Charging issues, need suggestions for slow charging overnight.

[movielover76]

I have always avoided fast charging my devices as a rule and used slower chargers I did this with my Note 5 and Note 7 unless I needed to fast charge in the middle of the day. normally I get through an entire day even on my Note 5 with one slow overnight charge, I always figured less heat = saving the battery pack some stress.
I've used this charger since 2015 for overnight charging
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K0D6GR8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Note I always used the second port for non apple devices for my android devices and I occasionally charged an apple product with the first port as instructed.

Along with it I bought a benson approved A to C cable
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VIWE1ZY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and I tried to continue that on with the Pixel XL, I never noticed my phone getting hot, even the few times I used it while it was charging and it was charging the first couple nights.
Then a couple nights ago my phone wouldn't charge at all with that setup, I panic'd a little thinking my pixel was bad when to to google charger that I keep in the living room for quick charges during the day and it charged fine (Whew!)
Then I went back to the bedroom played with the cable a little and got it to start charging.
Last night, I plugged in my phone and shortly after grabbed it to check something. It said charging rapidly. I knew that wasn't right so I went down to check on the charger and it was hot as well, but my phone was completely cool. Won't be using that charger anymore.

My question is, is it safe to do that use a normal 5v/2ish amp charger to slow charge overnight with usb-c as implemented with the pixel.
Did my charger just die of old age around the time that I got the new pixel
or did the pixel kill the charger by forcing it to try to deliver too much power?
Not an electronics expert, any help is appreciated.
The safety of my pixel phone and battery is my primary concern but I also don't want to invest money in usb-c stuff that isn't fully future proof. I want to switch my wife to usb-c phone soon, and switch all our chargers to future proof usb c variants.

 

[Impulses]

Any number of things may have killed the old charger, that's impossible to diagnose without touching it... In theory it should be safe to use an A to C cable for slower charging (purposely) if you're really paranoid about the battery's long term health. As long as the cable is in spec anyway.

Two comments tho, as an aside... The Pixel will actually display "charging rapidly" at some arbitrarily level that isn't at all indicative of Type C or PD fast charging (3A at 5V or 2A at 9V), I think it'll actually spit out that message even with some older Type A BC2.1 chargers if it reaches 2A at 5V (particularly <50%).

Second, the phone will only "fast charge" up to 50% (at which point it slows down considerably), and the charging circuitry actively manages the rate throughout while monitoring temps and such. I don't know how advanced/safe other quick charge protocols are but from what I've seen fast charging the Pixel thru a compliant PD charger shouldn't make a big difference.

From the tear downs I've seen it's not terribly hard to open it up for a battery swap (say in 1.5-2 years), tho it's still much harder than with a plastic fantastic like the Nexus 5. Recent news even clarified that the smaller Pixel never even goes up to 18W charging, apparently they played it safer and limited it to 15W max.

 

[movielover76]

thanks for the information, I'm not super paranoid, I fast charge whenever I can during the day if I need to, but logically it doesn't make sense to me to add additional stress to the battery when I don't need to fast charge, like overnight charging. Which lasts me the whole day on most of my recent phones at least 90 - 95% of the time.
I guess I didn't really think anyone could tell me for sure what killed the charger. But I've never had one act up on me like this one and so close to getting the pixel it seems like it could be more than a coincidence.

thanks again.

 

[Kendrick Stephens]

Happened to me as well. Today, I switched out the fast-charging wall adapter to one I've never used and BOOM! Problem solved. The other one was REALLY hot. Thank God it was not the phone. I'd give that a try.

Hope that helps.

Be well,

Ken