LG 5.1v 0.7mA, Moto 5.1v 0.850mA and HTC 5v 1.0A

[Larry_ThaGr81]

I inadvertently used the LG charger unaware that the specs listed in the title field didn't match. So my question is does .1v more make a difference and actually harm the phone or is it too small of a difference? Also does .3mA less being supplied to the phone harm the phone?

From what I've read for other phones, being within 10% on the voltage and under amping the phone won't cause any damage, unless the under amperage is too big of a gap. Can anyone with knowledge and/or personal experience confirm.
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[jseah]

Not an electrical engineer, but it was my understanding that under amperage wouldn't necessarily damage the battery, but rather it would just result in taking longer to recharge?

 

[mark3748]

It's fine, you're well within the specs of the USB standard, which the phone is designed around.

Less amperage is just going to take longer to charge.

 

[WillFCDroid]

The 10% you speak of is the common +/- range that is acceptable in most electronics. It simply allows for small variations (fault tolerance) in components since quality and accuracy will vary, even within "identical" parts. Voltage is important, but the amperage rating is what can really damage your device.

So having a 5.1V or 5V charger you fall well within the 10% range. With 5V being ideal, 4.5V to 5.5V chargers still fall in the 10% range, but I like staying much closer to ideal with my electronics whenever possible, say +/- 5% which would equate to 4.75V to 5.25V to be safe. In my experience, under-volting can cause more problems than over-volting.

With amperage ratings I would be a little more cautious. Having a charger with a lower amp rating (current) will cause your phone to take longer to charge. I doubt that it would harm your phone, but if the phone is rated at 1amp and your charger can only supply 0.7amp of current, then you could have a situation where the phone is overtaxing the charger. This could cause the charger to heat up more than normal or shorten its lifespan. Worst case scenario, you short a diode, DC becomes AC, and your phone is toast.... or the charger catches fire. Unlikely with such low power devices, but some things are better left untested. An example would be when you overload a wall outlet and the breaker trips. Were there no breaker, the wires would overheat, and if the draw was great enough, melt or catch fire. Better to be safe.

On the other hand, having a charger with too high a rating could fry your phone. I read somewhere on the forums a few days ago someone saying that it's ok...your phone will use what it needs. That is not very smart. Staying in the 10% range should be fine, but higher than that and your phone will not be equipped to handle the additional current. It was never intended to do so and will not have the circuitry needed for current reduction. You may get away with it a few times, but one day you will wonder what that funny smell is.

You must consider that if you are following the 10% rule, both the LG and Moto chargers fall outside of 10%. At a 1.0A rating, anything outside of 0.9A - 1.1A should not be used.

Sorry about the length of this post. I thought it better to explain things for a better understanding, rather than just giving you, "Nope, don't do that." I hope this helps.

 

[mark3748]

I dont wanna just say you're wrong, but... You're wrong.

Using that advice, you should never plug your phone into a computer. The voltage on a pc usb port is in a range from 4.65 to 5.5 v and the current limit is 500mA on usb 2.0.



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[WillFCDroid]

I dont wanna just say you're wrong, but... You're wrong.

Using that advice, you should never plug your phone into a computer. The voltage on a pc usb port is in a range from 4.65 to 5.5 v and the current limit is 500mA on usb 2.0.



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I doubt that the usb standard of 500mA was ever intended to charge such demanding devices. Sure you can do it and the phone will charge, although slowly. There is a lot of voltage regulation built into a computer motherboard, so most computers will not complain because of the higher demand. My wife had an older computer she used for work. It would not boot at all with the Droid1 plugged into the usb port. Other usb devices were not a problem. Once running, she could plug her Droid up and everything would be fine. It took about three months of using her computer to charge her Droid before the problem cropped up. On my pc, I've been doing it for years and never had that problem.

It is unlikely that the phone would draw the full amp of current when connected to the pc for transferring files or charging. That is the max draw that the phone is capable of. I'm sure the phone can also detect a data capable connection, as opposed to only power, and adjust for it. This was not what my post was about. It was about using non-stock chargers. In electronics there are a lot of things you can get away with, but only for so long.

 

[mark3748]

the phone isn't as sensitive as youre making it out to be. There is little current limitation in car chargers for instance. All they actually limit is the voltage.

The only time you'll draw more current than the device can handle is if there is a short in the device.


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[hemorrdroid]

A device does draw amperage, it will not draw more than needed.
Take for example a small amplifier in a car, that needs 100w of power, you have it wired into the cars electrical system which has a 700A battery and an alternator pushing 75A.

Well @100w the amplifier is needing roughly 7A assuming the car is running and has ~14v. So the cars electrical system has >700A available for everything. The amplifier will still never pull more than the ~7 that it needs.

Same with houses, I have a 200A breaker box, and 20A breakers going to each set of recepticles/lights. If i plug something in to my recepticle, it does not get 20A forced to it, it pulls what it needs.

My D1 had a 550ma charger, it works fine with my 1A charger from my TB.


It is voltage that is the killer. Plug a phone in to a 10v charger and you would see smoke instantly.

So to summarize:
It is okay to go over on amperage. That is neither smart nor dumb, it simply is truth. I personally would have no hesitation hooking my phone up to a charger capable of 2A @5v.

Too high of voltage will fry an electronic, would 5.1v, probably not, but i would stick with the 5v chargers.

 

[mark3748]

^ this. Although the voltage tolerance has to be up to about 5.5 v or so, since it's a usb device.

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[WillFCDroid]

I'm not trying to give anyone the wrong information. There is a reason why I stated that I would be more cautious about amperage rating than the voltage rating. All USB chargers will supply approximately 5V (within the USB spec), but they can vary greatly in amperage output. I was not talking about all electronics, such as audio amplifiers or appliances. I was addressing the OP's question about phone chargers.

Car chargers tend to charge phones faster than wall chargers and create a lot of heat. This can shorten the life of the battery and cheap chargers can even damage battery cells. I think the same holds true of a 2A charger on a 1A phone. I'm not saying that battery performance will suffer overnight... it may take months of using a car charger or 2A charger before one would notice the difference. I have used a car charger in a pinch, but I would not make this a normal daily routine.

 

[TreyDaPrince]

I have heard of BB chargers frying older Android devices. Whether that was really the culprit, can't say for sure, but it has been reported on other forums.

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[androidgeek]

I realized today that these chargers I have are different. Luckily I saved my evo charger and now have 2 HTC chargers. Going to see if the HTC chargers work better for the d2g. When I charged my bolt I used the LG I have and it did seem to take longer. I seriously doubt it will "hurt" the device or battery just won't charge as well. Charging using a PC's USB is somewhere around 500 mah I think I read somewhere? I did the bump charge today and used the HTC charger to be on the safe side. I was using the other chargers because the cords are longer.

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[Larry_ThaGr81]

Thank you to everyone thus far who has replied. To those who reply after this posting, I will be checking back periodically just to see what others have experienced.

 

[rjcapp]

what is the voltage specs on the battery ?
not certain but I would think the phone has a separate battery charging circuit .
I would think the charging circuit will regulate voltage to what the battery is supposed to be charged at .
with all that this phone can do I would hope they can make a battery charging circuit that can handle small differences in the input voltage ...


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[Larry_ThaGr81]

what is the voltage specs on the battery ?
not certain but I would think the phone has a separate battery charging circuit .
I would think the charging circuit will regulate voltage to what the battery is supposed to be charged at .
with all that this phone can do I would hope they can make a battery charging circuit that can handle small differences in the input voltage ...


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3.7 volt battery