Battery Charging and GPS issue

[bose301s]

I was using my Droid for GPS yesterday and noticed about 2 hours into my drive that the battery icon was showing that the phone was charging which was odd to me since the phone was plugged in the whole time that GPS was running. I ignored it however thinking that it was just a fluke, however when I got to my destination after 3 hours of using the GPS while plugged in my battery was at 50% only. I am running JRummy .7 with Chevy's LV 1GHz kernel with SetCPU set to have the phone run between 550 and 1000 while charging, so it can run at stock speed, I have it set to sleep at 250 and have the failsafe set to have the phone clock down to a max speed of 550 when the battery exceeds 45 degrees. I have no clue why this happened and if anyone does I would appreciate some help as it would be annoying to have the phone die on a trip.

[dakster]

I have this problem with my 12volt adapter, it only puts out like 500mah, which isn't enough to both charge the battery and run the GPS/nav software. The phone is burning more power than the car adapter can put out.

The battery goes down much slower though

I should get a better car adapter, but I don't use it all that often. Maybe you're seeing the same thing. I would think a 1amp adapter would do the trick, since the motorola 120v adapter puts out 850mah at 5v.

[adiron2hike]

I have had the same problem. Over the weekend, I used the GPS on the Droid for a 4 1/2 hour trip. I was using the car dock and adaptor that Verizon sells. When I go home the battery was showing 15% left. The battery seems to get very warm, too, like up around 120 degrees. This was at night so it was not a sun issue.

[bose301s]

Sounds like VZW is selling an underpowered charger. I may look for motr powerful chargers or an official Motorola car charger, or get another home charger along with a cheap inverter.

[adiron2hike]

Please let us know what you find in the way of a better car adaptor.

[bose301s]

This is what I am coming up with, it is the Moto charger.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehic.../dp/B000Y8IH2Q

[adiron2hike]

Hmmm, the Amazon link also had a link to this one: Amazon.com: OEM Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip (SPN5400) for…
Wonder how it compares.

[lexaevum]

I get this same issue with when running navigation while on the car charger for long periods of time.
My new car (scion XB) has a USB port built in though which does not see this issue.
So I'm chalking it up to underpowered car charger.

[adiron2hike]

OK, thought I would reopen this thread. I bought the following car charge to see if it would help. Amazon.com: OEM Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip (SPN5400) for… I used the GPS in the car for about an hour and a half yesterday. By the time I got home the temperature was up to 120 degrees and the battery was down to 60%. It would appear that it is not an issue with the charger.