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Anyone else going through this? Car Charger

M

mjgravina

Newbie
Long story short. Got a generic charger in my car, which I use when I mount the phone there. (I figured that for GPS use, plus max brightness, I need full juice).

The charger works, however the battery drains much faster than the AC can load it. For instance, I started a phone conversation (GPS off, nothing really special) and charger marking "recharging battery", but I started with 17% in the battery, and about 30 mins later, it was down to 8% and eventually shut down.

So you know, when I plug the phone (4 weeks old) on the wall, it charges properly. However, while on the wall, I never use the GPS, full Brightness, etc.

Question is two part:

1- Will a better AC charger fix the problem?
2- Are you folks able to use most of the phone features at once, and the AC charger maintain the phone charge? (Or using GPS, full brightness, will still drain the battery faster than the charger can refill it?)

Thanks!!
 
Sorry that I am not much help as I don't use my phone in the car the way you do. It's a Samsung Fascinate and I plug it up every time I'm in the car, and I have noticed that it does charge slower. Since I don't use it in the car, I haven't noticed it losing power while on the charger before, but I could see it happen on mine if I was to use it as a GPS with full brightness.
I would guess that the majority, if not all car chargers are like this. Maybe your car is older and not used to supplying juice to a high performance phone but instead one of those brick phones? hehe :D
 
I have a Motorola Atrix. I use my phone as a GPS in the car. (Using Google Maps Navigation.) I use the stock wall charger with an 140 watt AC converter. My screen brightness is usually at 0% but no higher then 20% brightness on a sunny day. I have noticed that when my phone heats up to over 110 degrees, it will slowdown charging. (I've noticed this even when streaming a 2 hrs movie at my desk.) In both circumstances’, the heat of the phone was over 110 degrees. Perfect example, me and my wife took a 4 hrs trip and I was using GPS and bluetooth. (I started on a fully charged battery.) I had the AC on and blowing on the back of the phone.) My phone stayed fully charged, until I turned the AC off.
 
Li-Ion batteries shouldn't charged with temperatures over 60C/140F.
So the phone stops charging before its battery's temperature reachs this limit (@itsallgood, your phone decides at 110F ;) ).

But to speak in cases without this temperature problem (my phone is mounted in front of the car's air vent ;) ):
In my experience a proper phone charging in a car - with GPS and other apps running - is possible.

But to be sure you have use the orignal accessories of the phone's brand.
This means the original car charger or - like itsallgood - the original wall charger with a DC-AC converter.

Harry
 
look for a 1ish Amp car charger. I had a cheap generic one that would drain faster than it charged. Switched over to a 1A charger and I think its on par, maybe even faster than a wall cherger.

BTW, what do you mean AC charger for the car? Cars run on DC.
 
mjgravina said:
Long story short. Got a generic charger in my car, which I use when I mount the phone there. (I figured that for GPS use, plus max brightness, I need full juice).

The charger works, however the battery drains much faster than the AC can load it. For instance, I started a phone conversation (GPS off, nothing really special) and charger marking "recharging battery", but I started with 17% in the battery, and about 30 mins later, it was down to 8% and eventually shut down.

So you know, when I plug the phone (4 weeks old) on the wall, it charges properly. However, while on the wall, I never use the GPS, full Brightness, etc.

Question is two part:

1- Will a better AC charger fix the problem?
2- Are you folks able to use most of the phone features at once, and the AC charger maintain the phone charge? (Or using GPS, full brightness, will still drain the battery faster than the charger can refill it?)

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with my Infuse. And i have the appropriate windshield adapter with charger made for this phone and the charging system can not keep up while the phone is being used. Battery meter always ends up in the red zone. Thanks for posting this thread because i was kind of curious if others had this problem as well. I guess when the charger was designed the people that designed the charger didnt have it in mind that some people would be using the phone while its charging? :confused:
 
VivaLaDroid said:
I have the same problem with my Infuse. And i have the appropriate windshield adapter with charger made for this phone and the charging system can not keep up while the phone is being used. Battery meter always ends up in the red zone. Thanks for posting this thread because i was kind of curious if others had this problem as well. I guess when the charger was designed the people that designed the charger didnt have it in mind that some people would be using the phone while its charging? :confused:
Click to expand...

Mount your phone in front of the car's air vent (with a Brodit mount).
Then your phone will proper charged with a few apps running ... if your car charger is purchased from Samsung ;)

Harry
 
Harry2 said:
Mount your phone in front of the car's air vent (with a Brodit mount).
Then your phone will proper charged with a few apps running ... if your car charger is purchased from Samsung ;)

Harry
Click to expand...


The design of my dashboard it would never fit on the vent as the vent is against the stereo console which extends roughly 2 inches out from the rest of the dash.
Anyway, i've never been fond of mounting anything on vents as the holders are clumsy and it does not allow you to move the vents in specific directions. Also the infuse has a 4.5 inch screen....big phone .....will probably block most of the air coming out of it and not even reach me :(

Ok, im going to work now,,, i have my usb charger in hand and am going to plug it into my power inverter and see how that works.... i'll be back later this evening to let you guys know how that worked out for me.
 
VivaLaDroid said:
The design of my dashboard it would never fit on the vent as the vent is against the stereo console which extends roughly 2 inches out from the rest of the dash.
Anyway, i've never been fond of mounting anything on vents as the holders are clumsy and it does not allow you to move the vents in specific directions. Also the infuse has a 4.5 inch screen....big phone .....will probably block most of the air coming out of it and not even reach me :(

Ok, im going to work now,,, i have my usb charger in hand and am going to plug it into my power inverter and see how that works.... i'll be back later this evening to let you guys know how that worked out for me.
Click to expand...

I wish that you'll have luck with your project :)

But if you want to change the phone's place in your car ;)
The Brodit system consists of two components, induvidual holder for the phone model and induvidual mount for the car model.

Device Holders and Dashboard Vehicle Mounts
 
Sorry it took me a while to post again, was in between computers.
I finally went to Best Buy, and invested $40 in a nice brand car charger (Yes, DC, as pointed up there, somehow I got confused into calling it an AC adapter, which is really the term for a wall plug mount).

So far, the results I am experiencing are mixed.

Should I expect the phone to be better than a dedicated GPS navigator? No. However, I did sell my little garmin unit, so that I could have the android mount instead, and use GPS with my phone. While I usually keep the screen brightness to its minimum (not even automatic), in the car I need it to be maxed out.
Usually I only have GPS, Sync, and sometimes WiFi activated from the power strip.

Long Story short, I have been trying the new charger, and while the phone seems to be reacting much better to the charging times, there were two 30min opportunities where I was using the phone to navigate (car charger plugged and working), and after getting home and checking, the battery levels had still gone down (not dramatically, but noticeable).

I can accept the phone as it is, and use the navigation sparingly. My original question is, is it happening to all of you as well. And then -if so- is it the norm? Is it a known issue that the phone can actually drain power faster than a charger can replenish it?

Details will probably enter the discussion. Windshield mounts, battery temperatures that hinder charge and drains power faster than usual, etc.

My two cents from a week or so of reading these posts and trying things on my own. Thanks so much for posting, and please let's keep trying to figure this one out!!

(A test I figured would help to run, is to run the Car Navigator and Map, Max Brightness, next time a trip is required about 40-60 mins away. Then check the batt temperature, and the charge graphs. Does the battery stay level? does it drain despite the charger? how quickly does it drain?).

Sadly, I haven't had a chance to drive too far yet. Soon enough :)
 
Had something ... like that happen with me. I was using the charger cord unhooked in my iphone(usb port)in my car. What happened,it wasn't charging. Call moto customer service.,they sent me a new charger cord that plugs into the cig. lighter port. Charges great now.

Hope it helps dude ;)
 
mjgravina said:
Long story short. Got a generic charger in my car, which I use when I mount the phone there. (I figured that for GPS use, plus max brightness, I need full juice).

The charger works, however the battery drains much faster than the AC can load it. For instance, I started a phone conversation (GPS off, nothing really special) and charger marking "recharging battery", but I started with 17% in the battery, and about 30 mins later, it was down to 8% and eventually shut down.

So you know, when I plug the phone (4 weeks old) on the wall, it charges properly. However, while on the wall, I never use the GPS, full Brightness, etc.

Question is two part:

1- Will a better AC charger fix the problem?
2- Are you folks able to use most of the phone features at once, and the AC charger maintain the phone charge? (Or using GPS, full brightness, will still drain the battery faster than the charger can refill it?)

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I have had this problem in the past with car chargers. Best bet is to use a usb outlet if you have one in your car. If not then buy a usb adapter that plugs into the lighter and hook up your phone through that outlet. Good luck.
 
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