this also raises the question as to how fast is good for a battery also.
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