Guest ZTE Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) Hi folk's, I've just been trying my Blade in the car with Google Navigation. I had GPS and data enabled. I'm using a Belkin mini USB charger which is rated at 1 amp, so should give a good charge current. What I found over a 20 mile trip was that the phone hardly charged up at all. The battery level didn't go down, but it didn't go up much either! Only about 2 or 3%. Is this normal? Cheers. :D Edited January 12, 2011 by ZTE
Guest Ash_P Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Hi folk's, I've just been trying my Blade in the car with Google Navigation. I had GPS and data enabled. I'm using a Belkin mini USB charger which is rated at 1 amp, so should give a good charge current. What I found over a 20 mile trip was that the phone hardly charged up at all. The battery level didn't go down, but it didn't go up much either! Only about 2 or 3%. Is this normal? Cheers. :D Yeah normal, GPS gobbles up battery. Same on other smart phones.
Guest StevenHarperUK Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Is this normal? Cheers. :D Yes - and it gets rather hot too.
Guest tdodd Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 The charger may be capable of delivering 1 amp, but as the phone thinks it is connect to a "USB" power supply and not the AC adapter it will only draw 500mA, as that is the USB spec. That is only just enough to run the phone flat out with satnav on the go, the screen on and constantly being redrawn and map data being dragged out of the ether. There is barely anything left over to force more juice into the battery. I have read that you can fool the phone into believing it is attached to an AC supply, and will thus draw a higher current, if you modify the car charger (or the charging lead used) to short out the two centre pins. This is the trigger the phone needs to believe it is connected to a power supply and not a data enabled USB port. This is what I have read. I have not tried it and don't know if the solution is correct or safe. Do any mods at your own risk.
Guest Ash_P Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 The charger may be capable of delivering 1 amp, but as the phone thinks it is connect to a "USB" power supply and not the AC adapter it will only draw 500mA, as that is the USB spec. That is only just enough to run the phone flat out with satnav on the go, the screen on and constantly being redrawn and map data being dragged out of the ether. There is barely anything left over to force more juice into the battery. I have read that you can fool the phone into believing it is attached to an AC supply, and will thus draw a higher current, if you modify the car charger (or the charging lead used) to short out the two centre pins. This is the trigger the phone needs to believe it is connected to a power supply and not a data enabled USB port. This is what I have read. I have not tried it and don't know if the solution is correct or safe. Do any mods at your own risk. Surely, the Belkin should already have pins 4 and 5 shorted?
Guest tdodd Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) Surely, the Belkin should already have pins 4 and 5 shorted? 4 & 5? There are only four contacts on a standard USB cable at the power adapter end of things. If the Belkin does have the right pins shorted then the phone should report that it is charging on AC rather than USB, It's an easy thing to check - just look at the charging status. (Diagrams from Wikipedia) It's Data+ and Data- that supposedly need to be shorted. Edited January 12, 2011 by tdodd
Guest Ash_P Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 4 & 5? Micro USB has 5 pins. It's an easy thing to check - just look at the charging status. Can anybody confirm what happens on the belkin (interested in one).
Guest tdodd Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Micro USB has 5 pins. OK, if you want to try to perform microsurgery at that end of the lead. Nonetheless, it is still pins 2 and 3 to be shorted....
Guest ZTE Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Micro USB has 5 pins. Can anybody confirm what happens on the belkin (interested in one). OK, just checked mine in the car and it does indeed say 'charging(USB)'. Thanks for all the interesting replies on this. Will do more research and get back. Looks like some surgery is required! :D Cheers
Guest goatee Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 I wonder if Google Maps 5 will help reduce the amount of power usage, as it should use less data transfer (since the maps are vector as opposed to graphic tiles).
Guest WearTheFoxHat Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Phew at least it charges ... my MDA Vario III used to consume more juice by running SatNav than it actually gained by charging it. After about an hour it would die .. oh and be red-hot too!
Guest yee_har Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Interesting thread on a couple of things I was thinking of posting on. I'd bought the similar "lo-pro" Dealextreme version (also 1A) and was disappointed to see it report 'charging (USB)'. Trying to get my head around this USB/AC thing (using the same actual cable)......presumably the original wall charger USB socket has the necessary pins shorted/omitted? In my case on one journey (battery charge 98/99%) the charge was maintained when using Navigation for 5-6 hours; on another (battery charge roughly 40%) the phone slowly drained to the point of switching off after 2-3 hours. Now I *may* have had something else running on the second journey (although pretty sure not) or maybe there is something non-linear about the discharge ("ewww...matron!"). Equally annoying is that Renault charging sockets are ffecing finnicky and the "lo-pros" only work at all if sat in a doubler - somewhat defeating the purpose! :D
Guest ZTE Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) SUCCESS! B) After reading this: How to Modify 1 Amp Car Chargers to show AC mode and a few others just to confirm that shorting pins 2&3 on the USB charger would be OK. I went ahead and did it on my Belkin F8Z445ea charger. It works! Phone now showing 'Charging(AC)' and charging up quite happily with GPS and Data etc. enabled, RESULT! :D Just a word of warning. This mod is only for those who feel confident with a soldering iron. I am in no way liable for any damage you might do to your phone. Cheers. :P Edited January 12, 2011 by ZTE
Guest oh!dougal Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) SUCCESS! B) After reading this: How to Modify 1 Amp Car Chargers to show AC mode and a few others just to confirm that shorting pins 2&3 on the USB charger would be OK. I went ahead and did it on my Belkin F8Z445ea charger. It works! Phone now showing 'Charging(AC)' and charging up quite happily with GPS and Data etc. enabled, RESULT! :D Just a word of warning. This mod is only for those who feel confident with a soldering iron. I am in no way liable for any damage you might do to your phone. Cheers. :P Excellent. Did you solder-bridge the contacts (invisible bodge), or cut open the cable (potentially more robust, but harder to do a neat job)? Or could you get inside your charger easily (many are superglued together)? One point to add. -- check that you have turned OFF the wifi -- its not going to be needed while motoring (unless wardriving) and it consumes (wastes) significant power. Worth doing even to keep the phone temperature a fraction lower! (And maybe tip the balance more in favour of charging than heating ...) Edited January 12, 2011 by oh!dougal
Guest samjam Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Excellent. Did you solder-bridge the contacts (invisible bodge), or cut open the cable (potentially more robust, but harder to do a neat job)? Or could you get inside your charger easily (many are superglued together)? One point to add. -- check that you have turned OFF the wifi -- its not going to be needed while motoring (unless wardriving) and it consumes (wastes) significant power. Worth doing even to keep the phone temperature a fraction lower! (And maybe tip the balance more in favour of charging than heating ...) Also, WIFI on can interfere severely with A2DP streaming audio mode. My Nexus DriveTransmitPro drops out every few seconds if WIFI is on.
Guest ZTE Posted January 12, 2011 Report Posted January 12, 2011 Excellent. Did you solder-bridge the contacts (invisible bodge), or cut open the cable (potentially more robust, but harder to do a neat job)? Or could you get inside your charger easily (many are superglued together)? One point to add. -- check that you have turned OFF the wifi -- its not going to be needed while motoring (unless wardriving) and it consumes (wastes) significant power. Worth doing even to keep the phone temperature a fraction lower! (And maybe tip the balance more in favour of charging than heating ...) Yes, I did solder bridge the contacts on the tiny circuit board inside the Belkin. A bit crude but they are quite close together. Incidently, the Belkin also had some resistors connected to pins 2&3 which I believe are required for the iPhone to charge properly. I cut the tracks to these so that only pins 2&3 were shorted. That may not have been necessary, but being super cautious, I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Cheers... :D PS. Good idea to keep the WiFi off.
Guest oh!dougal Posted January 16, 2011 Report Posted January 16, 2011 (edited) Good to know that the 7-day shop CAR charger (+ Belkin cable) appears to show up as "mains" (more than 500mA) charging -- and produces more power than GPS uses up! (7-day shop £2.99 sticker price for mains + car charger) "No soldering required" http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...ering-required/ Edited January 16, 2011 by oh!dougal
Guest TomskWomble Posted January 16, 2011 Report Posted January 16, 2011 I use this car charger from Maplins - http://www.maplin.co.uk/micro-dc-to-usb-adaptor-274029 - and this one from Expansys at home - http://www.expansys.com/expansys-dual-usb-...s-plugs-193313/ I had to try a few different cables to get the SF to accept that it is charging from AC. I use this cable from Lindy - http://www.lindy.co.uk/retractable-usb-2-c...80cm/31619.html
Guest stanno Posted January 16, 2011 Report Posted January 16, 2011 Thanks TomskWomble. I need car charging and am ham-fisted so this is great. Have ordered both and will try the usb charger with the cable that came with the OSF and report back.
Guest pjoates Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 My SF just temporaily shows "Charging (xx%)" when screen turned back on. Where does it show USB or AC charging please? No doubt simple but I can't find it. Paul Oates
Guest RussellS Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 My SF just temporaily shows "Charging (xx%)" when screen turned back on. Where does it show USB or AC charging please? No doubt simple but I can't find it. Paul Oates Mine was the same and I couldn't find anywhere where it says USB or AC charging. However, I have downloaded "Spare Parts" from the Android marketplace (free) and that does tell you in the "Battery Information" screen. It actually says "Battery Status: Charging (USB)
Guest randan Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) When I go into Settings then About Phone then Status it has Battery status Charging (USB). I am on 2.2 MCR alpha3 Edited January 20, 2011 by randan
Guest RussellS Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 When I go into Settings then About Phone then Status it has Battery status Charging (USB). I am on 2.2 MCR alpha3 Yep, your right. I didn't think of looking there.
Guest Celtic67 Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 When I go into Settings then About Phone then Status it has Battery status Charging (USB). I am on 2.2 MCR alpha3 I've got the same status, it says Charging (USB) despite being connected to the mains with the USB cable and mains adaptor that came with the phone. The adaptor says 700mA on it. So, is this a faulty handset, something related to the ROM (Japanese Jellyfish Rls8 for me), or entirely normal?
Guest PeaNut_HU Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 I've got the same status, it says Charging (USB) despite being connected to the mains with the USB cable and mains adaptor that came with the phone. The adaptor says 700mA on it. So, is this a faulty handset, something related to the ROM (Japanese Jellyfish Rls8 for me), or entirely normal? It just means that the factory charger's DATA- and DATA+ pins are _not_ bridged in the adapter itself. Nothing is faulty in your phone be assured.
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