Charging question

**RIMMAN** · 09-22-2010, 10:07 AM

I am running a stock battery on my Inc and had a question. When traveling in my car with gps on (navigation) and also streaming audio (Pandora) will plugging the phone into a cigarette charger maintain a fully charged battery or will the gps and audio drain it faster than the charger can charge it? Would a power inverter be a better choice?

Thanks for the help.

**bigslam123#AC** · 09-22-2010, 10:26 AM

It depends on the output of the car charger. A 1000mah charger should give you a charge while you are using GPS and streaming. 700mah will maintain your charge. A 500mah charger will not supply enough power to even maintain your current charge.

**RIMMAN** · 09-22-2010, 11:12 AM

Thanks. I never looked at he output of a cigarette charger. Wonder if they have larger outputs than 1000? Guess I will head over to best buy on lunch today to check it out.

**RIMMAN** · 09-22-2010, 04:10 PM

So, I went to best buy as well as my local Verizon store and both their cigarette car charges did not list he mah power rating. Can anyone recommend a 1000 mah cigarette car charger for an incredible.

**PvilleComp** · 09-22-2010, 08:54 PM

The Verizon branded chargers are 1A.

The ones with the secondary USB slot on top of the charger.

**datterboy** · 09-22-2010, 11:09 PM

I'm confused.

So what is the one that comes with the DI? From HTC?

Or are we talking about the power shource itself as opposed to the plug you're using? I understand the plug does have something to do with it since you've got:

- the kind that is a USB plug
- plugged into a wall
- plugged into your computer
- plugged into your car
- The kind that is it's own plug, no USB
- plugged into a wall
- plugged into your car
- plugged into an inverter in your car

I could go on.

And then you have different types of USB cables of different standards... blah blah blah.

What is the fastest and how do I ensure that's the one I am getting?

**PvilleComp** · 09-23-2010, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by datterboy

I'm confused.

So what is the one that comes with the DI? From HTC?

Or are we talking about the power shource itself as opposed to the plug you're using? I understand the plug does have something to do with it since you've got:

- the kind that is a USB plug
- plugged into a wall
- plugged into your computer
- plugged into your car
- The kind that is it's own plug, no USB
- plugged into a wall
- plugged into your car
- plugged into an inverter in your car

I could go on.

And then you have different types of USB cables of different standards... blah blah blah.

What is the fastest and how do I ensure that's the one I am getting?

I was refering only to the Car Charger. A Car Charger does not come standard with the DInc. Some generic Car Chargers are only .5A. But the Verizon Car Chargers are 1A.

The HTC wall charger is 1A.

Charging off usb on a computer is only .5A (limitation of the USB port)

**RIMMAN** · 09-23-2010, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by PvilleComp

The Verizon branded chargers are 1A.

The ones with the secondary USB slot on top of the charger.

Thanks a ton. Just out of curiosity, how do you know this as the packaging says nothing about the power rating? I don't doubt you, I just want to make sure I get one with a 1A rating. Do you have a model number for the Verizon one?

**KayIslandDrunk** · 09-23-2010, 10:15 AM

Yeah, I got burned by buying a cheap one. It makes it last longer, but by the time I hit about 4.5 hours on the road, it dies.

**PvilleComp** · 09-23-2010, 04:52 PM

So far the 3 that I have bought at VZW all test out at 1A. You're right though they do not do a good job of indicating the power on the package.

This one I know is 1A

VZW Part #MICRDUALVPC

**RIMMAN** · 09-23-2010, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by PvilleComp

So far the 3 that I have bought at VZW all test out at 1A. You're right though they do not do a good job of indicating the power on the package.

This one I know is 1A

VZW Part #MICRDUALVPC

Thanks pville. This will work much better and be a bit less expensive than buying an inverter.

**howser87** · 09-23-2010, 08:28 PM

Just an FYI, if you don't mind waiting for the shipping Amazon has the Verizon MICRDUALVPC for $13 and $15 under two different listings. I just bought one, will update with quality when it gets here.

EDIT: speling

**RIMMAN** · 09-26-2010, 07:58 PM

OK, so I was going to go down to a local Verizon store today to pick up the MICRDUALVPC charger, but it turns out the location was not a corporate store and was instead a Go Wireless location. The guy there said he uses their brand of cigarette charger and it charges just fine with GPS and streaming audio on.

He said they have a 30 day return policy in case it doesn't meet my needs, but I was wondering if anyone knew if this particular brand/model cigarette charger was rated at 1000 ma? It is a Go Wireless model number: 391436

The label on the back of the charger itself says: "Input Voltage 12-24V, 2A Fuse"

Any help would be great in determining if this charger is rated at 1000 ma.

Thanks in advance.

**CRKhead** · 09-26-2010, 09:14 PM

Well, there's a catch to this though... Yes, the Verizon branded car charger will charge the battery while using all of those apps... However, because of the DInc's charge circuitry, if the battery becomes fully charged while you are still using it, it will immediately start using the battery as a power source, not the external charger...

**RIMMAN** · 09-26-2010, 09:23 PM

True..... What if the battery then drops below 100%, will the charger kick back in?

Also, still wondering on the power rating of the Go Wireless charger if anyone has that info.

**318sugarhill** · 09-27-2010, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by DINC

True..... What if the battery then drops below 100%, will the charger kick back in?

Also, still wondering on the power rating of the Go Wireless charger if anyone has that info.

Unfortunatley, everything I've seen, the charger will not "kick back in." The charging circuits are very annoying on the phone. It's the only thing that is NOT incredible. Whether it is a car or home charger, the thing never fully charges unless it is powered off, and then given a bump charge after it is full. Yet sometimes, the led turns green to tell me it is fully charged, and other times the light shuts off. The times the light shuts off, I find it has a "fuller" charge. If the light is green, even though it says it is 100%, I find the battery dies a lot quicker. It's truly a shame because I know several who returned it. Other than the screen size, the phone is a 1000 times better than a droid x.

**teddeli** · 09-27-2010, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by 318sugarhill

Unfortunatley, everything I've seen, the charger will not "kick back in." The charging circuits are very annoying on the phone. It's the only thing that is NOT incredible. Whether it is a car or home charger, the thing never fully charges unless it is powered off, and then given a bump charge after it is full. Yet sometimes, the led turns green to tell me it is fully charged, and other times the light shuts off. The times the light shuts off, I find it has a "fuller" charge. If the light is green, even though it says it is 100%, I find the battery dies a lot quicker. It's truly a shame because I know several who returned it. Other than the screen size, the phone is a 1000 times better than a droid x.

I have never seen the green light go off whether charging with the phone on or off. i usually turn my phone off before I go to bed and charge it. In the morning the green light is still on. Charge is 100%

**RIMMAN** · 09-27-2010, 03:45 PM

I think the charger does kick back in. I have made several road trips.from Washington state to California and was streaming Pandora the entire time while he phone was plugged in and when I stopped for gas or whatever it was still fully charged. Now, I wasn't using a cigarette charger. I was using the wall charger plugged into a power inverter so I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

**RIMMAN** · 09-27-2010, 06:58 PM

OK, so I did an un-scientific test today. I used the phone at work to bring the battery down to 50%. Then on the way home I plugged in the charger and listened to pandora for the entire hour long commute home and when I got home I unplugged the charger and the battery was at 75%

**PvilleComp** · 09-27-2010, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by DINC

True..... What if the battery then drops below 100%, will the charger kick back in?

Also, still wondering on the power rating of the Go Wireless charger if anyone has that info.

No it won't kick in by itself, but if you unplug it for a few minutes and then plug it back in, it will start charging again.

**318sugarhill** · 09-27-2010, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by teddeli

I have never seen the green light go off whether charging with the phone on or off. i usually turn my phone off before I go to bed and charge it. In the morning the green light is still on. Charge is 100%

Yeah its wired. I use the powermat, had since my blackberry. Unfortunately they don't make an adapter for any droids yet, so I use the powercube. Makes it easy to bump charge by lifting the magnet off then on. Most days when the battery is "full" the light turns off. When I go to bump charge it, the light turns green within minutes and turns off again.

**ebarr727** · 09-27-2010, 07:58 PM

I few weeks ago I drove from NJ to Michigan. I was running the navigation and listening to Pandora/Rdio/Slacker (not concurrently :-)) Everything was fine for most of the trip. About 8 hours into the trip I started noticing that my charger (stocK VZW car charger) was not keeping up with the phone. By the time I arrived in Grand Rapids, my phone was only alive because I was hooked up to the charger, but it was not charging. It remained that way for about an hour. It wasn't until I recharged it with my wall charger that the battery started to charge again.

Since then I have noticed that when I am charging it and using TuneIn, it has a hard time keeping the charge. At the very least it remains at the same level, but it doesn't really charge (regardless of using wall or car charger). It's been puzzling. I switched back to my original red battery and the same is true. At first I thought my extended battery was shot, but now I think either the phone chargers are not keeping up when data intensive apps are running or there is something wrong with my phone. Since the original problem (the MI trip) I have rooted my phone and the same problems persists. It seems like charging and running either Pandora or Slacker is not so bad. It appears to be Rdio and TuneIn that draw more power.