Charger question....

[jayman350]

The current rating of a charger is what it's capable of supplying, not what it will supply all the time. The phone has a current limiter (bionic's is at 850 mA). So even someone using a 2.1A USB port in their car will only draw .85A into the phone. USB ports on computers, for some perspective, are only capable of supplying 500mA of current, which is why your phone charges faster from a wall or car charger than it does from your computer.

I know it shouldn't matter b/c of the current limiter, but I have seen a huge difference in charging times when using the 2.1A slot compared to the 1.0A and lower options. I had previously been using this 950 mA Moto charger and would arrive to my destination with either the same, or a lower charge than when I set out. Meaning that the charger could only keep up w/ the usage of the phone, but never overcome it. I tested this with the same battery, at approximately the same battery levels, running Navigation and PowerAmp for my commute home for a week. Then I did another week's worth of commuting testing using the 2.1A adapter, same parameters. I can easily go from 60-70% to 90%-full in my 20-30 minute commute home. This isn't just a placebo effect, or assuming that more is better. I knew that it shouldn't matter, but it did. Take that for what its worth, my Bionic is also one of the ones that can use pretty much any micro USB cable on the planet for charging and data transfers.

 

[TatDroid]

CAN you use another charger? Sure. SHOULD you use one with a different output? Probably not. Moto specifies an output of 5.1 volts and 850mA for a reason. I stick with that - whether it's a Moto brand charger or not.

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[hAHAha Halo]

Peculiar.. I actually went into Verizon when my charger broke for my Envy 2(?) and they just grabbed a charger from the back (I can guarantee it was not taken from another phone) but they gave me a Samsung charger. It still fit, but a lot of people say that you shouldn't charge your phone across different manufacturers. I can't remember because of how long ago it was so I don't know it was before or after I bought the charger, but I had to buy another battery as well because the battery life was less than 3 hours.

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[b00mb00mchuck]

Wow... just wow... tons of bad advice here... we're all on the same internet... google some stuff about barreries and battery life... and as far as the charger goes... it's your call but if that LG charger is under powered and overheats the battery it will lead to shorter life or possibly alot worse... you want a charger with at least 850mA and good solid circuitry on your expensive little toy

 

[LoudRam]

I'm with FoxKat on this. A good charger is more than volts and amps. It's also about the quality of the voltage and how clean it is. If you were to hook an o-scope up to these cheaper chargers and compare them to the factory chargers you'll see what we're talking about. I use my HTC charger whenever I can but I do have a off brand charger I use at work but it's a quality one. The bottom line is it's your phone, use whatever charger you want but know the risks and make an informed choice.

Sent from my Droid Incredible 2.

 

[b00mb00mchuck]

+1 on clean power... those dirty chargers have even been traced back to capacative touch problems and random reboots all day long... stick to the good stuff

 

[BroidDrionic]

I know it shouldn't matter b/c of the current limiter, but I have seen a huge difference in charging times when using the 2.1A slot compared to the 1.0A and lower options. I had previously been using this 950 mA Moto charger and would arrive to my destination with either the same, or a lower charge than when I set out. Meaning that the charger could only keep up w/ the usage of the phone, but never overcome it. I tested this with the same battery, at approximately the same battery levels, running Navigation and PowerAmp for my commute home for a week. Then I did another week's worth of commuting testing using the 2.1A adapter, same parameters. I can easily go from 60-70% to 90%-full in my 20-30 minute commute home. This isn't just a placebo effect, or assuming that more is better. I knew that it shouldn't matter, but it did. Take that for what its worth, my Bionic is also one of the ones that can use pretty much any micro USB cable on the planet for charging and data transfers.

I've got an ammeter and a USB dongle that exposes usb power lines. I've also got a 2.1 A car charger, the car charger that comes with the moto dock, and a 500mA ipod charger (and computer USB ports, too). I'll do some testing on how much current the bionic draws over each and post back here! Not that I dont believe that your 2.1 doesn't charge faster than your 950, but I'm so dang curious now about all the others!
Next is to get my hands on an oscope or spectrum analyzer and test this noisy power claim...

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[ultra09hd]

:beer:

 

[LoudRam]

I've got an ammeter and a USB dongle that exposes usb power lines. I've also got a 2.1 A car charger, the car charger that comes with the moto dock, and a 500mA ipod charger (and computer USB ports, too). I'll do some testing on how much current the bionic draws over each and post back here! Not that I dont believe that your 2.1 doesn't charge faster than your 950, but I'm so dang curious now about all the others!
Next is to get my hands on an oscope or spectrum analyzer and test this noisy power claim...

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If I remember and I get a chance I'll bring my HTC charger in this week and hook it up to our o-scope and compare it with a cheap charger I have laying around.

Sent from my Droid Incredible 2.

 

[quizzard]

The current rating of a charger is what it's capable of supplying, not what it will supply all the time. The phone has a current limiter (bionic's is at 850 mA). So even someone using a 2.1A USB port in their car will only draw .85A into the phone. USB ports on computers, for some perspective, are only capable of supplying 500mA of current, which is why your phone charges faster from a wall or car charger than it does from your computer.

Not completely correct on the phone aspect. The phone has a current limiter, but it is not set at 850, it's 1500. However, below 5% or at high battery temperatures, the phone will limit the current to 500 or less. I am an electrical engineer and I use a bench top power supply that measures output voltage/current and displays it.My wife's D4 will accept 5.15v and 1680ma when off, but only 1500mah when turned on. Recently it has been buggy and getting stuck at 35% due to a new OTA.Our phones can and do charge faster with a 2.1A charger.

 

[FoxKat]

+1 on clean power... those dirty chargers have even been traced back to capacative touch problems and random reboots all day long... stick to the good stuff

+1

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[quizzard]

No need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[FoxKat]

I'm with FoxKat on this. A good charger is more than volts and amps. It's also about the quality of the voltage and how clean it is. If you were to hook an o-scope up to these cheaper chargers and compare them to the factory chargers you'll see what we're talking about. I use my HTC charger whenever I can but I do have a off brand charger I use at work but it's a quality one. The bottom line is it's your phone, use whatever charger you want but know the risks and make an informed choice.

Sent from my Droid Incredible 2.

You are right, 100%. Also you don't even need an oscilloscope to prove the quality of voltage and current..you just need to open the case and see what's inside. I've opened one of these cheap wall blocks and what I found was a tiny board with a total of 6 components. By comparison, a well regulated and filtered supply will have several more components and may actually include an IC voltage regulator in the circuit.

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