HTC One Killing My Chargers

[Vivian Rodriguez]

I've had the HTC One for almost a year now & I love it. I've had no problems with it except that it goes through chargers like crazy. The initial HTC charger it came stopped working & now every charger I use stops working after a while. It'll charge at a slow rate & state that I need to use an HTC charger. If that is truly the case, the first one would still be working. Shouldn't any micro USB work?

 

[bbinder]

Still haven't outlived my first charger. Also use others, USB, etc. No issues at all with it eating chargers.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[VidJunky]

I've had the HTC One for almost a year now & I love it. I've had no problems with it except that it goes through chargers like crazy. The initial HTC charger it came stopped working & now every charger I use stops working after a while. It'll charge at a slow rate & state that I need to use an HTC charger. If that is truly the case, the first one would still be working. Shouldn't any micro USB work?

You're right almost any Micro USB should work. If you getting the warning message chances are you're not getting a good connection between the phone and the cable. You can try to repair the cable but it sounds like you may be having other issues as well. Maybe your port is dirty or has some build up. If you take your phone into a Corp store they will clean and check your port, usually at no charge. You may also take your HTC cable with you and see if they will check it also. If it's fitting loosely they may repair it at no charge as well. Don't allow them to talk you into a $40 cable. You can find OEM cables on line for far less.

As for going through so many cables that is probably a matter of quality. The OEM cable was a pretty well made cable, some of the ones you find aftermarket are far from the same quality. You want to be sure that you are always pulling the plug straight out and pushing it straight in. Rocking it up and down or left to right will cause the end of the cable to loosen, and it can damage the port. With the higher quality OEM cable it was probably more forgiving and could handle a bit more roughness, while the aftermarket cables tend to be made with lighter grade steel and deform more easily. There are ways to repair cables if they are just loose.

 

[Pat Kerby]

I have had a HTC One for almost a year, I have gone through 4 charger cords.....

Posted via Android Central App

 

[bbinder]

I see people abuse the hell out of their cords and cables so I never find it too surprising that they last for some and not for others.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Vivian Rodriguez]

Could it be the charger? It is the cord & a separate block. Would I have better results if I used a charger that was one entity rather than two separate pieces? Btw thank you so much for your input.

 

[bbinder]

Well, it's possible. I, for example, end up using my kindle paperwhite charger at night when I charge my One. During the day, it's usually plugged in via USB with a different cable (that's of decent quality, maybe ) and other times I use an external power supply with that same cable. Some of the stuff I use can be found here:
Wall charger: (not specific to the One, since it's charging capacities are slower anyway)
http://www.amazon.com/PowerGen-2-4-...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3581462

Cables that I personally like:
http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Cha...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3581462
http://www.amazon.com/360-Mobile-So...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3581462

I'm not saying that they're stellar quality - I just ended up purchasing them on account of this reason:
I use them in my car plenty and what usually happens is that the car charger or USB cable gets pulled out slightly on accident. This causes the phone to obviously not charge - and with most cables...you'd never know. The charging light on the One is so darn small so if you aren't paying attention, you don't know it's not charging. With these cables, the ends glow blue so you know it's plugged in properly. When it's charging, it glows red. Understand that once it gets to a full charge it goes blue, but sometimes it flickers back and forth from red to blue...which I couldn't care less about. I'm more interested in being able to find it, and knowing that power is being applied to my phone. I also always wrap up my cables properly so I'm not kinking them or causing strain on them, which might be a determining factor on why mine last as long as they do.

 

[VidJunky]

Could it be the charger? It is the cord & a separate block. Would I have better results if I used a charger that was one entity rather than two separate pieces? Btw thank you so much for your input.

The plug portion of the charging unit can affect the rate at which you charge. The plug portion has capacitors and sometimes circuitry to control the mA delivered to your devices. However two pieces or one taking care of the micro USB end of your cable is what really matters. Having your port checked and cleaned and HTC cable checked is going to be the best place to start. Once you know where you stand then you can consider your options with replacement cables and the like. Personally I'm frugal, conservative, cheap , and it's rather not spend if I can avoid it. I hope we've answered your question and you found some information that helps you.

 

[Tom Rassier]

I don't know the specs on the HTC you are using however; not all chargers are the same. You can get USB chargers that are 2 watt (cheep ones from Wal-Mart and 7-11), 5 watt like what is supplied with many OEM products like the iPhone and my Motorola phone, and 9 watt chargers like I have for my Kindle. Chargers up to 12 or 15 watts are also available with more than one port so you can charge more than one thing at a time. The chargers that bbinder recommended are good chargers - look at them.

If you find your charger is getting warm or hot when your charging your device may be pulling more current (watts) than the charger is designed to handle. As the unit gets hotter, its ability to deliver power to the device is decreased causing a higher demand for power, causing more heat, further decreasing the chargers capability and the circle keeps going until the charger finally gives up! The better chargers will turn off when they get hot to protect the charging unit from cooking to death.

I would get a 7 to 9 watt charger (one port) or a 9 to 15 watt (2 or more ports) and a new USB cord (just in case your cord has an intermittent short that may also kill your charger) Check out Amazon, eBay or your favorite electronics/phone store. Don't let the sales man tell you "this will work" without seeing the watt rating on the package. The charger will only deliver the power the device demands, you will not hurt your device by using a 7 watt charger even if the one supplied was only a 5 watt. The charging circuit inside your device has a micro processor in it that regulates the amount of energy being delivered to the battery.

I hope this helps and good luck to you!