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

[rich8062040]

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

This article has missed something very important: while most cell phones charge just fine with any 500ma USB port, that does not hold true for tablets. tablets won't work with generic USB chargers.

The tl;dr explanation: use a branded charger with your tablet. iPads should use Apple branded (or logo'd) chargers with at least 1000ma output. Samsung tablets will only charge from Samsung chargers. With others, it's kind of random.

The long version:

The good news is that your mobile phone will usually work just fine when plugged in to any USB charger: 500ma will charge a typical cell phone battery in around 2-4 hours. The bad news is that tablets actually draw more than 500ma when they're running, so tablets charge very, very slowly on a generic charger, if they charge at all. The iPad's battery? It would take at least 12 hours to charge off a 500ma power source.

The problem is that there's no way of actually knowing how much current an electrical circuit can safely provide. So manufacturers have settled on the practice of putting a small voltage on the center 2 pins of the USB cable. The device senses this voltage and uses that to tell its internal charging circuitry how much current to draw from the USB jack.

The problem with that approach is that the standard isn't universally followed. Apple and Samsung both use different voltages to tell their devices that they're plugged in to a 2000ma charger.

My iPad will only reliably charge from a 2000ma power adapter that says "iPad" on the packaging. My Samsung tablet would only charge from a Samsung charger. Plug it in to a PC, an iPad charger, or my Motorola adapter, and it says "Not Charging" next to the battery.

My Nexus 7? Same deal: it charged reliably from Asus chargers (Asus makes the N7), but not from others. I finally found a $10 usb power adapter that worked in the car, but that was after trying and returning half a dozen others.

So the short version of all this: if you buy a tablet, buy a spare charger (or two) from the same company. It's the only reliable way to keep your tablet juiced up when and where you need it.

 

[garublador]

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

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.

So you're saying the company isn't subject to litigation by both selling chargers with the USB symbol that are outside of the spec and by selling chargers that supply a voltage that's different from what's advertised?

<moderator edit>

 

[XCORPIO1021]

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

I have to agree with you but in the contrary. By that, I mean that cheap chargers, e.g. car, a/c some sometimes just are not able to supply the power the device is pulling and they fry. Has happened to me a couple times. But I've never burned a phone. True they DO get hot but that's only when I put a load on them, like watching a movie when charging-that's even when using the OEM Charger and Cable. On what Mr. Blader says about USB chargers have to conform to.... well that's true but errors DO happen and it's just not 100% correct to say all USB chargers generate 4.75V to 5.25V. I understand those numbers do give manufacturers the little + or - and should strive to be within those limits. But cheaply made chargers are not going to have the R&D that OEMs have. Right? Sorry If I make this post kind of long but just wanted to point out some things that I have come to learn from using different stuff... (cables, chargers, batteries, etc.) The most reliable way to go is with OEM if you can. Period. Believe it or not charging cables are one of the culprits sometimes your phone takes longer to charge. It's length might be a reason. The materials it's made of and the diameter of it. I've have a lot of cables that most of the time become loose at the end of the connection. Another thing to point out is the shortening of the data wires that have been shorten in order for your devise to 'know' if it has been hooked to a USB port on a computer. From what I've read, that's a fail safety that tells your device that it has been hooked to a computer and to not draw more power than what is the nominal ~.5A in order not to mess up your computer. So my reasoning for a lot of the messages that were popping up on your phones (and mine too) about using the original cable and charger that were supply with your phone (or the fact that your phone is not charging fast), is because you are using an 'old cable' without that modification. Now for the transformers or chargers. There are many out there. So it's just a matter of which one you have. They charge @ different rates. Now sometimes your phone won't charge fast enough simply because the battery is really hot. Or you might have an after market battery which is not up there with the quality of the OEM one. Just my opinion. I remember I bought some after market batteries for my S3 when I had that phone. They worked for a while. They never gave me any trouble charging them but they would lose 10% of charge if left unused every day. So yeah there it is. I know this doesn't fit into this conversation but.... when people say their phones caught fire while charging (and not just phones but laptops) first thing that comes to mind is.... your battery went bad-or was bad since the beginning, your 'brick'-good old day transformers, now they are tiny, and last your motherboard. By the way, I'm not an engineer or an electrician. Just stuff that I've picked up along. If you have a theory or wanna comment, I'm more than happy to read your post and learn from it. Thanks. Late 4 Now.

 

[XCORPIO1021]

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

So you're saying the company isn't subject to litigation by both selling chargers with the USB symbol that are outside of the spec and by selling chargers that supply a voltage that's different from what's advertised?

I don't think he was saying that companies are not subject but rather that.... there are companies out there that want to make 5 bucks per charger, don't care if the phone that's going to be charge with it burns.... who's going to suspect the culprit was the charger??? not a lot of people. WHY??? well because.... for starters, in the back of the packed charger, there's a weird company name that no one has heard of. Second because samsung will more than likely just give you a new phone if you are under warranty (how does sammy or any other OEM know what made your phone melt.) SO you see.... it's much easier to go through sammy or whatever company your phone is from. Just common sense and my opinion.

 

[Ry]

Please keep the discussion civil and on-topic.

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[accatx]

As an engineer and multiple-device user I am inclined to agree with Rich. I have a Galaxy S4 and an S3, and they both have different temperaments. The 2100mA charger that came with the S4 is different from the 1900mA charger that came with the S3, and NOTHING will charge the S4 as fast as the original Samgung-branded charger. The S4 will only draw its full 2.1A from the white Samsung S4 charger, and anything else, including 2.1A car chargers, iPad chargers, and generic piggies, will only charge at 1.2A.

It's bloody frustrating but really it sounds like in this instance Samsung really have managed to pair up the device to the charger to such an extent that it's the only combo that works properly.

As a side note I can also confirm that MANY cheaper micro USB cables will not allow the S4 to draw its full 2.1A either. Like someone said, better to just buy a couple of extra genuine cables and chargers rather than be stingy

 

[isaiah buckner]

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

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.

 

[isaiah buckner]

I have question can u use a s 4 charger on a nexus 7 because I lost the original charger somewhere in my house

 

[Jacob Suggs]

So to sum up, any charger will work for small devices (unless it is defective), most will work with larger devices like tablets, though they may be incredibly slow, and matching brand chargers may charge (especially large) devices fastest - correct? And obviously dollar store chargers have a higher chance to be defective than name brands.

Any corrections?

 

[skiddingus]

Here is my experience with aftermarket chargers. (I'm an electrical engineer BTW) I've had a GS3, a GS4, and now a GS5. The 3 and 4 would charge with any USB charger. Only the charging rate would change. I did some experiments with an old cable and found that the thin wiring in the cable was the culprit of the slow charging. When you get a phone (or tablet) with a 2 amp capable charger, it will be supplied with a cable capable of carrying that much power without a large voltage drop. If you have a lightweight USB cable, the voltage drop in the cable itself will drop below the 4 volts needed at the phone for proper charging.
I have a couple of built-in wall outlet 3amp capable USB chargers. They charged the S3, S4 and older tablets just fine. Now I have an S5 and just got a Samsung 10.1 pro tablet. Both refuse to charge from the universal 3 amp chargers. They will charge from only the original Samsung chargers or from my laptop. Samsung has changed something in thier charging circuits recently. I think if they detect a non-samsung charger they just refuse to charge completely instead of just defaulting to a slower rate. Does anyone know if this is fact or a way I can mod my wall charger to work on the new Sammy devices? I don't mind slow charging.

 

[Daniel Silva2]

Here's what I know. I'm no store manager or electricial engineer. Just an electronics hobbiest/nerd:

As some have pointed out, it has nothing to do with voltage as all usb (up to 3.0) should supply +5v on its voltage pin according to spec. It has to do with current. How much current will the charger supply and how much will the device utilize. If a device ever draws more current than a charger (or PC usb port) can handle then you are likely to damage the charger/port (probably not the device). USB standards are set so it must be able to supply 500mA of current*for usb 2.0 and 900mA for 3.0 (if utilizing the added pins). Let's talk 2.0 (since its still the most common).

Most powerful phones/tablets require more current than 500mA to charge decently (some up to 2A). And so they are packaged with chargers that are capable of supplying their needed current. Now they also need the device to "know" when it's allowed to draw the higher current so that it doesn't burn up people's usb ports on their PCs which are assumed to only be capable of 500mA. This is accomplished using the data pins on the usb cable to send a combination of voltages to the device, which depending on the combination tells the device how much current it's allowed to draw. Typically accomplished using resistor voltage deviders inside the charging device. There is no standard for these voltages so it varies by manufacturer. According to Wikipedia this is what apple uses:

When D+ = D− = 2.0*V, the device may pull up to 500*mA
When D+ = 2.0*V and D− = 2.8*V, the device may pull up to 1*A of current.
When D+ = 2.8*V and D− = 2.0*V, the device may pull up to 2*A of current.

I think (but don't quote me) that Samsung uses the same system.

With this in mind it should never damage the device technically by using another brands charger, but forcing your phone to charge slowly (on only 500mA) might not be good for it in the long term.

 

[William Azz]

Although I agree that any USB charger SHOULD work, my phone has smoked two non samsung chargers and my battery no longer holds a charge like it used to. Perhaps it was my battery that as the problem originally. I guess I will never know which caused which, but I do not dare charge my phone when I cannot keep any eye on it. One of the chargers was a generic from Wal-Mart and the other was an Energizer model PC-1WAC.

 

[allison bowman]

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

I don't think he was saying that companies are not subject but rather that.... there are companies out there that want to make 5 bucks per charger, don't care if the phone that's going to be charge with it burns.... who's going to suspect the culprit was the charger??? not a lot of people. WHY??? well because.... for starters, in the back of the packed charger, there's a weird company name that no one has heard of. Second because samsung will more than likely just give you a new phone if you are under warranty (how does sammy or any other OEM know what made your phone melt.) SO you see.... it's much easier to go through sammy or whatever company your phone is from. Just common sense and my opinion.

 

[allison bowman]

Hi..I have a galaxy s5 and am wondering if it is OK to use the LG-G2 charger, it is 5v, I have the original charger but BF bought new LGG2 and we accidently mixed up our chargers ..I will have mine back this friday..will this cause any damage to my new phone?

 

[tanya bolton]

The true answer is "MAYBE" since you have to see how many Milliamps the transformer supplies and how many milliamps the S4 requires. Just match up the milliamp output with your original charger and you will be fine. It is written in fine print on the transformer. The problems occur when you under supply or over supply amperage. The voltage that everyone keeps talking about is a universal 5v. That is always the same, so in conclusion match up the amperage supply and you will be fine. Ps.. always use a quality charger to avoid transformer meltdown which could cross wires going into your s4 and short circuit it out. Always remember to use a wall wart and that way turn off your charger when it is not charging to save electricity and longevity of the charger.
Heat is an enemy of electronics, also avoid hand and face sweat on the s4 to keep your saltiness from oozing into the unit via charging and headset ports.

 

[tanya bolton]

Hi Allison,
If the milliamp output is the same then you are good to go. In other words the amount of amperage that is put out by the transformer via the 5 volt usb cable should be the same and not under or over supply it.

 

[tanya bolton]

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

Dear Kayla,
I would just clear up that you meant amperage instead of voltage. All the usb transformers supply 5 volts. They are in a panic and do not understand that you really mean amperage differences are what should be avoiding when trying to match up usb chargers. Everyone needs to pick a quality charge that supplies the same amount of milliamps to charge their device.
Thanks!

 

[JAMES ROY]

Lots of good as well as useless info here. I am also an electrical engineer. Skid and silva posted very useful information. Kayla is probably passing on what she has been told to say so Verizon can keep charging $30 for $10 chargers. Of course, the safest and best way to charge your devices is with the original or identical charger that came with it. That being said however, the wall adapter does not "supply" current (amperage). Current is "drawn" by the device. You cannot "supply" too much current. Voltage is supplied and the current drawn is a function of the voltage and the internal circuitry of the device. Ipads are capable of charging very quickly at 2.4 amps and their wall adapters can supply that power (2.4 amps x 5 volts = 12watts) without damage. The ipad has to detect when it is safely connected to an adequate wall adapter. If it were to try to draw 2.4 amps through an 500ma rated adapter it would burn it up because it would overheat the lower rated components in the adapter. All brand devices including my S3 have some similar scheme. Most people with slow charging complaints are charging the device with a USB data cable and not the supplied wall adapter (which either shorts out the data pins or loads them so it knows it's just charging). This tells the device that it is connected to a USB data connection a limits the current to the 500ma available on USB ports. I personally charge my S3 and my wife's S4 with an Anker 2.4 amp rated charger using high quality "charging only" cables. Plenty of suitable chargers are available on Amazon or other websites.

 

[Frank Dold]

You might be fine using a htc charger. Do not use a universal charger. I used one on my s4 and it messed the phone up so bad I had to factory reset the phone. Word of caution on using non samsung charger. Even though it's micro usb, it may mess your phone up pretty bad.. Both battery life and the software. Mine lost the ability to make phone calls. The dialler disappeared completely from the phone.

 

[Loki_Laufeyson]

Thank you! I've read through this post, and gathered it's safe =] I use my s4 charger [which is loose, and wobbles around and disconnects a lot if I charge and play around on my phone at the same time, oof] but use my Blackberry charger elsewhere at house, which is slow to charge, but stays connected. Good to know my phone won't blow up. Cheers!