Charger compatibility

[Guest Motorola veteran user]

Hello,

I have got an SPN5189A charger for V3, and in the store they told me I can connect it to my MPX200,

since it also has 5 Volts mini USB, same as the original charger for MPX200 - SPN 5142A,

but Motorola support says (and very quickly) that the chargers are not interchangeable,

so does anybody know what chargers are compatible, since there are no more SPN 5142A in my country, it seems?

I've read AWarners warnings about blowing internal fuse, and his "Stripping Motorola" guide,

although brilliant is not encouraging for me to follow...

[Guest m1.carson]

Hi,

Easy answer, let the store try to charge it if they're so sure, if it blows the fuse, then they have to fix it they broke it !

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

As long as it is a 5 pin mini USB then it will be fine as it's an industry standard device.

There are a few varients of plug around but the are only different in the pin numbers and not the way they are wired.

I do not use a moto usb lead and never have as I prefer to use retracatable USB sync and charge lead.

It's one lead to charge all my devices and they can be picked up on ebay etc cheaply.

[Guest Motorola veteran user]

Thank you for your replies,

I like the idea of trying it in the store, they would be obliged to repair it, but then I would remain without the phone possibly, and wait for a repair, and I like the phone, my MPX200 is performing flawlessly...

Awarner, your answers and articles are always wonderful to read, but I think there is a strange thing here:

SPN5189A charger for V3 is phisically same as SPN 5142A, same case, same 5Volts mini USB,

the only difference being that it is rated 550mA instead of 450mA of the original (SPN 5142A).

And my friend tells me he has blown his MPX200 charging it few minutes with a V3 car charger, also 5 Volts mini USB.

Is it possible that the phone pulls as much current as the charger can deliver, and that way blows the 500mA fuse?

I cannot quite understand this, since the phone should regulate how much current it is taking, but there is this experience of my friend, and Motorola support also advises not to use V3 chargers with MPX200...

[Guest threevok]

Thank you for your replies,

I like the idea of trying it in the store, they would be obliged to repair it, but then I would remain without the phone possibly, and wait for a repair, and I like the phone, my MPX200 is performing flawlessly...

Awarner, your answers and articles are always wonderful to read, but I think there is a strange thing here:

SPN5189A charger for V3 is phisically same as SPN 5142A, same case, same 5Volts mini USB,

the only difference being that it is rated 550mA instead of 450mA of the original (SPN 5142A).

And my friend tells me he has blown his MPX200 charging it few minutes with a V3 car charger, also 5 Volts mini USB.

Is it possible that the phone pulls as much current as the charger can deliver, and that way blows the 500mA fuse?

I cannot quite understand this, since the phone should regulate how much current it is taking, but there is this experience of my friend, and Motorola support also advises not to use V3 chargers with MPX200...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think yes. At least that is the nature of batteries. I understand that lithium batteries have some electronics that aid in a proper charging cycle, but your theory would explain a lot of blown charging fuses. I ordered an aftermarket desktop charger so I can take the battery out of my phone to charge via a non-OEM car charger if necessary.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

It could be possible that the V3 charger is of poor quality and the output voltage is not regulated as well as it could be, this can cause problems.

The internal fuse is 0.5A but the actual charger showing a rating of 550mA is only what it is capable of delivering rather than what it will pump out.

This could lead to another possibility where the MPX200 battery is in itself poorly designed (on a similar line to the suggestion above) and allowing it to draw more current than the internal fuse of the MPX200 can handle. This would then mean that the 450mA charger would be regulating the battery preventing it from blowing the fuse.

Regarding the battery for a minute, if the battery is of a low quality and is prone to breaking down this will also cause power problems.

On this note pc usb ports are around 500mA output which can only confuse matters more.

If there is a record of this particular charger causing problems I would look elsewhere and err on the side of caution.

Now I'm more interested than ever all I need is a couple of duff MPX200 and a few different chargers to play with to see what results I can come up with. ;)

[Guest m1.carson]

It could be possible that the V3 charger is of poor quality and the output voltage is not regulated as well as it could be, this can cause problems.

The internal fuse is 0.5A but the actual charger showing a rating of 550mA is only what it is capable of delivering rather than what it will pump out.

This could lead to another possibility where the MPX200 battery is in itself poorly designed (on a similar line to the suggestion above) and allowing it to draw more current than the internal fuse of the MPX200 can handle. This would then mean that the 450mA charger would be regulating the battery preventing it from blowing the fuse.

Regarding the battery for a minute, if the battery is of a low quality and is prone to breaking down this will also cause power problems.

On this note pc usb ports are around 500mA output which can only confuse matters more.

If there is a record of this particular charger causing problems I would look elsewhere and err on the side of caution.

Now I'm more interested than ever all I need is a couple of duff MPX200 and a few different chargers to play with to see what results I can come up with. ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi awarner, see christoc's post 12th October, looks like he's got two duff 200's, thats dev. spec> mpx200

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

All depends if he would be willing to donate them ;)

[Guest Motorola veteran user]

Nice interesting comments on my question, thanks...

Now I found the following warning on several sites selling the V3 car charger:

"NOTE: This VC700/ SYN0847/ 98603 Battery Charger is NOT to be used with MPx200. It has a higher output of voltage that will damage your MPx200 phone, so do not try."

Since it is a mini USB car charger, 5 Volts presumably. some other thing must be different,not voltage - maybe they charge with impulse DC, or something like that what is differrent? Or is it really the first hypothesis - that a stronger charger gives more than 500mA, and the phone does not regulate it, but takes it all when battery is empty...

it is really strange that every mini USB 5 Volts charger does not fit a mini USB phone...

if Awarner gets two phones he mentions, we will know the truth then, I guess... :)