[Q] Nexus 7 short circut damage help, please. - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So, I apparently did something very stupid with my new Nexus 7.
I have a few 1 TB external hard drives, which don't get enough power via an OTG adapter from the Nexus 7 to run. So, I purchased a two into one cable -- that is, a cable that combines two male USB A plugs into one Micro USB B plug so that a USB 3.0 hard drive can use two USB 2.0 ports to have enough power. I had planned to use this to enable use of the hard drives with the Nexus 7 while traveling by plugging one cable in the tablet and the other into a charger.
When I got the cable I tested it by plugging one of the USB A plugs into my Nexus 7, and then I plugged the other into my computer's USB port. The Nexus 7 promptly shut down, the computer complained of a power surge on the USB port, and a distinct smell of melted plastic came from the computer's USB port. I guess the combining cable didn't combine so much as it just acted like a double headed male A USB cable and shorted things out?
The Nexus 7 refused to restart afterwards until I it plugged it into its charger. It works now, mostly. However, if its battery charge is above about eighty-seven percent then it always reports that it is charging, regardless if it is plugged in or not. And if I plug it into a computer while it is reporting that it is charging I have to restart the tablet to get it to connect to the computer -- I guess it thinks it is connected to a charger and doesn't bother checking for a data connection unless restarted.
The level where it stops thinking it's charging varies somewhat -- I've had it still claim to be charging all the way down to eighty-two percent charge, and by repeatedly opening the battery app over and over again I have been able to get it to notice that it's really not charging all the way up to ninety-one percent, but no higher, and I have to open and close the battery app an increasing number of times for every percent that it goes up over eighty-seven before it will notice it's not charging.
Any idea what kind of damage I'm looking at? How to fix it? Whether I can get the warranty people to fix it free of charge? If yes, whether they will send me a new one or just fix the one I have? Whether it's worth getting fixed since it mostly still works, and doesn't really bother me as long as it doesn't get worse?

Nothing?
Nothing from anyone?

Try replacing the internal USB plug? About $25. Easy to do your self.

Related

Custom charger?

I recently bought a custom 2 amp charger after the stock one died. Anyways, whenever I plug it in, I noticed that it would ask me whether I wanted to access the USB storage. Apps that need the SD card similarly, would terminate (ex: music).
Is there any way to solve this and to make the phone realize that this is a power outlet charger and not a USB charger? I think that the Epic drew about 650 milliamps or so charging and much smaller over PC (I think about 350 to 400 ish IIRC). It seems to currently only be charging at PC USB speeds as well and not the same rate as the stock charger.
Thanks in advance.
There's a way for the phone to tell if it's connected to a PC or AC adapter depending on a resistor shorting out two pins. Make sure you don't have anything other than the +5V and Ground connected.
I had the same thing happen with a car charger. Bridging / shorting the data pins causes the Epic to see the charger as a regular charger, and not usb for data or charging. This can also be done in the cable, itself, however, then you have the problem of having to cut part of your USB cable and re-tape or heat-shrink tube it.
There's a couple threads discussing similar problems/solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=908363
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=709226

Charging issue

Hello everyone. I just want to start off saying that this is NOT a question about USB charging. I know about the trickle charge/lack of voltage stipulations. This is about the factory A/C adapter and USB cord I got with my transformer.
About 80% of the time I plug in my tablet to the A/C adapter, literally nothing happens. The screen doesn't turn on while in sleep mode like normal, the battery in the bottom corner doesn't change to a little lightning bolt, and most disturbingly, my tablet will not charge. The weirdest part is that it connects to the computer through USB no problem. I can move files and such, but no charging. Any ideas?
the charger construction is marginal at best and may need to be wiggled to get a good connection. also the usb connector an be plugged into the charger incorrectly. remember the usb connectot on the supplied cord does not comply s
with the usb spec. Also chev
ch the country ac side adapter ther are also unreliable
My cable went screwy and now it only trickle charges, regardless of what it's plugged into. I've got an RMA for it, but since I have to send them the cable to get a replacement, I'll have a paperweight for a few days at least.
Are you sure yours isn't trickle charging? There wouldn't be a lightning bolt, but I does charge.....very slowly.
Unplug the AC adapter from the wall for about 20 minutes. Plug it back in. Plug in TF.
Charging now?
unplugging it for a while seems to work better than anything. I'm pretty sure there isn't any trickling going on.
You can also try using the charger for your phone if the plug is a USB type. There have been a lot of problems with these charges documented in other threads.
Unplugging it definitely isn't a solution for me. When it first started happening I could do that and after a little while it would start working properly again, but now, it has charged at normal rates in about 3 weeks. I'm going to send it in with the RMA, but I have no idea what the turn-around time is. I'm going to be without any way to charge for that time, which pisses me off just a little bit.

Charging Port Problem?

I'm looking to see if this is normal behavior, bad cables, or a bad phone. When using aftermarket charging cables (c to c or c to a) the charging speed fluctuates from down to 40mA all the way up to 3300mA. Its less pronounced with the OEM charging cable.
What got me thinking this was an issue is I cant get data to transfer from my 6P to my PC without getting errors. So far I've been thinking its my PC problem and I dont really give a hoot but now Im starting to wonder if its an issue with the port.
Using some Amazon cables the phone will mount and dismount constantly. Using the OEM "developer" cable that came with the phone I dont have that issue but I cant move anything over USB to my PC. I get constant transfer errors.
Do I get a replacement or is the charging issue at least normal? I dont seem to have issues charging as I wake up to a fully charged phone every morning (and hot damn my phone lasts a day and a half of moderate usage.)
bad cable most likely, i bought a usb c (C-to-A) from aliexpress that was non usb c standard compliant. charging was slow but i didn't noticed any worrying fluctuations. data transfer from is always disconnection and reconnecting every half a second, although when flashing in fastboot showed no problems. as long as it's not the usb c to a cable that fluctuates to 3300 mAh and you're only gonna use the cable for charging, it should be okay to use it for a while, although i would recommend getting a usb c standard compliant cable at your earliest convenience.
I got my new cable (usb c to a) from ebay made by baseus and best third party cable i've used so far

Weird charging issue...

Hand my Nexus 6P three days now. Everything has been fine until this after noon.
Came home and put it on it's stock charger took it off a few hours later and noticed it was at 78%. I put it back on the charger and say it was not taking a charge. Here is where it get strange. The phone will charge off other chargers and the Nexus Charger will charge my LG G5 but the Nexus xharger and the Nexus will not work together.
Don't know if this matters, but I have noticed that the USB-C port of the Nexus 6P is a bit tighter than that of the G5.Don't think that should effect anything, but thought I'd mention it.
As i just got it I'm considering taking it back to Best Buy, but it's the 128gb model and I'd have to wait for a replacement.
Any ideas or should I just exchange it.
OK, this is a new one...
I rebooted the device and it seem to be charging with the stock charger again.
I'll have to keep my eye on this.
In the past I've noticed charging issues (on the 6p or previous android devices) can be caused by a dirty usb port (sometimes it's even caused my phone to restart over and over). I *carefully* used a bent paperclip and a *small* piece of cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol (I used ripped the end of a toothpick) to clean out the port. I got a decent amount of gunk out of it. (Caution though, I've also broken several ports and had to send for an asurion replacements when I wasn't extremely careful while pressing down on the middle tab/contacts of the usb port.)
EvanVanVan said:
In the past I've noticed charging issues (on the 6p or previous android devices) can be caused by a dirty usb port (sometimes it's even caused my phone to restart over and over). I *carefully* used a bent paperclip and a *small* piece of cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol (I used ripped the end of a toothpick) to clean out the port. I got a decent amount of gunk out of it. (Caution though, I've also broken several ports and had to send for an asurion replacements when I wasn't extremely careful while pressing down on the middle tab/contacts of the usb port.)
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Hummm.... I might just use compressed air every so often to try and keep things out of the USB port. Don't wanna be sticking things in there that might break it.
But the phone is just a few days old so I don't thin that was my issue.
I have a new Nexus 6P, and mine seems very finicky when charging over USB using a Benson Leong approved Type C-to-A connector. In fact, I end up losing a charge quite rapidly sometimes, as if my Nexus is trying to charge my desktop computer (i.e. "power supply" mode), even though it's in USB charge mode. However, it will work fine on a wall charger. I try to avoid wall chargers since it's hard to beat computer power - I mean the wall charger isn't a 650W 80+ Platinum PSU with all the fancy safeties and ripple suppression. Any idea what it could be? I think it might be a software bug.
jerm1027 said:
I have a new Nexus 6P, and mine seems very finicky when charging over USB using a Benson Leong approved Type C-to-A connector. In fact, I end up losing a charge quite rapidly sometimes, as if my Nexus is trying to charge my desktop computer (i.e. "power supply" mode), even though it's in USB charge mode. However, it will work fine on a wall charger. I try to avoid wall chargers since it's hard to beat computer power - I mean the wall charger isn't a 650W 80+ Platinum PSU with all the fancy safeties and ripple suppression. Any idea what it could be? I think it might be a software bug.
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Click to collapse
First, just use the wall charger.
"I try to avoid wall chargers since it's hard to beat computer power - I mean the wall charger isn't a 650W 80+ Platinum PSU"
you are very wrong with that statement!
Depending on the trype of USB you computer has it will only supply a fraction of the power your charger will. USB 2.0 will max out at 500mA (.5A) USB 3.0 will max out at about 900mA. Many of the ports on you PC will supply even less power, usually one one port will actually supply the the full power of the USB standard. The PSU on you computer has nothing to do with it.
It is generally recognized that that using a computer to charge you phone is very slow and only if you have no other option, and even then you have to plug it into the main port to make sure it has enough power to charge (slowly) you device. Unless you lucky enough to have a new computer with USB 3.1 type-C that can deliver up to 3A, stay away from charging from you computer.
I just tested on four on my computers USB ports on my computer and only one gave me a little over 1A and that almost 1/3 of what the Nexus wall charger can do.
RojasTKD said:
OK, this is a new one...
I rebooted the device and it seem to be charging with the stock charger again.
I'll have to keep my eye on this.
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Click to collapse
My 6p did this after I used a cheap usb a-c cable off eBay to charge my device in the car, after a reboot and a replacement a-c cable (belkin this time) I've never had issues again. Like you I only had issue with the original nexus charger when I went to use it at night, other chargers were fine, and a reboot did solve the issue.
RojasTKD said:
First, just use the wall charger.
"I try to avoid wall chargers since it's hard to beat computer power - I mean the wall charger isn't a 650W 80+ Platinum PSU"
you are very wrong with that statement!
Depending on the trype of USB you computer has it will only supply a fraction of the power your charger will. USB 2.0 will max out at 500mA (.5A) USB 3.0 will max out at about 900mA. Many of the ports on you PC will supply even less power, usually one one port will actually supply the the full power of the USB standard. The PSU on you computer has nothing to do with it.
It is generally recognized that that using a computer to charge you phone is very slow and only if you have no other option, and even then you have to plug it into the main port to make sure it has enough power to charge (slowly) you device. Unless you lucky enough to have a new computer with USB 3.1 type-C that can deliver up to 3A, stay away from charging from you computer.
I just tested on four on my computers USB ports on my computer and only one gave me a little over 1A and that almost 1/3 of what the Nexus wall charger can do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're very wrong in your interpenetration of my statement. The low amperage is precisely what I want. If I'm in a hurry, I'll use the rapid wall charger, otherwise I charge my phone overnight; it's habbit and convieniet for me since I have a small room and sleep next to my computer. The slower charge puts less wear on battery and it doesn't trickle as long either. There is also a redundancy of protections - the surge and overvoltage protection of the motherboard, from the PSU itself (including ripple/noise suppression) and then there is the surge protector the computer itself is plugged into - there isn't any safer or cleaner power in the house for charging my phone.

Nexus 7 wiring??

Hello all,
First thread here and hoping you guys and girls with more experience can help.
Basically I am fitting my nexus 7 2012 in my car but its got the common charging problem where my battery drains faster than I can charge it.
I have ordered a new USB port strip as I've read that can fix it and fingers crossed with that.
My problem/requirement:
1. I want to charge the tablet via the usb port using a hardwired 5V 2A device this will be plugged into a otg y splitter which is then plugged into the tablet.
2. The USB A side of the splitter I want to connect to my cars ECU (it has a USB port) so I can read the data on that (basically a very expensive memory stick)
I wanted to confirm that this would work and id be able to read data at the same time as charging it.
I also wanted to double check I'm not somehow going to send my 5v 2a power down into my ECU and set it on fire
On a side note, if my new USB port replacement doesn't solve the issue of charging the tablet i will have to remove the battery and hardwire it in, will i still be ok with using the USB port for the ecu while charging hardwired with no battery?
Kind Regards
Tim
Getting any USB 2.0 device to take current while hosting is tricky.
Usually it involves talking directly to the PMIC (power management IC).
If it's a fixed installation, why not remove the battery?
It will avoid the grief of the battery swelling up, which is not too unusual for things plugged in all the time.
I've been using a Nexus 7 (2013) for a few years, but just charging on USB.
It started falling out of its nice holder.
That's when I realized that the battery was all puffed up making the back convex.
I cut off the battery cell itself on the metal tabs and soldered in wires to a 4 V 2 A supply.
I found out that the BMS is a bit balky, it refused to turn on.
So I connected it to USB to "charge" it for about 10 seconds.
Then I could turn it on (without the USB).
Ok, I could have bypassed the BMS entirely but that can be a whole 'nother can of worms too.

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