Charging in Car doesn't provide enough juice?

funkpod

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hey, i got a question.

I went to lancaster today, w/ a 90% charge on my phone.

(says Battery Left)

I ran GPS to get there, and bluetooth, just in case someone called.

I had it plugged into a Verizon Car Charger the entire time.

I got to Lancaster, and it seemed like it was done charging. It said 100% (i think).

HOWEVER, when i unplugged it, it DROPPED down to 65%.

Have any of you had this problem?

On the way back, I did everything the same, EXCEPT w/ no bluetooth.

I started off w/ like, 90ish%, said it was full when I arrived home, and when I unplugged, it said like, 92%.
That's okay by me. If I'm running gps and plugged into the car, i'd at LEAST like to even out my charge, ideally, I would gain battery power, even if it's slowly. I am using the phone a lot.

But losing charge? Even when plugged in? I don't think that's good.

1. Have any of you had this experience?
2. What is the problem here? limitation in DC power? Limitation in USB charging? limitations in the charger?
3. Would I experience the same thing if i plugged in my Wall charger, the AC charger, into a DC to AC converter and put that into the car?

Thanks for the help, guys.
 

jkhonea

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I've noticed the same thing since going to Froyo. Used GPS and where it used to charge in the car, even with the GPS going, now it barely breaks even. When they slowed the charging system down with Froyo, they seem to have opened the door for this problem.
 

drtnsnw

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what seems to be the issue is that HTC in all its wisdom decided to turn the power off of the charger once the phone hits full. The phone then runs off of the battery until the power has been disconnected and reconnected. So once you hit 100% it runs off the battery. thats why the phone drops so fast after it is unplugged.

HTC is determined to destroy this phone!!!

Chris
 

slipperybrain

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I am not sure if I am having a similar problem, but I have noticed when I have my phone plugged in the car charger, the phone is reading it as it is plugged into the computer and it wont allow me to play any music. Anyone else having this problem? I dont know if it is because it is too much or too little power.
 

FunN4Lo

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GPS + car charging = heat. That shuts down charging until the temp drops and that often does not happen until GPS or charging is stopped for a period of time. A well documented condition across many threads. If you have any positive charge gain after more than a few hours using GPS you are doing well
 
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funkpod

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hmm.... so you're saying the problem is software, not hardware? doh. i was hoping to be able to just throw money at it and have the problem solved. now i have to wait for an update...

so, based off of what you said... is the Bump charging fixed? do you still have to bump charge your phones to receive a full charge? if i just charge my phone w/ it on, are you saying that if i get a full charge at 4am, then, from 4am to 6am it will be runnign on battery power?

will the problem be fixed if i am in the car, it reaches "full", then unplug my charger and replug it again?
 

wkearney99

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I've seen similar trouble with a Droid2.

It would appear the OS treats a car charger like a USB port, not an AC adapter. Don't know how it does this, or whether it's correct to do so. But on a Droid2 there's a little white LED next to the microUSB port that only comes on when plugged into an AC adapter. No 12v adapters I've tried have lit this light. Consequently the phone does not charge itself anywhere near as quickly as with a wall charger.
 

techguru

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Most 12v USB adapters are 500 mw or less. This is just barely enough to charge a D1, Incredible, or DX when turned on, let alone using GPS and playing music. I just picked up a Scoche 1amp charger at Target this weekend, and for the first time I can charge at the same time as actually using the device. Note: You may still get teh overheating problem mentioned by FunN4Lo mentioned above. Difficult to do anything about that in the summer. I have seen people drill air holes in their mounts and try to mount the device in front of the air conditioner vent, but not sure of the success of these strategies.

Alan
 

Derekweb

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I have D1 stock, mounted with proclip on airvent. While running GPS, Trapster and pandora, it still chrges up to full. Sounds like the heat theory is plausable, but since I have a vent mount it stays cool.
 

wkearney99

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Most 12v USB adapters are 500 mw or less.

Yes, that's true for some adapters. But not the ones I've tried. Both are 1A and 1.5A respectively. They've got a USB port on them. I'm using a USB to micro USB cable.

I'm wondering if there's a pinout difference between a micro USB cable and a wall adapter? I've run into trouble with blackberry phones refusing to use certain cables for charging. I'm wondering if that's the same situation with the D2. Could be, but I'd like to know more facts about it.
 
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wkearney99

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I have D1 stock, mounted with proclip on airvent. While running GPS, Trapster and pandora, it still chrges up to full. Sounds like the heat theory is plausable, but since I have a vent mount it stays cool.
Can't say whether it was a heat issue or not. The phone did get warm but it wasn't in direct sunlight. It was on the console and the interior AC was cranked.

I'm leaning toward using a proclip bracket, one that straddles the AC vent. But I wonder whether the rushing air from the vent might cause problems with the mic pickup. I could, of course, close the vent.
 

Derekweb

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yeah, that is the drawback to the vent mount. Voice search is amazingly accurate with air flow off and always wrong when it is on. Speaker phone calls are better with air flow off also. Otherwise, proclip vent mount is great, but expensive.
 

chartle

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I had same issue pre 2.2 and I'm 100% sure it was heat related.

I had my Dinc in a mount that completely covered the back of the unit. Also it was on my windshield in full sun light. On a 7 hour trip it lost charge with just GPS on and maybe Pandora.

When I wasn't driving I had it my hand and I did notice that it was very hot and the battery monitor told me the bat temp was over 42c. I actually held it up to the vent to cool it off because it was hard to hold..

Since then I have modified my mount to get better airflow but haven't had any chance to really try it out.
 

Taegost

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I had same issue pre 2.2 and I'm 100% sure it was heat related.

I had my Dinc in a mount that completely covered the back of the unit. Also it was on my windshield in full sun light. On a 7 hour trip it lost charge with just GPS on and maybe Pandora.

When I wasn't driving I had it my hand and I did notice that it was very hot and the battery monitor told me the bat temp was over 42c. I actually held it up to the vent to cool it off because it was hard to hold..

Since then I have modified my mount to get better airflow but haven't had any chance to really try it out.

You never want to leave the phone in sunlight, especially as you describe it.
I too have this issue with my Droid if I leave it overclocked to 1.2GHz. To combat the issue, I have SetCPU to lower the click speed to stock 550MHz when plugged in and it charges properly now, as long as I keep it out of sunlight so it doesn't heat up.
Also, if your battery temp reaches 140f it will damage your battery.

My Droid Does Tapatalk...
 
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