Droid X discharges faster than it charges while using Navigation n the car dock.

[wabyrd]

Did you forget to turn on the X laser missile destructo weapon & coffee maker apps? No kidding, you just about dragged as much juice as one could consider reasonable and still it held its own, even with a low amperage charger. Interesting.

Really?!?! Where can I get those apps? I'd love to have the laser missile destructo weapon on these Houston freeways!

Anyhow, I'm going to give it a try again this morning with the satellite view on as I think it uses a little more data than map view. Will stream Iheartradio again. Same 500ma charger. Will see if it can hold up. I'm not sure why others are having discharge problems with a 500 charger.

Is there some real battery killer app others are running?

 

[TurboCam]

I wasn't running any additional apps. No streaming audio or anything like that. Just push email and beautiful widgets.....things like that.

 

[vicw926a4]

I wasn't running any additional apps. No streaming audio or anything like that. Just push email and beautiful widgets.....things like that.

I'm expecting to get my new charger today from Android Central via UPS. It's what appears to be the same charger you are using, minus the Verizon label, and I'll try to replicate the conditions you reported in the next day or so, and report back here.

 

[movieman742]

Stay away from USB car chargers. The phone will see the charger as a USB host and will only draw 500mAh. Instead get yourself a regular car charger like this one. It's rated at 1,000mAh, which is more than enough to feed your power hungry GPS and charge the battery at the same time.

Thanks for the link. Been trying to find one that was cheap enough but still a beast. After shipping and handling it was less than $7.

 

[davidnc]

LoL I just purchased the charger Cory mentioned in post #5 as well for my DX.

 

[Cory Streater]

Sweet, I'm getting paid $2 a piece for everyone I sell Just kidding of course.

I'm heading down to my parents today. Obviously I already know where they live (70 miles away), but I'm going to use my GPS/Moto Charger anyway, because the Window Mount arrived. The whole in my lap thing just wasn't working out.

 

[vicw926a4]

I just got my Smartphone Experts Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port for Motorola Droid X car charger from the Android Central Store. It appears identical to the $30 Verizon model, minus the Verizon label. The data on the charger is not too helpful, it just shows Input Voltage 12-24V W/2A Fuse, so I can't tell how much output current it is capable of.

I did verify that charging through the hardwired cable, or using a standard USB cable on the plugin port shows AC on the DX, so neither path is restricted to 500ma. I plan to do a check using NAV tomorrow to see how it meets the load demand and hopefully simultaneously charges the DX. We shall see. I also noted that the blue LED power indictor is a real torch. I'll probably insert it upside down and just check the blue glow reflected from the carpet to confirm it is active.

 

[dookie.]

i can confirm that the 'enercell' brand 12v/1a dual-usb adapter i got at radio shack works well, no pin-shorting mods necessary. it shows 'charging (ac)' when looking at battery status, but the proof is in the pudding:

i spent ~2.5hrs in the car today, gps/3g data running nav non-stop, ~1hr on the phone using a bluetooth headset, and streaming pandora via BT when not yapping. pretty much every radio on all the time and still managed to pick up an indicated 10% charge (10-19 actual, who knows). unrelated: i had the nav satellite layer on, and even though i was on the phone, it would appear that nav was still getting data...not possible, right? just a good caching algorithm?

anyway, i googled and checked the RS website and can't find the exact model, but it is the simplest one...basically a male cigarette-lighter plug with 2 usb ports in it. no cable, no female socket, etc. ~$12, as i recall. you will need usb to micro usb cables for it. i ran a long one (mostly) hidden in/under the dash to my car mount, and use a shorter 2nd one to charge with the phone on the passenger seat or in the console.

 

[wabyrd]

I tried my experiment again with satellite view on this mornign. Again streaming audio over bluetooth. Battery was at 90 when I got in the car and fully charged when I got to work. 500ma. I'll post pics/screen cap when I get home.

 

[impostor71]

Dookie - are you using the car dock or are you plugging the micro-usb cable directly into the phone itself?

 

[dookie.]

Dookie - are you using the car dock or are you plugging the micro-usb cable directly into the phone itself?

3rd party 'universal' dock, not native moto. cable is directly connected to the phone.

 

[TurboCam]

This may be an issue with the motorola car dock and not the car chargers. When I posted this thread, my dx was used with the navigation plugged into the car dock and the vehicle power charger plugged into the car dock. So, the dx is getting charged through the car dock...........maybe there is an issue with the car dock's plug interface??? I ordered and have received the rapid motorola charge. I'll test it out through the car dock on Sunday evening when I have to go through a4 got drive again.

 

[Cory Streater]

I drove 70 miles yesterday with the cord plugged into the car dock and the phone remained fully charged the entire time. I had it off the dock for 4 hours, and was down to 80% when I headed home. It was at a 100 again in about 15 minutes.

 

[TurboCam]

Cory, were you using the motorola rapid rate charger?

 

[vicw926a4]

As promised yesterday, I took my new "Smartphone Experts Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port for Motorola Droid X" that I purchased from the Android Central Accessory Store for a test drive today. I ran 2 passes, both using GPS, NAV, Bluetooth w. Pairing. On the first one, I used the hardwired cable on the charger, starting with 71%, as reported by Battery Left, and 60 percent reported by the DX After 86 minutes of driving, the Battery Left reading was 98% on Battery Left, and 90% on the DX, with a temperature of 105.8 degrees F. - so the hardwired port on the charger was clearly was able to charge the DX while running under that load.

On the second test, I used the USB port on the charger, with the 3 ft USB cable that was shipped with the DX, starting with 88% reported by Battery Left, and 80% on the DX. After 68 minutes, Battery Left showed 72%, and 60% the DX, with a temperature of 120.2 degrees F, so the ability of that secondary port is not up to the task, at least with my hardware.

One thing I did note is that Battery Left reports 1 degree increments normally, but while under charge, it shows the DX 10% data and increments. I guess that is to be expected. I made my readings just prior to plugging the charger in, and just after removal.

I plan to continue tracking the performance of the charger, to see if any contradictory data appear, and I'll report back here if that is the case, but I plan to use the hardwired port whenever I'm traveling away from home, or a ready source of juice for my DX. I feel pretty confident that the hardwired port will do the job.

 

[Cory Streater]

Cory, were you using the motorola rapid rate charger?

Yep. Same one you ordered I believe.

 

[Cory Streater]

with a temperature of 120.2 degrees

Holy smokes!

From the User Guide:

Notes for charging your product?s battery:

When charging your battery, keep it near room temperature. Never expose batteries to temperatures below 0?C (32?F) or above 45?C (113?F) when charging.

 

[vicw926a4]

Holy smokes!

From the User Guide:

I could be wrong, but I think they are talking about external environmental, or Room temperatures, rather than internal to the battery. That's not really that hot. My DVR disk drive gets hotter than that.

 

[Cory Streater]

Oh okay

 

[vicw926a4]

Oh okay

I think you made a good point. Certainly less heat is better than more, when it comes to longevity of the hardware. The results of my little test might lean toward a conclusion that batteries that are under load, simultaneous with a weak charging current will get hotter. Not sure of the technology there, but it looks to me as that is a possibility, and more reason to use a more robust source, if it is true.

Also, I had my DX encased in the Verizon shell, which probably causes less heat dissipation, and higher temperatures. I think I'll do my future runs with the shell removed.