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[FAQ][10/11/10] Samsung Epic USB/Wall/Charger FAQ

This message is a summary of my previous messages. I hope that it will be useful. I wrote this to document what I found out about the Epic. I'm cheap, and I didn't want to buy ANOTHER charger for my car. I had a 3A, 2-port USB charger, and I was mad that my Epic was charging slowly. I managed to modify my charger to get it to perform just like the wall charger that came with my phone.
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Q: How much current does the Epic draw from a normal (bus-powered) USB port when charging?
A: 380mA.
Q: How much current does the Epic draw from the OEM 700mA wall charger when charging?
A: 600mA
Q: How much current does the Epic draw from a car charger or an aftermarket wall charger?
A: It depends...
If the charger has the two data pins (D+ and D-) shorted, the Epic will attempt to draw 600mA. Otherwise, it will draw 380mA.
Q: How can I tell if my phone is charging at 380mA or 600mA?
A: Turn off USB debugging (Home Screen\Settings\Applications\Development\USB debugging).
If you plug into a 380mA source (D+ and D- not shorted), you get a "Charging/Mass Storage/Tethered Mode" popup when you unlock your phone.
If you plug into a 600mA source (D+ and D- shorted), you do not get a popup.
Q: I have a 1A micro USB charger from another phone. Can I use it to charge the Epic?
A: Yes, but you won't get it to charge any faster than the 700mA OEM wall charger. The phone will only draw 600mA at most, regardless of how many amps the charger can supply. (And that assumes that D+ and D- are shorted.)
Q: I have a Palm Pre wall charger. I've heard that it charges the phone faster than the Epic wall charger. Is this true?
A: No. The Palm Pre wall charger does not charge the phone any faster than normal. With my phone hooked up, I measured 590mA (600mA with cable loss). I also saw that the charger had D+ and D- shorted. It behaves exactly like the Epic's charger.
Q: Will these 1A chargers damage my phone?
A: As long as the charger is able to supply the necessary current without overheating, chargers from other phones will not damage the Epic. A charger may be rated for 3A, but the Epic controls how much current it draws.
If you buy a cheap charger, you run the risk of having the charger's chip burn up. Among other things, this could short the charger's input voltage (12V from a car) to the USB V+ line and fry your phone.
Q: I have a USB charger that seems to charge my phone slooooowly. What can I do?
A: Your charger is probably supplying 380mA (or worse). You have a few options:
NOTE: Before doing any of this, make sure that your charger is rated at 700mA or greater. If you have an unmarked charger, chances are that it will not be able to supply 700mA out of the box. Many car charger (such as those for the Nintendo DS) have built-in current limiters that prevent the device from drawing too much current.
1. Modify Your Charger: Open up the charger and look to see if D+ and D- are shorted. (They are the two middle pins on the standard size USB plug.) Modify your charger so that it shorts D+ and D-, and remove any pull-up or pull-down resistors that connect D+ and/or D- to power or ground.
2. Modify A Cable: Slice open a spare micro USB cable (or the cable from your charger), being careful not to damage the red or black wires. Cut the green and white wires (D+ and D-). Strip off a little bit of the insulation from the green and white wires that lead to the micro USB connector. Twist these wires together and wrap in electrical tape.
NOTE: This will prevent the cable from being used as a USB data transfer cable.
3. Buy a USB Charging Cable: Look for a special USB charging cable that already has D+ and D- shorted.
Q: If I buy or make a charging cable, can I get 600mA from a normal (bus-powered) USB port?
A: It depends. The USB spec says that a port can only supply 500mA max. There is usually an overcurrent monitor built into the port that will prevent an overcurrent condition. The OS will pop up a message telling you that you've exceeded the current sourcing capacity of the port.
There are some laptops, however that have ports that allow you to violate the USB spec and draw up to 1A from a port.
Use caution when experimenting.
Q: Can you tell how much current the device draws from the device?
A: No. You CAN, however, get a battery graphing app like Battery Graph.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/battery-...odroid.battery
If you set the monitoring interval to 1 minute and start charging your phone (which should be low on charge) with the wall charger, you'll see a battery curve. You can then repeat this process with your alternate charging method. If you compare the slopes of the charging curves, you'll be able to tell if your alternate charging method is performing the same as your wall charger.
It's not as quick as using a DMM, but it works. It's how I initially saw I was having a problem.
Q: How can you tell if your USB cable has D+/D- shorted?
A: 99% of all cables will not have the lines shorted. You have to buy a "charging cable". But if you are in doubt as to what cable is what, plug it into a PC's USB port. Either the PC will detect the device (not shorted), or you'll trip the USB port's overcurrent mode (shorted).
Or... You can buy a DMM and check the resistance between D+ and D-.
- N

Is there a way to display on the Epic how much current it is drawing? Or some other way to tell if the cable being used is D+/D- shorted?

Thank you. Very helpful.

jasonsf said:
Is there a way to display on the Epic how much current it is drawing? Or some other way to tell if the cable being used is D+/D- shorted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good questions!
Q: Can you tell how much current the device draws from the device?
A: No. You CAN, however, get a battery graphing app like Battery Graph.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/battery-graph/com.modroid.battery
If you set the monitoring interval to 1 minute and start charging your phone (which should be low on charge) with the wall charger, you'll see a battery curve. You can then repeat this process with your alternate charging method. If you compare the slopes of the charging curves, you'll be able to tell if your alternate charging method is performing the same as your wall charger.
It's not as quick as using a DMM, but it works. It's how I initially saw I was having a problem.
Q: How can you tell if your USB cable has D+/D- shorted?
A: 99% of all cables will not have the lines shorted. You have to buy a "charging cable". But if you are in doubt as to what cable is what, plug it into a PC's USB port. Either the PC will detect the device (not shorted), or you'll trip the USB port's overcurrent mode (shorted).
Or... You can buy a DMM and check the resistance between D+ and D-.

Awesome! Thanks for the info!
Oh, one more thing. Are you saying that the wall charger shorts D+ and D- at the plug? So any cable is essentially shorted when using the wall charger?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

jasonsf said:
Awesome! Thanks for the info!
Oh, one more thing. Are you saying that the wall charger shorts D+ and D- at the plug? So any cable is essentially shorted when using the wall charger?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct.
For the Epic, the wall charger shorts D+ and D- together.
For wall or car chargers that have a non-removable cable, 99% of the time the short will be inside the charger and NOT in the cable.

Every computer I've used gladly lets me draw 1A without complaints. My old TP was hacked to draw 1A and nothing complained. Didn't even damage the cheapest of the cheap ebay chargers.

Firon said:
Every computer I've used gladly lets me draw 1A without complaints. My old TP was hacked to draw 1A and nothing complained. Didn't even damage the cheapest of the cheap ebay chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YMMV. My netbook prevents me from drawing more than 500mA per port.
It all depends on how the USB port circuit is laid out. In the designs I've seen, there's usually a power distribution switch (PDS) in-line with the port that provides overcurrent protection. When that switch trips, it sends a bit to the hub chip that tells the hub that the port is in overcurrent state. (The PDS's secondary function is short-circuit protection. If you stick a car key in your USB port, your computer won't blow up.)
PDS's come in different current cutoff steps, so it is up to the PC manufacturer to choose the right one.
If your PC can't supply the 600mA on a single port to charge the phone, buy one of those USB power splitter cables that lets you draw from 2 ports at once.

I have found that if you plug in the phone and the options for charging, mass storage and tethering pop up, then you are only charging at 380mA. If nothing pops up then you are most likely charging at 600mA.

muyoso said:
I have found that if you plug in the phone and the options for charging, mass storage and tethering pop up, then you are only charging at 380mA. If nothing pops up then you are most likely charging at 600mA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ding! You are correct. I never noticed because you don't get prompted AT ALL if you have USB debugging turned on.

This is a little off topic. Does the usb cable initiate Dock Mode? I know some other phones use magnets in the dock, but I think I read that the Galaxy S phones detect the car or home dock via the USB cable. Did you discover a mechanism for this in your usb research?

jasonsf said:
This is a little off topic. Does the usb cable initiate Dock Mode? I know some other phones use magnets in the dock, but I think I read that the Galaxy S phones detect the car or home dock via the USB cable. Did you discover a mechanism for this in your usb research?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... I didn't find anything. Maybe I'll "rent" a dock from the Sprint store and find out.

Very nice write up. Answered all the questions I had about the slow charging of this phone. Thanks again.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I am getting substantially faster charges with a 1amp charger than the oem 700, it looks like it is using close to the 1000 ma on some chargers.

aero1 said:
I am getting substantially faster charges with a 1amp charger than the oem 700, it looks like it is using close to the 1000 ma on some chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to pay attention to mine. I started using the 1 amp charger that came with my Touch Pro. I charge it overnight so I don't pay attention to how fast it is charging, but I'll see if I can notice tonight.

aero1 said:
I am getting substantially faster charges with a 1amp charger than the oem 700, it looks like it is using close to the 1000 ma on some chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which chargers? I'll be happy to try any charger that you recommend.

I haven't tested charging by timing the charges, but I have installed a widget that tells me an approximate charge rate called currentwidget, and it gives me the EXACT same values for a 700 ma charger or a 1000 ma charger. Unless this widget is just straight up lying, the phone won't charge any faster than a 700 ma charger no matter how large of a charger you throw at it.

IBNobody said:
2. Modify A Cable: Slice open a spare micro USB cable (or the cable from your charger), being careful not to damage the red or black wires. Cut the green and white wires (D+ and D-). Strip off a little bit of the insulation from the green and white wires that lead to the micro USB connector. Twist these wires together and wrap in electrical tape.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to suggest just taping over the data pins in the USB connector (obviously, the regular, non-micro end), but I just tried it and it still popped up the Charging/Mass Storage/Tether, though selecting Mass Storage doesn't work -- the device is not detected by the computer for obvious reasons. I've been using this trick for a while for my mp3 player and my Hero at work and was surprised that it didn't work.

reauxgg said:
I was going to suggest just taping over the data pins in the USB connector (obviously, the regular, non-micro end), but I just tried it and it still popped up the Charging/Mass Storage/Tether, though selecting Mass Storage doesn't work -- the device is not detected by the computer for obvious reasons. I've been using this trick for a while for my mp3 player and my Hero at work and was surprised that it didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you need to short those pins together. If you leave them open, it won't go into high-current charge mode.
Those other devices may have had D+ and D- connected across a termination resistor. Putting tape on the pins would have worked then.

IBNobody- I was wondering if you could explain this one- when I plug my epic into the usb port of the cheap charger that came with 2 batteries off of ebay (see here) my epic seems to freeze and the touch screen becomes unresponsive- the charger states it puts out 5.2V 800ma
Could it be that the phone is trying to figure out if its being plugged into a computer vs a simple charger?

[Q] Sidekick 4g doesn't charge via wall, but very slow via usb to pc

Sidekick 4g will not charge via wall, but does charge very slow on usb. I tried different wall chargers except the "official" wall charger, even a samsung branded usb detachable wall charger, but it still keeps doing in and out with a beep sound and doesn't charge. Am I missing something??? Please help, this issue is extremely aggravating especially when you use your phone for business. X(
I am on the final smooth maximus rom btw.

Well in my experiance with samsung phones and even some htc modles you have to use an offically branded charger for your modle sometimes, it has to do with the pins and how they line up, now if you use the usb cored and a travle wall charger (I use this set up in my truck for work) you should see a faster charge time cause the voltage is higher and its the right pin set
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App

The connector is an industry standard. There's no problem with the pins not lining up. There's also no difference in voltage between chargers. Being USB, it has to be 5v.
However, some chargers have higher capacity than others. The USB spec allows for 500mA from a PC's USB port, but chargers sometimes increase it to a full amp for faster charging. The phones will still charge from a PC's USB port, but they'll take longer.
Also, some companies (Like Motorola) require a special Motorola-branded charger. It's just because they want to sell more chargers. The only difference between a real Motorola one and a generic one is a resistor between two pins to identify it to the phone.
The Sidekick doesn't have this vendor lock-in crap. It'll charge from just about anything you can plug it into. If it's not charging I'd suspect a broken USB connector on the phone, a faulty battery, or a damaged charging circuit inside the phone.

Jax184 said:
The connector is an industry standard. There's no problem with the pins not lining up. There's also no difference in voltage between chargers. Being USB, it has to be 5v.
However, some chargers have higher capacity than others. The USB spec allows for 500mA from a PC's USB port, but chargers sometimes increase it to a full amp for faster charging. The phones will still charge from a PC's USB port, but they'll take longer.
Also, some companies (Like Motorola) require a special Motorola-branded charger. It's just because they want to sell more chargers. The only difference between a real Motorola one and a generic one is a resistor between two pins to identify it to the phone.
The Sidekick doesn't have this vendor lock-in crap. It'll charge from just about anything you can plug it into. If it's not charging I'd suspect a broken USB connector on the phone, a faulty battery, or a damaged charging circuit inside the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response guys.. Yeah, this stuff is pretty weird.. it would blow if the port is messed up. The phone is brand new though, would they be manufactured faulty?? In that case samsung tech department sucks!

When you make a million of something, statistics say that a few mistakes will happen. If it's new I'd suggest taking it back. I charge my Sidekick off of my PC's USB port and am often surprised by how quickly it charges.

Jax184 said:
When you make a million of something, statistics say that a few mistakes will happen. If it's new I'd suggest taking it back. I charge my Sidekick off of my PC's USB port and am often surprised by how quickly it charges.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. I see. See, the thing is now its charging fine after a certain %. My guess is the battery is faulty then...

[Q] Where can I buy a "fast charge" usb cable adapter

It is known that if the data lines on the USB line are shorted together then the phone will charge at the full 1000mA rate.
If they are not shorted together, then the phone will charge at the slow 500mA rate.
I have a lot of apple house and car chargers. These apple chargers use some resistance value between the data lines to work with apple products. As so my phone treats them as a USB type charge (500mA) instead of an AC charge (1000mA).
I know I can rip a couple cords up and make them fast charge only by shorting the lines outside of the charger. This would make the cord ghetto with electrical tape.
Where can I buy a "fast charge adapter cord" premade? I've seen them on amazon but they disappeared. I am looking for like a 3 or 6 inch USB male to female cord, where the DATA lines are shorted on the female side, very simple.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1772276 some info here. :good:

Im pretty sure any OEM samsung usb cable will do the trick.

Oh yeah, just do an amazon search on charge only usb cable and you'll find something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Charge-PureGear-Retail-Package-Universal/dp/B007F1DV76
I know you can close off the data line via phone but that requires the kernel to have ac force support which enables the USB to run at full amperage and havent seen those yet on our side.

Isn't there an option to fast charge in CM and AOKP so you don't have to buy a chord? Or does that option not work?
Sent from my SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Where to find an android fast charge cable
stupid forum won't let me post the URL... Dangerous Things has a "fast charge" cable capable of putting your android device in AC charging mode. Google dangerous things android fast charge cable to find it.

ishmell said:
stupid forum won't let me post the URL... Dangerous Things has a "fast charge" cable capable of putting your android device in AC charging mode. Google dangerous things android fast charge cable to find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you bump a year old thread?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

usb fast-charging
Find the appropriate charging cable to fit your phone, tablet, or computer. The USB end of the cable has four interfaces within the cable. The two outside pins are for power and the two interior pins are for data. For converting a standard cable to fast-charging, simply remove the interior pins from the USB side of your cable. I used a small knife to pry up the pins and a small set of needle-nosed pliers to get rid of them. Wahhlahh!!! A fast charging USB cable.

Cheap wireless charging plate

Anybody else tried this charging plate ? I just bought one from eBay and it works 100% with my lumia 820 just by putting it on the mat!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171026676132?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Wireless Charger
Could you tell me what the benefits are when using this wireless charger compared to the regular charger? I've seen some videos about it and, to me, it looks pointless having a wireless charger, which is in fact, wired. The only difference that there is, or so I think, is that you don't have your phone directly connected with the charger via micro usb cable - you put it on the "plate", which is wired to the charger itself and you charge your phone. What I'm trying to say is that either of the chargers limit you by the cable and I don't see the "wireless" in the wireless charger. All it does is save you a second to unplug your phone. Again, that's what I think. Your opinion may be different and that's why I'm asking you to tell me the benefits

a) You can place your phone down and charge it without searching for a cable that's slipped down the back of furniture
2) say you run a café - put these on the tables to allow customers to charge and stop them plugging random ass chargers into your sockets
III) It's a fad, but freaking cool - WIRE LESS charging. Sit and think about that.
Also, it's on a mobile phone, so saying it's pointless is slightly hypocritical as it's attached to a device that's USP was not needing to be plugged into the wall

Thanks just ordered one of the Qi Mats. Pemda obviously hasn't had any failed leads or charger ports. Im on my 5th or 6th lead with my M9, all fail after a while.
On my m7 i have had 3 new charger ports fitted by HTC, no worrying about the charger port on my lumia

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!