Develop Bugs

Car charging issues

I have found that when charging my HTC phone (Kaiser now, used to be a Blue Angel) in my car, if I use a cigarette lighter splitter (So that I can charge another device too) that even if nothing else is plugged into the splitter, the phone will not charge properly. It seems to get enough power to maintain charge, but if I am low on batt, then charge the phone and use it for satnav while I drive, when I finish the journey, the phone has not charged.
This does not seem to be the case if I plug the phone charger directly into the cigarette lighter socket instead of via the splitter.
Knowing a little about electricity, I guess the splitter is running the sockets in parallel or something and dividing the power between the sockets?
Any ideas on what I could do? I would imagine a car battery has plenty of power, maybe it just isn't being distributed properly. I guess the splitter is possibly limited such that it can't pass too much power if only one device is connected?
All the devices I want to use can power from USB, so I am guessing that the solution is maybe a USB hub designed for car use. I have 3 items typically that I want to be able to charge, so a 4 port hub would be nice. Anyone know where to get one in the UK?

I've got the same issue with my car charger (HTC Mogul phone), although for me it doesn't matter whether I use a splitter. Where did you get your charger? Maybe it just isn't supplying enough power.
While it's true that having two devices in parallel causes half the current to flow to one and half to the other (assuming they have the same resistance), the power supplies should be more than capable of pushing enough current for each device, especially when the car is running (and you're getting your electricity off the alternator).

well I thought it could be a dodgy cable but I just got an official HTC car charger for my kaiser and am observing the same thing.
It could have been the cigarette lighter->USB converter or the retractible sync cable I used to use, I will do some more tests and see if I can work out which bit is causing the problem - it wasn't until just recently that I had an official end-to-end solution (ie one HTC car lighter to miniusb cable) so I will try connecting it up various ways, but it isn't exactly quick to test if it is good or not as you need your phone low on batt and to be driving around for an hour or two to see if it is charging properly.

Flat Batteries
Seems XDA has software to prevent charging batteries which are too flat. (Perhaps to protect internal circuitry).
I recommend this thread which has a solution:
http://www.htcwizardweb.net/node/2013#comment-3808
I made it work OK but it is a fiddly job. An external charger for these batteries would be great but I can't find one.
Good luck !

I have the same issue. The battery has refused to charge when its below 40% or so. I now carry a spare in the car, especially as I often depend on Sat nav working!

yeah I had that low batt thing happen with my BA once or twice.
Actually, now I have kept an eye on it, it doesn't seem that bad with my kaiser. I no longer use my car lighter usb adapter though - I use the HTC car charger into a 3-in-1 splitter (usb, extusb, 3.5mm audio) and from that into my Kaiser and it seems to charge the kaiser ok (albeit a little slowly) even when I have a cigarette lighter splitter also powering an RF transmitter.
So I think maybe the weak link was the car lighter to usb adapter, maybe it was outputting too little power on the USB rails.

Car Charger died
I'll jump on an old thread...
My HTC branded car charger (that I got from sending in the post card) worked fine for my Cingular 8525 until a few weeks ago. Then it got flakey and now it doesn't want to work at all.
My 8525 will still charge on my laptop connected cradle and the AC charger.
Has anyone seen any failures in these chargers?
Any recommendations on chargers that are reliable?
Dave.

Shocking Battery Story..

I've just driven over 400 miles...
I was using my Desire with Co Pilot to navigate me from Scotland to Bristol...
The phone was in my phone holder which is placed in the cigarette lighter so the phone can apparently be charged at the same time as being held...
The phone showed that it was "charging" and yet it still ran out of power....
That's right.. the CHARGING phone RAN OUT of power and switched off!!!!!!! TWICE!!!!!!!!
Has anyone else experienced this? I can't imagine that this phone uses more power than the charge being applied?!

I used my Desire as GPS (with Copilot) the phone had 70% - 80% battery and after sometime it actually charged to 100%. Maybe there is some malfunction in your car charger or just not making a good contact in cigarette lighter plug. Check if charger's led lights all the time.

car chargers trickle charge so they prob couldn't keep up with the demands of CoPilot on the phone

EddyOS said:
car chargers trickle charge so they prob couldn't keep up with the demands of CoPilot on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to ensure that the car charger is rated at 1AMP at 5V otherwise it will as stated only trickle charge. I've heard this story on other devices. Do you have a genuine HTC charger?
Also if the device gets to warm, it will stop charging in order to avoid damage.

Thanks for the reply guys!
No, it's not a geniune one... I tried 2 different ones, both the universal holder/chargers from Mobile Fun..
So far they've both been fantastic until this little phone came along...!
Connections have been fine, which is the strange thing..
It did get hot though, so you may be right Ardsar... Any way of keeping it cooled?

Buy OEM...
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=...ient=firefox-a&price2=15.00&show=dd&scoring=p
Always best as you know that it'll work...

i have had the same problem plugging it into my computer and using it at the same time killed it.

charmz2k2 said:
I've just driven over 400 miles...
I was using my Desire with Co Pilot to navigate me from Scotland to Bristol...
The phone was in my phone holder which is placed in the cigarette lighter so the phone can apparently be charged at the same time as being held...
The phone showed that it was "charging" and yet it still ran out of power....
That's right.. the CHARGING phone RAN OUT of power and switched off!!!!!!! TWICE!!!!!!!!
Has anyone else experienced this? I can't imagine that this phone uses more power than the charge being applied?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me
http: //forum.xda-developers. com/showpost.php?p=6075788&postcount=11
http: //forum.xda-developers .com/showthread.php?t= 658338 (delete the spaces)

Same as what others say as well. Your car charger doesn't supply enough amps to keep up.
Ofcourse it gets really hot, navigation is one of the most heavy thing you can do on the phone. And while doing that you charge it at the same time in perhaps a warm car as well.
But, get a 1A charger, not a 500mah like most are.
Same goes for hooking it on the computer, the usb port might not give enough power so the phone can drain itself when doing real heavy stuff.
Plugging something in does not guarantee it will work, you have to know what you plug in

casualt said:
i have had the same problem plugging it into my computer and using it at the same time killed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course you will - USB ports can only supply upto 500mA if you have nothing else connected to the USB HOst.

Same story for me.
I got a 550 mA car charger, and battery wasn't charging but slowly discharging (about 5-10% per hour) with navi+HDSPA.
Thought, well, 550 mA is not enough, let's see the plug charger from Desire box: that's 1000 mA. Let's go get a 1A car charger.
Got this www . p4c.philips. com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DLM2206/10&slg=it&scy=IT (saw off spaces) which is rated 5V-1A.
Plugged in, started navigating+HDSPA for satellite layer, and still wasn't charging but discharging at a rate of about 4% per hour.
I'm really annoyed 'bout this, I spent 20+15€ for both chargers, I do not want to spend another 25€ for OEM charger....it's unbelivable that I'd finish to buy 60€ of chargers to find out one that do not let battery deplete.
As a final test, I'll try a different cable from original HTC sync cable included in the box...let's see.

EddyOS said:
Buy OEM...
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=...ient=firefox-a&price2=15.00&show=dd&scoring=p
Always best as you know that it'll work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone who has used this confirm it will manage to charge fully even while the Desire is running a satnav program?

Why don't you plug in your normal charger and start running a navigation demo or something.
Not sure if that uses as much energy, but I think it most probably will. The original charger outputs 1A.
If the socket charger does the job, but not the car charger (read: you can also run a navigation demo in the car using that charger) your car charger might not be supplying enough energy as it should.
Or you can use a multimeter and see how many amps it outputs. But the pins are a bit smallish

Tried with another cable (not the original sync one) with just power wires connected, same story: I'll try with the original wall plug charger and see if it does the same or not, as both the Philips charger and the original HTC wall charger are rated 5V-1A

It does get very hot. I used my gps for 9 hours in a row and at the end it got too hot or something and the phone just rebooted.
Still It wasn't because the battery had run out of juice it was still good.
Also it was streaming music over bluetooth at the same time.

Used Nav for 1 hour this morning on the way to work while charging from the official HTC car charger. Phone now sat on my desk, battery reporting 100%.
The phone did get pretty hot though...

FlatEric83 said:
Same story for me.
I got a 550 mA car charger, and battery wasn't charging but slowly discharging (about 5-10% per hour) with navi+HDSPA.
Thought, well, 550 mA is not enough, let's see the plug charger from Desire box: that's 1000 mA. Let's go get a 1A car charger.
Got this www . p4c.philips. com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DLM2206/10&slg=it&scy=IT (saw off spaces) which is rated 5V-1A.
Plugged in, started navigating+HDSPA for satellite layer, and still wasn't charging but discharging at a rate of about 4% per hour.
I'm really annoyed 'bout this, I spent 20+15€ for both chargers, I do not want to spend another 25€ for OEM charger....it's unbelivable that I'd finish to buy 60€ of chargers to find out one that do not let battery deplete.
As a final test, I'll try a different cable from original HTC sync cable included in the box...let's see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, not all chargers are equal. I believe that HTC devices need a combination of pins to be connected on the USB port to "tell" the phone that it's connected to a real charger and not a USB port, otherwise the phone will only pull 0.5A, regardless of the output capacity of the charger.
This always used to apply to older HTC phones, and I can't see why they'd change it, so it's quite possible that your 1A Philips charger will not charge the same as my 1A HTC charger...
If in doubt, OEM

daern said:
FYI, not all chargers are equal. I believe that HTC devices need a combination of pins to be connected on the USB port to "tell" the phone that it's connected to a real charger and not a USB port, otherwise the phone will only pull 0.5A, regardless of the output capacity of the charger.
This always used to apply to older HTC phones, and I can't see why they'd change it, so it's quite possible that your 1A Philips charger will not charge the same as my 1A HTC charger...
If in doubt, OEM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought, as I imagined that: I hoped that another cable I have, which has USB on one side and a 2 poles connector on the other side on which you connect various connectors, would be recognized by Desire as being a pure power cable. I wasn't lucky.
Since OEM is out for 25€, I tried with non OEM before to save some, but till now I buyed 35€ worth chargers, I'd have to stick with OEM
But now I'm really reluctant on getting OEM, since I do not want to end with spending 60€ in order to have my phone charged while navigating....I'll try to tinker some, and if I'll find out how, I'll report

I had the same problem by using a 1.5A car charger which is working great with iPhone.
As for the PC USB charge... are you sure it can't output 1A to charge the device??

JapanLover said:
I had the same problem by using a 1.5A car charger which is working great with iPhone.
As for the PC USB charge... are you sure it can't output 1A to charge the device??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB2 specs do say that ports shall provide max 500 mA, ehnce motherboards have this limit.
BTW, here's a discussion I've found about the "cable" problem
forum.xda-developers. com/archive/index.php/t-643808.html
For HD2 (which is actually the model to which HTC CC C200 is dedicated)
I'll try to tinker with some cheap cable and see if this works.

Fast car and home chargers (full 1 amp)?

So I bought a car usb charger that claimed it was rated at 1 amp. Using both my blackberry and HTC oem usb cables it will only show up as a USB charger (500ma).
This is not exactly enough to charge the phone while using 3g, gps, full screen brightness, etc. I'm looking for a good confirmed 1 amp hardwire (not using a usb cable) car charger and home charger. I used my sisters Samsung charger (rated at 700ma) and it charged it quicker than with the OEM htc charger.
And I would like to try and get ones that are confirmed to show up as fully charging the phone. I would appreciate some insight
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

And now that I think about it,
I would like to be able to use my Amazon prime for a change, so amazon links would be nice
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.

nhutpham said:
I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was me on both accounts. Love my rocket fish cable. Bought the 12v/usb converter for the car and whether or not i use the pc or car to charge, it shows as ac charger on the phone. I use this cable on all my pc's as well as the usb outlet in my vehicle.

This is the charger that I bought from amazon. It shows up as charging from AC (instead of USB) charging. It's available for Amazon Prime for under $6:
The Motorola P513 micro-usb charger.

Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma

investinwaffles said:
Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this one works great. I have it.

Ok, so I found an OEM Nokia for the N97 that is rated at 1200ma. Is this safe to buy for my phone?
http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Origina..._1_2?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280760676&sr=8-2
Auction with more specifics of the charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-US-AC-10U...ccessories&hash=item414e190fa7#ht_2800wt_1026

There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW

I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.

linhpham2 said:
There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From this ebay listing it looks like the AC-6U is only a ~600ma charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-CELL-PHON..._Accessories&hash=item5639f88b1c#ht_500wt_721
I think ill spend the extra few bucks on the 1200ma charger, I don't think ill have any problems (and i have the best buy warranty also so I'm not too worried).

linhpham2 said:
I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How fast does it charge?

One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.

linhpham2 said:
One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, thanks for the info.
I just ordered a Rocketfish cable. We'll see how that works.
Would be nice if they made a Y-cable to get 1amp from 2 USB ports in a PC. I mean, I know they MAKE cables like this but I read somewhere that HTC phones were designed to still only charge at 500mAh even with one of those.
Dunno.

It depends on what you're using as a charging source. When usb charging on my home pc or car, it's AC charging at 1 amp.. But if I'm charging with my Energizer external battery, it's only USB charging at 0.5 amp. This is using the same usb cable.

iGo
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob

I can attest to the Moto 513 working fine - it has served me very well on my Evo and the Treo Pro before it.
Unfortunately it is a big ass charger though - wish there was a good micro option.

How do u determine how much power its actually charging at or if its not using the full 1amp rating?
_______________________________
Sent from my EVO 4G

robroy90 said:
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should pull 1A off the Igo

how do i determine if its recognizing a charger as ac versus usb? could this be rom specific? it seems to charge much faster with cyanogen than it did with damagecontrol

Brodit active car holder won't charge the S2

Hey guys,
I got my brodit active car holder now for a few days and it seems it doesn't supply enough juice to the S2 while in use :-(
While navigating with navigon, it even loses charge, though it's connected .... that's really disapointing, since brodit normally supplies quality products.
Anyone else got the brodit active holder with the same problems?
boba

Not got the Brodit, but I have the same problem when using CoPilot and charging via the USB cable attached to a car charger. It can keep the charge at current level with CoPilot on, but will only charge with CoPilot off.
Also noticed if SII has less than 50% charge, it won't charge at all with CoPilot on.
Taking a punt on one of these to see if it makes a difference:
http://www.buyincoins.com/details/d...-for-ipad-iphone-4g-ipod-2a-product-2748.html

Which holder do you have exactly? Can you make a photo?
Does it toggle car dock in the S2? You can see a steering wheel in notification bar.
ALexander

I was thinking exactly the same thing this lunchtime. I have the cigarete lighter active Brodit mount and - if i makes any difference - a 2004 Vauxhall Astra H. I as wondering if I would have to turn off the nice things [like satellite view, etc] on the phone for it to survive the journey. Not happy.

boba23 said:
Well I don't know the exact reason yet, but it seems the S2 doesn't accept enough juice from the charger,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the S2 in USB AC Mode?
Take a look here: Einstellungen - Telefoninfo - Status
Yesterday I modified a Brodit active car holder from the good old htc HD2 to fit the S2. Now I have fast charging (AC) and Car-Mode.

I currently own some chargers. Not the original one, well the UK Version with no use in Austria.
A 1A HTC Charger with USB socket, a 450mA noname charger with USB socket and a no name car charger with micro usb.
The car charger and the HTC charger show charging(AC) whilst the noname 450mA charger shows charging(USB)...
It would be interesting to measure the exact mA taken by the phone...
ALexander

CurrentWidget doesn't work...
ALexander

Hi all,
Okay, I've now tried four different chargers, and I've also had the phone replaced. Today, in a last attempt, I bought an official Samsung charger.
NONE of them work - even though the phone says "charging on AC" for all of them.
The only thing I haven't tried is a different car (which I'm going to do, once my neighbour gets home).
The one sensible suggestion I've read is that Samsung have screwed up somewhere in software and the phone can't draw enough juice.
Electronics is beyond my little brain, so I don't get why the GS2 charges from my netbook (even when it's only on battery) but won't charge in the car.
And I'm not talking when I'm using satnav. It won't charge at all. In fact (weirdly) it actually DISCHARGES much faster than it does if it's just sitting in my pocket.
I've logged this with my provider (Voda UK), because I refuse to get stuck with a useless phone for the next 18 months if this isn't sorted out. It's ludicrous. If I can't charge the phone in the car it's as good as useless to me.

UPDATE:
Okay, I just tried my neighbour's car (Vauxhall Astra) and the GS2 charged perfectly. 3% in four minutes. Pretty much what I get off the mains charger.
I wish I knew about electrics but I don't. Explanations will have to come from the boffins round here.
I tell you what, though. I don't really want to get a new car just to use my phone properly

Do you have any chsrger with a led?
If the led stays dark the cigarette lighgter of your car might need a new fuse.
Which car?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Ive ordered one of these mounts and will report how it behaves in my 2008 Civic

barneypooch said:
UPDATE:
Okay, I just tried my neighbour's car (Vauxhall Astra) and the GS2 charged perfectly. 3% in four minutes. Pretty much what I get off the mains charger.
I wish I knew about electrics but I don't. Explanations will have to come from the boffins round here.
I tell you what, though. I don't really want to get a new car just to use my phone properly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be able to change to a higher amp fuse in your car fusebox.

eddablin said:
You might be able to change to a higher amp fuse in your car fusebox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROFL!! Genius!

Brodit mount arrived and looks great. Fit and design excellent and seems to charge as I would want.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

So what charger do you guys advice? Which charger does charge the phone, even while navigating with Navigon?

I got the Brodit active charger (BR512...), there isn't a problem with charging at all.
I think the issue you got is really car related. My guess:
a) your cigarette lighter port is poorly wired -> Measure voltage at the port with a voltmeter, it should be at least 12V DC (Edit: Even if it does there is still the possibility that your wiring is bad, showing 12V doesn't mean it can handle the current this charger needs)
b) your cigarette lighter port doesn't make a good contact to the brodit plug. Check for corrosion of the contacts, dust, dirt, etc. Some ports go bad after lots of plug in / out cycles.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about here, I'm pretty sure every car mechanic can fix your problem for a small amount of money
Edit: it's very possible this plug works with other chargers and phones and still fails with the S2 charger. The reason for this is the different ways chargers convert the car's 12V DC into 5V DC. Some might work down to 7V input, some already **** up at 11.8V

I have the same problem with my GSII trying to charge it with my 12V Ipod adapter...
I just arrive from a short travel with my Citroën Xsara and i almost got lost cose the phone discharged all the time while using IGO on the phone...
I don't think this is car related because there are so many people with different cars having this problem... so... Samsung wants me to buy a new car to be able to use their phone in travels?

Hi guys, just thought I'd try to clear up a few of things:
1. All phones can use more power than they can draw. Note that the more apps you use, the more juice you draw depending on their features.
2. Not all CLAs are the same. Most modern devices will need 2amps, but the majority of CLAs on the market are 1 - 1.2amp units.
3. Your device will stop charging if it reaches a certain temperature, without giving you any further indication that it is too hot. This is a common scenario if you've got a phone on the dash giving guidance, with the sun rays beating a back. And yes this does mean dedicated satnav devices have a greater operational temperature range than phones, usually a 15-20 degree difference (celcius).
4. If the CLA is being tripped out due to poor isolation (a lot of cars suffer from this) it will also stop charging.
5. In general terms, the lower the battery level of the device, the more juice it pulls. This is why you may find you ha email no problems getting a small charge when you start with a battery at 85%, but your phone dies if the battery is 50% or less.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

OK, I have no idea what the problem is. I have a Brodit active charger (the cig-plug version) for my Galaxy SII. It's not charging my phone AT ALL. There is no sound, nothing displayed on my phone when I connect it. I have the charger led (blue light) on, so I know it's working.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Asked for a replacement from Brodit. Got it, no difference.
2. Tried with a different car (I have a BMW, my wife a brand new Toyota Auris) - doesn't charge it either.
3. Tried a different no-name universal charger - it works perfectly well, the phone is charging as expected. Other things like the GPS device also work fine.
4. Tried a different kernel and ROM on my phone, still no success.
Any suggestions are welcome.

LazyPawn said:
OK, I have no idea what the problem is. I have a Brodit active charger (the cig-plug version) for my Galaxy SII. It's not charging my phone AT ALL. There is no sound, nothing displayed on my phone when I connect it. I have the charger led (blue light) on, so I know it's working.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Asked for a replacement from Brodit. Got it, no difference.
2. Tried with a different car (I have a BMW, my wife a brand new Toyota Auris) - doesn't charge it either.
3. Tried a different no-name universal charger - it works perfectly well, the phone is charging as expected. Other things like the GPS device also work fine.
4. Tried a different kernel and ROM on my phone, still no success.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats strange, in the first place i thought a faulty micro-usb or charger. But you got it replaced so can't be the problem.
I have a brodit with charger too, but i use it in a different way, meaning i can remove my holder and unplug it without unplugging my charger. ( near my holder i have a small connector that i can unplug).
What i did is cutting the cable from the charger and i did put a male usb port on it ( regular male usb port) and i have a Belkin charger with a usb port, this charger deliver 1A charging current and charge my phone even when i use my navigation. ( with bluetooth and gps on).
Your phones micro-usb seems to be fine too because it charge with other brands of chargers.
Your BMW delivers enough power i guess at your cigarette lighter plug, because it doesn't charge at the Toyota either and both not delivering enough power would be coincidence.
Anyway mine works perfect the way i did it and if i can remember it worked too with my original plug attached too. ( though the original one doesn't provide enough power sometimes to keep it charged while using navigation).
The only thing i can think of is that there is some stress-pressure on your connection between phone and holder connection and that one pin isn't connected properly, with the universal charger you only plug the micro-usb plug in your phone and the micro-usb plug can adjust freely to your phones micro-usb port.
Try to wiggle a bit with your phone when in the holder and see if the power comes on. Or try to connect a little device on your holders micro-usb port ( if you have something small that charge over micro-usb) and see if that works.

[Q] Car charger recommendations

Hello. I'm trying to pick a car charger that would work with the galaxy nexus. from what I've read so far the samsung CAD300UBEB/STD model seems to do the trick but a few review says that the battery discharges faster than the charger can charge it back under heavy usage. can anybody confirm or deny this?
and also, I would like to know if that same charger would work for a galaxy S2. I'm looking for a charger than can be used with both models because I have both phones. the listing of models in amazon website doesn't list the nexus or the S2. so I want to make sure before buying it. thanks!

I'm also interested. I was just looking at this discussion on Reddit taht goes a little more in depth
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/nwerk/why_is_my_galaxy_nexus_losing_power_while_plugged/

KidCuda said:
I'm also interested. I was just looking at this discussion on Reddit taht goes a little more in depth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The motorola charger listed there seems work well for the nexus and also for the S2 according to amazon reviews.

I went with one of these and a USB cable, and it seems to work just fine. Also gives me a spare USB port for additional charging.

mb_3000 said:
The motorola charger listed there seems work well for the nexus and also for the S2 according to amazon reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Motorola one already (the one with the blue LED) when I had my Droid 3, now it can't keep up with the Nexus' power drain. Just using it moderately on 3G only in the car today had it drain 3% over 40 minutes.

TheKaz said:
I went with one of these and a USB cable, and it seems to work just fine. Also gives me a spare USB port for additional charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not according to this guy
I have a galaxy nexus cell phone which requires probably around 1.5 Amps when using GPS. The phone does not come with the car charger. It only comes with a 2A wall charger. My temporary solution has been to use a car power inverter that has house-type outlets on it (which I already had) so that I can use the wall charger in the car. This has been working fine, but for obvious reasons, is not my desired long-term solution.
Enter this piece of crap. Now, the phone and only requires a little over 1 A with GPS. With the real two amp wall charger, I am able to both run GPS and charge the battery pretty darn fast. But, with this charger, not only can I not use GPS without draining the battery, but even when not using anything special, the battery charging times are horrendous.
Stay far, far away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mb_3000 said:
not according to this guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... granted, I am not using a GPS, but I never really checked the charge times. I don't rely on it for a fast full-charge.. usually just plug it in on the trip home and charge as much as it can until I plug it in at home.
Thanks for the heads up.. I am gonna have to keep an eye on it now.

TheKaz said:
Wow... granted, I am not using a GPS, but I never really checked the charge times. I don't rely on it for a fast full-charge.. usually just plug it in on the trip home and charge as much as it can until I plug it in at home.
Thanks for the heads up.. I am gonna have to keep an eye on it now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've researched this pretty thoroughly, and the key question is whether or not your GN shows "AC" when you check the Battery status, or if it shows "USB."
With most car chargers, it is seen as "USB" as if it's plugged into a computer, and will draw minimal current, generally not enough to keep up. I had 2 different chargers in my cars, none of which showed as "AC". I bought and then returned the Griffin PowerJolt Dual USB Micro Charger - it also showed as only "USB."
Finally, in one of the other Android forums I've been monitoring on this issue, somebody came across this one:
HTC T-Mobile myTouch 3G Car Charger
$3.12, free shipping. Mine came yesterday, plugged it in, and finally my GN showed charging as "AC".
Hope this helps!

When your smartphone shows your charger as ''USB'' this means that the USB data lines in the charger are not short-circuited. Then smartphone reduces its charging current to avoind any problems with USB laptop power sources
I made some experiments to check this point : see http://78michel.unblog.fr/?p=184.
I also opened a car charger and short-circuited the data lines on USB the plug . That way I have solved my previuos charging problem in my car during long trip.

DLCPhoto said:
I've researched this pretty thoroughly, and the key question is whether or not your GN shows "AC" when you check the Battery status, or if it shows "USB."
With most car chargers, it is seen as "USB" as if it's plugged into a computer, and will draw minimal current, generally not enough to keep up. I had 2 different chargers in my cars, none of which showed as "AC". I bought and then returned the Griffin PowerJolt Dual USB Micro Charger - it also showed as only "USB."
Finally, in one of the other Android forums I've been monitoring on this issue, somebody came across this one:
HTC T-Mobile myTouch 3G Car Charger
$3.12, free shipping. Mine came yesterday, plugged it in, and finally my GN showed charging as "AC".
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It helped indeed, thanks for the link!

this is what i bought: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details
i've used it now 4 times, twice on a trip from south florida to orlando.
It charges the phone just as fast, if not faster than my home charger. On the way back, my phone was at 35%, within 2 hours it was back up to 100%. No GPS and a couple phone calls.
on the way up, GPS on and it never dropped below 97%.
so i can tell you without any doubt what-so-ever that this charger works perfectly with the galaxy nexus and will charge it with Navigation and phone calls running.

TheKaz said:
I went with one of these and a USB cable, and it seems to work just fine. Also gives me a spare USB port for additional charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a charger very similar to this one and it works great in my car. I make sure any charger I get is rated 5V DC at 1000mAh at least.

I have 2 USB 2.5A dongle chargers, one by Belkin and the other by Kingston. Both register as charging via "USB mode" and do not provide sufficient power while the phone is in use(loses charge usually). I also have that Motorola Rapid charger but the way the cable is designed it tugs on the USB port and comes loose often. I ended up just using the normal USB cable that comes with the phone and a 140W power inverter. Granted, it's not the most compact of devices, but it works well. I got it from Walmart for $20. Here's a link to it:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XI14-Power-Inverter/15140199?findingMethod=rr
(and yes, using a power inverter will have the phone registering as "charging AC" and give a full proper charge.)

I'm using a Scoshe (sp?) dual USB port charger I picked up from Staples. It has a 1amp port and a 2.1amp port and I just use the micro usb cable the GNex came with

neok44 said:
this is what i bought: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details
i've used it now 4 times, twice on a trip from south florida to orlando.
It charges the phone just as fast, if not faster than my home charger. On the way back, my phone was at 35%, within 2 hours it was back up to 100%. No GPS and a couple phone calls.
on the way up, GPS on and it never dropped below 97%.
so i can tell you without any doubt what-so-ever that this charger works perfectly with the galaxy nexus and will charge it with Navigation and phone calls running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! that's what I wanted to hear. I'm getting this one. it works for both Nexus and GSII

trueislander said:
I'm using a Scoshe (sp?) dual USB port charger I picked up from Staples. It has a 1amp port and a 2.1amp port and I just use the micro usb cable the GNex came with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it charge as USB or AC with the scosche? I'm looking for a dual USB car charger that will work properly with the GN.

jhuynh said:
Does it charge as USB or AC with the scosche? I'm looking for a dual USB car charger that will work properly with the GN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was another thread, I think in the General that discussed all of this, what people came up with was the best combination if you want a dual port usb charger is to make sure you have a "charging only" USB cable. This cable will not make your phone think it is connected to a computer. You can tweek a data/charging cable to work but some people messed that up so it is probably worth just spending the $4 on a cable that works.
Here is my combination that works great. With this set up I can have on my navigation going with the screen on the whole time and stream Pandora over Bluetooth into my car and the battery still charges really quickly.
Dual USB Port with a 1 amp port and a 2.1 amp port (2.1 amp port is for tablets or power hungry devices - like the phone while navigating). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056VNVV8/ref=oh_o01_s00_i01_details
Charging Only USB cable:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
This combo has me as "Charging AC" whenever I am in the car and I still have a port open to charge another one of the 27 or so different electronic devices that seem to clutter my life!

Some details on the changes I made on my car chargers
Text is in french but photographs speak by themselves http://78michel.unblog.fr/?p=212

jhuynh said:
Does it charge as USB or AC with the scosche? I'm looking for a dual USB car charger that will work properly with the GN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like bmolly said, it works as AC is you use a "charge only" cable

bmolloy said:
There was another thread, I think in the General that discussed all of this, what people came up with was the best combination if you want a dual port usb charger is to make sure you have a "charging only" USB cable. This cable will not make your phone think it is connected to a computer. You can tweek a data/charging cable to work but some people messed that up so it is probably worth just spending the $4 on a cable that works.
Here is my combination that works great. With this set up I can have on my navigation going with the screen on the whole time and stream Pandora over Bluetooth into my car and the battery still charges really quickly.
Dual USB Port with a 1 amp port and a 2.1 amp port (2.1 amp port is for tablets or power hungry devices - like the phone while navigating). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056VNVV8/ref=oh_o01_s00_i01_details
Charging Only USB cable:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
This combo has me as "Charging AC" whenever I am in the car and I still have a port open to charge another one of the 27 or so different electronic devices that seem to clutter my life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. It's been driving me mad how car chargers and cables are so inconsistent. Pun intended.
Seriously, why can they come up with a standard and call it a day?
I have a had a few GPS/Pandora runs. Even while it says AC charging and my charger is rated for 1A, it drains the battery by 300-400ma.