Related
Looking for a "safe" range here..
I downloaded CurrentWidget to see how much current the phone is drawing while using various charging methods.
So:
- using the stock charger at home w/ a 10' usb cable (recommended from a site by many on xda) it hovers around 160 mA - charges slowly, but charges.
- using my computer w/ the stock cable it fluctuates between high-200 mA - mid-400 mA.
- using the stock charger at work w/ the stock cable it fluctuate between mid-400 mA up to high-800 mA AND the phone reaches 115-degrees from around 87-degrees in a few minutes! On top of that, it charges VERY quickly, however, sometimes, even though it says 'charging' the battery % is actually going down! As if all that power is draining the battery!
- using a car charger left over from my old, old Treo 800w, it fluctuates between mid-400 mA and mid-600 mA (temp always normal).
So my question is: what is a safe range for the current to be drawn at and why does the stock charger/usb cable seem to chaotic at times?
I don't really know much about electricity and currents and all that so if I'm using the wrong terminology, forgive me..
Thanks!
Three reasons for the current to fluctuate:
1. Current widget may not be accurate
2. Background processes may be eating some of the charge being supplied- especially radio signal fluctuations
3. The battery will resist charge as it fills causing the charge current to be reduced.
Also, HTC and many other vendors use the usb pins to determine whether you are connected to a charger that can supply sufficient power, usb is rated at only 500ma,while the charger can supply up to 1000ma.
(For reference, the ipad charges at 2A).
I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to charge at a high rate, since its common practice. In fact, folks have reported that the battery level goes down when using google navigate without a high power charger.
Finally, the Evo has an overheat circuit that will cutoff charge if the battery gets too hot.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
This is interesting. My guess on the reboot issues is that it seems similar to how a computer acts when capacitors start pooping due to heat.
I always let my phone charge 8 hours while I sleep.
If it gets up to 115 degrees and stays there for 8 hours, that could maybe cause damage???
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Today, it's been working fine. It's an on-and-off thing... Oh well, long as my phone doesn't start to melt I guess I'm fine.
typeadam said:
Looking for a "safe" range here..
I downloaded CurrentWidget to see how much current the phone is drawing while using various charging methods.
So:
- using the stock charger at home w/ a 10' usb cable (recommended from a site by many on xda) it hovers around 160 mA - charges slowly, but charges.
- using my computer w/ the stock cable it fluctuates between high-200 mA - mid-400 mA.
- using the stock charger at work w/ the stock cable it fluctuate between mid-400 mA up to high-800 mA AND the phone reaches 115-degrees from around 87-degrees in a few minutes! On top of that, it charges VERY quickly, however, sometimes, even though it says 'charging' the battery % is actually going down! As if all that power is draining the battery!
- using a car charger left over from my old, old Treo 800w, it fluctuates between mid-400 mA and mid-600 mA (temp always normal).
So my question is: what is a safe range for the current to be drawn at and why does the stock charger/usb cable seem to chaotic at times?
I don't really know much about electricity and currents and all that so if I'm using the wrong terminology, forgive me..
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rule of thumb is to not supply the battery more than 70% rate of current of the battery's capacity. for instance, if the battery's capacity is 1000mAh, the charger should not exceed a charge rate of 700mAh.
imo, the stock charger is a tad too fast (1000mAh/1500mAh = 67%). i hardly ever use the stock charger and charge either via usb (~500mAh) or an external charger i bought on ebay rated at 800mAh. a slower charge also provides a more quality charge and will extend the charge as well as the life of the battery. the faster a battery charges, the hotter it will get. heat is the enemy with batteries.
try charging with just usb for a couple days and i guarantee you will see an increase in battery life (all other things constant of course). better yet, pick up an external charger off ebay and get even better results - even more quality charge since it is not discharging and charging at the same time. i strictly use an external charger and can hang on to 100% for over 4 hours w/o use.
Hi
Using today the phone @ 100% brightness with car charger connected and using Sygic / Copilot, I see that my device can't not even charge at the same time that I am using it, but maintain their % of battery. Even with the charger the phone drains battery.
WTF samsung, So i cant make a long travel without running out of battery?
Anyone more with this problem?
PS: My HD2, HD, TyTN2, etc doesn't have this problem with the same car charger, they even charge at the same time.
What's the rating on your charger? I had to swap mine out for a 1A one in order to cope with GPS use in the car. Haven't had a problem since then.
I suspect the one you're using is 750mA or even potentially 500.
I have just had the same problem. I knew i needed a higher amp charger but i thought i would give it a try. The one i used is 650mA, so that's definitely not large enough. The normal 'house' charger is 0.7A (700mA) so in theory that size or above should charge whilst the S2 is being used.
I have a 1200 mA usb adapter for car (a sony ericsson, very very slim one) and I have no issues. You need a decent amount of power for that phone so 650mA will not do, have at least 1000.
http://www.nextag.com/Sony-Ericsson-AN400-Compact-853915153/specs-html
Not sure if this is the exact model but I found it to be the best because it's slim and there is nothing sticking out of the car socket, has a lot of power and I can power any usb device with it.
padlad said:
I have just had the same problem. I knew i needed a higher amp charger but i thought i would give it a try. The one i used is 650mA, so that's definitely not large enough. The normal 'house' charger is 0.7A (700mA) so in theory that size or above should charge whilst the S2 is being used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yest but probably you hava a chinese charger. The rating on it is never near the real one.
oh, I see, crappy charger, ill change then thanks guys
TomTom recently released a high speed multi charger. I replaced my old car charger with this one as I had a similar slow charge problem. Never had a problem ever since. All my weapons are always fully loaded with enough power! Expensive though!
http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/product...-cables/high-speed-multi-charger-9UUC.001.04/
If someone is using a cheap higher-powered mains adaptor without issue, could you please post a (UK) link? Also if anyone knows of a cheaper alternative to the £20 car charger that would be great too!
I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
2.1 Amp TomTom charger is way too much for this device. Samsung wall charger is only rated at 750mA, but someone even found out that in source level Samsung has limited the power current at only 650mA.
With 1 Amp (1000mA) top quality car charger, the phone lost charge while using Navigation on full brightness.
Very slow charging in general for this phone.
shawt said:
I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here
Mittaa said:
Same here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you provide a link? I'd like to get one
I bought mine on eBay for £6.Just search "genuine samsung car charger"
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I bought today a Belking car charger of 2.1amps and suprise!, same problem battery drain.
Can be maybe the car? I doubt it, any idea?
http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=525940
When you have the car charger plugged into the phone go into Settings/About phone/Status & look at "Battery status"; it should tell you if the phone thinks it's plugged into a USB port (in which case the phone will draw only 450 mA) or an AC charger (from which the phone will draw 650 mA). These limits are built into the Samsung ROM, presumably to keep the phone cool and/or extend the battery's lifespan. They could be overridden (especially the AC charger current limit) in a custom ROM.
Absent a custom ROM, if the Status display says you're connected to a USB port, you could try a different charger, or connecting USB pins 2 & 3 (the two center pins on the USB A connector) together. That's how the phone decides if it's connected to a USB port or AC charger -- the low-resistance (less than 200 ohm) connection between the two USB data pins is the key. The spec calls for 200 ohms resistance between the data pins, but some of the low-end high current chargers I've seen just have a direct short.
If that doesn't work, or if the Status display says you're charging off AC, then try some of the other battery-life tricks documented here in the forums; they should reduce the device's draw from the battery, allowing the charger to do its job.
Wow, this is kind of disappointing i have to say. I have noticed the USB charging is incredibly slow. You can't ever rely on it, i think it would take close to 5 hrs to fully charge from USB, that's insane! By mains it's somewhere between 2 and 3, but that's still way too high.
I take it if you buy a higher-powered mains adaptor (not one for the car) then we'd definitely get the benefits of a faster charge? Can someone post a link to one they are using and know works faster that the stock one?
Cheers
I ll try ur tricks guyz.
for the time being this is my situation (and it sux):
-car charger 1A 5v
-slow chargin and hot device
-using navigator equals : phone burns, drains battery and in the worst scenario freezes
yesterday I received a call while phone plugged into car charger with navigator session. wot happened is phone freezed (screen didnt switch off) and I saw PROXIMITY SENSOR WAS RED!
shawt said:
I had same problem.I bought Samsung charger and no problem after
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
The first post got me worried for a while, but this info has put me back to ease. Pre-ordered the GS2 (India) and getting the original Samsung charger along as a freebie.
Yeah, i have simelar experience with the samsung s2 in my car.
Its eating the battery even when its plugged in and i think i have a good charger..
I found 1 solution.. I use now copilot, you can set different setting to disable the screen automatically when you drive a straigt forward for some kilometres, only when you need to turn it comes up again.
thats how i set it and it loads a little, but bad anyway.
Maybe thats what the + means in Super Amoled + (+batteryusage)
(•.•) said:
Maybe thats what the + means in Super Amoled + (+batteryusage)
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Click to collapse
nexus S didnt have such a problems. it's only around how samsung managed chipset.
I ll try to set cpu downclock while temperature goes over 40..
If I have the screen on while plugged in, my battery % continues to drop and the device itself feels kind of hot. Could I have a problem or is this normal?
My battery life has also not been so great.
perigee said:
If I have the screen on while plugged in, my battery % continues to drop and the device itself feels kind of hot. Could I have a problem or is this normal?
My battery life has also not been so great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the OEM charger?
perigee said:
If I have the screen on while plugged in, my battery % continues to drop and the device itself feels kind of hot. Could I have a problem or is this normal?
My battery life has also not been so great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine doesn't it keeps going up, though I haven't tried playing games. It does depend on what you are doing with the device, if you are running applications that max out the processor it will possibly drop.
The GSII would drain while plugged in if the screen was on. You would see a noticeable drain while using GPS and Music and driving. The only way to make it work was to turn the screen off on the device, the GSIII has a better charging chip in it, and it isn't limited to 650maH (from what I can tell since it is charging when using GPS)
I noticed it while using a usb car cigarette adapter as well as a usb port on my laptop. the car adapter is a 2 amp charger capable of charging a tablet. I will see how it performs with the oem wall charger.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA
Yeah I was charging my phone earlier using a car was adapter with the oem micro usb cable and they phone got very hot.
What do you guys think? Is this a cause for concern? Do I need to buy a manufacturer approved adapter?
Is it safe to leave the phone plugged in overnight? I usually charge the phone when I go to bed, but I've the this might damage some batteries.
hyped89 said:
Is it safe to leave the phone plugged in overnight? I usually charge the phone when I go to bed, but I've the this might damage some batteries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious about this myself....I'm leaning towards not leaving mine plugged all night. I 2 have done this in the past with other phones and can't be certain but maybe this is a rEason I had horrible batt life despite efforts to Better it. So I'm gonna stick with charging/topping off when I can. Gonna start just charging when I wake up while I'm getting ready for work. I did notice that when battery is completely charged a message comes up telling u so and to unplug. So I'm gonna follow directions haha.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA
All modern smartphones have chips that control power, and cycle charging appropriately to not abuse the battery. Many phones monitor the temp of the battery and such to ensure a good and safe charge. You can leave it plugged in overnight just fine..
It definitely doesn't like 3rd party adapters. I'm hoping it will at least accept the tab adapter with samsung's cable so that I can charge it at work without buying a dozen chargers, but...
(One charger I used is understandable - turns out its only 300ma. Whoops! But using full 1A chargers wasn't helping either, it went up maybe 1% every 15 mins. The stock charger ran it up fast enough that it was charged from 70% in under an hour.)
I use SetCPU and have a setting to reduce the clock when it exceeds a temperate parameter. You could also set a max clock for when it is plugged into a USB (Computer/Car charger). That could help it stay cooler and charge faster while not plugged into the wall.
I charged from empty to full this morning when plugged into the wall in about 3 hours. I haven't tested on my computer yet.
I went through this when I first got my Evo 4G. I did not realize at the time that the 500mA charger I was using with my Blackberry Storm (horrible device) would not charge my Evo while doing anything power intensive (like using GPS) and I quickly drained it on a car trip.
I went on Amazon and bought a $20 Schosche iPad charger that claimed to provide 2.1A which should be plenty. On that charger the phone would charge while using GPS but very, very slowly.
After some more research I found that some chargers caused the phone to switch into "USB" charging mode and others would switch it to "AC" mode which would draw much more power and charge faster.
This is the charger I ended up with and it works great:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10826&cs_id=1082602&p_id=6766&seq=1&format=2
My Evo charges just as fast as it does on the OEM wall charger. I don't have my SIII yet (thanks Verizon for being the LAST in the US to ship them out...) so I can't yet say if this holds true for the SIII but I assume it will. At $1.22 it's not much of a gamble.
★★★This topic is for them who are having problems with stock charger and cable. If you don't have any problems, ignore this ★★★
Well, since I purchased my Note 2, I kept facing this slow charging problem. Now what is slow charging some of you will ask? Well, it's simple. The device is taking more than normal time for charging. Now how do you know the default/should be rate for charging? Simple again. The AC adapter clearly says output rate as 2000 mA or 2.0 A. So with that calculation Note 2's monstrous 3100 mAh should be fully charged with 2 hours. But as we've seen steady 2.0A is not the output case in some/many scenario, so add another 30 mins to it. So whatever it is, from 0-100%, the device shouldn't take more than 2 hours 30 minutes.
And for me, it was taking around 5 hours! Sometimes 4 hours 30 minutes, and if it's very fast then 4 hours. Well I was never gonna wait 4 damn hours before going to my office and irritate myself, and I don't have the habit of charging overnight, unless I absolutely need it.
So I kept calling my retailer, asked for replacement, and they did, well, you won't believe, they replaced three times actually, so I had three different Note 2, with three different charger. Well, each of them acted absolutely fine at first 3-4 charge, then the problem was back again and again. I in fact turned off the device and put it into trash once.
Then I thought let's try some different USB cables, I tried my friend's Galaxy Ace cable. Charging current kept fluctuating between 1000-1200 mA. Which was better than those faulty stock cables, which provided steady 900 mA. Sometimes it even was detecting the AC current as USB, which would provide a mere 460 mA and would take God knows how long! Then I found my piece. I went to my retailer, frustrated and angry, asked them to give me the thickest and shortest possible cable, and they provide me one from a Samsung phone's box, but I can't recall which device was that! And then I sat there for half an hour, kept plugging and unplugging, and the current rate was rock steady at 1800 mA. I took it, paid just 10$ and came back.
Since then I have charged my phone almost 10 times and the current rate never went below 1800 mA / 1.8 A.
This is the cable I am using, do notice that it has 5 pin set up against stock cable's 4 pi, if that matters in any way, and it's about 10% thicker than the stock cable and also about 9" shorter.
And how will you monitor the charging current, three ways are there,
1- Battery Monitor (yet I don't know how to exactly use it)
2- If you are rooted (which is a must anyway), then just go to, /sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_avg
3- Use the app from the link below. It basically reads the current value just exactly as above but it saves the time to go into that file every time. A big thanks to Deadvirus.
Galaxy Charging Current application's apk can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36124435)?
Play Store link: (Paid)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...S5hYm1hbnRpcy5nYWxheHljaGFyZ2luZ2N1cnJlbnQiXQ..
Thanks to this post and it's poster for informing us about the current output reading path,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=33585646&postcount=31
The included cable charger that mine came with charges fast like that, I let it charge slow with standard USB port overnight, but the included charger nd included cable should achieve this. The cable is important.
kebabs said:
The included cable charger that mine came with charges fast like that, I let it charge slow with standard USB port overnight, but the included charger nd included cable should achieve this. The cable is important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, it's done within about 2 hours every time, from ~1%. Something definitely must have gone wrong with yours :s
R: [SOLUTION] Slow Charging!
You are amazingly right. Every charger/cable combo I test seems to deliver different currents, according to the app you posted, ranging from 600 to 1300 (mA?).
Didn't know that could happen. Now I am looking for the Holy Grail of chargers, too.
After some tests: original chargers of Note 2 and Tab provide 1800 mA; no-brand Chinese labeled 1500 gives 1400; one Nokia labeled 1200 gives 1300, another, labeled 1200, gives 1200. Puro brand, labeled 2100, gives 1100. Another Chinese, no-brand, labeled 2000, double usb, gives 1100 per socket. Other no-brand samples give 600 or 300 mA.
Enormous variability.
Think I'll use the 1800 mA Samsung for when I'm out, and the good Nokia's for overnight charging when home.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
And I ve been wondering why the heck original cable is too short. I thought samsung were just tight gits. Cable is mot even long enough to reach feom the wall to bed side table
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
no problem whatsoever with mine , charging from 1 to 100 % in about 2 - 2:10 hours
Thank you for nice explanation! Now it's much clearer.
For me...
Stock charger + stock short cable (0,9 m) = ~2+ hours
Stock charger + some other cable (1,8 m) = ~4+ hours
,don't know about thicknes. Mb stock cable is thicker, or at least harder to bend.
Sent from my GT-N7100
Thanks for the APK, I found a huge variance in charging rates based on a combination of chargers and cables. Goes to show that the cable makes a huge difference. Here's my findings:
** Stock Charger (2A):
w/Stock Cable (4-pin) - 1698
w/Cable from another phone (5-pin) - 1698
w/Cable from battery pack (5-pin)- 1698
w/generic eBay cable (4-pin)- 100! - It didn't charge at all, even with screen off.
** iPhone Charger (1A):
w/Stock Cable (4-pin) - 1300
w/Cable from another phone (5-pin) - 1100
w/Cable from battery pack (5-pin) - 1300
w/generic eBay cable (4-pin) - 100!
** Car Charger (1A):
w/another generic eBay cable - 490
(Was running Redpill kernel, not sure if that has fast charging built in which might affect results).
The app is really helpful. Been wondering what the charging current was on different chargers.
I measured it using the app based on current AVG and not current NOW. This is because I used a 800ma blackberry charger and yet current now shows 1698 which is impossible.
The app will tell you which cables and chargers are good. I was shocked that out of my 8 cables only 3 gave an average of more than 1000, the rest give around 800 or less.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Hi!
So, the AC adaptater mentionne 2A but it doesn't mean that your devuce consume 2A... It means that the AC adaptater can provide 2A under 5V.
If a load need to consume 500mA the adaptater can provide enough power. But if it needs more than 2A, the ouput current will be at the 2A max but your voltage will decrease (it means that you have a device problem!).
The only thing to do is to refer to the user manual of device.
One thing more, the USB protocole fix the maximun current to 1A!
An other thing, if you want to have a better battery life it recommended to charge your battery slowly. Just have the habit to charge it during the night.
See ya.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
I also got an lg very thick cable..which is also 5 pin and let me tell it charges REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY FAST..when seen in application posted in op(thanx) it shows 1800..but the problem is if I detach charging before battery full notification then the battery is consumed at very high rate..I.e battery life decreased or maybe shows fake battery percentage. .and if I go for full charge it takes half hour more after 100% to show battery full in notification. .
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
lucier said:
Hi!
So, the AC adaptater mentionne 2A but it doesn't mean that your devuce consume 2A... It means that the AC adaptater can provide 2A under 5V.
If a load need to consume 500mA the adaptater can provide enough power. But if it needs more than 2A, the ouput current will be at the 2A max but your voltage will decrease (it means that you have a device problem!).
The only thing to do is to refer to the user manual of device.
One thing more, the USB protocole fix the maximun current to 1A!
An other thing, if you want to have a better battery life it recommended to charge your battery slowly. Just have the habit to charge it during the night.
See ya.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the stock charger doesn't provide full 2A current.
And is it true that if the device is charged slowly the battery backup will be better? I mean that would be good then. I'll try that, thanks for informing.
sumeshd said:
I also got an lg very thick cable..which is also 5 pin and let me tell it charges REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY FAST..when seen in application posted in op(thanx) it shows 1800..but the problem is if I detach charging before battery full notification then the battery is consumed at very high rate..I.e battery life decreased or maybe shows fake battery percentage. .and if I go for full charge it takes half hour more after 100% to show battery full in notification. .
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my old cable, the damaged stock one, it'd take half an hour to reach 100% from 99. With this one it takes 5-6 mins.
This whole charging process is complicated that much I can say.
'Swyped' from my GT-N7100
Unfortunately I got a grey import so my stock charger was for a different country.
I'm having to use a 1.0A charger instead.
It still only takes a few hours to charge though. I sleep for 4-5 hours and it's always fully charged when I wake up.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Hmm is this a accurate way of measuring amp?
I was using same cord and the apk provided above, using the default 2amp charger says 1697 and using a bellkin in charger rated at 1amp,says the same thing?
Hmm
I am a bit confused, which of the following is my actual charging rate? The charge is really slow, around 15% per hour or so.
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
As I stated in the screenshot, you shouldn't look at current_now, it'll always be same, 1698, you should look at current_avg.
'Swyped' from my GT-N7100
Damn. That means it's time for me to get a new charger, isn't it?
Just switched to a very old 0.7 A output charger my father uses on his primitive samsung device. It gives better results than my stock charger/USB cable, provided by samsung. 800 mA on a 700 mA charger. How is that even possible?
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
SacGuru said:
I am a bit confused, which of the following is my actual charging rate? The charge is really slow, around 15% per hour or so.
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are using stock cable ?
yahyoh said:
are using stock cable ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I am. The stock charger says 2A, 5V. When used with the stock cable it charges at a mere 200-400 mA. I used the wall charger of an old samsung phone (doesn't have a usb cable, just a wall charger) and current rises to 800mA. Where can I buy a good USB cable at in the UK?
Sent from my GT-N7100.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
I have buy a new stock charger because I was thinking my stock one was dead (slow charging / usb mode)...
But in fact it's not my stock charger who is defected but it's just the cable!!!
Just try with another cable and it's OK (AC mode).
Thanks for the apk!
i have had the V20 for about 12 hours in which time it charged from about 50% to about 75% ... my Note would accomplish the same in about 15 minutes ... and yet the V20 is supposed to run the same type of quick charger on the same size battery ... something about this doesn't rub me the right way
yes i did use the phone and unplug it a few times etc but it still should have been much faster ...
it was connected using its own cable and charger BUT through a USB extension cord ... so then i thought maybe that's the problem - maybe i need a longer type C cable and to get rid of extension cord ... but i need to have an answer to that BEFORE buying new cables ...
so i plugged it in directly ( no extension ) and tried to see if it charges in correct mode ...
and here is where i face plant into a wall of excruciating stupidity ... every single app out there measures charging current, whereas what i really want to know is whether the charger is running at 5V standard voltage or using the quick charge 9V voltage ... amazingly there doesn't seem to be an app to show this - or is there ?
my galaxy note would simply say " adaptive quick charger connected " when plugged into quick charger but the V20 doesn't say anything like that.
accubattery app says my screen on charging rate is 760 ma and screen off is 1760 ma ... and the charger of course states 1.8 A so that's consistent ... but is that at 5V or at 9V ? the charger supports both - which one is it ?
this is killing me - so much stupidity. it shouldn't be that hard to figure out whether the phone is charging correctly or not.
anybody have an idea how i could find out whether the charger is actually stepping up to 9V without physically cutting the USB cable and using my multimeter ?
EDIT: i realized i have a kill-a-watt ( actually two of them ) and i can measure power draw from 120V outlet ... so i did that. the draw fluctuated from about 6 to 13 watt. now if we assume 90% efficiency on the charger then full power would have to draw 18 watt from outlet - clearly it never got close. on the other hand at 5V it should have maxed out at around 10 watt power draw, and it went quite a bit over that so it would seem to be using the 9V mode ...
at this point however i'm up to 90% battery and can't expect it to charge at full rate any more as some battery charging algorithms taper off above 80% or so ...
i tried with and without extension cord and noticed no difference ... also if i remember correctly my Note also charged fine over this same extension cord ... but i'm not sure
EDIT: played with turning off 2nd screen as well as shutting down device completely - this phone is crazy. power draw is all the place - at one point it went to ZERO and stayed there until i unplugged it and plugged it back in, then it would fluctuate between zero and 14 watts ...
you know back in the day i had LG Nitro HD and it had worst battery performance of any phone ever ... and this V20 seems to be living up to that legacy. WTF.
anyway, it seems the charger and the cable and extension are not to blame - it seems there is some kind of software weirdness that is resulting in very sporadic power draw ...
slow charging is one of the reasons i switched from iPhone back to Android - i expected this V20 to perform similarly ( blazing fast charging ) to the Note 4 i had before the iPhone 6S Plus ... but it's charging performance so far is almost identical to the iPhone - slow as a snail.
i already spent $80 on case and screen protector and i'm supposed to spend a bunch more on extra cables and memory card as well as sell my iPhone and at the same time i'm thinking - maybe i should just return it ? going to have to observe it for a while longer before making any decisions either way ... terrible.
The V20 is QC 3.0
The Note 5 is QC 2.0
The V20 will negotiate with a 3.0 charger to tell the charger what power it requires at that moment so power will fluctuate during charging.
this will show you which devices are 3.0 and 2.0
https://www.qualcomm.com/documents/quick-charge-device-list
Quick charging explained
http://www.androidauthority.com/quick-charge-3-0-explained-643053/
nest75068 said:
The V20 is QC 3.0
The Note 5 is QC 2.0
The V20 will negotiate with a 3.0 charger to tell the charger what power it requires at that moment so power will fluctuate during charging.
this will show you which devices are 3.0 and 2.0
https://www.qualcomm.com/documents/quick-charge-device-list
Quick charging explained
http://www.androidauthority.com/quick-charge-3-0-explained-643053/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah it fluctuates a lot. i gave up on apps and just using Kill-a-watt now which is a physical power meter you insert into 120V outlet. it shows power draw from charger, not output, but we can assume about 90% efficiency from input to output of charger.
i let the V20 drain to 40% overnight and restarted the test today. with the extension cord it went up to 16 watt draw from outlet and stayed there - charge quickly went up to 55% then i tried without the extension cord and now its only at 11 watts. this is with both screens off. so far my conclusion is that using an extension cord makes no difference but the level of charge on the phone does impact the charging speed. you need to drain the phone to measure full charging speed.
i will continue with my testing but i am somewhat relieved. 16 watts is close to spec, in fact the spec is 16 watt but on the OUTPUT side of charger, not input, so i'm withing about 10% of spec.
i'm also a lot less nervous buying charging cables now that i verified 16 watt charging over many years old USB 2.0 extension cord ...
EDIT: wow it went from 55% to 68% while i was typing this message ! this is very different from what i saw yesterday ... it was running at 11 watts while i was typing. looks like the phone charges fast as long as it is: 1) drained and 2) left alone. if the phone is almost full and you keep playing with it the level of charge barely changes.
EDIT: at 89% charge it's now down to just 4 watts power draw from outlet ... 25% of what it was pulling at 40% charge. so far it looks like it tapers charging speed off gradually with charge level - starts early and tapers it off to almost nothing as it nears full charge ... and all the while it fluctuates with processor and screen use and probably other factors such as temperature. maybe the reason it went to 16 watts when i plugged it in the morning is that the phone was cold from not being used all night and perhaps it now warmed up so the power got tapered.
maybe i'll stop testing it - it seems to be working correctly, just not the way i originally expected it to.
overall i'm disappointed with this phone but the only phone i would trade it for is Pixel XL 128 GB Very Black which is unavailable ... so i guess i will keep it.
the phone i'm most impressed with right now is ZTE Axon 7 i got for my mother - it is shockingly good - if it wasn't for FM radio, IR Blaster, Removable Battery, Laser Autofocus, Dual Camera, Dual Screen and Nougat i would even say the ZTE Axon 7 is BETTER than V20. the main problem with ZTE is it's just not expensive enough for my ego - otherwise it is great. the screen is is super sharp, vivid and punchy, the front facing speakers are loud and crisp and then there's the 2 year warranty. i'm jealous ...
but i will stick with V20 to protect my dignity. because let's face it - if i'm out on a date i want to have the latest, most technologically advanced and most expensive phone - not the cheapest phone, even if it is just as good or better. really happy with my decision to get Axon 7 for my mom though. she loves it as well.
The way QC works is that it will charge fastest from low power until around 70-80% and then slow down A LOT to help preserve the battery. That is why you saw a high wattage and then when you got into the 80's you saw a very low wattage.
QC is mainly for you to get 40-50% of battery power in a relative short amount of time when your battery is low.
I bought a little device that measures the voltage and current of the charge. And I'm using my own Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger.
When the screen is off or powered down, it charges at 9V/1.8A max. Resulting in about 16W of power. Which is pretty much what the supplied LG charger delivers.
When the screen is on, it charges at 5V/0.5A
My QC3.0 charger is capable of up to 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A, 18W of power. The V20 doesn't seem to draw that much power. And now I'm starting to doubt the V20 is truly a QC3.0 device.
BozQ said:
I bought a little device that measures the voltage and current of the charge. And I'm using my own Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger.
When the screen is off or powered down, it charges at 9V/1.8A max. Resulting in about 16W of power. Which is pretty much what the supplied LG charger delivers.
When the screen is on, it charges at 5V/0.5A
My QC3.0 charger is capable of up to 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A, 18W of power. The V20 doesn't seem to draw that much power. And now I'm starting to doubt the V20 is truly a QC3.0 device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll grab voltage/amp reader that I have at home and test my 3 QC 3.0 chargers I have (I'll drain phone to around 20% and then test them and see how it goes) - I'm going to test with the phone off so it pulls the max and see what it ends up with
I have this at work
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018RR30TK
I have this at home
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FCZACFA
And this in the car
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CCBGR1U
g1981c said:
yeah it fluctuates a lot. i gave up on apps and just using Kill-a-watt now which is a physical power meter you insert into 120V outlet. it shows power draw from charger, not output, but we can assume about 90% efficiency from input to output of charger.
i let the V20 drain to 40% overnight and restarted the test today. with the extension cord it went up to 16 watt draw from outlet and stayed there - charge quickly went up to 55% then i tried without the extension cord and now its only at 11 watts. this is with both screens off. so far my conclusion is that using an extension cord makes no difference but the level of charge on the phone does impact the charging speed. you need to drain the phone to measure full charging speed.
i will continue with my testing but i am somewhat relieved. 16 watts is close to spec, in fact the spec is 16 watt but on the OUTPUT side of charger, not input, so i'm withing about 10% of spec.
i'm also a lot less nervous buying charging cables now that i verified 16 watt charging over many years old USB 2.0 extension cord ...
EDIT: wow it went from 55% to 68% while i was typing this message ! this is very different from what i saw yesterday ... it was running at 11 watts while i was typing. looks like the phone charges fast as long as it is: 1) drained and 2) left alone. if the phone is almost full and you keep playing with it the level of charge barely changes.
EDIT: at 89% charge it's now down to just 4 watts power draw from outlet ... 25% of what it was pulling at 40% charge. so far it looks like it tapers charging speed off gradually with charge level - starts early and tapers it off to almost nothing as it nears full charge ... and all the while it fluctuates with processor and screen use and probably other factors such as temperature. maybe the reason it went to 16 watts when i plugged it in the morning is that the phone was cold from not being used all night and perhaps it now warmed up so the power got tapered.
maybe i'll stop testing it - it seems to be working correctly, just not the way i originally expected it to.
overall i'm disappointed with this phone but the only phone i would trade it for is Pixel XL 128 GB Very Black which is unavailable ... so i guess i will keep it.
the phone i'm most impressed with right now is ZTE Axon 7 i got for my mother - it is shockingly good - if it wasn't for FM radio, IR Blaster, Removable Battery, Laser Autofocus, Dual Camera, Dual Screen and Nougat i would even say the ZTE Axon 7 is BETTER than V20. the main problem with ZTE is it's just not expensive enough for my ego - otherwise it is great. the screen is is super sharp, vivid and punchy, the front facing speakers are loud and crisp and then there's the 2 year warranty. i'm jealous ...
but i will stick with V20 to protect my dignity. because let's face it - if i'm out on a date i want to have the latest, most technologically advanced and most expensive phone - not the cheapest phone, even if it is just as good or better. really happy with my decision to get Axon 7 for my mom though. she loves it as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just smh at this whole post. I want my 5 minutes back.
Thats weird, Im using my Note 7 charger on the V20 and it charge the phone completely in less that 2 hours. In my case I always drain my phone to 3% and leave it charging up to 100%. I will check again tonight to be sure.
TempezT said:
Thats weird, Im using my Note 7 charger on the V20 and it charge the phone completely in less that 2 hours. In my case I always drain my phone to 3% and leave it charging up to 100%. I will check again tonight to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't drain it that low all the time unless you plan on stocking up on batteries or don't mind depleting longevity of battery quicker than usual.
@rbiter said:
I wouldn't drain it that low all the time unless you plan on stocking up on batteries or don't mind depleting longevity of battery quicker than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile Jump on Demand ftw - I only have devices for 5-6 months tops and then get a new phone
Tested this one one when I got home.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FCZACFA
I was getting 9.2v @ 1.67A = 15w of power. This is the max that my USB multimeter can do so it would seem that this charger is good for QC 3.0 as it did fluctuate voltage as needed.
nest75068 said:
Tmobile Jump on Demand ftw - I only have devices for 5-6 months tops and then get a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is still wasteful use on a battery and giving the next guy a raw deal. But to each his own. I try and make everything last and more efficient so the next person feels like they are truly getting an almost lightly used phone. If I sell my note4, they're going to get a lightly used battery on top of the 3 extras, with fixed GPS and better reception and cleaned out USB port with no oxidization. Same with my HTC m8 though that was only used as daily driver for two weeks and then a DAP for trips and occasional home use. Definitely selling the m8. They are basically getting a lightly used phone and the battery should still have some good life coming out of it. And personally I think jump is overpriced leasing but I guess you can drive it like you stole it. I prefer handing down the best experience I can to the next person.
@rbiter said:
That is still wasteful use on a battery and giving the next guy a raw deal. But to each his own. I try and make everything last and more efficient so the next person feels like they are truly getting an almost lightly used phone. If I sell my note4, they're going to get a lightly used battery on top of the 3 extras, with fixed GPS and better reception and cleaned out USB port with no oxidization. Same with my HTC m8 though that was only used as daily driver for two weeks and then a DAP for trips and occasional home use. Definitely selling the m8. They are basically getting a lightly used phone and the battery should still have some good life coming out of it. And personally I think jump is overpriced leasing but I guess you can drive it like you stole it. I prefer handing down the best experience I can to the next person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My devices go back to tmobile which then go back for refurbishment. With the V20 it's easy for them to just replace the battery.
And you really think they do?
@rbiter said:
And you really think they do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who knows but tbh it's not my issue at that point.
nest75068 said:
I have this at work
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018RR30TK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tested this one at work. Phone was at 28% and I had been streaming Youtube for a good 2 hours before doing the test.
Ended up pulling 9.17v @ 1.68A = 15.40 watts (again maximum that my tester can do).
I'll be ordering a new tester that can handle up to 25A and testing again to see if I can pull the max 18watts of power that the QC 3.0 chargers says it can deliver
nest75068 said:
Just tested this one at work. Phone was at 28% and I had been streaming Youtube for a good 2 hours before doing the test.
Ended up pulling 9.17v @ 1.68A = 15.40 watts (again maximum that my tester can do).
I'll be ordering a new tester that can handle up to 25A and testing again to see if I can pull the max 18watts of power that the QC 3.0 chargers says it can deliver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean 25W charger?
Which charger is that? Do share, please.
BozQ said:
You mean 25W charger?
Which charger is that? Do share, please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's a USB Mutlimeter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J7236K2
It will support up to 30V testing and 5A (but there is no charger that I know of that can do that much lol)
nest75068 said:
No it's a USB Mutlimeter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J7236K2
It will support up to 30V testing and 5A (but there is no charger that I know of that can do that much lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see.
This looks like a good device.
There are time on my v10 where I'll plug it in and it will charge at a reduced rate so I have to unplug it and plug it back it and it changes to fast charge, that's just been my experience. This is using factory plug and adapter too.
So you might want to make sure the phone says "fast charging" and not "charging".
Sent from my LG-H901 using XDA-Developers mobile app