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Help Galaxy Ace: how to charge in car?

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pauld99

Newbie
I usually charge my Galaxy Ace by connecting it to a usb port on my computer. It works fine with any old micro usb lead. It will even charge connected to my laptop when the laptop is on battery only. However, it absolutely refuses to charge in the car when connected via the same usb lead to a usb adaptor in the car cigarette lighter socket.

I know the lead and adaptor are working as they will charge something else. I have just bought a new adaptor rated at 2 amps in case that was an issue (though that must be more current than my laptop battery can deliver) but still no joy.

Is there some special problem that I am aware of? It's as if the phone "knows" it's not connected to a computer because there is no usb data connection so it is refusing to accept the power input.

I really need to get this to work because I am about to go away and mostly won't have access to mains but need to be able to charge the phone. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Not really sure, since my Galaxy S charges fine from the lighter jack. Do you have a stereo with a USB port? Try from that.
 
the cigarette usb adaptor may not be strong enough to charge it, my droid eris couldnt be charged while i played a game on mine, however my droid x would be, made absolutely no sense to me, but it is possible, so take that into consideration when you purchase something that isnt from a store for that phone.
 
Thanks for suggestions but it still seems to me that there is more to it than just the power.

If I connect the phone as in original post it will not charge.

If I get a laptop with no battery and connect that to the car usb adaptor and connect the phone to the laptop, it charges.

There cannot be a current issue as the source is identical, just less direct. The only difference that I can see is that there is a data connection too.
 
thats why i think the port on the cell phone may be damaged, if you are not rooted, take it to your local store that you get your service from, and see what they can do about seeing if it will charge, its possible your device has a malfunctioned port, and you need to get it replaced
 
I have the exact same problem. The USB charger and cord will charge other cell phones, laptop etc. It will just not charge the Samsung Galaxy Ace. The same cord works fine plugged into my computer but cannot charge it in the car? It would seem to me if there were damage to the charging port it wouldn't charge by way of the computer either - same jack, same port, same cord works on computer won't work in car. I have used several different usb jacks in the car as well so it's not a faulty jack either. Getting extremely ticked. If you find an answer let me know!
 
have you tried plugging it into a wall adapter?

maybe the car isnt releasing enough power to charge the phone... wouldnt make sense but anything is possible. im curious about this whole situation, and i hope it gets worked out for you
 
I don't know about the original poster but my phone charges fine with the wall adapter. The car can charge my laptop, run dvd players and charge everyone's phone but the Samsung Galaxy Ace. My daughter's fiance also has one and it will not charge in the car either using the provided usb cable and various usb cigarette lighter adapters.

I'm with the original poster Pauld99 on this. I really need this to work it seems the only time the phone dies is when I'm out on the road and I will be going away soon.

I am curious to see if we are the only two this has happened to and if not what were the solutions for others? I don't want to spend anymore $$ on adapters & cables until I know something worked for someone else. I was thinking maybe one of those adapters that is the adapter and usb cable all in one? Or a power inverter and plug it in using the wall adapter? As I said I don't want to keep buying gadgets unless I know it's worked for someone else.
 
VoidedSaint said:
the cigarette usb adaptor may not be strong enough to charge it ...
Click to expand...

Yes, the phone needs a coded USB socket on the car charger for to know that it is able to charge properly.
A lot of phone manufacturer use as coding the jumpered data pins.

Without a coding a 2A charger will charge a phone just with up to 0.5A, not enough when powerfull apps like navigation running while charging.

If you have a Samsung phone you might buy a Samsung car charger for proper charging.

Harry
 
Thank you for that information, it makes sense that it should be something like that.

Do you know for a fact whether it is as simple as the data leads being jumpered? If so, it would be easy enough to rig something like that up.

I will probably get a proper manufacturer's lead though this is a less flexible option as it means having to have the right one with you rather than just any old usb lead.
 
pauld99 said:
... Do you know for a fact whether it is as simple as the data leads being jumpered? ...
Click to expand...

My own practical experience I have only with HTC phones :) HTC jumps the data pins.

But as I know Samsung has the same connector coding.
It is recommended by USB charger standards ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power
Look in chapter POWER the title Charging Ports ...

EDIT: Thinking about the quality of USB cables is also a good idea :)

Cheap USB cables have thin power wires of bad copper quality.
Longer cables of this kind won't charge a phone properly while running car navigation.

Harry
 
A few last words from me in case they help anyone else reading this thread in future:

Just for clarity: I have been trying to charge to phone in the car but not while running anything at all, using a good quality usb adaptor plugged into the cigarette lighter socket and a good quality data cable and there is not so much as a jot of recognition from the phone.

I had ordered a very cheap (about GBP 1.25 inc postage off ebay) phone charger before I got into all this but was trying to get the standard cable to work because it's more versatile. This morning, the charger from ebay arrived and presto, works a treat. It was so cheap I've ordered a couple more to spread around a little!

I'm sure the last poster was right but for this kind of money it's not worth my while mucking about trying to customise a lead.

Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to respond and good luck to anyone else trying to get it to work.
 
thnx for the info i just have a question, right now im using a blackberry wall charger, works great... do you know if a blackberry car charger work as well ??
 
I have been having a similar problem with the Rugby smart. My first one charged fine on the car charger (as does my wife's Galaxy Note), but I had to exchange it because of a microphone problem.

This one will not charge in a standard car charger. I took it back into the ATT store and it works fine on any of their chargers (all AC). It also charges on a comupter, so the ATT people insist there is nothing wrong with it (I get the 'its not an ATT car chager excuse).

My car has a 110VAC outlet as well, and if I plug the charger into that it will charge, as well as charge on my Kindle charger and Blackberry AC charger.

It probably has something to do with the way the phone identifies a power source (in AC chargers the data lines are shorted... typically in the charger itself... that's why any cable will work).

Probably I will consider cobbling up one of my cables to short the data lines... just because it's kind of silly to use 110v charging in the car when I have so many USB sources there.

The thing is I'd like to know if mine is defective or this is some specific design decision on Samsung's part. If it's actually a defect, I'd like to simply get it replaced.
 
I stumbled on to this matter too, lately. No problems with my Galaxy SII, no charging with my Galaxy Ace. I know the powersource is strong enough. I bought it to charge my iPad. The issue is due to data negotiating the available current. I use a car charger and a PowerMonkey Extreme. It did not occur to me that this might be a problem, so I was at a loss while having nothing but trees around me. Now I'm trying to solve this by reading around.

First I think it is a bit of a design flaw that this phone does no charging at all if it cannot communicate with the powersource. I think it should default to 500mA or just swallow whatever it can get if there is more available, in case of no communication.

I wonder if it's a is solvable with a firmware upgrade (my Ace is now up to date). If so, I hope for a update or a patch.

I'm willing to alter a USB cable if it is simple to do so, probably by shortcutting the data wires. I would like to know for certain if that's a solution and certainly like to know for certain that I will not kill any valuable hardware by doing so. I have not found anything on this matter yet.
But then, there might be some ready availabel cabling: I found this, a "Powertraveller Galaxy Tab Cable". Looks like a realy short USB extension cable. (Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links, yet, but some surging on the powertraveller site will do the trick.) There are probably several suppliers of such cables, but I have not found them yet. I might have such a cable delivered with my PowerMonkey. If so, I'll experiment in the near future and post my results.
 
Charging ports exist in two flavors: charging downstream ports (CDP), supporting data transfers as well, and dedicated charging ports (DCP), without data support. A portable device can recognize the type of USB port from the way the D+ and D- pins are connected. For example, on a dedicated charging port, the D+ and D- pins are shorted. With charging downstream ports, current passing through the thin ground wire may interfere with high-speed data signals. Therefore, current draw may not exceed 900 mA during high-speed data transfer. A dedicated charge port may have a rated current between 0.5 and 1.5 A. There is no upper limit for the rated current of a charging downstream port, as long as the connector can handle the current (standard USB 2.0 A-connectors are rated at 1.5 A).

or look http://www.xda-developers.com/android/hardware-mod-boosts-generic-adapter-charging-speed-on-samsung-devices/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+xda-developers%2FShsH+%28xda-developers%29&utm_content=Google+Reader


is better .. betwen the pin 2 and pin 3 insert 5k6 resistor....cell phone is charged and will not be problems with short circuits
 
My S2 charges fine off a cable and cheap eBay cigar/USB adaptor off of a 12v (upto 12.8v) battery (rigged for camping)...put the same combination in the outlet in the car without the engine running is fine also (12.3v)....start the car :driver:(14.8v) and the phone crashes :mad: and needs the phone battery removal and refit to get booted again.:thumbup:

My guess is the dedicated car chargers are the way to go.....they must have some voltage regulation to control the 14.8v that the car alternator throws out.

Cheers:D
 
pauld99 said:
A few last words from me in case they help anyone else reading this thread in future:

Just for clarity: I have been trying to charge to phone in the car but not while running anything at all, using a good quality usb adaptor plugged into the cigarette lighter socket and a good quality data cable and there is not so much as a jot of recognition from the phone.

I had ordered a very cheap (about GBP 1.25 inc postage off ebay) phone charger before I got into all this but was trying to get the standard cable to work because it's more versatile. This morning, the charger from ebay arrived and presto, works a treat. It was so cheap I've ordered a couple more to spread around a little!

Could you let us Samsung Galaxy Ace sufferers know which charger you bought?
Click to expand...
 
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