Database Info

Fast charging N1

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

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!

[Q] Working USB car charger while navigating

Since I already tried 4 USB car chargers (Osungo Carjuice 2.1A, Belkin 2.1A, Ewent 2.1A, Belkin 1A) with several USB cables (my intention is to use this cable I got from dx.com), but none of the combinations succeeded in charging my N5 while using navigation on the road.
In the settings menu -> battery all of them display Charging (AC) when plugged in my car.
During night time they keep the battery around the same level and during day time the battery percentage even slowly drops.
I'm going to perform some measurements later today with Battery Monitor Widget and/or Currentwidget to get some numbers.
The stores close-by only sell this stuff for ridiculous prices, so I spent enough money on gas already. I haven't ordered anything online yet since it seems nothing is guaranteed to work and therefore I don't want to deal with the hassle of return processes plus shipping costs.
The only car charger that does work is the charger that came with my Galaxy Nexus car holder, but I never liked that charger since it doesn't have a coiled cable so the cable is all over the place across your dash and it has no universal USB connection to charge all kind of devices in your car.
Also I'm looking for a solution which doesn't require soldering of some sort.
Does the USB car charger + coiled USB cable which I'm looking for even exist and why is it so hard to just get a working car charger for your N5?

Today I did some measurements with Currentwidget and the problem lies in the cable which I got from Dealextreme.
When I tested with the USB cable which came with the N5 all chargers work fine.
Now I hope I can find a coiled USB cable which works just like the original N5 cable for a decent price.
Found one from Mediabridge, but it seems this cable isn't available in the Netherlands and on Ebay shipping costs are insane.

Does the 1A charger still charge the phone while navigating? Or is a 2.1A charger needed?

Rhatfield25 said:
Does the 1A charger still charge the phone while navigating? Or is a 2.1A charger needed?
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Both can charge the phone while navigating, as long as you use the right cable.
Very annoying since there is no way to tell which cable is good and which cable is not good.
This was also noticed in the following threads:
[Q] Terrible charge rate?
Need good car charger recommendations please
Discharging while using Navigation

Tried the cable which came with the HTC OEM Car Charger CC C200, together with a 2.1mAh car charger and it barely charged the N5 while navigating. The charging level went up 1% in about 25 minutes time, in comparison if you use the cable which came with the N5 the level will have gone up around 15-20%.
The Mediabridge cables (such as this one) should suffice (available on Amazon and Ebay).
Since those are not available in Europe and shipping costs are way too high, I now found an alternative from Speedlink. Hopefully this one will work just as good as the original N5 USB cable.

I am using PowerGen 2.1A car charger with 3' Samsung OEM usb cable and able to charge the phone while using Navigation, brightness at full, and streaming tune-in on LTE. Very happy with the setup.
I had a monoprice 10' usb cable, the thick version with cap on ends, the 3' samsung oeum usb cable works much better. Testing on my old phone Optimus G Pro, there are about +200mA improvement using the 3' samsung oem usb cable over the monoprice 10' usb cable. so make sure to use the shortest usb cable possible.

Apple Charger

Anyone attempt to use an iPad charger with the Tab S? I always travel with it and just pack a micro USB cable since it has high output. Just attempted to plug in my 10.5 to it and nothing. Luckily I was able to track down a different charger, and it worked fine with the same cable. This is the first device I've had that refused to charge using my iPad charger. What gives?

Mine won't charge that method either. (ipad air plug)

I think the Tab S is very picky, with some other chargers, i get the lightning indicator in the battery with a red cross on top, is this the same with you.

Yeah, mine's a little picky too. It won't charge off the Motorola micro usb chargers we have all over the place at work, but it will charge off just about any USB plug and cable I throw at it. Also charges off the USB ports in the plug strip in the living room.

litesout said:
Yeah, mine's a little picky too. It won't charge off the Motorola micro usb chargers we have all over the place at work, but it will charge off just about any USB plug and cable I throw at it. Also charges off the USB ports in the plug strip in the living room.
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Do you get the red cross on top of that battery indicator.

There is a standard for high current usb chargers (rather than pc usb ports) that is indicated by having the data lines shorted together, as far as I understand it the iPad charger uses a different system to indicate high charge ability. (I'm assuming) the Samsung charger has these pins shorted internally and uses a plain cable (which can also be used for pc data connection).
You can get the high charge rate from a standard charger by using a cable with the data lines sorted, either make your own or buy a ready made one (e.g. Portapow or their plug-in inline adapter). I'd guess that the same cable would also get full charge via the iPad charger, these cables though cannot be used to connect to pc for data.

Samsung dedicated chargers
Apple and Samsung both use their own unique standards for USB charging so their devices know when they are connected to a charger capable of supplying the higher current they prefer. They do this by using a resistor voltage devider inside the charger to apply a very specific voltage to the data leads of the USB cable.
A little Googling will find examples and descriptions of the Samsung design.
There is a little plug-in, intelligent, USB adapter available that will interface Apple and Samsung devices to any charger. It senses what device you have and supplies the correct voltages on the data leads so your device thinks it's plugged into its official cherger. I think I saw it on ebay.
Edit- here is the adapter to allow using any charger with Samsung or Apple devices.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charging-Port-Controller-Fast-charging-adapter-identificatio-For-Phone-PAD-/141342316282?pt=US_Other_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item20e8a896fa
Just keep in mind that this adapter will make your tablet believe it's connected to a charger that can supply high current. If the charger cannot supply high current, it will be overloaded and it's output voltage will sag.
I don't think this will damage the Samsung tablet, but it will slow down charging and may overheat the charger.

cheetokhan said:
Apple and Samsung both use their own unique standards for USB charging so their devices know when they are connected to a charger capable of supplying the higher current they prefer. They do this by using a resistor voltage devider inside the charger to apply a very specific voltage to the data leads of the USB cable.
A little Googling will find examples and descriptions of the Samsung design.
There is a little plug-in, intelligent, USB adapter available that will interface Apple and Samsung devices to any charger. It senses what device you have and supplies the correct voltages on the data leads so your device thinks it's plugged into its official cherger. I think I saw it on ebay.
Edit- here is the adapter to allow using any charger with Samsung or Apple devices.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charging-Port-Controller-Fast-charging-adapter-identificatio-For-Phone-PAD-/141342316282?pt=US_Other_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item20e8a896fa
Just keep in mind that this adapter will make your tablet believe it's connected to a charger that can supply high current. If the charger cannot supply high current, it will be overloaded and it's output voltage will sag.
I don't think this will damage the Samsung tablet, but it will slow down charging and may overheat the charger.
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Click to collapse
Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I was also unable to charge the tablet with my wife's macbook using the same cable that works fine with other wall chargers. I am pretty sure it worked fine when it was booted into bootcamp as well...
She's in Europe for a few months so I won't be able to confirm for a while.

mears said:
Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I was also unable to charge the tablet with my wife's macbook using the same cable that works fine with other wall chargers. I am pretty sure it worked fine when it was booted into bootcamp as well...
She's in Europe for a few months so I won't be able to confirm for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only charger I've used with my Tab S 10.5 is this one- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVH62J2/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I haven't even tried the factory charger yet. I'll have to test it and see if the Tab S uses the same voltage sensing on the data leads as the previous Samsung tablets.

I've been using an Ipad 10w charger,fat,square,.twice the weight of the OEM Samsung charger ,removable prongs.
It WORKS WELL. Where my Samsung OEM charger has trouble charging
when the tablet is in use, the fat Apple charger kept charging at a good speed.
A bit warm as compared to OEM Samsung charger but not "Hot".
Probably 20% + faster charging as its very noticeable (except 99 to 100 % takes a while, charging rate software?)

I'm using an original Apple charger at work to charge my 8.4. I don't know if the charger is for an iPhone or iPad. Someone left it at work. I gave away the lightning cable that came with it since I don't own an Apple product. The cable I'm using is part of an LG qi charger (doesn't come with a wall adapter/charger).

****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?
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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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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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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Click to collapse
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.