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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.
Did anyone find an answer to the issue of the Desire losing battery power even while being charged in the car while using co pilot? Or any sat nav?
I'm charging via genuine HTC cables and charger etc but still the Desire loses battery power if it is using a sat nav application. So my question is, even if it were plugged into a higher powered cable and charger would the result be the same due to the heat being generated by the 1ghz processor or is there an after market charger (for the car) that will maintain the battery or even charge it when sat nav is in use? thanks for any help/suggestions
Check your charger ...
It should output 1000 mA.
There is charger that output only 500 mA, and this will give you the above problem.
Thanks gogol for this reply. My htc usb charger plug is an older one though the cable is brand new (came with the phone) so you will most likely be correct with the suggestion that my charger is only delivering 500mA. I cannot check it as it does not say on it anywhere what it delivers which seems to be the case on most of these things, they dont actually specify the charge they can deliver. Are you aware of a brand/model that will deliver a full 1000mA charge to my desire? Thanks again for any help.
Hello,
FYI, I use Galaxy S GT-I9000.
I bought on ebay a charger for car, offering 5V and 700mA (as the sector charger).
The product: http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290453364639
Unfortunately, I loose 3% of battery load within 20 minutes. I observed this behaviour with copilot 8 and Google Nav.
Did one of you guys solve the issue ? Do I need a charger that is not a USB-cable like ?
Would a 1000mA solve the problem ?
IE : http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.40470
Even if a comment says that : "This will charge my HTC desire, however when using the GPS it actually fails to sustain the battery and it goes gradually flat "
I've never run into a problem with this myself, but I've always used the adapter that has the cord on it and ends with the mini USB. I'll have to check mine and see what the mA is on it sometime.
I can safely assume that the charger does not have 1000mA output... so chances are it will be more or less the same as your existing 700mA charger (which, of course, i
Of course, it's only 3 bucks to lose and you still earn an extra charger.
You may search from NeTimes for Universal 145cm Long Cable Car Charger - microUSB, it's more expensive but I am using it with HTC HD with Google Maps on for an hour without losing battery.... the phone gets pretty hot though.
If the phone does charge on usb it should work on 700mA as well. usb is only 500mA
Anybody come across a car charger that is high current like the HTC wall charger?
Most car chargers are classified as "rapid".
Anything designed to charge an iPad (2.1A versus the typical 1A) will give you plenty of juice. I use the Scosche reVIVE II with Pandora, Bluetooth, and GPS Navigation all on and still have enough power to positively charge my battery.
Fair warning, though, this will cause the phone to get real hot (I've had the overheating warning lights flash twice so far), so make sure you have plenty of ventilation around the phone, keep it out of the sun, etc etc.
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
If it has a replaceable cable, it must be the heaviest gauge, shortest cable, that you can use. I have seen long cheap thin cables that drop over a volt, and the Thunderbolt charges really slowly.
The charger or cable have to state that they for rapid charging. To rapid charge, you need to have the USB D- and D+ lines shorted. If that are not shorted, the Thunderbolt limits the charge current to around 0.35 amps. thinking it is connected to a PC. If they are shorted, letting the Thunderbolt know it can be rapid charged, you get up there around 0.85. You can easily modify the charger for high rate if it is good for at least an amp.
And in the end is heat. Heat and lots of it. It will damage the battery. So put it out of the sun and in cool air like near a vent.
Motorola Rapid Charger on Amazon is the best. I bought two.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...Q9CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309959388&sr=8-1
Review off Amazon
Genuine Motorola charger in retail packaging. 4.75-5.25V 950mA output, works w/ most micro-USB phones like Incredible, etc., June 11, 2010
By
David Pearlman "sound fanatic" (Arlington, MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
There are so many sketchy sellers selling phone chargers out there, that it can be a bit scary. The problem is that if the charger is poorly made, the output of the charger can be out of spec and can, in some cases, fry the phone you connect to it.
For that reason, when it comes to phone chargers, you should stick to name brands. (They are all made in China, but the name brand ones are usually subject to stricter QA).
When I found this charger on Amazon, SOLD BY AMAZON, I jumped on it. It's a MICRO USB car charger, made for Motorola and sold under the Motorola name, in retail packaging. The rated output is 4.75-5.25V and 950mA.
This charger should work fine with most any phone that uses the MICRO USB connector. The key number to pay attention to is the second one, the rated amperage. This is the MAXIMUM amount of current that the phone can request from the charger. A typical USB port on a PC provides as little as 100mA, and few provide more than 500mA. So this charger should charge your phone faster than when it's connected to a PC. A few phones out now can use up to 1000mA. But that just means they CAN use that amount. If 950mA is provided, they'll still charge, just a bit more slowly.
Note that the amperage (second number) merely tells you how much the charger CAN supply, if requested. The phone itself is responsible for asking for the current. That is to say, if this charger can provide 950mA, but your phone can only use 300mA--no problem. Your phone asks for 300mA and the charger provides all of what is requested. If, on the other hand, your phone can use 1000mA, this charger will provide all it can, which is 950mA--a wee bit less than the max asked for. That's also not a problem; it just means your phone will charge a little bit (not much in this case) more slowly. The rated voltage for this charger is presented in a range of 4.75-5.25V. The "ideal" voltage for a USB charger of any type if 5V. And most chargers for home use are rated right at 5V. But car chargers work in a noisier environment and thus you have the range. This is where a cheapo charger can really do damage, as some of them are poorly regulated and can provide voltages that are WAY out of spec. Again, when you can get a name brand charger from a seller you can trust (Amazon) for such a reasonable price, it's very foolish to consider the cheapo no-names.
This is an excellent quality name brand travel micro USB charger at a price that beats the no-name junk from third party sellers. What's not to like?
BE SURE TO ORDER IT FROM AMAZON AND NOT ONE OF THE THIRD PARTY SELLERS, as some of those have been known to make mistakes with respect to what they ship relative to the listing. I can confirm that Amazon is shipping the P513 /89143N charger, as pictured.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ddgarcia05 said:
Motorola Rapid Charger on Amazon is the best. I bought two.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...Q9CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309959388&sr=8-1
Review off Amazon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read in the past here on XDA and on the reviews for the charger (on amazon) you shouldn't have a problem. The second review for the charger on amazon states that the reviewer was looking for a charger which actually charged his phone will using GPS and that he found it. It's a very well built charger and cheap. It's made my Motorola and sold by Amazon so buy with confidence.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does indeed charge. I've had it since my original Droid and was concerned when I updated to the TB but it will charge the TB no matter what you're doing (I've had Nav running while on a phone call with BT and searching the internet and it still showed it was charging). Just be prepared for your phone to get HOT!! Great charger.
worwig said:
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the phone will pull more than 850 mA. You're probably basing that on using a battery monitor, which only shows the flow of current into/out of the battery. I've seen 800 mA into the battery at the same time I have display, GPS and a phone call going, which is definitely more than an additional 50 mA. It wouldn't surprise me if the phone can take advantage of something more than 1A, since I see a battery drain of more than 200 mA with all of that going when not on the charger.
kr0n1c said:
I've been contemplating buying this one, but I'd like to ask you if it charges your battery with navigation+music going? I have a usb charger in my truck, and with both of those going it just manages to keep my battery level where its at, sometimes losing a % or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have that Motorola charger and am a heavy GPS user. It charges the battery as if it were plugged into the wall. You'll be very satisfied.
mike.s said:
Actually, the phone will pull more than 850 mA. You're probably basing that on using a battery monitor, which only shows the flow of current into/out of the battery. I've seen 800 mA into the battery at the same time I have display, GPS and a phone call going, which is definitely more than an additional 50 mA. It wouldn't surprise me if the phone can take advantage of something more than 1A, since I see a battery drain of more than 200 mA with all of that going when not on the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, that was measured at the 5 volt power supply, based upon a lab power supply. I did a lot of experimenting when I developed the charger and phone mount for my motorcycle. And to get the 850ma from the power supply, I used a very short, maybe 8 inch, USB cable, and a charge voltage close to 5.3 volts. With 5 volts at the power supply, it would only pull about 650ma from the power supply. That was due to the voltage drop in the USB cable. With the 5.3 volts at the power supply, I was getting close to an actual 5 volts at the Thunderbolt. I never measured the current at the battery, but I could see it being a bit more then the 850ma in, if there were a switch mode supply in there.
Though I like the Battery Monitor widget as a rough guide, I never tested to see if the battery current and the battery monitor are accurate.
Does anyone know if the included HTC ac adapter and cable will charge faster than using your pc with the included USB cable?
happimeal said:
Does anyone know if the included HTC ac adapter and cable will charge faster than using your pc with the included USB cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely.
A PC USB port is limited to under 500ma. The Thunderbolt appears to to limit PC USB draw to about 350ma. I haven't measured the actual current in the HTC charger, but it is a high current charger, and charges my Thunderbolt very quickly. Battery Monitor widget shows high battery charge rates. I suspect it is getting near the max rate up near 1 amp.
worwig said:
Absolutely.
A PC USB port is limited to under 500ma. The Thunderbolt appears to to limit PC USB draw to about 350ma. I haven't measured the actual current in the HTC charger, but it is a high current charger, and charges my Thunderbolt very quickly. Battery Monitor widget shows high battery charge rates. I suspect it is getting near the max rate up near 1 amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC charger states 5V/1A on the charger itself.
You can use the Palm car charger for $3.75+tax, free shipping. it is 5V/1A, same rating as the HTC wall charger.
Go here for 25% off
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...otion/accessories.jsp?source=EC0A0011600jtl10
Add product here, must add to cart to see 25% discount.
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...027&q_sku=sku4720234&q_manufacturer=&q_model=
Also, if so inclined, you can lop the top off of the charger so that you can use any usb cable (ipod, iphone, anything)
dpham00 said:
HTC charger states 5V/1A on the charger itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't mean much. That is the MAX the charger can output. The amount that the Thunderbolt will pull varies. If it thinks it is plugged into a USB, it will be less then 500ma. even if the charger is capable of 10 amps.
worwig said:
That doesn't mean much. That is the MAX the charger can output. The amount that the Thunderbolt will pull varies. If it thinks it is plugged into a USB, it will be less then 500ma. even if the charger is capable of 10 amps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have used the Palm car charger, checking with bmw, it shows around 850ma, same as on my htc charger.
worwig said:
Any charger that is at least 1 amp. will do. The phone 'pulls' a max of around 0.85 amps. No need for more then 1 amp.
If it has a replaceable cable, it must be the heaviest gauge, shortest cable, that you can use. I have seen long cheap thin cables that drop over a volt, and the Thunderbolt charges really slowly.
The charger or cable have to state that they for rapid charging. To rapid charge, you need to have the USB D- and D+ lines shorted. If that are not shorted, the Thunderbolt limits the charge current to around 0.35 amps. thinking it is connected to a PC. If they are shorted, letting the Thunderbolt know it can be rapid charged, you get up there around 0.85. You can easily modify the charger for high rate if it is good for at least an amp.
And in the end is heat. Heat and lots of it. It will damage the battery. So put it out of the sun and in cool air like near a vent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
um, i am aware that any charger that will do 1A will do. that was my question, what car charger will do 1A. Alot of times, they dont have that info listed on pages that are selling them.
and the whole thing about the D- and D+ shorted together, i do not believe. the HTC cable that came with the phone does rapid charging and i use it for data all the time too. if they D- and D+ was shorted, i would not be able to use it for data transfer. not unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
leoingle said:
unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo!!
leoingle said:
um, i am aware that any charger that will do 1A will do. that was my question, what car charger will do 1A. Alot of times, they dont have that info listed on pages that are selling them.
and the whole thing about the D- and D+ shorted together, i do not believe. the HTC cable that came with the phone does rapid charging and i use it for data all the time too. if they D- and D+ was shorted, i would not be able to use it for data transfer. not unless the HTC charger shorts them internally inside the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is hard to find the current info online or even on the package sometimes.
Yes, it is shorted in the charger. I have seen it done in the cable and the cable can't be used for data of course. Not sure why anyone would do that, but they do.
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should try this one.
Install the battery monitor widget. Monitor the battery for about 20 minutes while charging. Tell us what the charge current is.
Does the Motorola charger include a cable? If not, you may just have a weak cable. I have seen cheap cables with wire so thin that the charging current is no better then charging off a weak USB port.
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
loonatik78 said:
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for that.
Cut a small piece of aluminum foil. Carefully place it where it shorts the two center conductors in the charger. Plug the USB cable into the charger. Make sure the foil stays in place over the two center conductors.
It is now a high rate charger. (assuming it can put out 1 amp.)
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
squeakyl said:
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
doodlebro said:
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To meet the USB charging spec (which the TB uses), the two inner (data) contacts should be shorted with no more that 200 ohms.
But, the cable can also be an issue for rapid charging. The voltage drop for a 1A/5V source, across only .5 M of 28 gauge copper is ~220 mV. If you use a longer cable, there's more voltage drop. The TB likely current limits itself when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. Best to buy 24 gauge USB cables, if you can, especially if getting longer ones (monoprice has them).
voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its a matter of rated output current. BUT on the other side, the phone must be capable of drawing/using that much current. If the adapter is rated for more current than the phone can charge, the "extra" current wont be supplied.
Initially, Moto's standard car chargers output 5V and up to 550ma max (just like a standard PC USB port) so they didn't charge phones all that fast. Moto then came out with chargers that had higher current output, so they were capable of charging the phones "faster" than the original car chargers (but on par with the home/travel/AC chargers) and called them "rapid car chargers"..
Today, the current output on the Moto SPN5400A car charger is 0-950mA, and I've seen it sometimes referred to as "Rapid Car charger."
But as far as I know, Moto no longer makes/sells the lower current car chargers, and their web site only shows one MicroUSB and one MiniUSB car charger for sale, both of which appear to be of the 0-950mA output variety.
voxigenboy said:
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
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Just because someone makes such a charger for the iPhone, doesn't mean one must exist for the TB, or other phones, does it? I know the iPad uses a 2A charger. What happens if you connect an iPhone to that? will it charge faster? I guess that depends on if the iPhone is capable of drawing more than 1A to charge it.
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
And btw, the Moto SPN5400A car charger DOES charge my TB in about the same amount of time that it takes me to charge my TB at home with the stock HTC charger. So while its not "rapid" compared to the stock home/travel/AC charger, its "rapid" compared to PC USB Port charging, or a plain lower current car charger.
KidJoe said:
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
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I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Also, even with about 850ma in, not much over 500ma is getting to the battery. So a totally dead battery is still going to take between 2 and 3 hours to charge, no matter what charger you have. And twice that long if the charger looks like a PC USB port.
worwig said:
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
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I was asking because of the OP's statement about knowing "they must exist" because they are out there for the iPhone.
I'm perfectly happy with my Moto car charger, and how fast it charges my phones.