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I use my old Motorola mini-USB supplies and love 'em but would like something with more juice than the ~800mA they put out. Any suggestions? I can occasionally find a folding-plug power supply but then the max current is never specified
TIA,
Richard
Closest I know of is Boxwave's VersaCharger Pro which supplies 1 Amp, which I've found sufficient for charging my Tytn II.
3waygeek said:
Closest I know of is Boxwave's VersaCharger Pro which supplies 1 Amp, which I've found sufficient for charging my Tytn II.
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Yeah, that one is interesting - a little bulkier than I'd prefer. I have to do some testing, but I recently discovered my ~800mA Moto charger won't charge my APC USB battery when it's completely discharged. I've not noticed any issues with my Hermes or Kaiser, but I don't let them get to 0% and I usually can wait overnight when they're really low.
It was a pretty unhappy discovery that my current supply wouldn't charge that battery! Luckily I had my laptop along and it *would* charge from the USB port - which can probably supply 1A or more.
I'd like to get a nice 1.5-2A supply and at least *know* that I wasn't hitting a current limitation
Richard
rsolomon said:
I'd like to get a nice 1.5-2A supply and at least *know* that I wasn't hitting a current limitation
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I saw this Griffin Powerblock Universal at my local Staples, and the box said 5V @ 1A:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerblockuniversal
That's a lot more the desired form-factor, but still shy of what I wanted.
I may snag one anyway just to see.
Richard
rsolomon said:
It was a pretty unhappy discovery that my current supply wouldn't charge that battery! Luckily I had my laptop along and it *would* charge from the USB port - which can probably supply 1A or more.
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Actually, most, if not all, computer USB ports are limited to 500 mA -- to get 1A you need a powered hub.
3waygeek said:
Actually, most, if not all, computer USB ports are limited to 500 mA -- to get 1A you need a powered hub.
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I'm not convinced of that. Yes, the spec is max 500mA and I've sometimes seen some machines pop up and complain about overcurrent on a port, but many other times not. I'm also not 100% convinced that all my laptop's USB ports are directly off the chipset - so there may effectively be a powered hub involved here. I guess I'll have to carve up a USB cable and put a current meter in there to answer the question one way or another - don't hold your breath on that one
Richard
A couple of things:
As far as USB port power goes, I've read up about this (forget why), but the USB spec DOES say that each USB port needs to supply at least 500mA... But in practice motherboard manufacturers tie the power lines of multiple ports together, so if a motherboard has 4 ports, the power bus will be connected to all of them, and it will supply at least 500mA x4, or 2000mA (2 Amps) total. There is generally no individual regulation of this however, so if you only have one device plugged in, it has the full 2 amps to draw from. Often other devices like mice or keyboards use so little power that there is plenty left for other peripherals to use well over 500mA even when all the ports are in use. This is actually a problem, as many product manufacturers get "lazy" and design products that actually NEED more than 500mA, especially things like bus powered hard drives, because those work on most systems (but frustratingly, not all).
As far as power supplies, i got curious, and here's what i found:
The exact power supply that comes with the tilt is about $8US from mouser in the US:
http://www.mouser.com/search/Produc...irtualkey55210000virtualkey552-PSA-A05A-050-R
it's mouser part number: 552-PSA-A05A-050-R
Sadly it doesn't fold and it also only provides 1A, so, here's some more stuff:
This part is similar but just has a USB port on it, so if you already have the data cable with you, the AC adapter won't take up much more space:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=T1003-ND
Now i'm really not having any luck finding exactly what you need, but if you're a bit handy you can wire a mini USB port onto another 5v power supply with more current output. I can't tell you which wires go where but if you have a multimeter and a soldering gun you should be able to figure it out:
here's a USB mini cable with wires coming off one end if you don't want to cut up a cable you already have: http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=WM17104-ND
And any good regulated or switching 5v power supply should be good. Here's one with 2A output, and it's described as "flip out", so i imagine the connector, um, flips out, but it's not a stock part so you'd have to call them, and i don't know if it's regulated or switching (either is good, i think), so you should ask: http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=T321-P5P-ND
an in stock, non-flip out one is here:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=T450-P5P-ND
If you custom wire one, test it on a less important device, just to make sure that it really will be okay, and don't sue me if it breaks something. Plus, i don't know how the kaiser feels about charging at more than 1A, since the stock power supply only provides that much current.
Also, another kind of plug is the "multi-plug" power supply, with removable plugs to allow for plugs from different countries to clip on, so rather than flipping out the plug, you could just unclip it, if you don't mind having 2 pieces. Here's one of those at 1.2A and $13US: http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=T946-P5P-ND
or 3.2A at $18US:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=T377-P5P-ND
But you might want to call HTC and talk to an engineer (they're hard to get a hold of, but i've been able to do it at other companies if you keep asking) and make sure that higher charging currents are okay.
And i really only checked mouser and digikey for these things, so it's possible that other suppliers might have something different, though they are two of the largest suppliers of this kind of thing in the US, so i'd be surprised.
You could even call CUI direct and speak to someone there, they're nice people and they might be able to make you a custom one for not too much (i doubt they'd do that for one unit, but if they already make something close they might!).
If you can't get what you need easily, try harder! Hehe.
-Taylor
New pocketPC user. Got the Tilt a couple of days ago. First post, so forgive me. Very PC literate - still learning on the pocketPCs. Testing out ROMs now, thanks to all of you.
When I bought my case (Krusell), I just added on an aftermarket car charger (Fosmon). But I've been reading some of the posts about blown USB ports and a few other issues that seem like they could be power related. As a noob, did a ton of searching on the forum and can't find where anyone has given any opinions about aftermarket chargers. Part of me says stick to HTC or even AT&T brand because they are made for the unit (although an actual HTC is a pain in the ass to find and get shipped to me in Florida for an upcoming trip). Another part says they're all probably made in two factories in China and all I'm doing is paying more than twice as much for the same unit. Just don't want to risk having a problem on my new baby.
Any opinions?
I've been quite happy with my VersaCharger Pro from Boxwave -- works as a wall or car charger, and can put out the 1000 mA the Tilt needs.
Guilf said:
they're all probably made in two factories in China and all I'm doing is paying more than twice as much for the same unit.
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Bingo! I've used Audiovox(HTC), Motorola and Blackberry home chargers, Motorola and no-name car chargers, my work laptop and my home desktop and all have charged my Tilt with no problem at all.
I'm interested in this particular topic too !
It's actually quite hard to get the specs (current in A and voltage in V) for official car chargers ! (and quite hard for many chargers).
The official wall charger gives 1 A and 5 V.
It would seem that you don't find that many mini usb chargers providing 1A.
You can find some on ebay but then most would provide... 5.5 V... could that arm the Kaiser ? I wonder, if anyone's got an idea.
Going for a lower current would mean the charging would be much slower.
Some extra notes about USB car chargers. Usually they will only provide 500mA and you won't have them work well with a regular sync cable (usb <-> mini usb) except if you mod them by welding two pins in the mini usb part (look for more information on the hermes section of this forum).
Today I had someone tell me that the best option for a car is actually an inverter with a home charger plugged into it. They said that Li-Ion and other rechargeables aren't meant to be charged via DC and that's why they sometimes (albeit rarely) brick via car charging. However, an inverter will prevent that. Sounds like BS to me, but I am not knowledgeable at all. Thoughts on this?
Guilf said:
Today I had someone tell me that the best option for a car is actually an inverter with a home charger plugged into it. They said that Li-Ion and other rechargeables aren't meant to be charged via DC and that's why they sometimes (albeit rarely) brick via car charging. However, an inverter will prevent that. Sounds like BS to me, but I am not knowledgeable at all. Thoughts on this?
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I flag BS! The charging circuits for the li-ion batteries are not built into the charger itself. Its built into the device. The purpose of the plug-in chargers is to provide enough current/regulated power to run the device and charger it.
Since AT&T no longer supports the Tilt i can't buy an original car charger from them anymore. The one i have no longer works, and from what i've gathered across the intarwebz is that unless you have a factory original car charger or l33t soldering skills, you don't get to have a car charger anymore. Is this right?
Since i don't own a soldering gun, is there a car charger that will work guaranteed? I checked HTC's site and it looks like they are just selling cheap aftermarket generic car chargers.
ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanx Snow
i just got mine from seidio in a combo bundle, no problems for me
How long have you had yours Gelf? Mine worked great initially, then one day i noticed it wasn't charging at all.
Car Charger
I am using a car charger from a Blackberry. If fact, my wall chrager is also from Blackberry. Had them left over from the old days.
Never have any problems.
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/4072.htm
I have one of these, it's a genuine one and charges as well as a wall charger.
My mini USB connector is knackered after I tried to re-set my phone by jamming the stylus in it, so now I have to wiggle it to get it to charge.
Any mini usb charger will work. depending on the volts it may take longer to charge. I sell them all day at Radio Shack and use it for my tilt. just a generic one will do
Don't go cheap on these -- I had a cheap one that fried a device.
I currently use this Belkin...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FB578I
includes a 1-amp quick-charge port and a standard 500mAh port
Im lucky i have a USB port on my stereo and i just use a standard mini usb cable to charge my phone, otherwise i use any motorola USB charger and i have nvr had a problem with any of those.
There are threads around about car chargers for Kaiser - search is always good. The general opinion seems to be that non HTC chargers can be unreliable. I've tried a few that sometimes charged and sometimes didn't. Often they would charge for a few mnutes then stop. Rarely seem to charge with GPS running, they just don't seem able to supply the power needed. However I bought a 'genuine' HTC charger from ebay and it's been working great for months. They're still available for aound $AUS20. I think it's worth trying to find one that states 1 amp output from memory. In fact, think I'll buy another now just in case they disappear! Can't remember exactly who it came from though.
drmc said:
There are threads around about car chargers for Kaiser - search is always good. The general opinion seems to be that non HTC chargers can be unreliable. I've tried a few that sometimes charged and sometimes didn't. Often they would charge for a few mnutes then stop. Rarely seem to charge with GPS running, they just don't seem able to supply the power needed. However I bought a 'genuine' HTC charger from ebay and it's been working great for months. They're still available for aound $AUS20. I think it's worth trying to find one that states 1 amp output from memory. In fact, think I'll buy another now just in case they disappear! Can't remember exactly who it came from though.
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Yup yup. Go HTC if you want reliability. I had a 'Tesco Value' one that showed it was charging but I could never work out why my battery was dying. I found an app that logs the mA charge or discharge rate and that told it's own story; when the Kaiser is working hard - GPS, bluetooth and a couple of apps running it can be pulling well over 500mA. Spend the money, it's worth it.
I got a phillips car charger from Asda for £5. Has tips for most types of phone including mini-usb. Charges my kaiser fine.
Hi,
I always answer the same when I see this kind of demand: buy the official HTC one, it cost something like 10 euros in the EU (probably 10-15 $), and you'll have no problem (see a previous post here).
I had a cheap one, it was a no-go. ince then it's perfect.
deuzeff said:
Hi,
I always answer the same when I see this kind of demand: buy the official HTC one, it cost something like 10 euros in the EU (probably 10-15 $), and you'll have no problem (see a previous post here).
I had a cheap one, it was a no-go. ince then it's perfect.
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Agreed. The official charger has worked very well for me. Got mine here. Mailed same day and Priority Mail. Have ordered a number of things from them and highly recommend.
I use a motorola v3x car charger
Thanks for the help with alternate ideas and places to look at for buying an official adapter. I'll look around.
I bought a generic one off of Amazon and that worked for about 3 days and then it stopped charging as well. I hope that i can find a solid alternative.
And for anyone who mentioned that i should use the search or off handedly implied that i did not search. You should really stop with that behaviour. It makes you sound like a pompous clown and doesn't add anything of value to this thread or to this site for that matter. For those that provided valuable input, thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Snowreaper said:
And for anyone who mentioned that i should use the search or off handedly implied that i did not search. You should really stop with that behaviour. It makes you sound like a pompous clown and doesn't add anything of value to this thread or to this site for that matter. For those that provided valuable input, thank you very much for your time and consideration.
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Apologies if my comment sounded rude, it was simply meant to alert you to the fact that there are many threads on this topic that may help and you didn't mention that you have searched already. I know the search function on these large boards is less than efficient and can be frustrating. It's a good idea to mention that you've searched as many people don't bother. For starters, the following threads are related to this issue and have more info than this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=406771
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=274665
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=382081
Personally I only reply to questions if I think I can help and because I've had so much help from others, not because I have nothing better to do.
all i have to say is, i'm SURE theres a charging circuit built in that will not allow it to charge at too high of a rate in mA's, the OEM one is fairly high (like 850 or 1a as some have said) although i've had fine luck using pretty much anything, i use a mini-usb cable attached to a computer to charge most of the time, the USB standard will allow a max of 500mAh, so it takes longer, but whatever, i have also used Mot. V3 chargers for a long time with fine luck, really the only one i have that doesnt work is my bluetooth headset charger, and its mini-usb but its rated for an output of 350mA!
I had similar problems with my Kaiser. For almost a year it would charge with car charger then it stopped. It would charge fine on AC and computer USB but not in the car.
If you look inside the USB port on the phone at the bottom are two little tabs/fingers. They need to be lifted up to make contact with the charger. I took a dental tool and slightly lifted them so they make better contact with charger plug.
Also make sure that the plastic inside the usb on the phone is not curved or bent as some of the pins will then not touch then. I straightend out the plastic tab inside the USB with a small screwdriver and then made sure that the little grounding legs were bent up a bit and bingo it works.
I use a Motorola charger as well in the car and it worked fine for Blackberry and other phones I checked so I knew the issue was in the phone.
Buying a new charger may not solve the problem if its in the phone. Thanks to those who posted their findings as after I searched I was able to peice together a few ideas that worked.
go to ur local office supply and get one of those cigarette usb chargers (mine is for an HP Ipaq I used to have) and use your data cable ... it works fine
zelendel said:
Any mini usb charger will work. depending on the volts it may take longer to charge. I sell them all day at Radio Shack and use it for my tilt. just a generic one will do
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hmm Scary!
Bought one of these guys to hardwire a charger in my car:
http://www.mountguys.com/product_p/mfx5v-b-micro.htm
On the charger is specifies 5V 1500mA output. Is that ok? I know it's more than stock, but I thought circuitry can step it down if needed.
Also, I'm thinking I want to hardwire to the always hot lead that goes to the radio memory function. Any chance of current problems? Don't think it will drain my battery if I leave it charging while shopping (or at the bar)
Thanks.
I'm curious why you chose to hardwire it, when the device can only pull 700mA, and these little wonders work perfectly.
Nice! Got one of these also... twice the ports and 5X the price:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Powerjolt-Dual-Universal-Micro/dp/B0042B9U8Q/ref=pd_cp_e_2
Yours and mine above specify 1A... this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Charger-Samsu...96/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1318442293&sr=8-15
2.1 A.
I just wanted a cleaner look in a little sports car... the hardwire is going to come out the panel and go straight to a dock. But now I'm worried that 1500 mA could be troublesome?
It won't be troublesome, just useless.
I have a setup for my iPod that utilizes one of what I linked. I've got a USB+RCA-to-dock cable running into my center console, then into a port in there, to some empty space in front of it (under the trim, totally invisible) where my audio guys spliced a new line into the RCA jacks that came from the factory, and split off another power line. The charger's in there, cable connects to the ports... It's nice and clean.
this should be fine. the amperage rating on a charger just tells what it is capable of if requested. it is up to the phone itself to provide the requested amount of current. that is to say if this charger can provide 1500mA, but our phones can only use 750mA, your good. it is provided all the current it needs. now on the other hand, if you were charging some device that could use 2000mA(unheard of) this charger would provide all it could, the device would just charge slower.
the voltage is fine. most chargers are rated at 5v, and should be spot on as long as it is a decent brand from a trusted source. a knock off may be out of spec to what it is rated. that is where you could run in to trouble with frying a phone.
anyway, besides all that, this seems risky. not hardwiring a charger to your car, but leaving it there while you are shopping or in the bar. ever heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? id hate to come out of a bar to a broken window and no phone...
i never leave my phone unattended outside of my home.
austin420 said:
some device that could use 2000mA(unheard of)
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iPad, TouchPad, Galaxy Tab 10.1...
Guess I'm a noob.. very detailed answer in FAQ.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=802711&highlight=voltage+amps+charger
Now to find out if those pins are shorted...
Has anyone looked at the following product for wireless charging (ala Powermat)?
It doesn't look like it outputs a lot of power, but for overnight / sitting on the work desk type of charging, it may be adequate.
www dot seeedstudio dot com/depot/wireless-power-supply-p-701.html
Would be interesting to see if it could be nicely integrated into a phone cover.
I think I will order one to play with even though I am not a developer or a hacker or anything like that!
I've seen charging coils like that hacked into existing devices. There are also, on the horizon, self contained batteries that have the inductive charging built in - upgrade any device to wireless charging! (any device with enough volume to justify making such a battery, anyway)
This definitely could work quiet well for that sort of application. I think it is a bit larger than you would hope but if you put a usb connector on the end I think it would work really well.
Yap, but there are limitations.
Loss of energy
Less efficiency
Low amp ratings
Interference
Bulky.
Goods are
Wireless
No need of conectors that opens to external world( for devices with built in coils)
No connector problems like damaged port,loose contacts etc.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
giritrobbins said:
This definitely could work quiet well for that sort of application. I think it is a bit larger than you would hope but if you put a usb connector on the end I think it would work really well.
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That is the $64 problem! Trying to get USB connectors without the need to butcher an existing USB cable. Ideally, I would like to have a double ended USB connector - a male microUSB to plug into the phone, and a female micro or mini USB on the other end - to allow a USB cable connection between the phone or external charger. I know that I could buy from Digikey a male micro USB connector, and a female connector. But these connectors do not come with casings, so any use of them probably wouldn't look pretty without many hours of thought and effort.
I am assuming (without having this charger in my hands with the specifications) that I would probably need to have one or more diodes in-line with the receiver wires to stop external source current entering the receiver and possibly damaging it.
I haven't read up on Li-Ion cell phone batteries and how to keep them efficient. So I don't know whether these batteries can live long term on low current charging, or whether they would need higher current (as from manufacturer provided chargers) to provide efficient long term output.
Induction charging is being used in several applications already, like WII remotes and such. The problem is, as stated above ^^^^ I'm not really sure how lithium ion batteries stand up so such charging, (almost trickle). I know that the batteries used in Wii remotes are Nickel Hydride though.
DMPinBC said:
That is the $64 problem! Trying to get USB connectors without the need to butcher an existing USB cable. Ideally, I would like to have a double ended USB connector - a male microUSB to plug into the phone, and a female micro or mini USB on the other end - to allow a USB cable connection between the phone or external charger. I know that I could buy from Digikey a male micro USB connector, and a female connector. But these connectors do not come with casings, so any use of them probably wouldn't look pretty without many hours of thought and effort.
I am assuming (without having this charger in my hands with the specifications) that I would probably need to have one or more diodes in-line with the receiver wires to stop external source current entering the receiver and possibly damaging it.
I haven't read up on Li-Ion cell phone batteries and how to keep them efficient. So I don't know whether these batteries can live long term on low current charging, or whether they would need higher current (as from manufacturer provided chargers) to provide efficient long term output.
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I have heard rumours of the device killing batteries. It would be interesting to see how much of the power actually gets to the unit. The wireless power supply you linked in your OP shows a rating of 300-400 mA. That means the average battery would take 3-4 hours to charge from dead if all that power was indeed making it's way to the battery. Not really a trickle charge is all that power makes it to the battery.
All lithium ion battery assemblies have built in circuitry to prevent overcharging, overheating, and possible explosion/fire. The charge circuitry will turn off when fully charged and there's no penalty for topping off a LIon battery without discharging. Hacking a USB cable isn't all that complicated although may not be pretty depending on how well it's soldered together. There will always be a lump in the middle of the cable where the connections are made but you could use sleeving to hide it.
I tried an OEM non branded wireless charger, and after 6 hours of charging, my iphone's battery only increased around 20%...
Anyone tested this on Desire HD?
Anyone know if this will work/has tested on a Samsung Vibrant? Thanks.
I think this technology is still young, probably in 2/3 years it will be improved in its energy losses...
gebedias said:
I think this technology is still young, probably in 2/3 years it will be improved in its energy losses...
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I don't think time is going to make it more efficient. I think the trend in industry right now (specifically the WPC) is to define a standard, places where you would use wireless power are places where there is plenty of power.
There are a bunch of different companies that make wireless power solutions. I think that the best would be to hack together a QI compliant receiver to the USB port on your phone and then use any QI compliant mat for the transmitter.