More powerful car charger?

[iFortWorth]

Took my first long road trip yesterday since gotten my S4. While on the aforementioned trip I was using my Google Navigation for directions and traffic. I was also streaming audio at times and had the screen on bright so I could see it better. I did have wifi off.

I had the phone charging the whole trip via a DC charger. The problem was, the phone was using more power then the charger could provide. Now granted the battery didn't drop as fast as it would had it not been plugged in, but it was dropping nonetheless.

My question is, anyone aware of a DC charger that outputs more power?

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[Golfdriver97]

Took my first long road trip yesterday since gotten my S4. While on the aforementioned trip I was using my Google Navigation for directions and traffic. I was also streaming audio at times and had the screen on bright so I could see it better. I did have wifi off.

I had the phone charging the whole trip via a DC charger. The problem was, the phone was using more power then the charger could provide. Now granted the battery didn't drop as fast as it would had it not been plugged in, but it was dropping nonetheless.

My question is, anyone aware of a DC charger that outputs more power?

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Probably not. You can try buying a power inverter. That plugs into the DC and has a regular outlet plug on the other end. Some may even have a USB port as well. Then you just plug in your regular wall charger.

 

[iFortWorth]

I actually have an inverter. I'll try that on my next leg of the trip.

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[vasekvi]

Get a charger made for tablets that puts out 2.1 amps. Then use this app to make sure you are getting the power to your phone that the charger puts out. With the Samsung charger the phone came with I am getting a 1900mA charge rate.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.manor.currentwidget&token=F1m5_67U

Sent from my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk II

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Took my first long road trip yesterday since gotten my S4. While on the aforementioned trip I was using my Google Navigation for directions and traffic. I was also streaming audio at times and had the screen on bright so I could see it better. I did have wifi off.

I had the phone charging the whole trip via a DC charger. The problem was, the phone was using more power then the charger could provide. Now granted the battery didn't drop as fast as it would had it not been plugged in, but it was dropping nonetheless.

My question is, anyone aware of a DC charger that outputs more power?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using AC Forums mobile app

The question is how much juice is your current car charger putting out? Many older and generic car chargers will only output 500mA, which is considerably less than the 2A the S4's standard wall charger provides (about 1/4th), and definitely not enough to provide a charge when the phone is fully in use for navigation.

I have this 1A charger in my car:
Motorola Micro-USB High Performance 950mA Car Charger - Android Car Chargers - ShopAndroid
and it works quite well. It doesn't charge as fast the 2A wall charger, but I have used Navigation and BT music at the same time, and the charger was still powerful enough to keep up with it and maintain a positive rate of charging.

You can look around here:
Samsung Galaxy S4 Car Chargers - ShopAndroid
or when shopping for car chargers online or at a store like Radio Shack or Walmart or wherever, just make sure their output is at least 1A (1000mA)

 

[iFortWorth]

Get a charger made for tablets that puts out 2.1 amps. Then use this app to make sure you are getting the power to your phone that the charger puts out. With the Samsung charger the phone came with I am getting a 1900mA charge rate.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.manor.currentwidget&token=UBbIVJsP

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Okay, that's a good idea. I'll try and find one today. Maybe a local WM will have one.

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[iFortWorth]

I checked my inverter and it only outputs 500 milliamps and that's less than my car charger, . 6amps.

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[BKlip]

I had the same problem. Upgrading to a 2A USB car charger did the trick. Got it for $10 at my local MicroCenter store.

 

[shaw1234]

@ifortworth,
The 500mA you are looking at on the inverter is output at 115vac. FYI that's around 11.5 amps at 5vdc that your phone uses. The inverter has more than enough power for the phone and is not the bottleneck.

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[iFortWorth]

Lol. Well just found and bought a 3amp charger from RS. It was 30.00. Guess I'll take it back then. Thanks for the electrical lesson.

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[Golfdriver97]

Lol. Well just found and bought a 3amp charger from RS. It was 30.00. Guess I'll take it back then. Thanks for the electrical lesson.

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Careful though...too rapid of a charge isn't great for the battery either.

Sent from a M.O.A.R. Galaxy S3

 

[iFortWorth]

Face plant.

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[dss2000]

Be sure to use a charge only cable otherwise it will be in USB mode and only charge at 500mA no matter what the output of the charger is.

 

[Azwizzard]

I have this USB charger Amazon.com: iFlash Dual USB Car Lighter Charger Adapter with 3A Output (fast) Heavy Duty Ouput for iPad 1 / 2 / 3, iPhone 5 / 4S / 4, Google Android Phones, Samsung Galaxy S II III Note, BlackBerry Moblie Phones - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories

and this cable Amazon.com: PureGear Charge-Sync Cable Only for Universal Micro USB - Retail Packaging: Cell Phones & Accessories

and it works fine on my GS4, my N7 tablet, my daughters Galaxy Player and Ipods....

 

[natehoy]

Careful though...too rapid of a charge isn't great for the battery either.

As long as the capacity of the charger is at or above what the phone wants, it's all good. The phone will draw the amperage it needs. The important things are voltage (where too high or two low can do damage) and how clean the power is (because "dirty" power causes voltage spikes, so it goes back to voltage).

That's why, when buying phone chargers, you always want to shop for a good quality one of the highest capacity you can reasonably justify. Because you just know with your NEXT device, it'll need more anyway, and no harm done buying one with a little extra capacity today. You should be buying an absolute *minimum* of a 2A (2,000mA) charger for any modern phone.

 

[iFortWorth]

Get a charger made for tablets that puts out 2.1 amps. Then use this app to make sure you are getting the power to your phone that the charger puts out. With the Samsung charger the phone came with I am getting a 1900mA charge rate.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.manor.currentwidget&token=3X7Hr9v9

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1900? Then this may be part of my problem. While on AC my device has been taking 7-9 hours to get a full charge. I've since downloaded that widget and currently getting only 300mA while plugged into my OEM charger.

Thanks, David

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[iFortWorth]

And by removing my usb extension cable I got up to 640mA.

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[vasekvi]

And by removing my usb extension cable I got up to 640mA.

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The Samsung charger that came in the box? That is ridiculous. Something is wrong. Do you have other cables and wall adapters to test?

I've found mixed results with my variety of chargers and cables.

Stock charger and cable I get 1900

Samsung accessory 2amp charger and cable (identical to what the phone came with) 1900

HP Palm Pre charger and cable around 1060

HP Touchpad charger and cable 1900

Older yet identical looking Samsung cable with 2amp charger 1060 (!) and with 1amp charger only like 500mA

I threw the older Samsung cable away.

I'm getting the palm touchstone coil in the mail in a couple days and will report back on how the inductive charging rates are. I expect to get around a full 1amp.

With the stock charger the phone should charge fully in a little over an hour.

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[paintdrinkingpete]

1900? Then this may be part of my problem. While on AC my device has been taking 7-9 hours to get a full charge. I've since downloaded that widget and currently getting only 300mA while plugged into my OEM charger.
Thanks, David

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And by removing my usb extension cable I got up to 640mA.

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Well, the extension could definitely have a negative effect. Are you use *both* the OEM charger *and* cord it came with?

 

[iFortWorth]

The issue ended up being with my OEM usb micro cable. It was only putting about 420mA to the phone. After trying another cable with the charger it made all the difference in the world. It now charges in about two hours.

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