Recommendations for a Droid X car charger - LONG CORD

[mikeatdroidforums]

Hey all fellow X owners,

I'm going to be getting a windshield mount for my X and need a charger with a long cable to reach at least a couple feet without having the issues of a tense coiled line (why are they even designed that way?) pulling down on the phone while it's in the mount. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[baniels]

I have found that you can "train" those coiled cords to be more relaxed. You just have to yank on it for a while. If you could could stretch it out and tie down each end over night, I think it would be improved.

Isn't that a great solution?

 

[mikeatdroidforums]

may be the only way to approach this thing!

 

[drifter248]

I purchased a micro-USB cable and a USB vehicle power adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Had no trouble finding the micro-USB cable in lengths from 1ft up to 6ft.

 

[Jackseric]

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

I don't work for them or anything, I've just ordered cables from there for home and work both. They've been fantastic so far. Wicked cheap compared to most others I've seen. site is Monoprice.com.

 

[wprocter]

Nice site...good resource...cheap prices

They have 15ft straight cables.

 

[Rax]

FYI DC current is hard on batteries IE using your cigligther .. You may want to convert from DC to AC, its fairly cheap.

 

[wumpiewoo]

Incorrect

FYI DC current is hard on batteries IE using your cigligther .. You may want to convert from DC to AC, its fairly cheap.

All phones that I know of, including your Droid X, charge using DC current. When you plug your phone in using a wall charger you are using an AC->DC adapter. Read the specs on the adapter your phone came with. When you plug it into a USB port are using DC current. There would be no advantage (and many disadvantages) to using an AC inverter. You'd be going from your car's DC->AC->DC. There might be some kind of exotic battery that charges using alternating current, but I've never heard of it.

 

[Rax]

With a direct current when the battery is fully charged the battery will get hot, because the power has no place to go except the battery. With a AC connection when your battery is fully charged the electricity used to charge your battery has a place to go.. (to be put fairly simple) once the battery is full the electricity is looped back though the system.

 

[wumpiewoo]

Almost...

This would be true if the DC source was connected *directly* to the battery it is charging, but it's not. In most modern portable electronic devices, there is a charge control circuit built in that regulates the rate and amount of charge. In other words, the phone "decides" whether or not it will continue to charge. It wouldn't just keep pumping current into your battery, charging would cease.

 

[deranger]

With a direct current when the battery is fully charged the battery will get hot, because the power has no place to go except the battery. With a AC connection when your battery is fully charged the electricity used to charge your battery has a place to go.. (to be put fairly simple) once the battery is full the electricity is looped back though the system.

Simply put, no.


In any case, make sure you get a charger that supplies >850mA. I got the 950mA Motorola Rapid Car Charger for $10 or so off Amazon, it's an official Motorola product and charges your battery just as fast as the AC charger.

 

[Gigarip1]

With a direct current when the battery is fully charged the battery will get hot, because the power has no place to go except the battery. With a AC connection when your battery is fully charged the electricity used to charge your battery has a place to go.. (to be put fairly simple) once the battery is full the electricity is looped back though the system.

That's one of the funniest things i've read in a long time.

 

[RickCunn]

Are all car chargers for cell phones, mp3 players, etc the same? I have a Griffin Powerjolt car charger I originally bought for a iPod Touch. Will it work with my Droid, using the USB cord that came with the Droid and plugging it into the Powerjolt? I don't want to fry the Droid because the voltage or polarity is wrong.

 

[ylimehajile]

I don't think so

RickCunn, I'm not an electrician and don't claim to have any incite into the requirements of the chargers required for the DX but I did run into an issue with mine. I was using a car charger I had from a previous Blackberry Curve. It was the same connection and seemed to charge just fine. One day after driving to work I pulled the phone from the charger and the phone started rebooting itself constantly. Nothing I did fixed it (hard shutoff, etc.). I had to do factory refresh (whatever the official term is). I initially wasn't thinking it had anything to do with the charger (and maybe it still doesn't). I thought it was either a hardware problem or just a glitch in the software. However, I was reading something on Motorola's site about charging your phone and they mentioned using a proper charger because you could run into issues - one of the issues was a constant phone reboot. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. I bought the Motoral rapid charger from Amazon (very inexpensive) and haven't looked back.

 

[RickCunn]

After a little more research I believe I can use the car charger I have, with the Droid USB cable. The Droid follows the USB spec of +5V pin 1, Gnd pin 4 and data on pins 2 and 3. The Griffin product outputs out 5 V. USB charging devices short pins 2 and 3 together so that the device won't try to send data. Assuming Griffin does that the device will work without causing a problem. I'll contact them to verify their pinouts.