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Sharing phone chargers

L

lb8

Newbie
We have several phones in the house, each with a charger consisting of USB-mini-to-standard-USB cable and separate wallplug. Are the wallplugs interchangeable? Output specs printed on the wall-plugs are not identical...

- Samsung Captivate: 0.7A
- HTC G2: 1.0A
- Motorola Cliq: 850mA
- Samsung Gravity: 500mA

But they're all in the same ballpark, from .5 to 1 A. Each phone can bypass the wall plug and connect straight to a computer's USB port so that implies they don't have unique charging requirements, right? Wrong? OK to use these chargers interchangeably on any phone?
 
I charge mine with my partners Blackberry charger or with the charger from my Harmony remote. Both seem to work fine. Those chargers with a lesser voltage output may take longer to give a full charge. I usually charge overnight, so it doesn't matter to me.
 
It's not voltage that is varying here, but current. The ones outputting less current will take longer to charge. If the current isn't sufficient, it might not be enough to charge the phone while it's being used, so this is the real caveat here. If the phone is off, any adapter should be able to charge the phone eventually given enough time.

There's no harm in using a charger that can handle more current than the stock charger, as the phone will only draw what it actually needs. Unlike voltage, which is a fixed amount "pushed" out by the charger. So when looking for alternative chargers, shoot for the highest current (amps) rating. I usually aim for 1A (1000mA) although I do have a 2A one (which quite possibly doesn't do any better than the 1A one... I need to rig up a meter to see how much my Captivate is actually drawing during charge).
 
sremick said:
If the current isn't sufficient, it might not be enough to charge the phone while it's being used, so this is the real caveat here. If the phone is off, any adapter should be able to charge the phone eventually given enough time.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm not that concerned about charge time... just want to be sure no damage is done to the phones... which you have indicated should not be an issue. But what is the relevance of the phone being turned off? Does that really matter? Does it affect charge time or anything else?
 
lb8 said:
Yes, I'm not that concerned about charge time... just want to be sure no damage is done to the phones... which you have indicated should not be an issue. But what is the relevance of the phone being turned off? Does that really matter? Does it affect charge time or anything else?
Click to expand...

Since the phone is not using any power while off, the battery charges faster. And since the phone is off, you won't be able to use it. That's about it.
 
lb8 said:
Yes, I'm not that concerned about charge time... just want to be sure no damage is done to the phones... which you have indicated should not be an issue. But what is the relevance of the phone being turned off? Does that really matter? Does it affect charge time or anything else?
Click to expand...

Besides what Lunatic said... it can also affect if the phone charges at all. If the current draw of the phone while powered on is more than the current able to be supplied by the charger being used, the phone will not charge and the battery will eventually die (at which point it'll power off, and then start charging from a powered-off state, which would succeed eventually).

If I ever feel like sacrificing a USB cable for the cause, I'll rig up something to measure how much current the Captivate actually needs over USB.
 
So basically, everybody's saying no harm done... just decide if you're happy with the charging rate. Thanks for all the info!
 
Very soon after I bought my Captivate, last August 2, (nearly a year ago) I have been charging with a third party charger purchased from Amazon. I have had excellent results with it.

It puts out 2 amps. Has 4 USB ports. Comes with a US 110V snap on plug and 3 other international snap on plugs. Cost about $18. I could provide a link if requested.
 
Does the third party charger you speak of charge significantly faster than the stock Captivate charger?

If so, it seems like that would be a pretty big deal. Not sure why Samsung wouldn't ship with the fastest charger possible.
 
I don't know about faster, because I plug it in when I go to sleep at night.

It does appear (from my experience last August 2010) to charge it more fully.
 
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