Develop Bugs

So why is my battery draining while charging?

I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.

TheBiles said:
I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.
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Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).

Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sprocket87 said:
Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).
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I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
gtkansan said:
Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3rd year CmpE.

I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"

TheBiles said:
I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
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Click to collapse
When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
kwilbur3 said:
I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"
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See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.

sprocket87 said:
When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.
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Click to collapse
I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?

TheBiles said:
I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?
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This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?

OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.

sprocket87 said:
This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?
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That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
berardi said:
OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.
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Click to collapse
I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.

Sprocket - stupid question here... do these Rocket Fish charging cables also handle data transfer just as well as the stock micro-usb cable that came with the phone or would someone want to have one JUST for charging and keep their stock cable for data transfer purposes?

TheBiles said:
That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.
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Sorry I was unclear - the other cable I have that is the problem is one from another phone but the same type, and up until recently it worked perfectly.

In Car Charger - Recommendations?

For the past 2 years on my old Desire I was using a homebrew in car charger I put together myself that would happily provide 1A, but my new One X seems a little more power hungry than that and when in car mode it seems to discharge slowly even though it's still plugged in.
Can anybody recommend anything suited for the One X's huge power drain (homebrew or off the shelf, I don't mind) other than HTC's expensive official one? I was looking at the Belkin ones floating about but they still only provide 1A.
Thanks, Dave.

i bought the official ATT universal charger when i got my GS II in Oct and it should work with the One X. also, i think some car docks/mounts are active and have their own chargers, so you might not want both.

I'm using the official HTC Dual USB charger. Does the job nicely. and looks pretty good too. I just wish it was in white to match my One X

Reckless187 said:
I'm using the official HTC Dual USB charger. Does the job nicely. and looks pretty good too. I just wish it was in white to match my One X
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Did you try it with BT on, Sat Nav + music, screen on ?
I have the same issue as OP. Changed my 800 mah for a 1A but battery is still draining =(

Same problem here... 2x1A HTC Charger... Is there anyboby who tried Belkin 2A mini charger?... I am bit scared, because in my battery monitor history Ive never seen more than + 600mAh... Even when off on home charger... It seems to me, that phone woudlnt allow quick charging... :-(

rahan95 said:
Did you try it with BT on, Sat Nav + music, screen on ?
I have the same issue as OP. Changed my 800 mah for a 1A but battery is still draining =(
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I had my phone connected to:
Car Bluetooth,
Google Maps on screen,
Screen On,
Poweramp Playing in background via speaker, and
Phone connected to the official HTC Dual USB Car Charger.
No power issues whatsoever. I had it connected and charging for about 10 minutes.

I kind of solved this problem by setting ballanced power consumption policy in my Sygic mobile navigation and lower brightness setting. But still I am unable tu charge my phone while using WAZE (navigation and lot of HSDPA data trafic)...but for now its ok..most important for me is charging during navigation by sygic....
In the end problem is still there and should be solved...I think that its really not ok to charge battery only by 600mA while other phones are able to take 1000mA usually delivered by all chargers..

I just posted about this issue here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633245
it's not a problem of charging current, but of the phone battery overheating - it will just stop charging until it cools down (and if there's navi running it won't cool down, ever). I even tried a 2A charger - it will charge happily, but once I start Waze or Sygic it gets hot and starts to discharge again.
I think this is bad design because it should be able to run off the charger without battery in this case, but what it does is charge+discharge battery at the same time... either that or it just starts sipping from the charger when hot because it doesn't care if it's charging or just running from the charger....
Anyway, it has to be fixed.

same problem for me, but with some exception.
Im using Belkin mini car charger with 1A output. in car im turn on only GPS + 3g network. brightness set to 25%.
and with all of this settings battery slowly drain.
Also ive should say that battery not overheated through charging, but after 1% drained, phone says that "consumption is more that charger can give"...
Right now i think about other usb cable, not using original yet, may be inside it wire diameter too small to fit 1A.....

In fact i changed cable too... And it seems thats everything running ok even with waze on
And problem wasnt really overheating related since I have my car holder in front of air-condition grid... Its always under 30°C Best place for quadcore beast btw

I just use the data cable plugged into the USB adapter.
Keeps it topped nicely.

So not perfectly OK... I was driving long way again yesterday... With Sygic on, and my battery stuck at 71% didnt go down on charger, but didnt rise too.. In fact I started my trip at 80% Well it did the job in fact, but after 3hrs of driving it should be full as any other smartphone... :-\
There us something bad with charging policy in OneXs system... :-\

tombik said:
So not perfectly OK... I was driving long way again yesterday... With Sygic on, and my battery stuck at 71% didnt go down on charger, but didnt rise too.. In fact I started my trip at 80% Well it did the job in fact, but after 3hrs of driving it should be full as any other smartphone... :-\
There us something bad with charging policy in OneXs system... :-\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's because it is using GPS (huge power hog), the screen is on (even bigger power hog) and then the CPU doing the calculations and rendering of the graphics, even with my desire hd it doesn't rise much when using sat nav. its a fact of life. the power consumed by the device is more than the charger can provide.
people have even reported that the mains charger isn't charging it quick enough whilst gaming for instance. (which doesn't surprise me)

Than it is fail of HTC... In fact my LGO2X (in most cases much worst than HTC) Handled it nicelly. HTC doesnt use potencial of charger. It takes only 600mA (top) while charger can deliver 1000mA.... And LG was able to use it....

I modified tiny generic usb car charger (5VDC 1A), so it allows faster charging. When opened up, D+ and D- pins were fed with some amount of electricity to allow iDevice charging, but I simply cut away traces leading to those pins and soldered them together. Phone reports "Charging (AC)". It really is standard method, but "surprisingly" Apple refused to follow standards and generic chargers do not work.

Hi,
i´m not really sure if this question is in the right place here.
After getting my HOX to replace my DHD i would like to know if i can use the DHD Car Charger (original HTC) for the HOX, too?
Thx...

Check out Avantek on Amazon. 2 out of its 5 ports are providing 2.4A, enough to charge your One X at full speed. An awesome product at an awesome price.

dsgoody said:
For the past 2 years on my old Desire I was using a homebrew in car charger I put together myself that would happily provide 1A, but my new One X seems a little more power hungry than that and when in car mode it seems to discharge slowly even though it's still plugged in.
Can anybody recommend anything suited for the One X's huge power drain (homebrew or off the shelf, I don't mind) other than HTC's expensive official one? I was looking at the Belkin ones floating about but they still only provide 1A.
Thanks, Dave.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Dave,
I have read your post and i refer you to Amazon web services. You will definitely find there best charger for your devices which is compatible with your car.

[Q] Google Nav - Draining faster than I can charge.

Getting ready for a cross-US trip next month and just noticed something with my GNex vs my 4S.
On my 4S attached to my 1A cig lighter charger from Belkin, I am able to charge the batter while navigating with GPS and screen on. This is using actual navigation, not the built in stuff for iOS5 and earlier.
I simply assumed the same would be true of my GNex but I noticed today that if I am using Google Nav with the screen on and connected to the same 1A Belkin charger, I lose about 1% every 20 minutes or so from my brief testing.
It doesn't appear to be overheating as the charging lights and symbols on the phone continue to show charging and the phone isn't all that hot. It's also not been using for any really long trips yet so it hasn't had a lot of time to get super hot if it's going to.
Just curious if this is common for the GNex while running only GPS with screen on.
I did some searching but the other complaints I found involved people also streaming music while using GPS nav.

People have reported this, and it makes sense if you're on a 1A charger, especially if you have a Verizon model connected to LTE. This is similar to the complaints that people can't charge on a 500mA USB 2.0 port while tethering LTE.
I personally don't notice it draining when I'm listening to music (stored, not streaming) and Navigating, although it's usually on trips of 45min at most and I have a GSM model. My battery seems to just hold or barely charge. I'm not sure of the exact output of my charger though. It's an AT&T branded accessory with a main cable, and a second full-sized USB port.

theoreticaljerk said:
Just curious if this is common for the GNex while running only GPS with screen on.
I did some searching but the other complaints I found involved people also streaming music while using GPS nav.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, normal for the LTE models. It was actually one of the biggest complaints when it was initially released. Turn off LTE while using navigation.

martonikaj said:
People have reported this, and it makes sense if you're on a 1A charger, especially if you have a Verizon model connected to LTE. This is similar to the complaints that people can't charge on a 500mA USB 2.0 port while tethering LTE.
I personally don't notice it draining when I'm listening to music (stored, not streaming) and Navigating, although it's usually on trips of 45min at most and I have a GSM model. My battery seems to just hold or barely charge. I'm not sure of the exact output of my charger though. It's an AT&T branded accessory with a main cable, and a second full-sized USB port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that charge is 1a shared.
---------------------------------------------------------------
the next nexus needs an IR blaster. think of all the diabolical fun!

I haven't tried it on my Galaxy Nexus but his was certainly the same on my older Nexus S.

Verizon Nexus here and I have no problems in this regard.
I usually stream Pandora while using Google Maps Navigation and have a little speaker plugged into the USB port on the charger and it still charges the phone's battery.
LTE is on as well. Never turn it off.
Using the "MicroUSB Dual Vehicle Power Charger w/USB port" charger from Verizon.

Use Battery Monitor Widget and see if it says "AC" or "USB" when it's charging. You want to see AC or it won't be pulling enough juice. If you see USB, try a different cable. You can also force fast charging with the proper kernel. I use Franco, which has an option for it. That alone didn't seem to help, but I bought the Fast Charge app, which seemed to do the trick.
I just went through this myself on a 2 week motorcycle trip. I used a 3rd party GPS app the entire time, screen on, and streaming music. I had LTE on and I believe as long as my screen was set at around 65% or less I never had an issue.
So, yes it can be done. You just need to figure out the right setup. I did some research before my trip and from what I read, not all USB cables are the same. On my bike I had a low-profile dual USB charger.

90% is the USB cable.
It happens on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 with the default Samsung USB charger, when I connect it to my laptop. Then, if I browse on Internet with the tablet, my battery drains faster than charge, even if connected to the laptop with the USB.
The key is to discover if there is the USB or calbe problem with A output.

Kidd_Funkadelic said:
Use Battery Monitor Widget and see if it says "AC" or "USB" when it's charging. You want to see AC or it won't be pulling enough juice. If you see USB, try a different cable. You can also force fast charging with the proper kernel. I use Franco, which has an option for it. That alone didn't seem to help, but I bought the Fast Charge app, which seemed to do the trick.
I just went through this myself on a 2 week motorcycle trip. I used a 3rd party GPS app the entire time, screen on, and streaming music. I had LTE on and I believe as long as my screen was set at around 65% or less I never had an issue.
So, yes it can be done. You just need to figure out the right setup. I did some research before my trip and from what I read, not all USB cables are the same. On my bike I had a low-profile dual USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure enough, it was going to USB on the car charger. I unplugged the phone and went in the Franco Kernal Config and enabled USB Fast Charge. Plugged it back in and it recognized as AC and true enough, it charged my phone while using Nav so YAY!
Only problem I'm having is that on any reboot, even though it is still checked in the Franco Config, I have to uncheck USB Fast Charge and recheck it before plugging it into the charger for it to not go back to USB.

theoreticaljerk said:
Sure enough, it was going to USB on the car charger. I unplugged the phone and went in the Franco Kernal Config and enabled USB Fast Charge. Plugged it back in and it recognized as AC and true enough, it charged my phone while using Nav so YAY!
Only problem I'm having is that on any reboot, even though it is still checked in the Franco Config, I have to uncheck USB Fast Charge and recheck it before plugging it into the charger for it to not go back to USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure why it's needed, but after I bought this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.incredicontrol.fastchargewidget
I only needed to toggle the widget to fast once, and then my problems went away. Worth a few pennies prior to the trip...

I boggles the mind why this is set up this way in stock form..
why??
BTW to the OP, I just switched from a 4S, also had a 1amp charger that did the same as yours, that same charger on the Nexus won't charge the battery with GSM model. It drains about 3-5 % over around an hour commute, more if the sun is directly on it and it gets hot.
Still, why does it seem to force a .5 amp charge when the capability is there for more??

This is annoying that you have to grab up a custom kernel to do this. With JB I'm quite happy with the way the phone is stock and non-rooted but I guess I'm going to have to root and throw on a custom kernel after all.

If you like to solder cables, you can mod your car charger to register as a AC charger.
Give me a second, I'll find the thread.
/edit: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=666482&page=5
Swiftkey'ed on my CM9 Galaxy Nexus

Battery discharges faster than charges?

hey All,
Noticed something quite odd lately and I think my battery is on the outs - but want to confirm that what I'm seeing is not normal.
ATT Note 2, CleanRom with Nova.launcher.
Whenever I get into the car, I turn on (via NFC tag) Waze, Spotify, bluetooth and auto screen brightness.
On a 300 mile roadtrip, we noticed that my battery percentage would continue to drop even while plugged in. I started the trip at ~50% and continued to drop, albeit slowly, but not charge.
I'm using the USB port that came with the car (Audi A5) to charge the phone so I'm not sure if it's 5W or 10W or something in between. I pulled over at a shopping center and purchased a 12v 10W usb charger and the same thing seemed to happen.
So anyways, is this normal? Me thinks not, but who knows?

b k w said:
hey All,
Noticed something quite odd lately and I think my battery is on the outs - but want to confirm that what I'm seeing is not normal.
ATT Note 2, CleanRom with Nova.launcher.
Whenever I get into the car, I turn on (via NFC tag) Waze, Spotify, bluetooth and auto screen brightness.
On a 300 mile roadtrip, we noticed that my battery percentage would continue to drop even while plugged in. I started the trip at ~50% and continued to drop, albeit slowly, but not charge.
I'm using the USB port that came with the car (Audi A5) to charge the phone so I'm not sure if it's 5W or 10W or something in between. I pulled over at a shopping center and purchased a 12v 10W usb charger and the same thing seemed to happen.
So anyways, is this normal? Me thinks not, but who knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are using a lower mAh charger and hense the faster discharge than the actual charge.
I do not have the specs but I think SGN2 came with 2mAh chargers... Your car's USB probably has an output of 0.5mAh.
You can get some aftermarket car chargers that have 2mAh output and that should get you charging while allowing you to use the phone at the same time.

Hmm, so I came up with another brilliant experiment.
I'm plugged in here at work using the Samsung charger running the same stuff as I do in my car and it's dropped 2% since I posted the above thread.

Try flashing a new rom
and kernel
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

I would have a hard time believing you are using more energy than even the lowest rated car charger could handle. I think the lowest rated charger you will find will be about 500 milliamps or 0.5 amps. The highest is going to be right around 2 amps or 2000 milliamps. The stock white Samsung charger is a 2.1 amp or 2100 milliamp charger I believe. Of course there are others that are in between.
I would either get another battery to test your problem or do as was suggested and flash again.
Running cleanrom 4.0.5...kernel it came with, and I will use Car home ultra(ends up in background), split screen with music player on and google maps running navigation, gps on, auto brightness, and Ulyses speedometer app in background giving me ground speed overlay on Google Maps. Battery still charges on my maximum 2 amp charger in my car.

Slow car charging - yes I've tried things!

So I'm struggling to figure out a good car charging setup. I commute an hour each way to work and in the winter I can put quite a load on my phone between listening to a locally stored audio book over BT, and running a nav/traffic app (waze) that sucks data and GPS.
That said I've tested all different combos including running no apps and just letting the phone charge. I can NOT seem to get this thing to charge at higher range than standard USB ~500mah. I've tried a 2.1A charger and a 6A charger....yes I know power doesn't "push" but wanted try something with some higher amperage. I've tried multiple cables including stock. I tested several cables on the stock wall charger and all but one I had pulled close to 1.8A rating, at the very least they all showed around 1000mAh charge rate.
I ordered the "Kopi cable" a 20awg cable touted to support 2A charging. Plugged it in to my mpow 6A charger and through the hour of charging today still never broke the variable range of 500mAh. I am using the Battery Monitor Widget app for the readings. Weather it is accurate or not nothing I've tried with different cables seems to get me the charging rate I need/want.
Whenever I check the charging status in android settings it pretty much always says AC charging mode. One of the cables I had I tried shorting the data pins and it made no difference.
I don't know if it matters but I have the sprint variant.
Any suggestions?

Okay so no one is here with me...
The company of the current charger I'm using sent me another one for free but I'm still convinced the phone is charging to its full potential. Some thoughts/questions:
1. Does the G3 charge at different rates *up to* the 1.8 amps it can accept? I've read phones will slow down when they top off but are there other variances at play?
2. Is there an app known to be accurate for monitoring the charge rate, specifically ma/a being drawn while charging? -I know there are a lot of generic answers to this and apps that claim to do this but I am looking for specific compatibility with the G3. The last app I used was battery monitor widget. If that app is accurate, even with a cable(Kopi cable) rated for 2 amps and using a 6 amp car charger (mpow) I never see more than ~500-600mA and often less.
3. Could heat play a factor in charge rate? On bad weather days I am running a navigation app and streaming an audiobook over bluetooth...wifi radio off. My phone is in an otterbox case and has felt *somewhat* warm after my hour commute running nav and BT audio, screen on the whole way. **On otherwise decent days I am just streaming BT audiobook, no nav, screen off. Phone has never felt warm that way but charge rate doesn't seem to improve.
I'm willing to try a different charger if it will help, but I want to know the phone will pull the full amount that it can. OR, I just need some education on how this device charges. I understand that we don't benefit from the fast charge capability that I read our hardware has.
Thanks to anyone willing to take the time to reply.