Does using a higher amp charger affect the device

[Android Central Question]

My Samsung galaxy tab a 10.1 2016 charger comes with 5V and 2A but does using a c Berger with 5V and 2.5A or maybe a higher one damage it

 

[anon(10466607)]

I posted the thread but on other account

C Berger means charger. Spelling error

 

[methodman89]

There is a fusible link somewhere in the charging system which will melt above a certain current. 2.5 amps may or may not damage the phone. Check out the allowable charging range in the owners manual. I believe fast charge Samsung is at 3 or 5 amps, so I don't see 500 milis frying it.

 

[hallux]

Most devices these days will do a "handshake" with the charge block to determine charge speed. The charged device is actually the one that controls the charge rate if the charger can output higher than the device is rated for.

 

[Rukbat]

The device (any electrical device) draws the amount of current it's designed to draw from a given voltage - it's the voltage that matters (and is what hallux is talking about - phones that are designed to quick charge can negotiate with a capable charger or supplying 5 Volts, 9 Volts or 12 Volts, depending on what the device asks for.

But since your charger is a 5 Volt charger, it doesn't negotiate anything, so it supplies 5 Volts, and the phone will charge exactly the same whether the charger can supply 5 Volts at 2 Amps, 5 Volts at 2.5 Amps or, as I sometimes do (I have a 30 Amp power supply on my desk), 5 Volts at 30 Amps. As long as it's 5 Volts, the tablet will charge the same as long as the charger supplies at least 2 Amps.

(Think of it like water, which is often used as an analog of electricity. If you pump water at 30psi, you get a certain amount per minute, and filling a 100 gallon tank takes a certain amount of time. Whether the pipe the water is coming out of the pipe is 3" in diameter or 10" in diameter, it still takes the same amount of time to fill the tank as long as the pump is still pushing the water at 30psi. The pipe diameter is the Amps, the pump pressure is the voltage. Of course, if 30psi completely fills the 3" outlet pipe, using a 2" pipe will take longer to fill the tank. [Literally - they both, water and electricity, work the same as far as this goes. You can't overfill the tank by making the pipe larger - even if you get ridiculous and use a 30 inch pipe. Or a 30 foot pipe.])

 

[methodman89]

The device (any electrical device) draws the amount of current it's designed to draw from a given voltage - it's the voltage that matters (and is what hallux is talking about - phones that are designed to quick charge can negotiate with a capable charger or supplying 5 Volts, 9 Volts or 12 Volts, depending on what the device asks for.

But since your charger is a 5 Volt charger, it doesn't negotiate anything, so it supplies 5 Volts, and the phone will charge exactly the same whether the charger can supply 5 Volts at 2 Amps, 5 Volts at 2.5 Amps or, as I sometimes do (I have a 30 Amp power supply on my desk), 5 Volts at 30 Amps. As long as it's 5 Volts, the tablet will charge the same as long as the charger supplies at least 2 Amps.

(Think of it like water, which is often used as an analog of electricity. If you pump water at 30psi, you get a certain amount per minute, and filling a 100 gallon tank takes a certain amount of time. Whether the pipe the water is coming out of the pipe is 3" in diameter or 10" in diameter, it still takes the same amount of time to fill the tank as long as the pump is still pushing the water at 30psi. The pipe diameter is the Amps, the pump pressure is the voltage. Of course, if 30psi completely fills the 3" outlet pipe, using a 2" pipe will take longer to fill the tank. [Literally - they both, water and electricity, work the same as far as this goes. You can't overfill the tank by making the pipe larger - even if you get ridiculous and use a 30 inch pipe. Or a 30 foot pipe.])

But you can melt it with a too high power supply.

 

[Mike Dee]

But you can melt it with a too high power supply.

The phone controls the rate of charge

 

[hallux]

The phone controls the rate of charge

Correct, which is why getting proper USB-A to USB-C cables early on was so important. If you didn't have proper cables the phone was going to try pulling higher current than the charging block could provide, putting both the brick and the phone at risk.

 

[methodman89]

Correct, which is why getting proper USB-A to USB-C cables early on was so important. If you didn't have proper cables the phone was going to try pulling higher current than the charging block could provide, putting both the brick and the phone at risk.

Risk of melting

 

[Mooncatt]

The device (any electrical device) draws the amount of current it's designed to draw from a given voltage - it's the voltage that matters (and is what hallux is talking about - phones that are designed to quick charge can negotiate with a capable charger or supplying 5 Volts, 9 Volts or 12 Volts, depending on what the device asks for.

But since your charger is a 5 Volt charger, it doesn't negotiate anything, so it supplies 5 Volts, and the phone will charge exactly the same whether the charger can supply 5 Volts at 2 Amps, 5 Volts at 2.5 Amps or, as I sometimes do (I have a 30 Amp power supply on my desk), 5 Volts at 30 Amps. As long as it's 5 Volts, the tablet will charge the same as long as the charger supplies at least 2 Amps.

(Think of it like water, which is often used as an analog of electricity. If you pump water at 30psi, you get a certain amount per minute, and filling a 100 gallon tank takes a certain amount of time. Whether the pipe the water is coming out of the pipe is 3" in diameter or 10" in diameter, it still takes the same amount of time to fill the tank as long as the pump is still pushing the water at 30psi. The pipe diameter is the Amps, the pump pressure is the voltage. Of course, if 30psi completely fills the 3" outlet pipe, using a 2" pipe will take longer to fill the tank. [Literally - they both, water and electricity, work the same as far as this goes. You can't overfill the tank by making the pipe larger - even if you get ridiculous and use a 30 inch pipe. Or a 30 foot pipe.])

A more accurate analogy would be gallons per minute instead of psi. A larger diameter pipe at the same 30 psi would fill your bucket quicker (because it means the pipe is filed with water, a partially filled pipe wouldn't have any pressure). But otherwise yes, it's the voltage that matters more.

But in general, there's little to worry about. The phone sets the rate of charge. Look at it this way, a standard home outlet in the U.S. is rated at 15 amps. At the nominal 110V, that's a theoretical 1,650 watts of power available. By contrast, your OEM 2A 5V charger would max out at 10 watts and your phone is designed to accept that 10 watts. So what do you think is happening to that other 1,640 watts of power at the outlet? Nothing, because nothing is there to ask for the amperage needed to produce that kind of power.

 

[methodman89]

A more accurate analogy would be gallons per minute instead of psi. A larger diameter pipe at the same 30 psi would fill your bucket quicker (because it means the pipe is filed with water, a partially filled pipe wouldn't have any pressure). But otherwise yes, it's the voltage that matters more.

But in general, there's little to worry about. The phone sets the rate of charge. Look at it this way, a standard home outlet in the U.S. is rated at 15 amps. At the nominal 110V, that's a theoretical 1,650 watts of power available. By contrast, your OEM 2A 5V charger would max out at 10 watts and your phone is designed to accept that 10 watts. So what do you think is happening to that other 1,640 watts of power at the outlet? Nothing, because nothing is there to ask for the amperage needed to produce that kind of power.

It goes to a step down converter usually to 5 volts at 2 amps. Fast charging is 9 volts at about 1.7 amps. I would not recommend plugging your phone into a standard home 110 outlet. Unless you want to buy a new phone.

 

[Mooncatt]

It goes to a step down converter usually to 5 volts at 2 amps. Fast charging is 9 volts at about 1.7 amps. I would not recommend plugging your phone into a standard home 110 outlet. Unless you want to buy a new phone.

My point was to show how using a higher amp charger is not dangerous by comparing it to moving one step up the line to where the charger plugs into the wall. A home outlet is able to output way more current and power than a charging block (and thus phone) would ever need, but they aren't blowing up things.

 

[anon(10466607)]

Does a higher amp charge faster even if it is the same voltage

 

[hallux]

Does a higher amp charge faster even if it is the same voltage

Only if the phone can draw that higher amperage. Again - the phone dictates the charge rate, up to the capability of the charger if the charger is more capable and will max out the phone capability if the charger is more capable than the phone.

 

[Mooncatt]

Does a higher amp charge faster even if it is the same voltage

Only if the phone is designed to accept the higher amperage, but most phones don't accept more than what the OEM charger puts out and a higher amperage wouldn't do any good. The only time I've seen an exception was when the LG G4 came out, the OEM charger wasn't Quick Charge 2.0 but the phone was compatible. So in that case, a third party QC2.0 charger would give you an improvement.

 

[Rukbat]

But you can melt it with a too high power supply.

It wouldn't last long enough to melt. You'd blow the charging circuit pretty quickly (how quickly depends on how high the voltage was - plugging the phone into the 110 wall voltage would make it act like a flash bulb - instant blow-and-disconnect-from-the-no-longer-metallic-remains.

But a reasonable higher voltage available (but not asked for - like 9 or 12 Volts) won't do any damage. If the phone doesn't ask for higher voltage, the charger puts out 5 Volts. It can shift up, but if the phone doesn't ask it to, it doesn't. The default, and the failure mode, is 5 Volts.
@Mooncatt:
GPM is more volume than pressure. Psi is pressure. Voltage is pressure. Electrical volume? No one is concerned about that, because it's not used for anything. (All analogies are imperfect.) This (psi being the analog of voltage) is the standard analogy that was old when my father took electrical courses in college - and that was before World War 2. They used it in my EE courses in the 60s too.

 

[Mooncatt]

It wouldn't last long enough to melt. You'd blow the charging circuit pretty quickly (how quickly depends on how high the voltage was - plugging the phone into the 110 wall voltage would make it act like a flash bulb - instant blow-and-disconnect-from-the-no-longer-metallic-remains.

But a reasonable higher voltage available (but not asked for - like 9 or 12 Volts) won't do any damage. If the phone doesn't ask for higher voltage, the charger puts out 5 Volts. It can shift up, but if the phone doesn't ask it to, it doesn't. The default, and the failure mode, is 5 Volts.
@Mooncatt:
GPM is more volume than pressure. Psi is pressure. Voltage is pressure. Electrical volume? No one is concerned about that, because it's not used for anything. (All analogies are imperfect.) This (psi being the analog of voltage) is the standard analogy that was old when my father took electrical courses in college - and that was before World War 2. They used it in my EE courses in the 60s too.

Then I misunderstood your reference. It sounded like you were equating water pressure to electrical current.

 

[anon(10466607)]

So there is no need getting a more capable charger than the one in the box as on the settings it says 5v 2a

 

[methodman89]

It wouldn't last long enough to melt. You'd blow the charging circuit pretty quickly (how quickly depends on how high the voltage was - plugging the phone into the 110 wall voltage would make it act like a flash bulb - instant blow-and-disconnect-from-the-no-longer-metallic-remains.

But a reasonable higher voltage available (but not asked for - like 9 or 12 Volts) won't do any damage. If the phone doesn't ask for higher voltage, the charger puts out 5 Volts. It can shift up, but if the phone doesn't ask it to, it doesn't. The default, and the failure mode, is 5 Volts.
@Mooncatt:
GPM is more volume than pressure. Psi is pressure. Voltage is pressure. Electrical volume? No one is concerned about that, because it's not used for anything. (All analogies are imperfect.) This (psi being the analog of voltage) is the standard analogy that was old when my father took electrical courses in college - and that was before World War 2. They used it in my EE courses in the 60s too.

'plugging the phone into the 110 wall voltage would make it act like a flash bulb.' Kind of like melting?
Look at it afterwards with a magnifier and you will see its melted.
Really don't want to play semantics, my last gf does the same. So, okay, you're right.
This thread became useless when a statement that 110 v. AC plugged into the bottom of a phone would be okay. As stated, it requires a step down transformer, not to mention it needs DC, not ac. Newbies coming for an answer about charging would get a rude surprise following some of the advice given.
Hows about you plug your phone into the wall outlet. Video it so you can show how it won't damage your phone.

 

[methodman89]

So there is no need getting a more capable charger than the one in the box as on the settings it says 5v 2a

Correct, unless you have Samsung fast charge.