Stock charger - charges slow and drops battery - Shield Tablet Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello there,
I decided to open this thread as I've now had a bunch of issues with the stock charger that came with the device and it would be interesting to know if there's anyone else who's having this type of issues.
The exact issues that I've been having with the stock charger seems to be that the charger doesn't output enough of a amperage for the tablet to hold charge while in use, and even when it's not in use it takes almost 7-8 hours to charge from 50% up to 100%. It's as slow as if I would charge it from a regular USB port, if not, even slower and I don't really know why exactly this happens as it says that it's charging from AC adapter in settings.
To comfirm my issue was not related to the tablet itself, I used another charger that's rated at similar specs to the stock charger (2.1A) but with the same Micro-Usb cable that came with the tab. With that charger, it charged up from 50% extremely fast (around 1,5 hour) and I could even use the tablet while charging without any battery drops. So that comfirms two things, it's not related to the tablet or data cable but to the actual charger itself.
Anyone else that's been having this type of issues with the stock charger?

My tab needs max. about 3 hours to charge full and imo it's ok. Tried charging during Half Life2 gaming and can confirm that there's not a lot of charging going on, maybe 1or 2% in an hour. But that's ok for me, as long as it doesn't start to get emty while charging during gaming.

The charger is defective or don't bring enough power to the unit. I also get negative charge while playing high end games an also increase when i am, on Optimized mode. Many others has reported this situation on GeForce forums but nVidia is quiet about it.

CM17X said:
The charger is defective or don't bring enough power to the unit. I also get negative charge while playing high end games an also increase when i am, on Optimized mode. Many others has reported this situation on GeForce forums but nVidia is quiet about it.
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I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!

GethPrime said:
I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!
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Click to collapse
If i were you, i'll check with another charger doing normal stuff, if you still get negative charger maybe it could be your battery itself.

GethPrime said:
I get negative charge even when doing basic tasks like listen to music or watch a video with the stock charger, so I guess my charger is faulty. I've already reported the issue to Amazon and they gave me a 50GBP partial refund (80 USD!) because of the faulty charger without having to ship anything back.
I just find it odd that theres many people that have the issue and nvidia doesn't seem to do anything about it either!
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Click to collapse
My guess is that a faulty cable or the charger itself is causing D+ and D- to not be shorted together by the charger, resulting in the tablet thinking it's charging from a USB port instead of a dedicated charger.
Does device status report charging state as Charging (USB) instead of Charging (AC)?
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.

Entropy512 said:
My guess is that a faulty cable or the charger itself is causing D+ and D- to not be shorted together by the charger, resulting in the tablet thinking it's charging from a USB port instead of a dedicated charger.
Does device status report charging state as Charging (USB) instead of Charging (AC)?
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.
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Click to collapse
The charger appears as AC in settings, so it should be charging faster than it does.
I'm using a charger similar to what you use right now, a Dodocool 4 port charger that works great! However, I'm using the stock cable.

First make sure you are using stock charger and cable.
If you see discharge during non intensive activities you may have a defective charger. Nvidia has rma'd the charger by itself for people.

I have the same issue but my charging time is a bit better 3-4 hours. But what is really annoying that it makes a lot of electrical noise. I have a lot of things that I charge, but I have never heard this so load earlier. Its coming from the adapter, I can cleary hear from 3m. Anybody has similar issue? I try to record the sound, and send to nvidia. Maybe they will react.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Entropy512 said:
I admit I never even unwrapped the stock charger, I've got one of those nice Anker 40W 5-port chargers along with a bunch of 24/28AWG MicroUSB cables from Monoprice.
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I can confirm that this combo works a treat for my NST. I use it to simultaneously charge my G3, NST, N7 and some small LiPos. Fast charge.

Sorry to dig up this thread but I've had the same issue and i was WTF-ing like crazy until i switch the USB cable to a charging cable i got from a power bank... The charge time dropped from 6-7 hours to 2-3 hours. I'm not sure why, perhaps my cable is faulty or perhaps it was meant to charge like this, or perhaps it is supposed to be used to connect a controller only (both ends seem to have a controller icon on them)?

MrHollow said:
Sorry to dig up this thread but I've had the same issue and i was WTF-ing like crazy until i switch the USB cable to a charging cable i got from a power bank... The charge time dropped from 6-7 hours to 2-3 hours. I'm not sure why, perhaps my cable is faulty or perhaps it was meant to charge like this, or perhaps it is supposed to be used to connect a controller only (both ends seem to have a controller icon on them)?
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It's not due to the MicroUSB cable but due to a wallwart that's messing up the amperage I believe, as I've used the MicroUSB cable with other wallwarts and it charges normally then

GethPrime said:
It's not due to the MicroUSB cable but due to a wallwart that's messing up the amperage I believe, as I've used the MicroUSB cable with other wallwarts and it charges normally then
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You are correct. I charged the tablet at home 2 times this weekend and it's definitely an issue with the charger as it sometimes charges properly and sometimes it does not.

MrHollow said:
You are correct. I charged the tablet at home 2 times this weekend and it's definitely an issue with the charger as it sometimes charges properly and sometimes it does not.
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Get in touch with the retailer you got it from and ask for them to provide you with a proper charger, as a compensation

GethPrime said:
Get in touch with the retailer you got it from and ask for them to provide you with a proper charger, as a compensation
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A bit hard to do since i got it from amazon.com when i was in the US (back in EU now) and there's no point in returning the tablet just for a semi faulty charger.

MrHollow said:
A bit hard to do since i got it from amazon.com when i was in the US (back in EU now) and there's no point in returning the tablet just for a semi faulty charger.
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Contact amazon and tell them exactly about the issue, they'll compensate you for it probably. I got 50£ back from Amazon.co.uk for the broken charger, which is quite a bit of money.

GethPrime said:
Contact amazon and tell them exactly about the issue, they'll compensate you for it probably. I got 50£ back from Amazon.co.uk for the broken charger, which is quite a bit of money.
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Thanks for the tip, i'll give that a try

Well, same thing here. Just noticed it while using Skype. Battery dropped from 100% to 95% pretty quickly while charging.
I'm going to ask Amazon for another charger or compensation.

I have a 2.4A charger and still battery no good.
I lose around 2% per min of battery charge while idling with battery saving features on (2 cores shut off, CPU frequency set at 50% and Framerate locked at 30FPS) when ingame the battery drops 2-3 times faster. takes 2 hours to charge from 97% to 100% and 2 mins to lose that charge. I think I bought a Tablet that has a faulty battery as this is not acceptable. My tablet is unusable as the battery takes a couple of mins to lose 3% of charge and a couple of hours to regain the 3% charge only to lose that charge (and then some) when I try to use the tablet.

Related

Skyrocket can't function as GPS Navigator?

This weekend I went on a trip and decided to try out using my Skyrocket as a GPS navigator using Google Navigation. I had my phone mounted and plugged in the whole time for about a 2 hour trip. The screen was on the whole time usually at high brightness (it would dim every once in a while.) When I removed my phone from the mount I noticed the power was down to the low 60's, which struck me as slightly odd since it was plugged into the charger the whole time. The next day I tried to use it as a GPS system again, but even as it was plugged in, this time I literally saw the battery gauge draining. When I turned off navigation and the screen the phone would finally start charging.
Is this a common thing or is there an issue with my phone or possibly my charger? Does doing all those things really drain the battery faster than it can charge it? One last note is that I was not in an LTE area during this, or at least not the whole time (I only noticed it was LTE at one time during the trip.) When I saw my battery draining in front of me I definitely was not in an LTE area.
Might be your charger. I'm having no problems using it as my primary driving, hiking and general outdoor GPS unit. When on car charger, it's charging faster then it drains.
I believe my charger is an old Motorola car charger that came with my wife's old dumbphone. It's actually not even a Micro-USB charger, but rather a Mini-USB with an adapter.
This may be a dumb question, but the actual charging port shouldn't be the issue right? I'm assuming those are always the same standard.
Check the car charger amperage output. I have an old car charger to USB that only puts out 750mA and another thats puts out 1A. Anything less than 1A with the navigation running (which means the screen and GPS stay on, of course), and it'll still drain the battery (and even at 1A it may still drain).
I've been putting off getting a powerful enough car charger myself. You'll need one that puts out 1-2A I would think. Most of the common ones off the shelf are 1A or less, and I've heard that some chargers reported max output is not as good as reported.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
jslanger said:
Check the car charger amperage output. I have an old car charger to USB that only puts out 750mA and another thats puts out 1A. Anything less than 1A with the navigation running (which means the screen and GPS stay on, of course), and it'll still drain the battery (and even at 1A it may still drain).
I've been putting off getting a powerful enough car charger myself. You'll need one that puts out 1-2A I would think. Most of the common ones off the shelf are 1A or less, and I've heard that some chargers reported max output is not as good as reported.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
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i second this...my phone won't even charge on some wall chargers, unless 700mAh or higher. let alone do any battery heavy functions like GPS. get something with at least 1a output
I'll try swapping the chargers. I have an overpriced AT&T one that I got for free that is collecting dust.
If the charger has 1A output then it should be OK
I'm having the same problem with my Skyrocket and cheapy charger that I bought at Fry's. Use the navigation with screen on and my battery is less than when I plugged it in.
Going to buy this combo 2A and 1A charger.
http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-..._1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329796381&sr=1-5
Its the amount of mah your charger is putting out. Not the phone. The charger is not supplying enough power
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
CZ Eddie said:
I'm having the same problem with my Skyrocket and cheapy charger that I bought at Fry's. Use the navigation with screen on and my battery is less than when I plugged it in.
Going to buy this combo 2A and 1A charger.
http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-..._1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1329796381&sr=1-5
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Click to collapse
When I was looking for a more powerful option, I saw that one on Amazon as well. My only hesitation at buying it was why it was so much cheaper than all comparable options at local stores, or even online...I've heard that the cheapie chargers may not actually output what they say...though for $4 plus shipping, I guess it's not much of a gamble. Let us know how it performs!
P.S.-Pulled up the reviews...not too many positive ones (though 1 or 2 were good): http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-2-Port-...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Its actually more than just the charger output that is a problem. If the center two pins on the USB connection aren't shorted, the phone will treat it as a USB connection to a computer, not an AC connection from the wall, and only draw a max 500mah. I had bought a 1amp and 2 amp charger for my car and would get the same results as the 500. I started to think it was my car limiting my output!
But I then found an article detailing this problem that I've since lost the link to, but the method worked. Pop open the charger and solder the 2 middle connectors together and all is good.
I don't know why the charger manufacturers don't know this... Or maybe this phone is doing something new? Maybe someone makes a USB-> micro USB with the center pair shorted in cable?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
Just Google "Solder USB Car Charger" and you'll find plenty of tutorials about how to do that. Personally I'd rather just buy one that out of the box works.
Tried out my AT&T charger (which can be found here) and it worked perfectly. Set up the GPS and everything and now it will charge even while doing all that stuff. Thanks for the help
I have the same issue with my SkyRocket. LTE makes no difference. If I'm using Google Navigation or Waze and the Screen is on my charger/phone can't keep up with the battery drain. If I turn the screen off and keep the GPS app running the battery either doesn't drain or doesn't drain as fast.
I've checked my car charger and it's one of those dual usb ones, with a 1 amp port and a 2.1 amp port. It has no indication of which port is which, so I don't know what port I'm using at any particular time. I've tried both and the effects are the same.
Regardless, when the phone is plugged in to that charger the phone reports that it's an AC charger. Supposedly that means I'm getting at least 1 amp, right? So why is 1 amp not enough?
I don't like the car charger you guys suggested because it has the curly cord. I'd rather use a car charger that doesn't come with a cable so I can plug in my own usb cable.
Any suggestions?

[Q] Car charger 5v 2000mA good or bad?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-2000mA-U...pt=US_Tablet_Accessories&hash=item5d3 2a6631c
Will it be ok to buy it or will it harm the phone and I should just stick to 1A charger?
It will work without any issues. I am using Nokia charger that is 1,5A without any issues.
Just want to make sure there's no chance its gonna fry my phone phone somehow, 2A is still 25% higher then 1.5A .
I bought a 2.1A dual charger from Fry's last night.
Freakin thing is even worse at charging than my .7A single charger is.
I'm not buying anymore chargers unless they have written reviews from people stating they work properly.
CZ Eddie said:
I bought a 2.1A dual charger from Fry's last night.
Freakin thing is even worse at charging than my .7A single charger is.
I'm not buying anymore chargers unless they have written reviews from people stating they work properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you run into a good charger pm me. If I'll buy this charger and it works out to be good I'll let you know.
Having a power supply greater than what u need is actually a good thing, it'll provide a more stable. current, assuming its of decent quality. Your phone will only draw as much power as it needs, in this case 1A.
I will say that cheap DC power adapters appear to wildly vary in actual current delivered. I am a little skeptical of a charger sold from Hong Kong.
And, in my experience, you WILL need a full 1A of power when doing something like GPS navigation since my 750mA (well, thats what it says on it) charger can't keep up with that level of power draw.
Anyone who is good with electronics know a good way to test the output of these chargers directly?
multimeter
icenight89 said:
multimeter
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Well yes, but which output pins, etc. But thanks for the constructive answer
I don't own a multimeter, but my dad always had one (that was likely older than I am) and it always seemed to come in handy. Wonder if Radio Shack still has them or if its all just cell phones and toys now...
jslanger said:
Well yes, but which output pins, etc. But thanks for the constructive answer
I don't own a multimeter, but my dad always had one (that was likely older than I am) and it always seemed to come in handy. Wonder if Radio Shack still has them or if its all just cell phones and toys now...
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Same is with my dad, try this http://pinoutsguide.com/PortableDevices/micro_usb_pinout.shtml I guess you gotta measure the red and black.
2 informative threads about this subject:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=844284 - This method might prove useful to your 2.1A new charger.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-787906.html
kishke said:
If you run into a good charger pm me. If I'll buy this charger and it works out to be good I'll let you know.
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This thread links to a supposedly good charger.
It also discusses that the USB cable itself can be the difference between a .5A and 1.0A charge.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ga...8605-car-adapter-charges-while-using-gps.html
I bought a 120V AC/DC converter for my car for charging my laptop and it also has a USB plug. Even it wasn't able to charge my phone up while I was using GPS.
So I'm going to try a stock Samsung micro-USB cable instead of the Radio Shack collapsing micro-USB cable I've been using, to see if that helps.
Just ordered the charger, 3$ is not a big hit, I'll report back in 2-3 weeks after I receive it and let you know how well it's working.
kishke said:
Just ordered the charger, 3$ is not a big hit, I'll report back in 2-3 weeks after I receive it and let you know how well it's working.
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Click to collapse
I hope you don't expect too much from a $3 charger. Remember the old saying people, you get what you pay for!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
kishke said:
Just ordered the charger, 3$ is not a big hit, I'll report back in 2-3 weeks after I receive it and let you know how well it's working.
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Click to collapse
Just have to say that I love your screen name Kishke. Only my grandmother uses that word still
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
So I just got my charger today, had 1 drive with it so far with gps on and the phone actually got charged without exploding ^^
This is the charger for the lazy people http://www.ebay.com/itm/400281723676?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
It come without a cable and from first impression it looks pretty good.
Thanks, I just bought one. Hope it doesn't take ~30 days to get to me like it did you.
A little update:
Yesterday I had 2 drives with the phone the charger connected and the gps on, first was 50 minutes second was 35, both times everything worked great and the phone got charged.
Today as I was driving back home after the phone on with the gps and the charger for 10 minutes I received a "battery temperature too hot, stopping charging".
I can relate a few factors to this, first when i entered the car it was scolding hot, second probably the car mount was also hot and 3rd my case is really cheap and chocking.
I downloaded a battery temperature widget and I'll check the battery and the charger in a few different situations, with and without the case when the car is hot.
Edit: I checked the current the phone takes while being connected to the wall and the cat charger and they are both approx 860mA so the issue comes to the phone itself.
Overheating
When I had my Nexus One I had overheating problems.
It happened when doing all of the following together:
- connected to car charger
- gps
- navigation
- screen on full brightness
- on dashboard on very hot day
The phone was never the same after the first time it overheated (unstable). Eventually got HTC to replace the motherboard to resolve the issues.
My point being that when you do all this stuff at the same time you have a lot of current flowing through a pretty tight space with very little cooling.
I am paranoid about my i727r getting fried this way as well ... so I am constantly checking to see if it is getting too hot when I am navigating.
I'm guessing at our hot summer I'll have to cut back on the charger or the gps.
Still now before it's really hot its a good time to experiment with everything icluding pointing the air conditioner on the phone ^^
Edit: I checked the current the phone takes while being connected to the wall and the cat charger and they are both approx 860mA so the issue comes to the phone itself.
kishke said:
I'm guessing at our hot summer I'll have to cut back on the charger or the gps.
Still now before it's really hot its a good time to experiment with everything icluding pointing the air conditioner on the phone ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One solution could be to buy a genuine Samsung battery charger with a spare battery and charge only the spare one while driving
Look for Samsung-Battery-Charger-Stand-Galaxy
Mine arrived today, quality seems to be ok but haven't tested it yet.
kishke said:
Edit: I checked the current the phone takes while being connected to the wall and the cat charger and they are both approx 860mA so the issue comes to the phone itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you tell me how to check the current the phone takes without root access? My GS2 doesn't show current in widgets like CurrentWidget.

[Q] Terrible charge rate?

One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged. And unlike my SGSII before it, it could even gain a charge while being actively used for Waze. Really great.
With the 5 I'm back to where I was. And thanks to tools I picked up during the 4, I'm able to see why more easily. Seems on the exact same chargers I used my 4 on, I'm easily pulling 400+mA less than the 4 did from the same device and same cable.
I haven't had time to draw a correlation yet, but last night at home on a multi-out adapter from Monoprice I was able to pull over 1200mA which is more than I've ever seen ANY of my devices pull before. But today, on the same model at my office, but with a different cable, I'm pulling around 200mA. Same as what I was getting in my car, which would frequently dip into the negatives, and that was WITHOUT Waze running. Also of note, in ALL of these locations it's being listed as "USB plugged" instead of "AC plugged." I'd say that accounts for the difference there, but the 1200mA draw was listed the same way, so I doubt it.
So, has anyone else noticed this yet and found any correlations between devices, cables, etc., so we can figure this out? Using more power than it takes in will not be something I can survive with and will definitely make this phone a less-than-ideal upgrade over the 4 in the battery life department. But it's pretty clear it's not impossible to get a good charge.
(and yes, before anyone asks, all of my adapters have jacks with a minimum of 1A out, and each also has a 2.1A port. Surprisingly, unlike my 4 which tended to draw LESS power from the 2.1A port, the 5 appears to be unconcerned by the difference, pulling the same poor number from both)
Yes, i agree with you. I just check today, charging my phone from the pc and it seems fast charge isn't doing its thing.
duckied said:
Yes, i agree with you. I just check today, charging my phone from the pc and it seems fast boot isn't doing its thing.
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Well, I haven't even dared test it from a PC yet. All I can say is from wall warts and car chargers it's terrible. I can't imagine how bad it is from the limited PC ports. Although it's probably exactly the same, since it seems to be identifying all my wall outlets as USB connections.
using my lg g2 charger and it charges my nexus 5 super fast. 1 hour charge will give me almost full battery
spadeace9 said:
using my lg g2 charger and it charges my nexus 5 super fast. 1 hour charge will give me almost full battery
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Click to collapse
Not too surprising. I've read other reports that it charges nice and fast with the stock charger, which is likely the same as the G2 charger since they share most of the same hardware. But that doesn't help with car charging or those of us who've consolidated into multi-port chargers.
When I get home I'm going to mix and match some cables and devices and try to narrow in a bit more. This sounds like the Nexus 7 (2012) goose chase all over again.
The USB/AC detection is done with a definied resistance. Some chargers don't meet those exact resistances (cheap resistors have a big tolerance) -> the phone detects it as USB.
The cable can make big difference, I've tested several different cables on the N4 once, charging rate was between 600mA and ~1100mA (which should be the max) on the same charger.
Maybe the resistance in the charger is right inside the resistance tolerance, so the slight difference in resistance between the cables is enough.
Since the N4 most probably uses a different charge IC than the N5 (I haven't checked tho), it could be that the N4 had a wider tolerance than the N5.
What should help are those charge cables , the one I'm using from Porta Pow can only be used for charging therefore ignoring the charger resistance -> phone should always detect it as AC(even on a PC). Another good thing about those cables is the big wire diameter. Or a kernel where you can force AC charging regardless of the actual source.("fast charge")
That all sounds pretty logical. Considering I got much better results with the Monoprice premium cables I used last night (which oddly, are much THINNER than the cheaper ones), I'm going to experiment with those this evening and see if that makes all the difference.
As for kernels, I'm not planning to root this one if I can help it. I managed to get through the life of my 4 without rooting, too. I know it's heresy on XDA not to root, and until I got Nexus devices I would have agreed. But since stock Jelly Bean I haven't felt that burning need to "take back" control of my phone. I seem to already have plenty.
I observed the same inconsistencies with the N5's charging behavior and did some qualitative tests. I've attached a screenshot with my findings.
The phone is clearly capable of charging rapidly. My primary focus is getting a high current off the car charger. Is there a way to force AC charging mode vs. USB charging, or should I focus on more quality cables / adapters?
Just did some additional testing of my own and found some interesting results. I didn't take perfect notes, but here's what I got:
With the Monoprice 4-port Wall Charger 2.1A 8856:
Cheap Monoprice cable: bad charging, fluctuating between -80A and 200A.
Cheap unknown cable: same as above.
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 900-1200A.
Monoprice premium 6ft cable: 700-900A.
With the Monoprice 1A car charger 6765:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With the Monoprice 2.1A car charger 8858:
Bad charging with all cables tried, with exception of Monoprice premium 3ft cable which had same low end, but occasionally bumped over 300A.
With 3.1 (split between two ports) charger purchased on Amazon (my standby for my Nexus 4:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With Monoprice 2-port USB Car Charger 3.1A 10071:
Cheap Monoprice cable: Bad charging
Cheap unknown cable: Bad charging
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 700-900A
So it looks like high-end Monoprice paired with high-end Monoprice pays off. Unfortunately there's a rather serious catch with model 10071: it KILLS GPS. At least it did on my Nexus 4, and other reviews reported it as well. I can't be certain yet about it on the 5, but the little experimenting I did in the parking lot showed some anomalies I didn't like. Which means I apparently get to choose between GPS killing my battery, or charging my battery killing my GPS.
Also tried Nexus 7 2012 charger with its own cable and got bad charging, too.
TurboFool said:
Just did some additional testing of my own and found some interesting results. I didn't take perfect notes, but here's what I got:
With the Monoprice 4-port Wall Charger 2.1A 8856:
Cheap Monoprice cable: bad charging, fluctuating between -80A and 200A.
Cheap unknown cable: same as above.
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 900-1200A.
Monoprice premium 6ft cable: 700-900A.
With the Monoprice 1A car charger 6765:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With the Monoprice 2.1A car charger 8858:
Bad charging with all cables tried, with exception of Monoprice premium 3ft cable which had same low end, but occasionally bumped over 300A.
With 3.1 (split between two ports) charger purchased on Amazon (my standby for my Nexus 4:
Bad charging with all cables tried.
With Monoprice 2-port USB Car Charger 3.1A 10071:
Cheap Monoprice cable: Bad charging
Cheap unknown cable: Bad charging
Monoprice premium 3ft cable: 700-900A
So it looks like high-end Monoprice paired with high-end Monoprice pays off. Unfortunately there's a rather serious catch with model 10071: it KILLS GPS. At least it did on my Nexus 4, and other reviews reported it as well. I can't be certain yet about it on the 5, but the little experimenting I did in the parking lot showed some anomalies I didn't like. Which means I apparently get to choose between GPS killing my battery, or charging my battery killing my GPS.
Also tried Nexus 7 2012 charger with its own cable and got bad charging, too.
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There's a pattern obviously, the 6ft to 3ft drop seems high but is ok I guess.
I've never seen such a picky device when it comes down to charging, usually it just works as expected ^^
Have you tried your cables on the carger it came with ? Or the cable it came with on your other cargers ?
Is there something with "AWG" written on your cables ?
@random_dgp: Well you basically have 2 choices: get a kernel with (force) fast charge support (don't know if there is one yet) or get a charger/cable combo which works.
If you're planning on rooting your N5 anyway I would go for the kernel way I guess, since the charger and the cable are fine most probably, they just aren't in the specs the N5 requires.
maisi said:
There's a pattern obviously, the 6ft to 3ft drop seems high but is ok I guess.
I've never seen such a picky device when it comes down to charging, usually it just works as expected ^^
Have you tried your cables on the carger it came with ? Or the cable it came with on your other cargers ?
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The first-gen Nexus 7 was at least this bad. Actually its biggest problem was it refused to even ADMIT it was charging (even though it was) off of most devices. In fact everything I just listed it would claim wasn't even connected to it. A few hours later it was full, but it refused to recognize it. 4.2 fixed that, but it was still slow off of most devices. This at least admits it's being charged, but barely is.
And no, I haven't tried the stock charger yet. I guess I will, but it's not a high priority since it doesn't cover my issues.
TurboFool said:
One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged. And unlike my SGSII before it, it could even gain a charge while being actively used for Waze. Really great.
With the 5 I'm back to where I was. And thanks to tools I picked up during the 4, I'm able to see why more easily. Seems on the exact same chargers I used my 4 on, I'm easily pulling 400+mA less than the 4 did from the same device and same cable.
I haven't had time to draw a correlation yet, but last night at home on a multi-out adapter from Monoprice I was able to pull over 1200mA which is more than I've ever seen ANY of my devices pull before. But today, on the same model at my office, but with a different cable, I'm pulling around 200mA. Same as what I was getting in my car, which would frequently dip into the negatives, and that was WITHOUT Waze running. Also of note, in ALL of these locations it's being listed as "USB plugged" instead of "AC plugged." I'd say that accounts for the difference there, but the 1200mA draw was listed the same way, so I doubt it.
So, has anyone else noticed this yet and found any correlations between devices, cables, etc., so we can figure this out? Using more power than it takes in will not be something I can survive with and will definitely make this phone a less-than-ideal upgrade over the 4 in the battery life department. But it's pretty clear it's not impossible to get a good charge.
(and yes, before anyone asks, all of my adapters have jacks with a minimum of 1A out, and each also has a 2.1A port. Surprisingly, unlike my 4 which tended to draw LESS power from the 2.1A port, the 5 appears to be unconcerned by the difference, pulling the same poor number from both)
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OOC what sort of dmm/ammeter are you using to measure this?
TurboFool said:
One of the things I loved most about my Nexus 4 was just how quickly it charged
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i dont know if you're making this up, or if i have a defective nexus 4 lol
before i optimized my N4 i was getting about 4-5 hours of screen time, but it took at least 3 full hours to charge. that charge time to usage time ratio was killing me.
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too
TurboFool said:
The first-gen Nexus 7 was at least this bad. Actually its biggest problem was it refused to even ADMIT it was charging (even though it was) off of most devices. In fact everything I just listed it would claim wasn't even connected to it. A few hours later it was full, but it refused to recognize it. 4.2 fixed that, but it was still slow off of most devices. This at least admits it's being charged, but barely is.
And no, I haven't tried the stock charger yet. I guess I will, but it's not a high priority since it doesn't cover my issues.
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Oh that's bad , I didn't know that!
Would just be the "reference test" since the stock charger should meet all the specs (and works fine here with every cable).
@cutterjohn: "Currentwidget" can display those values.
Enddo said:
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too
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The problem he's having isn't about a computer USB port at all, the problem is that the N5 thinks it's plugged in a computer and limits the current to 500mA to meet the USB specs (and don't blow up some usb ports without a fuse somewhere) but in reality it's plugged in a wall charger.
His phone should be fine since it's working as expected on some carger/cable combos.
Btw. the N5 isn't pulling more current than the N4(both 1,2A), so it should charge almost exactly as fast/slow as the N4. It should even be a bit slower since the battery is slightly bigger I think.
cutterjohn said:
OOC what sort of dmm/ammeter are you using to measure this?
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I'm simply using the app Battery Monitor Widget. Really handy tool that solved some problems for me on the 4 with some weird charging situations. While I'm sure it's not insanely precise, it reflects my draining or charging rate well enough to show me what's going on.
Enddo said:
before i optimized my N4 i was getting about 4-5 hours of screen time, but it took at least 3 full hours to charge. that charge time to usage time ratio was killing me.
i am having much much much better results with my N5. i have no reason to charge it through a USB port on the computer(are you using an USB 1.0 port or something?), but charging it with the charger that it came with, i get a full charge in about 2 hours.
my N5 will charge a tiny bit over 1% per minute(while on or off), until it gets to 80% and then it charges at about .5% per minute or something
if you're getting the same charge times on the wall charger then i think you might have a defective charger/device. testing this will also be a good way to find out if it's just a slow usb port too
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I think you're missing the fact that I'm comparing it directly to how well these same devices charged the 4. So they're clearly not defective so much as the 5's requirements have changed completely. And USB 1.0 (I think you mean 1.1) isn't relevant here, as I'm not charging off a computer, I'm charging off a wall and/or car adapter. But sounds like we had very different experiences with the 4. I could charge my 4 off my Monoprice pocket battery in crazy fast time, and my phone was always full by the time I reached my destination in the car, even with Waze running (once I figured out I couldn't use the long cable I was using initially).
maisi said:
Oh that's bad , I didn't know that!
Would just be the "reference test" since the stock charger should meet all the specs (and works fine here with every cable).
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Absolutely. A control of sorts. Might as well.
Btw. the N5 isn't pulling more current than the N4(both 1,2A), so it should charge almost exactly as fast/slow as the N4. It should even be a bit slower since the battery is slightly bigger I think.
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Exactly. That's why I was surprised. There's no way it SHOULD be this much slower. Yes, I can see percentage adjusting slightly for the larger battery, but that's why I'm going by mA input instead, and my 4 was getting WAY better in the car. Although I don't think it ever got the 1.2 I'm getting with the Monoprice wall combo, so THAT's impressive. Now if I can just get that in my car without the RF interference and I can call it a day.
maisi said:
@cutterjohn: "Currentwidget" can display those values.
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Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
Subjectively, the n5 takes longer to charge, but not that much longer that I've noticed, again batt cap, etc. so...
Both USB/AC adapter chargers I know supply a max of 1.2A...
...(from last so) ask for a replacement n5, after they've been replacing them for a single dead pixel...
[/EDIT]
My n5 charging real fast fatter t than my n4!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
cutterjohn said:
Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
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Neither I think, we don't need any mA values to see that something is wrong, android is telling us that it thinks that it's connected to a usb port while it isn't.
Of course if we would want to measure exact mA values we would need a different equipment, for cable comparisions in order to see a tendency, the values from the charge IC should be good enough.(IMO)
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
Subjectively, the n5 takes longer to charge, but not that much longer that I've noticed, again batt cap, etc. so...
Both USB/AC adapter chargers I know supply a max of 1.2A...
...(from last so) ask for a replacement n5, after they've been replacing them for a single dead pixel...
[/EDIT]
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Just saw your edit ^^
Well it looks like the N5 has a very low tolerance for AC/USB detection, I'm sure that neither his chargers or Phone are defective, the chargers just aren't 100%in the spec which is obviously enough. I'm sure that the stock charger would be fine.
cutterjohn said:
Well then your either have defective hardware or currentwidget just doesn't work. As I inferred hard to tell w/o proper tools.
[EDIT]
Oops, multiple responses and replied to incorrect one, but really if your recharge rate is that much lower v. n4 I'd say that your chargers or n5 are defective. It's going to take longer to charge the n5 obviously, and I have no idea what the max draw either can achieve as I've been strictly using inductive charging w/max 1A supply(as per Qi spec)... n5 takes longer to charge than n4, but thats to be expected by batt cap(and wear(decreased cap) of n4 batt)...
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Clearly neither is the case from my testing. The N5 charges beautifully off of the right combination of chargers, and all of those chargers charged the N4 beautifully. Neither is defective, but the N5 apparently has a different tolerance requirement than the N4.
Really, as opposed to anything being defective, it sounds more like a design flaw in the N5. It's WAY too picky about its power sources.
Mine charged REALLY slow the first day and that night. It also drained really quickly during that same time. I am now on my third day and it has long battery life plus it charged about 20% in 30 minutes on a car charger. Seems quicker than my S3.

A510 won't charge

Since last night my a510 won't charge at all. There was a thunderstorm and a power cut and the charger was connected to the socket (a multi socket with several other items including a phone charger) but not to the tablet. When I plug it in now there's no indication that it is charging and the battery keeps going down. I tried with the phone charger also and a USB cable on the PC. While I know at best this would charge the tablet in 24 hours or so there was again not sign of charging at all.
Is it still most likely to be the Acer charger that's at fault or is there something else I could try?
pickarooney said:
Since last night my a510 won't charge at all. There was a thunderstorm and a power cut and the charger was connected to the socket (a multi socket with several other items including a phone charger) but not to the tablet. When I plug it in now there's no indication that it is charging and the battery keeps going down. I tried with the phone charger also and a USB cable on the PC. While I know at best this would charge the tablet in 24 hours or so there was again not sign of charging at all.
Is it still most likely to be the Acer charger that's at fault or is there something else I could try?
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edit: turns out it does trickle charge with a normal USB charger even if the charge light doesn't come on. Seems to be really hard to find a replacement for these though.
pickarooney said:
edit: turns out it does trickle charge with a normal USB charger even if the charge light doesn't come on. Seems to be really hard to find a replacement for these though.
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12V, 1.5 Ampere, I believe just about any electronics outlet should have something in stock. Original would be better, true. Get a surge-protected multisocket if your area is prone to bad weather.
Luther Blissett said:
12V, 1.5 Ampere, I believe just about any electronics outlet should have something in stock. Original would be better, true. Get a surge-protected multisocket if your area is prone to bad weather.
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The problem is the MicroUSB port on the tablet has an extra connector so I don't think it will be possible to use a normal microUSB cable with a 12V adapter.
pickarooney said:
The problem is the MicroUSB port on the tablet has an extra connector so I don't think it will be possible to use a normal microUSB cable with a 12V adapter.
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I tried with another adaptor which has the right shape and 12V output and is supposed to be compatible but not joy. It might be the tablet itself but it's weird if it just stopped working overnight.
warranty
pickarooney said:
I tried with another adaptor which has the right shape and 12V output and is supposed to be compatible but not joy. It might be the tablet itself but it's weird if it just stopped working overnight.
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I had the same problem, after 2 month my charger was dead. I Contacted ACER send in the tabled and got a new charger in about 1 week.
You need 12 Volts for Charging 5 Volts want Charge your Battery fully.

Slow charging... Anyone else?

I've seen a few things online with no charging problems. Mine will charge but super slow. Overnight it will only charge to about 73%. Tried battery calibration and still nothing. Any tricks or fixes I don't know about?
Are you using the original charger and cable? You need at least a 2amp charger and the original cable to charge properly.
Transmitted via Bacon
timmaaa said:
Are you using the original charger and cable? You need at least a 2amp charger and the original cable to charge properly.
Transmitted via Bacon
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He is right. Older chargers are not 2 amp, and so they will charge, but very slowly. You don't have to necessarily use the original cable, or the stock charger. Really any cable will get you fast charging as long as the block that plugs into the wall is a 2 amp. Chargers that will charge tablets usually work. My wife has an LG G3 and the charger for that works as well.
bradleyw801 said:
He is right. Older chargers are not 2 amp, and so they will charge, but very slowly. You don't have to necessarily use the original cable, or the stock charger. Really any cable will get you fast charging as long as the block that plugs into the wall is a 2 amp. Chargers that will charge tablets usually work. My wife has an LG G3 and the charger for that works as well.
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Totally untrue and very bad, maybe even dangerous, advice...
Use a sub-standard cable with a 2 amp charger and you run a very serious risk of overheating, damaging the phone or charger, and even the risk of an electrical fire.
Always use good quality cables and chargers, and read other people's recommendations as to what are good. Buying a cheap set just to save a few quid could cost you your phone, or much more.
SimonTS said:
Totally untrue and very bad, maybe even dangerous, advice...
Use a sub-standard cable with a 2 amp charger and you run a very serious risk of overheating, damaging the phone or charger, and even the risk of an electrical fire.
Always use good quality cables and chargers, and read other people's recommendations as to what are good. Buying a cheap set just to save a few quid could cost you your phone, or much more.
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I agree if you buy a cable that ignores safety standards you could cause a fire, but that to me just has to do with being a cheap cable. Here is some information that supports what I am saying:
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...ks-or-how-to-avoid-blowing-up-your-smartphone
To quote that article "USB 1.0 and 2.0 specs, a standard downstream port is capable of delivering up to 500mA (0.5A); in USB 3.0, it moves up to 900mA (0.9A). The charging downstream and dedicated charging ports provide up to 1500mA (1.5A)"
Also, "You can plug any USB device into any USB cable and into any USB port, and nothing will blow up — and in fact, using a more powerful charger should speed up battery charging."
So perhaps I should explain to the person that asked the question, if your cable is more than a few years old, it may still charge slowly. You need it to be at least USB 3.0. But most cables sold in the last few years are USB 3.0.
Using a cheap quality cable, sure, that's always a bad idea no matter what. Using an older cable, the worst that could happen (assuming it's not in poor condition) is that it will only let .5amps through.
I charged mine last night for 7 hours and it only has 22% battery.
I originally bought a One Plus One in February 2015. It broke and I had to go through the extensive RMA process. Since they shipped the replacement phone to me, I have been noticing more and more problems. The latest being the charging. I cannot get it to charge correctly. Since the RMA process took a month (Feb 22 - March 22), I'm very reluctant to do it again. Considering selling this and going back to AT&T. Or at least some company that has phone support/any support.
I plugged it in 5 minutes ago at 7% battery and now its dead.
Jess650 said:
I charged mine last night for 7 hours and it only has 22% battery.
I originally bought a One Plus One in February 2015. It broke and I had to go through the extensive RMA process. Since they shipped the replacement phone to me, I have been noticing more and more problems. The latest being the charging. I cannot get it to charge correctly. Since the RMA process took a month (Feb 22 - March 22), I'm very reluctant to do it again. Considering selling this and going back to AT&T. Or at least some company that has phone support/any support.
I plugged it in 5 minutes ago at 7% battery and now its dead.
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Are you using the original charger and cable?
Thanks for input guys. I do not have my original charger anymore. My wife's new kitten has made quick work if several chargers. I purchased one yesterday at local Verizon store. 2amp chargers are actually hard to find. So this is what I got. It charges fast again. Charged my phone from 5% to 71% in about 40 minutes. This model actually States 2.1 amp.
A great replacement is the original Blackberry Playbook charger with the non-removeable cable. Almost as fast as my original charger and a sensible price as well.
Install any ROM except the ones based on Omni.. (like the SlimROMs) and flash boeffla kernel. Keep the AC Charging Current up to 2200A. It says it may damage the USB Cable or charger but nothing ever happened to my Galaxy S3 (on the same kernel) or OPO. It charges extremely fast with the original USB cable and charger. Try it! Worked for all my friends!

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