Develop Bugs

[Q] Real 2A car charger. Which one??

Yesterday I've been navigating again with Navigon on my SGS2, but unfortunately it slowly drains my battery. When using google maps it dous charge the phone. So apperently Navigon is using a lot more 'juice' compared to Google map navigation.
Do you people know a charger (I assume one of 2A, while my own charger is an 1A charger) which does charge the phone with bluetooth, gps and Navigon running?

I bough a 2.1A car charger from belkin and I still have battery drain.
Even with the phone detecting it correctly as AC CHARGEr.

Hmmm that's to bad
Ordered a 2A charger from ebay myself.... But I doubt it will work, especially after reading your message.
I think the phone only takes a maximum of Amps for charging, even though it uses more. Resulting in a slow battery drain.

Note that it will stopped charging if the battery gets too hot to avoid damage or possibly exploding the battery.
Obviously having a higher rated charger will heat the battery more, so make sure the phone has its back ventilated, and try avoiding direct sunlight.
Read of several people that had this issue, but got their phones charging when avoiding overheating it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Try the Rockfish premium charger. It's 2A and looks nice.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

has anyone had any luck with the motorola charger? I bought one for my nexus one + car dock and it always worked fine... have yet to have a chance to use it for my SGS2 though..

Mixy said:
Note that it will stopped charging if the battery gets too hot to avoid damage or possibly exploding the battery.
Obviously having a higher rated charger will heat the battery more, so make sure the phone has its back ventilated, and try avoiding direct sunlight.
Read of several people that had this issue, but got their phones charging when avoiding overheating it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that's a bit strange, because a charger should deliver what a phone is asking for. As far as I know, a charger doesn't push the charge to the phone. But we will see, if the phone does get overheated, then that will be the end of the charger.
malimal said:
Try the Rockfish premium charger. It's 2A and looks nice.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link where it can be found?
mynameisjon said:
has anyone had any luck with the motorola charger? I bought one for my nexus one + car dock and it always worked fine... have yet to have a chance to use it for my SGS2 though..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which motorola charger?

Bart1981 said:
But that's a bit strange, because a charger should deliver what a phone is asking for. As far as I know, a charger doesn't push the charge to the phone. But we will see, if the phone does get overheated, then that will be the end of the charger.
Do you have a link where it can be found?
Which motorola charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're mistaken.
The thing that you plug into your car, that's called a power supply.
The real charger is built into the phone. That's the charging circuit that will shut down the charger, stop drawing power from the power supply when the phone gets too hot.
I doubt the phone will be able to take 2A, and the circuits will prevent the phone from drawing 2A of current.
#1. So, what you're looking for is actually a power supply that provides suficient current. Most car chargers will be about the same.
The power supply is connected to your phone via cables. Badly made cables will not be able to supply more than 200mah, and as a result you're going to take a really long time to charge your phone, and with a high drain application going on, you're not going to be able to charge your phone.
I had that exact same problem previously, and it was because of a lousy batch of oem cable I bought from ebay. Original, and other brands of oem cables worked fine.
#2. You need to buy some proper cables. I buy from www.monoprice.com, because I like my cables to be gold plated.
Edit: No, I'm not related to monoprice. I just love my gold cables plated heads. Can't find them cheaper anywhere else.

But the quality of the cable is not the only thing. The phone should also see the charger as an AC charger instead of an usb charger. This can be done by connecting the middle pins in the usb cable. Otherwise it will only charge with 500mA.

Bart1981 said:
Do you have a link where it can be found?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i got mine off ebay, but its like this one below
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+Premium+Micro+USB+Vehicle+Charger/1114106.p?id=1218221913668&skuId=1114106&st=Rocketfish%20Car%20Charger%20&cp=2&lp=1
make sure you get model RF-PMC55

Bart1981 said:
But the quality of the cable is not the only thing. The phone should also see the charger as an AC charger instead of an usb charger. This can be done by connecting the middle pins in the usb cable. Otherwise it will only charge with 500mA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a car charger you can buy that does this automatically? (i.e phone thinks it's plugged into AC rather than USB). I'd rather not plug anything i've been messing about with into my beloved SII.

It's not about the charger but about the cable you're using.

[Q] Rapid Chargers - Not Really Rapid?

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.
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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
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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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

[Q] Slow Charge

Not sure if this is an issue, or if its standard. But here is what im facing.
A charge off the wall will get my Tmobile SGS2 to a full charge (from around 15%-20%) with the stock plug and cable in about an hour to an hour and a half. However charging from my laptop or from a car charger im only getting a total increase in battery 15% in an hour. I tried to use the stock cable with the laptop and got about 25% in an hour and a half. I tried to use the stock cable in my car and only got 7% in 45 minutes.
Anyone have any ideas?

When charging from the car or from a laptop, the power is limited to what the cable/charger can supply which might not be sufficient for the SGS2. For the car charger, you can try buying one that supplies more amps, but for the laptop, theres really nothing you can do, as it is limited by the USB cable itself.

Do you mean the USB cable or do you mean the actual plug & internal workings of the laptop? because i have tried several cables. And just also remembered that i tried the stock cable as well with crappy results.

you can buy a 2A charger, and it will charge a lot faster, that's what i use in my car
at home or office, i just use the regular charger, as i always carry extra battery packs

When you plug it into the laptop it only gives out a limited amount of amps unlike the regular charger that came with the phone. The one that came with the phone regulates the charge so that it doesn't overcharge your device or anything. The laptop USB plug is supposed to be meant for peripherals like a mouse and stuff so it doesnt give out that much amps, therefore charging slower than a regular charger.

I use the t-mobile rapid car charger, It can charge this beast in about 45 minutes. It also has a 2nd port for a 2nd device.
Deebo took your bike too?

Really?! I've never seen my charging current go over 700 mA, even with a 2 amp charger.
I'd happily give up some long-term lifetime for faster charging.
Sent from my Galaxy S II using Tapatalk.

They have a home charger too that's a home charger plus car charger in 1. I use them in the cars but they're great for trips cause you have a 2 in 1 charger.
With 3 batteries and a external charger though, I never need a home charger and haven't even put this on a charger yet.

Just as most of the others have said here, the charge is going to be limited to what the source can put out. If you get another charger (2A charger) then it will be able to charger faster but you also want to be careful with using after market chargers there are some that can negatively affect your battery by overcharging which is when the phone gets fully charged but the charger does not ever stop with the flow of power to the device.

Ok Thanks all.
Guess i need a new car charger and something for the office.
Also did some crawling through "Mother of all battery life" thread found some good ideas there for making this thing last longer on the charge its got.

Im having the same problem my fone takes forever to charge...im pluged into the wall using the charger in the box n it took me no joke 7 hours to charge my fone!
Im on it rite now as its plugged i to the wall n im losing power instead of charging...i tested the voltage n its fine ...is tgere anythin i can do?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App

I, myself, actually haven't used the OEM charger that came with the phone. Although I did notice it is quite small and the phone battery is a 1850mAh (larger than normal) that might affect the charging rate. I am currently using the old HTC charger that came with my Sensation and it charges fully in about 2 hours. If you want a charger that charges your phone in an hour and a half, I recommend going into a T-mobile store and grabbing the Wallcharger they sell. It charges 33% faster than OEM chargers and does not harm your device nor kill your batteries.
You can find it by clicking here

Exactly same problem as OP.
OEM wall charger charges phone to full in couple of hours but laptop USB or car USB is doing at 10% / hour assuming you don't do anything on your phone but just leave it there to be charged. Otherwise you'll be losing battery rather than being charged.

513263337 said:
Exactly same problem as OP.
OEM wall charger charges phone to full in couple of hours but laptop USB or car USB is doing at 10% / hour assuming you don't do anything on your phone but just leave it there to be charged. Otherwise you'll be losing battery rather than being charged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As explained in previous post, this is due to limitations in the laptop USB drive and depending on what car charger you have, the phone might suck up more juice than it is able to provide.

so this is nothing a kernel or any other tweak can fix?

mightymike889 said:
so this is nothing a kernel or any other tweak can fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no a new kernel or any other tweak wont work.

So i gotta buy a new charger!?!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App

Yes, or if you have like an old microUSB charger from HTC or another Samsung phone (Samsung Vibrant) you can try using those.

the 2A chargers from BlackBerry are the best

So, you guys are seeing the phone draw over 700 mA (when the charger is capable)?
If I use my iPad charger (2A), I still top out at 700 mA, and the ~4 hours that go with it. :/
Even my 1A car charger tops out at 700 mA, that's why I thought it was a hardware issue.
Sent from my Galaxy S II using Tapatalk.

Charger Concerns

I see that the wall charger for the Galaxy Nexus outputs 5V and 1A. Unfortunately, none of the extra chargers I'd like to use as additional chargers have this output. Some of them are 5.1V, and some of them all put out under 1A.
From what I understand, using a charger w/ a higher voltage could potentially damage the phone. I know that this unlikely considering it's only an extra .1V in my case, but I don't want to risk it.
As for the amps, I believe that using lower amps isn't dangerous, but may result in charging taking longer than normal.
Are these two assumptions correct? Also, does anyone know of any cheap chargers that put out 5V/1A? If you put in "phone charger" in Amazon, the second hit is a Samsung OEM charger that puts out 5V/0.7A, but I'd rather get one that is going to be an exact match.

700-800mah are fine and acceptable for charging. But if wanting to play games on a charger and still get some kind of charge, go with a 1000 mah charger. 1000 mah charger is also best to use while using mhl so you can hopefully not lose battery charge while streaming video over hdmi.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.

Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>

Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Micro-Travel-Charger-M540/dp/B002HJBM04
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Travel-Charger-Adapter-MicroUSB/dp/B0049IE70I

Dmw017 said:
Speaking of the charger... anyone found a cheap charger adapter for the Nexus? I don't like the massive brick of a "international adapter" Handtec packaged with the phone >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33

alee said:
I'm using a Griffin charger for the iPhone (1 amp)... it's very small and the plug blades fold up, making it very pocketable. Give the included iPhone cable to a friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-NA231...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322795627&sr=1-33
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml

Dmw017 said:
it's.. 24 bucks ... for a charger..
lol fml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.

alee said:
Haha, it's a nice charger.
If you don't get that one, do get a charger that does at least 700mA... or ideally 1A. Some of the cheaper chargers don't put out a lot of power and it will take a long time to charge your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...you say it folds too huh :/ ....
but for that price, i wonder if there are any samsung chargers that are just as good if not better..
that is Apple, after all
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts

I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Dmw017 said:
hey isnt http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Techn...al-USB-Charging/dp/B004EYH5WY/ref=pd_sim_e_10 the same product , it says it does 5 volts at 5 watts ... thats the same right?
edit: some people are reporting that the charger only charges at 0.5A instead of the full 1A on [some] android devices. if you have the charger, can you confirm your nexus charges at the full 1A watts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same one.
Good question on whether it's putting out a full 1A. I guess what I do is check the charge times tomorrow with a few different 1A chargers to see if it measures up.

I use this for home:
http://www.amazon.com/Cellet-Charger-Retractable-Cable-myTouch/dp/B004XVM1T0
And this for the car:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Powerjolt-Dual-Universal-Micro/dp/B0042B9U8Q
Both are dual-USB and put out 1amp. Charges my GNEX and iPhone 4 (work) at the same time without issues.

Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!

assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read that the wall charger drops the battery down to 90ish % after it hits 100% and just goes between the two levels until you unplug your charger
While a USB charge is slower and charges your device up to a "fuller" charge
...I may be unfathomably wrong though
---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------
man that little Apple charger is so damn cute ... lol , ill probably end up buying it once the 1A volt charge is confirmed
edit: just bought it lol, oh well.. it will probably maybe more or less somewhat possibly work like it should at 1A :}

assisterah said:
Just feel like to chime in here for another question.
I know typical USB port from a PC outputs 0.5A while the wall charger outputs 1A, so besides charging time, is there any particular advantages to use wall charger over USB from PC?
I've read somewhere else states that despite the longer charging time using a USB port from a PC, it provides more thorough charges hence is better for the battery than using a wall charger, is this true?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an expert on the subject but I was under the impression that cycles (charge + discharge) were a bigger factor on battery life than something like this. The longer a current is running through the battery (charge or discharge) is detrimental to it's life span.
Leaving a laptop plugged in all the time ruins its battery is my source on this one. I would say it's because it has a constant charge running through the battery.

qreffie said:
I've been doing fine with just plugging it into my computer like I always do with every other phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall

rashad1 said:
That takes a lot longer vs plugging it into the wall
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Click to collapse
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[hfm] said:
True dat. Unless it has changed , USB only outputs 500mA.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
500mA is the max before the PC will disable the port. So your actually get less current.
There are some ports, depending on the motherboard that have a option of outputting more power for charging devices, and also have the port powered when the computer is off. But a normal usb 2.0 port is limited to 500mA max per spec... so a normal usb 2.0 port charging a phone is drawing less then 500mA, or it would get and over current condition and disable the port.

I design electronics and work with USB and batteries often, so let me clear some stuff up in no particular order:
- PC ports are limited to 500mA so will only ever output a max of 500mA
- You can use a wall charger that outputs 1000mA but on most devices the data pins on the micro USB need to be shorted to tell the phone it can try to draw more than 500mA. This is true for HTC devices for example. That means if you get a cheap charger that doesn't short the data pins, when you plug your standard micro-usb cable into it, it will still only charge your phone at 500mA.
- The charging controller is actually in the phone. It decides based on temperature (there's a sensor in the battery), current, voltage across the battery (current charge) and characteristics of the type of battery to figure out how much current to allow into the battery. Although its true that a 500mA charger may have different affects than 1000mA chargers, there usually is very little perceivable difference. Which is (slightly) better really depends on the charging controller and how it decides when to stop charging.
- When the battery is full, the phone continues to 'trickle charge' for a period of time. This isn't a bad thing. Overcharging a Lithium battery can be extremely dangerous, so normal charging occurs at a high speed and then slows down at a safe limit below the 'true' 100%. After that the phone continues to trickle charge to top up the battery. This is the reason you read in phone manuals you should charge the phone for 8 hours or overnight for its first charge.
- When charging at 500mA, the battery does not get as hot. This usually means you get closer to the true 100% before 'trickle charging' starts. With a 1000mA charge the battery heats up a lot more so charging may switch to trickle much sooner. Here's an example with made up figures.
Lets say you charge your battery with a 500mA charger, and it takes 2 hours. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 99%, and trickle charging. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to its full capacity.
Now, lets say you charge your battery with a 1000mA charger, and it takes 1 hour. When the phone shows 100% it may actually be at 98%, and trickle charging - It stopped sooner because the battery was hotter. Leaving it for another 30 mins may take it to full capacity.
Conclusion.. the 500mA charger took 2.5 hours, while the 1000mA charger took 1.5 hours. However if you unplugged both when the phone showed 100%, the 500mA charged battery may last longer, and so you think the 500mA somehow resulted in a more thorough charge!
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which you use. the absolute charge cycles is what counts. Charge to 100%, then dont charge till its 0 for best battery care. Constantly plugging into a charger or dock all day on and off is bad. But having said that, your phone is there to be used, so a sensible balance of the two is the best bet.

Thank you so much for the detailed response, kam187. Would you recommend avoiding using a 5.1V charger, considering the phone came with a 5V charger?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

I wouldn't use it. The 0.1v probably won't make any difference, but it may not be regulated. Chargers with these odd values sometimes don't have any regulator inside them. That could damage your phone as the voltage could shoot up and down as the current draw changes.
Just search amazon/ebay for any MicroUSB charger, and pick one from a reputable manufacturer like Motorola, HTC, Samsung etc. Since all phones now use MicroUSB, there's loads of these chargers around from previous phone models etc.
Here's just one I saw on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Trave...E70I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1322808220&sr=8-3

Car charger that charges at wall charger speeds?

Any car chargers that anyone could point me to that charges as fast as a wall charger?
As it is right now, unless I have my screen off and no apps running it drains faster than the charger can put juice into it...
I'm just using an el-cheap-o aftermarket car charger.
Thanks!

JWhipple said:
Any car chargers that anyone could point me to that charges as fast as a wall charger?
As it is right now, unless I have my screen off and no apps running it drains faster than the charger can put juice into it...
I'm just using an el-cheap-o aftermarket car charger.
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
What I use is a cig to usb plug (cost me 10 bucks at walmart). Then I bring the cord from home that came with my phone and plug that into the USB to cig thingy. Works like a charm, I haven't noticed it charging slower than when at home.

JWhipple said:
Any car chargers that anyone could point me to that charges as fast as a wall charger?
As it is right now, unless I have my screen off and no apps running it drains faster than the charger can put juice into it...
I'm just using an el-cheap-o aftermarket car charger.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...Q9CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331233635&sr=8-1

i bought one from t-mobile... its about $29 but its worth the price. I get charge speeds btw 850ma and 950ma when on idle

i have the oem cig to usb charger from Samsung i purchased it at best buy with a gift card lol, when i first got my galaxy tablet.

Just get any standard microusb charger rated at 1a (or 1000mAh ). I'm betting your elcheapo is .5a (500mAh).
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I finally got around to ordering that Motorola charger on Amazon - works just how I wanted it to - thanks so much!

our device requires an official samsung charger to charge at full ac speed. there was an article on the xda front page last week about how to mod your charger to be recognized as official.
Sent from my Galaxy S II

jordanishere said:
our device requires an official samsung charger to charge at full ac speed. there was an article on the xda front page last week about how to mod your charger to be recognized as official.
Sent from my Galaxy S II
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All I know is that now I can run my GPS with the screen on and still move UP in battery - before it would drain faster than the car charger would charge, so, I'm happy with what I have now.

Actually the problem is that some of the car chargers are not at 1amp output but less .75 or .85. Thats why your not really seeing an increase. The stock charger is at 1amp. I know AllGamer likes to use the Blackberry ones (which i believe are 1.5amps) Correct me if im wrong AllGamer.
So just look for 1 amp car chargers the cable doesnt matter itll hold whatever you attach it to.

So, no matter wht brand charger you have as long as you connect the two middle pins you will get full charge as long as the charger can put out 1000ma?
I really need a good charger for the car, right now i use a blackberry charger at work an it charges pretty fast. But i need to know how do i find the currect charge rate of a charger. Is there an app for that?

Get tmobiles car charger. Its faster than any others I've tried.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-4

Can it be had on the cheap
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Here it is ... cheap! $3.49 you dont get cheaper than that! =)
Charger

As I remember those chargers needed the center pins shorted to be recognized as AC.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Wareazy said:
Here it is ... cheap! $3.49 you dont get cheaper than that! =)
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This charger doesn't keep up. I have one. It will still drain faster than it charges if you're running a GPS app with the screen on.

Does anyone have an experience with this charger from MONOPRICE
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p..._id=1082603&p_id=8858&seq=1&format=4#feedback
I need a great car charger and really dont want to spend to much money on it. Furthermore, if I am getting a 1+amp charger, as long as i am using the stock samsung charging cable then it shouldnt matter if the charger itself has D- and D+ shorted right?
Im assuming this is something standard on all usb CHARGING cables as appose to data cables.?

Dougshell said:
Does anyone have an experience with this charger from MONOPRICE
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p..._id=1082603&p_id=8858&seq=1&format=4#feedback
I need a great car charger and really dont want to spend to much money on it. Furthermore, if I am getting a 1+amp charger, as long as i am using the stock samsung charging cable then it shouldnt matter if the charger itself has D- and D+ shorted right?
Im assuming this is something standard on all usb CHARGING cables as appose to data cables.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You want a good reliable charger at eBay pricing..... spend the money 1 time and be done with it. You could've already gotten the T-Mobile one and been done with it.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

For those of you buying the USB 12V Cigarette adapters read this.
Basically if you use a data sync cord with one of those adapters, unless it shorts the 2 data pins together internally (probably not) the phone is going to think it's plugged into a computer and only charge at 500ma (max output for a computer USB port). The write up above explains to short the 2 data cables together (this is done internally with the main AC charger head) back towards the phone so it will charge at 1amp instead of 500ma.
You can buy this cable and just modify it as described. I bought this USB adapter so I could charge 2 things at once.

Let me get this clear.
All i need to look for when it is charging is AC mode. As long as it says that, it doesnt matter what i have or have not done to the cables, AC mode is AC mode.
The charger i am looking at getting is 2.1 amp (because it has a spare usb port...so 1amp per line) and when i plug it in and it says AC MODE then its good to go right.
I just bought a TMOBILE offical charger that shows AC MODE, so when it MONOPRICE charger arrives i can compare. If it doesnt work its another 5 bucks, if it does i can take the tmo one back.
But again i am just wondering are there any caveats to AC MODE, or is it that once AC mode shows that is all that matters.