Develop Bugs

[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.
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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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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.
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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?
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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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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.
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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.

Charge 2 SGSIII's at once?

I would like to get a charging cable that has 2 Male Micro USB connectors and 1 standard Male USB connector.
These are supposed to charge 2 cell phones through one USB charger, but I've read that you might need a higher capacity charger than comes with your single cable charger.
Will the standard USB charger that comes with our phone work, or will I need a higher capacity charger?
Thanks

OKAstro said:
I would like to get a charging cable that has 2 Male Micro USB connectors and 1 standard Male USB connector.
These are supposed to charge 2 cell phones through one USB charger, but I've read that you might need a higher capacity charger than comes with your single cable charger.
Will the standard USB charger that comes with our phone work, or will I need a higher capacity charger?
Thanks
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Our S3's can charge at approximately max 1.1amps and perhaps more on a custom rom. Our stock chargers will not likely provide enough to charge 2 S3's at that fast rate. But, instead it will likely charge both at half that rate. So. I would get a charger that can handle more than 2amps...preferably 3amps so that there is plenty of headroom especially if the charger specs are over-rated. The S3 will only use what it needs and of course, it will slow down the charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. Also, note that if the USB Y-cable or splitter is not wired correctly, then it may not charge at fast rate.

themadproducer said:
Our S3's can charge at approximately max 1.1amps and perhaps more on a custom rom. Our stock chargers will not likely provide enough to charge 2 S3's at that fast rate. But, instead it will likely charge both at half that rate. So. I would get a charger that can handle more than 2amps...preferably 3amps so that there is plenty of headroom especially if the charger specs are over-rated. The S3 will only use what it needs and of course, it will slow down the charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. Also, note that if the USB Y-cable or splitter is not wired correctly, then it may not charge at fast rate.
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Thanks. Where can I find a 3 amp charger?

OKAstro said:
Thanks. Where can I find a 3 amp charger?
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I have a usb 2amp cigarette lighter charger and it has 2 usb ports for charging and charges my S3 and an HD2 together at fast rate when I use proper usb cable(s).
On a 2sec Google search, I found this 3amp usb wall charger (2amp + 1amp) example...or this Scosche 4 port 4amp wall charger although it says each port is limited to 1amp max. You can always put in a USB Y cable making 2 ports merge into 1 yielding 2amp max output...if necessary.
Here is a 2 port x 2.1amp per port example..which would give you maximum headroom and might work well for more demanding tablet devices etc.

I'm Having Charging Issues - Are All Micro USB Cables Created Equally?

I bought an OEM Samsung wall charger that charges at 1 Ampere. I started to charge my Zerolemon battery with it yesterday at about 6pm and here it is today and it is only at about 80% charge rate. Something is not right. I contacted the seller and they told me that the charger is from Samsung and it charges at 1 Ampere. It is either the charger is a knock off or my Micro-usb cable that connects into the wall charger is not the right kind.
Are there different variations of micro-usb cables that will work better? Some that allow more current to flow over them than others? My cable says that it is 28awg/2C. I remember when I had a playstation 3 I had problems with syncing the device with my playstation 3 with the USB cables I had bought. After tons of research it was the USB cables that were the issue. They didn't allow enough current to work properly with the PS3. I'm starting to wonder if I'm having the same issue with the Samsung Wall Charger. Is the 28awg wire gauge too thin?

---->[email protected]<---- said:
I bought an OEM Samsung wall charger that charges at 1 Ampere. I started to charge my Zerolemon battery with it yesterday at about 6pm and here it is today and it is only at about 80% charge rate. Something is not right. I contacted the seller and they told me that the charger is from Samsung and it charges at 1 Ampere. It is either the charger is a knock off or my Micro-usb cable that connects into the wall charger is not the right kind.
Are there different variations of micro-usb cables that will work better? Some that allow more current to flow over them than others? My cable says that it is 28awg/2C. I remember when I had a playstation 3 I had problems with syncing the device with my playstation 3 with the USB cables I had bought. After tons of research it was the USB cables that were the issue. They didn't allow enough current to work properly with the PS3. I'm starting to wonder if I'm having the same issue with the Samsung Wall Charger. Is the 28awg wire gauge too thin?
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- charger is rated 1amp but usually puts out less depending on the quality and efficiency of it. You won't get the fastest charge with a 1amp psu. Get yourself a cheap 2amp and have plenty of headroom.
- also, if voltage in your wall outlet is low (rare) that would affect psu output.
- yes super thin usb cables can be part of the cause.
- of course, if the cable is meant for PC charging, it will be wired in such a way, to not exceed 450ma (or so) whereas a usb cable or charger that is meant and wired for fast charge, will provide...for me...1150ma (Search/Research my past posts for more detailed info)
- also, most kernels, slow down the charge rate as the batter gets closer to 100% charge.
- a bad battery or custom kernel with bad code, could both affect charging speed.

Slow QI charging

Ordered a QI charger off Amazon (the same Lerway Chinese brand one everyone seems to get) and it's charging incredibly slow. Not sure if the app I'm using to record the charge rate is incorrect or I'm not reading it correctly but it says it's charging at only +200mA max sometimes as slow as <50mA.
Anyone else experience this?

skusa93 said:
Ordered a QI charger off Amazon (the same Lerway Chinese brand one everyone seems to get) and it's charging incredibly slow. Not sure if the app I'm using to record the charge rate is incorrect or I'm not reading it correctly but it says it's charging at only +200mA max sometimes as slow as <50mA.
Anyone else experience this?
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What kind of power source you use to power the charger and what kind of cable do you use?
If you connect the charger to computer USB port it will not provide enough power for the charger. Same with cheap cables, like the ones mostly included with the generic QI chargers. You need a premium USB cable.
Also if you have a thick case on your phone it will diminish the charging current received by a coil in your phone.
Firstly check how much power and what current your charger gets, so instead of plugging the QI charger, plug your phone and check what amperage you get (I use Current Widget). If it's less then 1600mA (maximum amperage that N5 will allow from direct charging through cable) your charger is underpowered and you need to change socket charger to 2A one. If you're using 2A socket charger and still get under 1600mA then your micro USB cable isn't good enough.
Properly and fully powered Qi charger should charge your bare phone (without a case) at about 700-800mA.

Znamir81 said:
What kind of power source you use to power the charger and what kind of cable do you use?
If you connect the charger to computer USB port it will not provide enough power for the charger. Same with cheap cables, like the ones mostly included with the generic QI chargers. You need a premium USB cable.
Also if you have a thick case on your phone it will diminish the charging current received by a coil in your phone.
Firstly check how much power and what current your charger gets, so instead of plugging the QI charger, plug your phone and check what amperage you get (I use Current Widget). If it's less then 1600mA (maximum amperage that N5 will allow from direct charging through cable) your charger is underpowered and you need to change socket charger to 2A one. If you're using 2A socket charger and still get under 1600mA then your micro USB cable isn't good enough.
Properly and fully powered Qi charger should charge your bare phone (without a case) at about 700-800mA.
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Thanks for the info I thought I was going crazy.
No case so that isn't an issue.
I have the phone connected direct to a 3A charger currently and am only getting 995mA charge rate with the screen on and it looks like full 1.5A with the screen off. Maybe a defective QI charger?

Nope. Everything is normal. You just need a better cable that will manage to transfer 2A of current.
QI charger needs 2A input to give 1A output on a coil. Giving about 70-80% efficiency rate, your phone would be getting about 700-800mA.
Since your charger gets only about 1A input it gives about 500mA output. Therefore giving that efficiency rate, your phone should be getting about 350-400mA tops. It is possible that your charger has lower efficiency rate (some have about 50-60%), so the values that you're getting are pretty normal unless you use a premium micro usb cable, preferably with thicker, like AWG24 or lower (the lower value the better) power wires.

Might want to try these cables, a lot of people have had great luck with using them on Qi chargers. Don't know which length you would need, they have 3 and 6 foot cables. For the price, I'm ordering 6 6ft cables.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=9762&seq=1&format=2

[Q] Trying to charge a Galaxy Note 2014 with a MediaBridge 12v charger

I bought a black dual port MediaBridge 2.4 and 1.0 amp charger. Does not charge above .5 amps. Learned, need white one, for Android that has data wires shorted, bought one. It also doesn't charge over .5 amps (even though tablet roughly 25% charged). Using short white charging cable that came with tablet. Did lots of amp, volt, ohm testing to find lightning bolt doesn't get displayed on the tab, even though plugged into the 2.4 amp port. Called MediaBridge, they say "some android tabs are incompatible", but didn't list 2014 as one of them.
Found MB has shorted data wires, just like the Sammy wall charger. See 5.11 volts dc going into tablet (get 5.36 in wall charger, but think 5.11 is not a problem). Got a short microUSB extension cable, dug out the red wire, cut it. Placed amp meter inline so I can measure amps going thru cable. With MB, I see around .45 amps, with Sammy wall charger, I see about 1.35 amps and of course lightning bolt is displayed. Tried another cheapy coiled 12 volt charger to find .45 amps flowing and displays the lightning bolt (charges the battery, though very slowly).
I prefer not returning this charger and would like to try to get it working. Does anyone else have a MediaBridge that works? Does anyone know of other things I can try to make this charge around 2 amps?
Thanks

CaptNorm said:
I bought a black dual port MediaBridge 2.4 and 1.0 amp charger. Does not charge above .5 amps. Learned, need white one, for Android that has data wires shorted, bought one. It also doesn't charge over .5 amps (even though tablet roughly 25% charged). Using short white charging cable that came with tablet. Did lots of amp, volt, ohm testing to find lightning bolt doesn't get displayed on the tab, even though plugged into the 2.4 amp port. Called MediaBridge, they say "some android tabs are incompatible", but didn't list 2014 as one of them.
Found MB has shorted data wires, just like the Sammy wall charger. See 5.11 volts dc going into tablet (get 5.36 in wall charger, but think 5.11 is not a problem). Got a short microUSB extension cable, dug out the red wire, cut it. Placed amp meter inline so I can measure amps going thru cable. With MB, I see around .45 amps, with Sammy wall charger, I see about 1.35 amps and of course lightning bolt is displayed. Tried another cheapy coiled 12 volt charger to find .45 amps flowing and displays the lightning bolt (charges the battery, though very slowly).
I prefer not returning this charger and would like to try to get it working. Does anyone else have a MediaBridge that works? Does anyone know of other things I can try to make this charge around 2 amps?
Thanks
Click to expand...
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Data wires is very important for any charging process . Some Chinese cottage small factories, manufacturing low-quality data lines, using a very thin copper as cables which can flow a limited current. Of course, there are high quality factories in china, such as Foxconn.

I had until recently a 1*2/2*1A charger with an output of 4.9x V,using a cable with the "wrong" wiring, no problem. I think Samsung needs an Apple compatible charger, all mine are, at least for the 2A mode, but there should be a standard 900mA fallback option as well, or even standard 1,5 A, but I never tried a 1A charger to prove that.
There are usb compatibility adapters for Apple devices,that fit between charger and cable, on the usb side, of course.