Car Charging

[melwan]

I tried few Car Chargers that claim to be charging at 1000mA, but my phone still losses power over time if I have the screen brightness at 50% while using Google Navigation. If I play music as well, the power consumption will increase and these chargers are not helping at all.

I doubt they are charging at 1000mA because even if everything is off including the screen, it takes ~30 mins to charge 10%, unlike the wall charger which charges the whole battery in ~30 mins or so.

My question is: does anyone use a car charger that actually works when the phone is under pressure? I tried Dual Auto Charger from Belkin using my USB cable as well as the Gomadic charger (damn it, cant post links yet) but also not helping.

Therefore, anyone got a "working" car charger? The ProClip charger named "Google HTC Nexus One - Charging Holder with Tilt Swivel and Straight Power Cord for Fixed Installation" claims to be 2000mA, anyone tried it?

Thanx in advance

 

[RedneckGenius#AC]

all i use for my nexus is the car dock that you can order with the phone. it still charges with everything running, no problems. it soulds to me like the problem might be not enough power in the outlet not the cord

 

[icebike]

@Melwan

No way your wall charger charges a whole battery in 30 minutes. Not from Empty.

No matter what the charger claims to put out, the N1 will draw at most, 1000mA thru the USB port. If they left the decision up to the charger you could melt the phone.

I use some cheap two-USB socket Radio Shack charger (model number escapes me), and got a 6% charge in 12 minutes while surfing the net on the phone.

But Again, I was charging thru the USB jack.

The Google Nexus One car dock accepts 2 Amps.
See Review: Official Google Nexus One Car Dock ? AndroidSPIN

It charges thru the bottom gold connection contacts, and may not have the limitation that the USB port has.

Google Nav is one of the worst apps, yanking data off the net over 3G, running the screen and the GPS full time.

 

[RayStinkle]

When you have your phone plugged into the car charger, go into settings, about, status, and see if its actually registering as usb or ac. It might only be putting out 500 mA which should show up as usb.

My cheap 5 dollar car charger shows as ac when plugged into my nexus.

 

[Cory Streater]

This thread is from the EVO forum, but it applies here as well.

 

[icebike]

When you have your phone plugged into the car charger, go into settings, about, status, and see if its actually registering as usb or ac. It might only be putting out 500 mA which should show up as usb.

My cheap 5 dollar car charger shows as ac when plugged into my nexus.

What brand is that?

My car charger shows up as USB.

 

[superflush]

fwiw, this is the car charger I've been using: Amazon.com: LG 5 Pin Micro Phones USB charger for LG VX7100 Glance, AX830 Glimmer, VX9700…
It seems to charge it up just fine.

 

[icebike]

fwiw, this is the car charger I've been using: Amazon.com: LG 5 Pin Micro Phones USB charger for LG VX7100 Glance, AX830 Glimmer, VX9700?
It seems to charge it up just fine.

And you are confirming that when you plug it in the phone Battery status says Charging (AC) ???

 

[melwan]

Thanx everyone for all the replies.

@icebike, no not from empty of course but blazing fast compared to the experience I'm getting with these car chargers.

@RogerPodacter, the car charger I'm using currently (from Gomadic and claims to be at 1000mA) shows up as USB.

@RedneckGenius, how can I know if the problem from the outlet itself? I have 2009 Toyota Matrix. Is there an app that can measure the current mA supplied by the charger? I did order the car dock for it and I tried it when I first got my N1, but it used to overheat my phone to the point where the screen becomes unresponsive and the phone restarts itself. It also got very hot to touch, so I returned the dock. Does your phone overheat when using the car dock? In other words, is it worth it to reorder a car dock and see if that works (maybe the old dock was a bad unit)?

Also, if the car dock runs at 2A, any1 tried the ProClip charger named "Google HTC Nexus One - Charging Holder with Tilt Swivel and Straight Power Cord for Fixed Installation"; they say it runs at 2A.

Thank you all again for the replies.

 

[RayStinkle]

Thanx everyone for all the replies.

@RogerPodacter, the car charger I'm using currently (from Gomadic and claims to be at 1000mA) shows up as USB.

Thank you all again for the replies.

well there's your answer right there. now i'm not sure WHY it shows as USB, but that definitely means your phone is registering as usb, only 500mA, so it will not charge as fast.

i use a 5 dollar car charger i got downtown from some import shop, and it shows A/C and chargers just fine. though its kinda risky using a crap charger like this. but works for me!

 

[melwan]

@RogerPodacter, I'm assuming its a no brand charger, correct?

Also, any1 tried the Monoprice USB charger. Some are saying it charges at full 1000mA but I dont know how since it's a USB charger after all. (sorry I can't post links yet, damn post count limitation lol)

 

[RayStinkle]

yeah i'll check but i think its a no-name charger.

 

[lionsson]

I have the same problem with the count limitation.

 

[RedneckGenius#AC]

my phone gets warm when using the car dock. the reason i said it might be the outlet is that if EVERY cord you use doesnt work, is probably not the cord. that leaves either the phone or the car. i dont know of an app to check this

 

[melwan]

@RogerPodacter

For the charger you are using (the one that shows up as AC in the car), is the cable attached to the charger or it is basically a USB port?

Also, could it be the stock ROM 2.1? are you using Froyo?

 

[melwan]

Latest update (for those stumbling on this thread for a solution):

I tried authentic Blackberry charger and it shows up as AC instead of USB. The only problem was the 500mA limitation it had by design.

Then, I tried a charger from accessories/mobile store called T Booth. They have a charger that outputs 1A and the phone sees it as AC as well. It has replaceable tips. The only downside is that T booth seems to be available in Canada only.

Took both chargers for a 15 mins spin. The T Booth one maintained the charge using 50% screen brightness while playing music through Zimly and using GPS with Google Navigation. The previous chargers lost 1% every 10 mins with 25% screen brightness and GPS only, no music.

Under heavy load, the T Booth charger seems to maintain the charge. I guess a 2Amp charger will charge the phone since the official car dock from Google is 2Amp.

I'm happy enough with the current solution. btw, I also tried the Griffin PowerJolt for the iPad. It's marked as 2.1Amps but the phone sees it as USB, not AC and thus limits the charging to 500mA.

I hope this is helpful to anyone looking for a solution. If I find a 2Amp AC car charger, I will post about it here.

 

[superflush]

And you are confirming that when you plug it in the phone Battery status says Charging (AC) ???

Yea, I checked when I was in the car the other day. It says "Charging (AC)"

 

[melwan]

Last update (I promise):

After testing several chargers, I came to the conclusion that the limiting factor was indeed the USB cable. When I used the USB cable supplied with the phone, the phone always read the charger as "USB" no matter how much Amp power is behind the cable.

Then, I got my hands on a USB cable that was not designed to transmit data, only charging. With this new cable, no matter what charger I used, the phone read it as "AC" charger.

I combined this charging-only cable along with the Griffin iPad 2.1Amp charger (alternate design) and the condition was as follows:

* 50% screen brightness
* music playing through aux port using Zimly
* bluetooth is on and connected to headset
* wifi is on (not connected to any hotspot)
* Google Navigation is running (GPS is on with 3G data)

After ~13-15 mins, the battery % went up 3%

Therefore, the key is the USB cable. It cannot be a regular syncing cable. Also, a good 2Amp charger sure shows a huge difference.

Btw, the phone was not even worm when I removed it from the charger, but maybe because I only tested it for ~15 mins.

 

[icebike]

Last update (I promise):

After testing several chargers, I came to the conclusion that the limiting factor was indeed the USB cable.

Therefore, the key is the USB cable. It cannot be a regular syncing cable. Also, a good 2Amp charger sure shows a huge difference.

I get slightly different results...

With my original Nexus One syncing cable I get charging at USB rates on some chargers and AC on others. (This info from either the stock Phone Status display or the "Battery Left" app from the market.

For instance:
Using my iPhone wall wart, it says Charging USB, Power Plug USB.
Using my B&N Nook wall wart it says Charging AC, Power Plug AC.

Same cord. iPhone wall wart = 1 amp. Nook wall wart = .85 amp.

So for me, its NOT the cord, but rather how the charger is wired. I believe I read somewhere you have to short the two data pins to convince the device its on a charger and not on a USB port.

Now of course that shorting could be done in the cable just as well as in the charger.

 

[melwan]

@icebike

That's interesting indeed... and confusing lol

The Griffin PowerJolt for iPad showed up as USB when I used the stock USB cable, but the same charger showed up as AC when I used the charging-only USB cable.

I replicated this with 3 other chargers from different brands as well.

So I guess it's a combination between the cable and the charger?