Barely charges in car

[mulcher]

I am using my old Palm Pre car charger. The charge light and battery charging icon lights when I plug it in but if I use the phone, for example with Trapster and internet radio, it still depletes or at best hold the same charge percentage but doesn't increase. This was never the case on the Pre

is this a phone issue, or are some car chargers more powerful than others and if so which one should I buy?

 

[taylormah]

What is the Amperage of your charger. I believe Epic needs 700mA to charge. You can buy 1Amp charger and it should help.

 

[xtn]

The Palm Pre OEM car charger is 1 amp.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Aero]

pinouts maybe different.

I now the Epic takes the full 1000 ma from my moto 1 amp car charger,a dn my one amp Palm treo Pro and Palm 800w chargers which have a resisted connection between 4 and 5 (aka x and 4). I would have assumed pre was jumped too but I do not know.

if you are running GPS, 3g on continuous update, screen full time on and bright, gpu in use,. and cpu calculating position etc, it is entirely possible you are pulling near 500 ma. With a usb standard pass through pinout the epic should limit itself to 500 ma to avoid damaging the computer it thinks it maybe charging from. In other words, absent a special wired indication typcial on over 500 ma chargers, it is natural that your phoen might be barely charging or slightly discharging.

That is why all devices capable off pulling more than 500ma over usb for charging typically employ a non standard pinout. Those non standard pinouts are shorts or resisted jumps allowing the device to sense it is not on a computer, and pull more amperage.

The detachable usb cable on your oem epic wall charger set is standard with no jumps, but the charger itself is jumped, meaning at the micro end a jump is sensed and >500 ma allowed.

 

[antmon1]

errr....... so is it ok to use the Palm pre car charger on the Epic?

 

[milominderbinde]

errr....... so is it OK to use the Palm Pre car charger on the Epic?

Yes, but consider one of these.

If you have everything on it is almost impossible to keep up with so much power usage especially as you drive.

Make sure you WiFi is off. WiFi takes power especially when you drive because it is constantly finding WiFi sources and trying to lock on.

Also the 4G radio takes a huge amount of power especially as you drive and are constantly trying to acquire towers. So power down 4G unless you are streaming video, etc.

You can also turn off GPS and Bluetooth if you are not using them.

Use Widgets to tap them on and off.

 

[taylormah]

pinouts maybe different.

I now the Epic takes the full 1000 ma from my moto 1 amp car charger,a dn my one amp Palm treo Pro and Palm 800w chargers which have a resisted connection between 4 and 5 (aka x and 4). I would have assumed pre was jumped too but I do not know.

if you are running GPS, 3g on continuous update, screen full time on and bright, gpu in use,. and cpu calculating position etc, it is entirely possible you are pulling near 500 ma. With a usb standard pass through pinout the epic should limit itself to 500 ma to avoid damaging the computer it thinks it maybe charging from. In other words, absent a special wired indication typcial on over 500 ma chargers, it is natural that your phoen might be barely charging or slightly discharging.

That is why all devices capable off pulling more than 500ma over usb for charging typically employ a non standard pinout. Those non standard pinouts are shorts or resisted jumps allowing the device to sense it is not on a computer, and pull more amperage.

The detachable usb cable on your oem epic wall charger set is standard with no jumps, but the charger itself is jumped, meaning at the micro end a jump is sensed and >500 ma allowed.

Great info Aero!! So if I understand you correctly, if the charger has those resisted jumps present, the device will know it is not a computer and will start sucking >500ma power, whereas if the cable or charger does not have those jumps, device will either maintain its charge level or drain; am I right in understanding this??

Next question is how do we know if the charger or cable has those jumps in it??
Also, if I buy car charger available for iPad with 2.1amp usb port on it, will it see any increase in rate of charging without damaging the phone??

Lastly, if possible, can you provide a link to the motorola charger you are using!! Thank you.

 

[bevorules]

I use a Motorola micro usb charger that I bought at Amazon for less than $6. It is rated at 950 ma. It successfully charges the phone, even when GPS and Maps are running.

 

[bevorules]

Here's a link to the Moto charger:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000Y8IH2Q/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1285531513&s

 

[antmon1]

funny..... i already have this one, but i could swear this was marketed as motorola charger for Palm Pre, when i bought it a few mos back....

http://store.androidcentral.com/motorola-micro-usb-high-performance-car-charger/5A47A3044.htm

 

[dragonol2]

Yes, but consider one of these.

If you have everything on it is almost impossible to keep up with so much power usage especially as you drive.

Make sure you WiFi is off. WiFi takes power especially when you drive because it is constantly finding WiFi sources and trying to lock on.

Also the 4G radio takes a huge amount of power especially as you drive and are constantly trying to acquire towers. So power down 4G unless you are streaming video, etc.

You can also turn off GPS and Bluetooth if you are not using them.

Use Widgets to tap them on and off.

Great advice! These are minimums that people should follow when on the go to make sure they maximize their battery potential...