Galaxy S4: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

[Jude Mathis]

So my original charger from my samsung galaxy s4 is loose and it really is frustrating to adjust it from time to time so i can just charge it, i will have to return it to the shop this week or the next for a replacement one. I'm now using a HTC charger and i'm wondering if its okay to charge it? Will it not mess my battery up or shorten its life?

Posted via my phone :">

 

[Gekko]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

So my original charger from my samsung galaxy s4 is loose and it really is frustrating to adjust it from time to time so i can just charge it, i will have to return it to the shop this week or the next for a replacement one. I'm now using a HTC charger and i'm wondering if its okay to charge it? Will it not mess my battery up or shorten its life?

Posted via my phone :">

as long it is a microUSB charger you should be fine.

 

[Slow_S10]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Yup, any charger that uses the USB standard will work just fine, although some might charge slower than others. I have also been using an HTC charger at work for the last 4 years, ever since I had my Original HTC EVO 4g. then I used it with my S2 and now I still use it with my S4 every day.

 

[Kayla Smith3]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

No. Im a store manager for Verizon. Samsung is very sensative phones. Dont use a universal chargers. It will give you the wrong voltage to the phone and cause it to over heat.

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[Kriingle]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Check the output voltage (or what goes into the phone). If it says 5V you should be fine.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

No. Im a store manager for Verizon. Samsung is very sensative phones. Dont use a universal chargers. It will give you the wrong voltage to the phone and cause it to over heat.

Posted via Android Central App

This is very incorrect. I use a variety of chargers...

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[garublador]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

No. Im a store manager for Verizon. Samsung is very sensative phones. Dont use a universal chargers. It will give you the wrong voltage to the phone and cause it to over heat.

Posted via Android Central App

That's false. Any charger that has the USB symbol on it has to put out 4.75V to 5.25V or they are subject to litigation for incorrectly using the USB symbol. I've never run across a USB charger that doesn't follow the USB standard. FWIW, I'm an electrical engineer who designs mobile computing devices.

 

[AndreC0719]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

That's false. Any charger that has the USB symbol on it has to put out 4.75V to 5.25V or they are subject to litigation for incorrectly using the USB symbol. I've never run across a USB charger that doesn't follow the USB standard. FWIW, I'm an electrical engineer who designs mobile computing devices.

Actually he is very correct, being that I own a Galaxy S4 when you use a different charger other than the original 2A charger the phone either A. Charges so slow that if you use the device while charging it dies or B. Charges to 100 then the battery quickly dissipates. The devices you create may not but this phone does it requires the original charger.

 

[Busse]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Recent s4 updates removed the warning for using alternate chargers because it won't have a negative impact side from slow charging. The new LG phones are the same way. Any charger should work just fine as long as it's ~5v output.

Might not be the preferred method seeing how slow it is, but eventually it will get the job done.

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[garublador]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Actually he is very correct, being that I own a Galaxy S4 when you use a different charger other than the original 2A charger the phone either A. Charges so slow that if you use the device while charging it dies or B. Charges to 100 then the battery quickly dissipates. The devices you create may not but this phone does it requires the original charger.

You said I'm incorrect, but then gave zero evidence that a charger that uses a USB cable to charge will give out a dangerous voltage and could cause the phone to overheat. What I said is a fact.

Here's a link to the USB 2.0 specification:

USB.org - USB 2.0 Documents

Check out section 7.2.2 of the "usb_20.pdf" file.

The voltage drop budget is determined from the following:
• The voltage supplied by high-powered hub ports is 4.75 V to 5.25 V.
• The voltage supplied by low-powered hub ports is 4.4 V to 5.25 V.
• Bus-powered hubs can have a maximum drop of 350 mV from their cable plug (where they attach to a
source of power) to their output port connectors (where they supply power).
• The maximum voltage drop (for detachable cables) between the A-series plug and B-series plug on VBUS is
125 mV (VBUSD).
• The maximum voltage drop for all cables between upstream and downstream on GND is 125 mV (VGNDD).

If a charger is outside that range it can not legally display the USB symbol. So how can I be wrong that a legal device with the USB symbol (which the Samsung chargers are) have a voltage outside that range like Kayla Smith3 said? If the Samsung chargers comply with this then the phones can't require a voltage outside that range, so any charger with the USB symbol will either supply a valid voltage or be subject to litigation from the USB-IF for using their symbol but not complying with their requirements.

Your phone charging too slow has nothing to do with the voltage the charger puts out. Chargers can have too low of a current capability (like a PC) or not have the correct scheme on the data pins (e.g. they left the data pins floating) to indicate that it's a charger and give too little current, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the claim that Kayla Smith3 (who, based on the name an avatar is probably not a he) made.

I'm not sure how a charger could possible cause B to happen. All a charger is is a 5V source with some current supply capability that has probably either shorted together or put some pull resistors on the data pins. The phone takes that 5V, converts it to 4.2V and manages the charging based on the voltage at the battery and the temperature. Unless the charger is broken or non compliant the charger can't draw current and the phone won't just randomly go into some state where it draws a ton of current for no reason because of the charger.

My understanding is that some Samsung phones apparently check to see if the shield on the USB cable is attached to signal ground and will make a determination of how fast to charge based on that, but that's a current draw issue and has nothing to do with the voltage and won't cause the phone to draw extra current.

So, how exactly am I wrong and what is it that Kayla Smith3 that was correct?

 

[dimm0k]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

garublador: perhaps you can shed some light on the micro USB cables... are they all the same? wondering if plugging into a USB3 port would make it charge any faster over USB2...

 

[garublador]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

garublador: perhaps you can shed some light on the micro USB cables... are they all the same? wondering if plugging into a USB3 port would make it charge any faster over USB2...

First, my understanding is that USB 3.0 ports are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices. I don't think the connectors look the same, but the old cables will work in the new connectors.

As for how much current you'll get, you'll have to try it to be sure. My guess is that it would enumerate as a USB 2.0 device and only draw 500 mA. The way it normally works is the host has some sort of current limiting switch that supplies current to the port. It's up to the device to draw the correct amount of current. USB devices are only supposed to draw 100 mA of current until they negotiate with the host for more current (i.e. they make sure the host can safely supply more). If the device doesn't do that and the host can supply more nothing bad happens. The device just gets the extra current and is lucky it didn't damage a port that can't supply that much. FWIW, I'm not sure how many of those ports are still in existence and still working.

So the USB 3.0 port would be able to supply 1.5 A, but the phone would think it's connected to a port that can only guarantee 500 mA so that's all it would draw. In my testing I've found that PC USB ports can almost always supply a fair amount more than 500 mA (sometimes up to an amp before it drops too far below 4.75V), but the device isn't allowed to draw more than 500 mA and still be a "USB" device.

If you're interested, here's an article with some more information about USB power supplies.

Designing USB Devices for proper current and MaxPower - DP

 

[Busse]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Like said above. You can use the 3.0 port with the USB 2.0 cable but it won't charge any differently. The phones are not yet equipped with USB 3.0 connectors to take full advantage of the power. I believe the note 3 is the first phone to test out a micro USB 3.0 port/cable which from my experience is beyond incredible. But for the rest of, we'll just need to deal with 2.0 for now.

All in all the answers still the same. Using a regular micro USB charger will charge and as long as you're buying genuine parts there's an incredibly (seriously not likely) chance of overheating or damaging you device. My advice is, buy an expensive charger see if it works for you. If you cannot deal with the slower speeds then buy an OEM Samsung charger again.

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[Dale Asbuury]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

No. Im a store manager for Verizon. Samsung is very sensative phones. Dont use a universal chargers. It will give you the wrong voltage to the phone and cause it to over heat.

In what country are you a Verizon store manager?

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[Dale Asbuury]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

You said I'm incorrect, but then gave zero evidence that a charger that uses a USB cable to charge will give out a dangerous voltage and could cause the phone to overheat. What I said is a fact.

Here's a link to the USB 2.0 specification:

USB.org - USB 2.0 Documents

Check out section 7.2.2 of the "usb_20.pdf" file.



If a charger is outside that range it can not legally display the USB symbol. So how can I be wrong that a legal device with the USB symbol (which the Samsung chargers are) have a voltage outside that range like Kayla Smith3 said? If the Samsung chargers comply with this then the phones can't require a voltage outside that range, so any charger with the USB symbol will either supply a valid voltage or be subject to litigation from the USB-IF for using their symbol but not complying with their requirements.

Your phone charging too slow has nothing to do with the voltage the charger puts out. Chargers can have too low of a current capability (like a PC) or not have the correct scheme on the data pins (e.g. they left the data pins floating) to indicate that it's a charger and give too little current, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the claim that Kayla Smith3 (who, based on the name an avatar is probably not a he) made.

I'm not sure how a charger could possible cause B to happen. All a charger is is a 5V source with some current supply capability that has probably either shorted together or put some pull resistors on the data pins. The phone takes that 5V, converts it to 4.2V and manages the charging based on the voltage at the battery and the temperature. Unless the charger is broken or non compliant the charger can't draw current and the phone won't just randomly go into some state where it draws a ton of current for no reason because of the charger.

My understanding is that some Samsung phones apparently check to see if the shield on the USB cable is attached to signal ground and will make a determination of how fast to charge based on that, but that's a current draw issue and has nothing to do with the voltage and won't cause the phone to draw extra current.

So, how exactly am I wrong and what is it that Kayla Smith3 that was correct?

The key is that these phone chargers are not really chargers at all. They are simply a source of power. The device contains the charger, so it will not destroy itself. Kayla is silly. She also has a very poor command of English.

 

[garublador]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Kayla is silly.

To be fair, she probably doesn't have a lot, if any, actual electronics experience and has no other choice but to rely on what she hears from Verizon, Samsung, and other co-workers who also have no electronics experience. I worked in the audio department at Best Buy while I was in school for electrical engineering and I heard a lot of stuff from mangers, co-workers and the corporate office that was just flat out wrong. The unfortunate thing is that few, if any, of the employees are equipped to evaluate the information given (they're hired to sell stuff and manage employees, not because they have a background in electronics), so they have no reason to doubt anything they're told.

 

[RainmanP]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

Collectively, my wife and I own or have owned at least 30 devices that charge from USB, including 4 iPhones, 2 iPads, 4 Android phones, 4 Android tablets and a slew of external battery packs, portable speakers, etc. I have a dozen or more universal USB wall chargers, several with 4 or more ports. I cannot count how many generic iPhone/iPad USB cables and the newer lightning connector cables, micro USB cables, mini USB cables etc. With a couple of exceptions all of the devices will charge from any port I have tried. Even if it is a lower output port than required, it will still charge even though the device does not indicate charging or even says Not Charging. If you leave it plugged in you will see the charge increase over time. An iPad will charge from a standard 500ma computer port overnight. Occasionally iPads can be picky and dislike a particular port. Another exception was a Dell Venue 8 Pro that I had for a few days before returning it. One of several reasons for the return was that it was extremely picky about the USB port. I travel frequently and have a chargers and cables I leave in my travel bag. I cannot be bothered with double-checking that I have just the right charger for a picky device. Don't get me wrong. The V8P is a great tablet, but it had a few quirks that I could not tolerate.

 

[Pankaj Kumar20]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

hi i m using galaxy s4's charger(gti9500) in htc mobile .
will it do any harm to the pin of the charger.??
beacuse after that i have to use that in s4 again .

 

[rich8062040]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

That's false. Any charger that has the USB symbol on it has to put out 4.75V to 5.25V or they are subject to litigation for incorrectly using the USB symbol. I've never run across a USB charger that doesn't follow the USB standard. FWIW, I'm an electrical engineer who designs mobile computing devices.

I would have to defend the store manager on this one I bought a wall charger from a dollar store and burned out four gs4's checked the voltages with a volt meter and was pushing 9.89 Volts it doesn't matter if you design mobile devices or not doesn't make you a Quality Control professional for USB chargers. these cheap knock off chargers and car chargers aren't passed through quality control a lot of the time I work for Siemens Quality Control supervisor for 18 years.

 

[rich8062040]

Re: Is it safe to charge using a different charger?

yes if the charger displays the symbol but in fact many cheap knock offs do not display the symbol and ppl don't know this or in a hurry and buy the charger like I did and burnt 4 gs4's out thinking they were defects but in fact the charger was putting out close to 10 volts I measured the voltage output with a volt meter I'm a quality control supervisor for Siemens I'm not going to lie we get some power adapters that test upwards to 14 volts and up to 3.4 amps but those are not supposed to be released until they pass a series of tests. why do you think those knock offs are so cheap they don't go through rigorous inspection like our company and Samsung does.