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Help does using a car charger drain your battery

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evans555

Newbie
On a road trip rght now from buffalo to dc will using a car charger with my evo ruin my battery life I know my old phone did
 
3 or 4 phones ago (that's something like 10 years) I had a phone where the battery didn't like to be plugged in all the time (like on a long car trip) - I think it just overheated. Current technology shouldn't have that problem, but just in put your hand on your phone every now and then, if it's getting very warm unplug it for a while.
 
To answer OP. Yes, maybe.

Just got back from Charleston. Way down, using navigation and Pandora, my battery level went down even though on car charger. Switched Pandora with stock music app and battery started to charge again.
 
sagedil said:
To answer OP. Yes, maybe.

Just got back from Charleston. Way down, using navigation and Pandora, my battery level went down even though on car charger. Switched Pandora with stock music app and battery started to charge again.
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That could also possibly mean your charger doesn't put enough juice to run both programs and still have enough to charge the device. What kind of charger were you using?
 
McBong said:
That could also possibly mean your charger doesn't put enough juice to run both programs and still have enough to charge the device. What kind of charger were you using?
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Or possibly a problem with the car's electrical system... partially blown fuse, not enough power output through the cig lighter... weak battery/alt...
 
Silly question but does our car charger put out 1,000 mAh? I had to upgrade the ones that I used with my prior phones as they were not powerful enough.
 
evans555 said:
On a road trip rght now from buffalo to dc will using a car charger with my evo ruin my battery life I know my old phone did
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charging after 100% the phone will begin to use the batttery even though plugged in. this will not negatively affect your batteries life. just means it will after unplugging, begin to seem to "drain" quickly as the battery registers this power use. it levels off in th 90% area. and will continue to charge to full when you use the charger normally.
 
IOWA said:
Or possibly a problem with the car's electrical system... partially blown fuse, not enough power output through the cig lighter... weak battery/alt...
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To answer this and one before. Charger bought from Sprint store. Electrical fixed for this reason, new battery, car has had about $1000 worth of workand is inpetfect condition

My guess? 3G radio plus navigation working full time just a huge power drain and even normal charger just can't keep up.
 
My ebay cheapy cable charges the phone like it's plugged into AC power. As a matter of fact the phone thinks it is plugged into AC power.
 
TambourineMan said:
Silly question but does our car charger put out 1,000 mAh? I had to upgrade the ones that I used with my prior phones as they were not powerful enough.
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This was a common issue with the palm pre's. Just make sure the output is at least 1 mAh.
 
edlex said:
Just make sure the output is at least 1 mAh.
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That is the one of the most confusing and/or ignorant statements I have ever seen.

mAh, or milliamp-hours... that's talking about capacity, not 'output'.

From that, I would then assume you meant to leave off the 'h' so that you would have a current (in mA)... in which case 1mA is pretty near nothing. I can get a 1mA current by sticking one end of a wire down my pants and farting. :D

So, what I believe you meant to say taking that into account, is to make sure the output is at least 1A... or 1000mA, like has already been stated in the thread?

I can use google nav and 3g... streaming pandora with the screen at full brightness and still charge the phone with my 700mA hardwired microusb charger (chopped up 700mA microusb car charger sloppily spliced into the cigarette power accessory feed).

Long story short, if you use a 1000mA charger, you shouldn't have problems unless your phone starts getting really hot (charging faster heats stuff up more), as the phone will stop allowing you to charge once it reaches a certain temp threshold. Also, unless you are charging at over 1500mA on the stock battery (greater than a 1C charging rate), you won't significantly reduce your battery's lifespan (# of charges until failure).
 
evans555 said:
On a road trip rght now from buffalo to dc will using a car charger with my evo ruin my battery life I know my old phone did
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In fact.. I plugged it in the car the other day, the charge indicator wasn't blinking. I checked the battery status and it said, "Draining" or "Discharging" - forget which.. think Discharging.

Seriously.. I unplugged it, plugged it back in, and it started charging.

On a side note, the car charger BB sold me when I bought the Evo, makes the battery rather hot.. hrm.. unsure of brand.

EDIT: But now I see you meant something else.. but I'm not lieing when I say it said that.. I was like "WTF?!?!?!" ... heh, was odd.
 
I'm taking a road trip from Maryland to Florida in a few weeks and plan to have the Sprint Hotspot running the whole time for the other passengers just for kicks. Hopefully my charger can keep up.
 
If you use a 1 amp (1000 mAmp) car charger it should keep up with the phone even if you're using GPS and Pandora. At least mine seems to.

And yes, the battery will get hot under those conditions. It gets hot when it's being discharged heavily, or charged rapidly. You're pumping a lot of electrons through something that has electrical resistance. That creates heat. Not much you can do about that.

And it makes no difference whether you use a car charger, or a USB adapter and cable. All that matters is the output the device is capable of. 1000 mA (1A) is 1000 mA.

JunBringer said:
I'm taking a road trip from Maryland to Florida in a few weeks and plan to have the Sprint Hotspot running the whole time for the other passengers just for kicks. Hopefully my charger can keep up.
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I think a 1A charger will keep up with hotspot usage. Not sure if it'll keep up with GPS, Pandora, and hotspot, if that's what you're planning.
 
Hello,

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

I did a test run from Greenville, SC to Statesville, NC about 150 miles.

I have the Igo charger (has been very useful from PPC-6700-PPC-6800-EVO)
"iGo" Car Charger at iGo, Inc.

I have the EVO on makeshift mount and had Qik running
newshades on Qik | 7 videos recorded with mobile phones

I had a few mishaps but for the most part everything ran fine. Till I got about 20 miles from my home the phone just shut off. I took it down from my makeshift mount and the kickstand was hot as hell. I took the cover and battery out and held it in the AC for a few minutes. Put the battery back in and proceeded to recharge the battery with out turning on the phone. I waited till green charge light came on.

I will try a round 2 test just have not had the time.
 
I use one of the "universal" phone mounts and clip it to the vents on my car. With the A/C blowing on the phone the whole time it keeps it nice and cold even while plugged in, GPS, 3G etc.
 
meyerweb said:
And it makes no difference whether you use a car charger, or a USB adapter and cable. All that matters is the output the device is capable of. 1000 mA (1A) is 1000 mA.


I think a 1A charger will keep up with hotspot usage. Not sure if it'll keep up with GPS, Pandora, and hotspot, if that's what you're planning.
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Anybody have the model name or a link to an EVO 1000 mA car charger?? I guess I could go searching the net but if anyone had a recommendation here in the Forums I would go for that first...

THANKS!!
 
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