Database Users

Power Cord...

Well, I'll need to ask this question: do any of you guys know if Acer is going to bless us with a USB to proprietary connector for our Iconias?
Look, I've accepted the length of the power cord. One, it is what it is and two I can always go and buy an after market adapter which could be longer. Fine. What is unforgivable, to me, is that I need an AC plug and I can't use the myriad (at least three) AC to USB plugs that I have to charge my unit. Heck, I can even use my wife's iPad adapter to charge my EVO in a pinch.
It can be done as I assume that the docking station Acer sells can charge the unit. Besides if Sammy, Toshiba and Asus have similar things why can't Acer? If they come up with something like this they'll (to me) boost the value of my Iconia a bit: I can use USB and the other adapter to charge it.
C'mon Acer: get in gear!

I'm not 100% sure I understand the question, but I'll take a stab anyway.
It is impossible to charge through USB to the A500, either through the USB ports or the dock connector. USB only has a 5v signal on it, and I believe it's max current capacity is 500ma (per standard), whereas the A500 needs 12v and 1.5a of current.
Does that help?

USB 2.0 standard allows maximum output of 1.5 amperes, or 1.8 amps on a dedicated charge port with a special cable (e.g. cannot carry data but can only charge, I have never seen one by the way) at 5 volts. These 1.5 and 1.8 amps are for USB chargers by the way, computer USB 2 ports are all rated to a max. of 0.5 amps.
A500 needs 1.5 amps at 12 volts, which is roughly 2 times more current than the usb standard (Watts = Voltage x Amps), e.g. acer power brick supplies 18 watts vs a dedicated USB charger can only supply 9 watts at 1.5 amps. Most of the phone chargers that use USB cables are around 1 amp, making their max. output 5 watts vs 18 that acer needs.
In summary, it is not possible to charge A500 via USB.

No, no, no....
I think I explained myself poorly.
You guys know that the on the bottom of the Iconia there's a connector; a proprietary connector. I assume that the unit can be recharged through there. So what I was saying is that there should be a cable that ends in that proprietary connector on one side, and on the other on a standard USB connector so that it can be charged. Very much like the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy.
I should have mentioned the word 'proprietary'

citizenklaw said:
I think I explained myself poorly.
You guys know that the on the bottom of the Iconia there's a connector; a proprietary connector. I assume that the unit can be recharged through there. So what I was saying is that there should be a cable that ends in that proprietary connector on one side, and on the other on a standard USB connector so that it can be charged. Very much like the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy.
I should have mentioned the word 'proprietary'
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If I had read your original post carefully I would have noticed that
That would work if they made a 5 volt, 4 amp charger with removable usb cable on the charger end as you suggested, and we would be able to use that charger for everything else as well.

Well...
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Not to rain on your wishing parade, but it wouldn't work, even with the dock connector adapter. The batteries in these tablets are 7.3 volt Li-Po packs(I think thats the voltage at least) so they require at least 9 volts to charge them. Thats why the docks that Acer makes for these use the same power supply as the tablets themselves. Without high enough voltage, it wouldn't charge. I guess you could make a charger that would plug into the connector on the bottom, but you would end up having to use the same old power supply to get it to do anything. Conceivably you could make a double USB plug on the other end wired in series, that would bump it to 10 volts/500 ma and it would work as a trickle charger of sorts.

Extended USB Cable not charging nexus 7

I tried swapping out the USB cable that came with my nexus 7 with a longer usb cable (still using the same charger though edit: by that, i mean the ASUS charger that came with the N7). It doesn't seem to be charging though, even though it says 'charging' on the screen. When i was using the nexus 7 while plugged in, i actually lost 1% charge after using it for like 30 or so minutes.
I think i grabbed this cable off Ebay. It had no trouble charging my phone. Are there different grades of USB cables or something?

By same charger do you mean the one it came with? The 2 amps charger. Sorry I had to clear that bit up. I think longer cables creates more resistence but I'm not sure if the cable length is significant enough stop charging. I have no idea about grades of USB cables though maybe someone can elaborate on that.

Summerfly said:
By same charger do you mean the one it came with? The 2 amps charger. Sorry I had to clear that bit up. I think longer cables creates more resistence but I'm not sure if the cable length is significant enough stop charging. I have no idea about grades of USB cables though maybe someone can elaborate on that.
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Yes, the ASUS charger it came with, i plugged in the 6 foot microusb cable i bought off ebay into it.

MFister said:
Yes, the ASUS charger it came with, i plugged in the 6 foot microusb cable i bought off ebay into it.
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Okay, 6 foot cable doesn't sound excessively long. I have to ask what were you doing on it while charging and what brightness setting was the screen at. Maybe you were draining more power than the charger can provide?

This is pretty common. The stock cable has larger conductors, as I assume other 2 amp chargers come with, and standard cables are sensed somehow and charging current is limited. Try finding a 22awg cable, I think it will work.

I use a USB extender since I don't have any outlets near my bed. I use a cable rated for USB 2.0 and haven't had any problems. I have had problems with cables that aren't. The Motorola USB cables are rated for 2.0 and they all work fine for me with no problems.

burpootus said:
This is pretty common. The stock cable has larger conductors, as I assume other 2 amp chargers come with, and standard cables are sensed somehow and charging current is limited. Try finding a 22awg cable, I think it will work.
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Thanks, i assume this cable that's 28/24 awg would work?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=8643&seq=1&format=2

I use a cable extender, but I insert the original stock cable into the tablet (not the charger). It appears to recognise that and charge at the correct rate.

I've tried using a usb extender to charge with the asus charger and the Asus USB cable and checking with battery graph it charges much slower compared to using just the Asus cable.

People with eyesight better than mine will see that the micro USB socket has 5 pins and the Nexus looks at the 5th pin to decide what is connected and what the connected device is allowed to do. The pin can be grounded, not connected (floating) or can be connected to ground via I think 3 fixed resistances. Google for USB on the go. I think that is the standard adopted by Asus and the cable doesn't comply.

I'm using a nook 1/2 cable I got with a car charger for the nooktablet
It works and is longer then the stock cable it came with.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

EE here. I just ran into this issue recently, so I'll share what I learned. Grab a multimeter and measure the resistance of the cable. Check all 4 pins just in case one of them is worse than another.
In my case, I had a really horrible USB extension cable. It measured about 4 Ohms. 4 Ohms is low enough for a multimeter to pass a continuity test, but do out the math:
V = I * R
V = 2A * 8 Ohms (4 Ohms on VCC, 4 Ohms back on GND)
V = 16V.
16 volts?? Where does 16V come from? Short answer: It doesn't. If 2A were actually flowing, the USB cable would have a 16V drop across it. It doesn't though, which tells us that 2A is not flowing. 1A is also not flowing, since that would still be 8V.
0.5 Ohms is a good estimate for a MAXIMUM resistance for a USB charging cable. That's a 1V drop at 2A, meaning the phone is only getting ~4V. That explains why the USB cable that comes with the Nexus 7 is so darn short - it comes in at around 0.1 Ohms (or perhaps less, that's about the limit of what I can accurately measure)

Wanted to get a longer USB cable that will work the Asus adapter, any links?
Thanks.

came across this thread while investigating a strange thing in charging my 4400mah extended battery of my s3.
I have a 5v 1A stock samsung charger with an extension cable i was always using to charge my old phones with a less capacity battery (mugen 3200mah)
This night i spent i wasnt ble to get a full charge from 5% to 100% in 8 hours and this sounds more than strange, but yet understandable.
i will try timings with the stock cable without extension and i'll come back...

Charging Issue. Difference between Meizu and MicroUSB cables?

I have not done much research to find out why, mainly because most discussion is in Chinese. It seems that the device cannot charge properly without the stock Meizu cable. Does anyone know why this is? It appears to be a standard MicroUSB cable.

I'm using a Kindle Fire charger right now and it's charging fine.
Sent from my M030

and the stock white cable right? Charging off various sources isn't a problem. The problem is the cable.

AdamOutler said:
and the stock white cable right? Charging off various sources isn't a problem. The problem is the cable.
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My Meizu cable is black and that works just fine as well
Sent from my M030

If you can give me the link to the Chinese discussion, I can translate and roughly summarise the discussion and findings (if any) for you.

It might be just like the Nexus 7 discussions where people think the magic is the cable, but then you find out that when they change the cable they also were using an iPad charger...
Don't you have an MX Adam? Easy enough to test a few combos.

Charges fine on both my lg, Meizu and any other micro usb cable.
The charger is the magic here...
This device needs 2amp input to charge properly.
If your charger can't provide this you get flicker charges.

I think MrColdbird is more-or-less right.
My Meizu MX (4-core) charger looks like it's rated at 1.2A. Charging with a lower-power charger usually does not work, and even my portable battery pack with its 1.5A output only works while the external battery is at least half-full.
However, I also have a couple of 0.5A chargers that seem to work OK, and it charges OK from the USB ports on my laptop, which I think are 0.5A. All-in-all, it's very choosy when it comes to chargers! But you're right, the cable isn't really the issue.
Charlie

I don't know what's going on. I'm using a Nexus7 charger, a samsung charger and my computer. All three require the Meizu-White cable. Standard MicroUSB fails.
Are you guys using CN or HK versions? Mine's an HK.

Should be easy enough to test. Just measure for any resistance between the pins on the uUSB side of the completely unconnected cable. If you find any resistance between GND and ID, or between any other pins, they're playing games with us!

HK here to Adam.
So this adds to the mystery as well.

i got the mx032 as well, and the problem is the charger.
works with my following chargers:
-htc 12V (1A)
-ipad (2.1A)
-sony xperia (850mA)
-motorola milestone
doesn't not work with:
-samsung travel adapter (700A)
-noname 12V (1A+2.1A)

E:V:A said:
Should be easy enough to test. Just measure for any resistance between the pins on the uUSB side of the completely unconnected cable. If you find any resistance between GND and ID, or between any other pins, they're playing games with us!
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Sometimes, I have such a situation

My M031 charges with Nexus 7 charger and cable.

Car charging (or not in this case) how to monitor?

Little help chaps.
Ok i've just bought this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390566738301
I presumed (not sure if rightly or wrongly) that it would be sufficient to charge my Nexus 4
I'm using an older usb cable I've got to charge it in my car however if i'm using navigation then the battery still decreases.
I've got a funny feeling that the cable is the culprit but i'm not 100% sure.
Is there anyway to monitor how much juice your phone is getting from the charge?
P.S in the battery monitor screen it says AC not USB
Thanks in advance for any help
Stret

Battery monitor widget pro. It monitors the mA that's being used, mV, etc. Maybe the phone is pulling more mA than the charger is supplying.

You need to go into your battery settings/status while your phone is plugged into your car charger.
It will show one of two statuses:
Charging(AC) and Charching(USB)
If it is showing charging(USB), then the phone is detecting a false data connection. This can be solved by taking apart your USB charger and soldering the middle two pins of the USB. These pins are the Data(+) and Data(-) pins. I attached an image of the two Data pins soldered together on the usb charger.
If it is showing Charging(AC), then your USB charger is not pushing enough mA to charge your phone. Most cheap car USB chargers are in the 500 mA to 700 mA range. The stock USB wall charger that comes with your Nexus 4 is 5V 1200mA.

t989BeLikeItDo said:
You need to go into your battery settings/status while your phone is plugged into your car charger.
It will show one of two statuses:
Charging(AC) and Charching(USB)
If it is showing charging(USB), then the phone is detecting a false data connection. This can be solved by taking apart your USB charger and soldering the middle two pins of the USB. These pins are the Data(+) and Data(-) pins. I attached an image of the two Data pins soldered together on the usb charger.
If it is showing Charging(AC), then your USB charger is not pushing enough mA to charge your phone. Most cheap car USB chargers are in the 500 mA to 700 mA range. The stock USB wall charger that comes with your Nexus 4 is 5V 1200mA.
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Yeah it definitely shows AC was the first thing I checked, so what your saying is that link o posted above is actaully a false claim to how much power it knocks out?
Stret

Stretlow said:
Yeah it definitely shows AC was the first thing I checked, so what your saying is that link o posted above is actaully a false claim to how much power it knocks out?
Stret
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Hard to say. From my experience, you get what you pay for. A USB charger that cost less than 2 GBP seems unlikely to support the kind of mA throughput that the Nexus 4 requires.
Some ways to check this are to check the power supply and draw through a battery monitoring app, use a different USB cable or the USB cable that came with your Nexus 4, or take apart the USB charger and inspect the hardware to see if it actually is built to support a 2A supply. That last one is a bit of a headache.
Here is an iFixit teardown of a similar USB charger which goes into detail about some of the working parts of a car USB charger.
To quote the final part of the iFixit teardown:
Quite simply, the device is a rebadged 500mA or 750mA USB charger at best. It is NOT 1A capable, despite what the sticker on the body says.
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Good luck!

t989BeLikeItDo said:
Hard to say. From my experience when it goes about this type of gear is that you get what you pay or. For a USB charger that cost less than 2 GBP it seems unlikely that it would support the kind of mA throughput that the Nexus 4 requires.
Some ways to check this is to check the power supply and draw through a battery monitoring app, use a different USB cable or the USB cable that came with your Nexus 4, or take apart the USB charger and inspect the hardware to see if it actually is built to support a 2A supply. That last one is a bit of a headache.
Here is an iFixit teardown of a similar USB charger which goes into detail about some of the working parts of a car USB charger.
Good luck!
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Thanks for your help mate

Stretlow said:
Thanks for your help mate
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No problem! You should try and remember that the Nexus 4 is a pretty sophisticated piece of hardware. I'm not advocating that you go out and spend 20 GBP on equipment, but you don't want to use a cheap generic piece of trash to interface that electrical connection. The build quality of your charger can put your handset at risk to being damaged by electrical shorts and/or heat.
I would liken it to parking your sports car in a cheap parking garage on the bad side of town. Sure, you can do it, but there are risks involved!

1.8 amp car charger

Reading from the AC adapter, this thing can charge at 1.8 amps. I'm doing some research on car chargers that can output 2 amps to the phone via a USB cable, but the trick is getting the phone to pull more than .5 amps from a car accessory outlet. So far I haven't had much luck. There seems to be a lot of info on ipad stuff, but not much in the way of high powered Android devices. So I thought I'd start a thread about compatible car chargers that will allow a full 1.8 amp pull from my car outlet, and see what you guys and gals think and have tried. I've attached a pic of my current setup. It's a Proclip holder on a 2012 Mustang. I've used this same setup for several previous phones (S2 Skyrocket and S3). The holder itself is adjustable to accommodate various phones with cases.

earlthepearl said:
Reading from the AC adapter, this thing can charge at 1.8 amps. I'm doing some research on car chargers that can output 2 amps to the phone via a USB cable, but the trick is getting the phone to pull more than .5 amps from a car accessory outlet. So far I haven't had much luck. There seems to be a lot of info on ipad stuff, but not much in the way of high powered Android devices. So I thought I'd start a thread about compatible car chargers that will allow a full 1.8 amp pull from my car outlet, and see what you guys and gals think and have tried. I've attached a pic of my current setup. It's a Proclip holder on a 2012 Mustang. I've used this same setup for several previous phones (S2 Skyrocket and S3). The holder itself is adjustable to accommodate various phones with cases.
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Data pins need shorted together, either in the USB cig plug, or some micro USB cables are this way...

Additionally, the USB cable you use needs to have thick enough power wires to support 1.8A charge draw. Many USB cables use 28 AWG wire for the data conductors, and then you get varying degrees of wire gauge for the power conductors depending on manufacturer. Some people use 28 AWG for both, some use 26, and good cables are made with 24 AWG wire. The thicker wire gauge means less resistance so less power is lost and more can be put into the battery. To pull a proper 1.8A the phone probably should have 22AWG power wire in the USB cable really...

earlthepearl said:
Reading from the AC adapter, this thing can charge at 1.8 amps. I'm doing some research on car chargers that can output 2 amps to the phone via a USB cable, but the trick is getting the phone to pull more than .5 amps from a car accessory outlet. So far I haven't had much luck. There seems to be a lot of info on ipad stuff, but not much in the way of high powered Android devices. So I thought I'd start a thread about compatible car chargers that will allow a full 1.8 amp pull from my car outlet, and see what you guys and gals think and have tried. I've attached a pic of my current setup. It's a Proclip holder on a 2012 Mustang. I've used this same setup for several previous phones (S2 Skyrocket and S3). The holder itself is adjustable to accommodate various phones with cases.
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Hi, not trying to hijack your thread, but can you tell me which case you are using? I like the fact that it has a large lip around the screen.
Thanks

What model pro clip holder is that? I need to replace the one from my nexus. May hold out for the G2 specific one with the cable built in (like the nexus one I have now), but no telling how long that will be.

mikea3000 said:
Hi, not trying to hijack your thread, but can you tell me which case you are using? I like the fact that it has a large lip around the screen.
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It's the Body Glove case from the AT&T store. It was the only one they had at the time, and I didn't feel like waiting to order one so I overpaid in exchange for some piece of mind.
stetsonaw said:
What model pro clip holder is that? I need to replace the one from my nexus. May hold out for the G2 specific one with the cable built in (like the nexus one I have now), but no telling how long that will be.
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It's the holder I ordered for my Skyrocket a few years ago. It's a generic adjustable one that fits a lot of different phones with cases. It has fit my SR, GS3, and now my G2, all with cases.

EniGmA1987 said:
Additionally, the USB cable you use needs to have thick enough power wires to support 1.8A charge draw.
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I have a custom 5 inch up angle micro USB cable I ordered from www.usbfirewire.com. It is a very thick wire, thicker than the charging cable the G2 came with. The one in my pic is probably not thick enough for a 2 amp charge.

Here is an interesting article I came across about car chargers:
The Best USB Car Charger

EniGmA1987 said:
Additionally, the USB cable you use needs to have thick enough power wires to support 1.8A charge draw. Many USB cables use 28 AWG wire for the data conductors, and then you get varying degrees of wire gauge for the power conductors depending on manufacturer. Some people use 28 AWG for both, some use 26, and good cables are made with 24 AWG wire. The thicker wire gauge means less resistance so less power is lost and more can be put into the battery. To pull a proper 1.8A the phone probably should have 22AWG power wire in the USB cable really...
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Spot on. FWIW, the LG OEM cable is 20AWG on the power wires. This is the only viable explanation as I can't get the OEM wall charger to work with any cables I have sitting around (24AWG at best).

So would we be better off just using the factory charger with a power inverter or is there an actual car charger that will work?

Provided you short the data pins in whatever car charger you buy (if they arent already) and you get a cable with beefy power conductors then you should be able to draw 1.5-1.8A of power through a car charger. You have to make sure the car charger will do what you want though, many 2A chargers also have 2 ports to plug into. What they don't tell you is that each port is limited to 1A and both together will give 2A draw, but not to charge one device. The car itself also may limit power to the charger as well, I know my car specifically says 1.4A max through the cigarette plug. So it is possible to do, it is all just dependent on so many other things that you have to check off the list.

in_dmand said:
So would we be better off just using the factory charger with a power inverter or is there an actual car charger that will work?
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That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm tempted to try that Scosche charger, with my thick USB cable. I installed Currentwidget, so I should be ale to see at what rate I'm charging at if I decide to order it.

in_dmand said:
So would we be better off just using the factory charger with a power inverter or is there an actual car charger that will work?
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I like the Powergen dual 2.1A USB charger I got off of Amazon. Has served me well. But really, anything 1.8A+ that's quality will do. The trick is going to be the USB cable. Still trying to source one from a reputable site, but you want something with 20AWG for the power. If I find something, I'll post it. Thus far I found two sites, kinda obscure, but not thrilled that the shipping alone costs more than the cables which run $6.
---------- Post added at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------
EniGmA1987 said:
Provided you short the data pins in whatever car charger you buy (if they arent already) and you get a cable with beefy power conductors then you should be able to draw 1.5-1.8A of power through a car charger. You have to make sure the car charger will do what you want though, many 2A chargers also have 2 ports to plug into. What they don't tell you is that each port is limited to 1A and both together will give 2A draw, but not to charge one device. The car itself also may limit power to the charger as well, I know my car specifically says 1.4A max through the cigarette plug. So it is possible to do, it is all just dependent on so many other things that you have to check off the list.
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I suspect the phone can detect the charger capacity because my OEM LG cable works on both the Apple and Non-Apple ports on the Powergen charger. Since that's the case, the phone doesn't seem to care if the data pins are shorted or not. And the Powergen is advertised as 4.2A total, so 2.1A per port.

kyler13 said:
I like the Powergen dual 2.1A USB charger I got off of Amazon. Has served me well. But really, anything 1.8A+ that's quality will do. The trick is going to be the USB cable. Still trying to source one from a reputable site, but you want something with 20AWG for the power. If I find something, I'll post it. Thus far I found two sites, kinda obscure, but not thrilled that the shipping alone costs more than the cables which run $6.
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Something worth considering is looking at charging cables labeled for tablets. They usually charge in this amperage range. I plugged my g2 into my kindle fire HD charger (1.8A) and didn't get any slow charge warnings.

Geekybiker said:
Something worth considering is looking at charging cables labeled for tablets. They usually charge in this amperage range. I plugged my g2 into my kindle fire HD charger (1.8A) and didn't get any slow charge warnings.
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Doesn't that come with the same Amazon branded usb cable you can get by itself? Take a look on the cable. A lot of times they label the wire gauge.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

my amazon branded micro usb cables are 28awg and they still allow quick charge with oem wall charger.

The charging issues associated with this phone has been a huge PITA. I've been carrying my stock cable around just so I can charge my phone!!! Subscribed so I can maybe help out with some info...

bova80 said:
my amazon branded micro usb cables are 28awg and they still allow quick charge with oem wall charger.
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Are you certain that's not just the data side that is 28awg? Very surprised you can pull 1.8A at 28awg.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

kyler13 said:
Doesn't that come with the same Amazon branded usb cable you can get by itself? Take a look on the cable. A lot of times they label the wire gauge.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4
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They are unmarked.