Database Develop

Unable to car charge when battery is low

Does anyone know why my XDA IIi will not charge from my car charger when the battery charge is less than approx. half? It's fine if I'm just topping up and and fine with the 'proper' charger at home. Anyone else have this problem? Strange... :?

Mine does the same! It goes into a cycle - power off, strats to charge, power on - states no chage left - powers off etc etc. Have tried different chargers, the only way I have round this is to carry a spare bettery!

What amperage is your charger, you will need at least 500mA.

Kaiser charge problem when using GPRS

I'm having problems with kaiser charging when using HSDPA and even slow connections like 3G and EDGE.
Problem is that it charges for about 20-30 minutes (connected to a powered 1Amp USB hub or even with AC charger), then charging light goes off and battery power starts to drop by about 5% every 20-30 minutes.
Have anyone tried 2Amp chargers? It seems like it may be the problem with kaiser itself, since it charges itself but then just stops and will not charge itself until I soft-reset it.
PS: it gets kinda warm, but I wouldn't call it hot. Dunno if its related to temperature.
Any ideas?

Am I the only one with this problem? If so, maybe I should return the phone and exchange it for a working unit?

No, I have the same problem here.
When I use my kaiser in the car (usually navigating) the orange charge light initially lights up, but after a short period goes out. When I disconect and connect the USB-cable, the light temporarily comes on again.
I am using a 1A car charger. I do notice the charger feels a bit hot when in use, so maybe the kaiser is drawing more power than allowed? I can imagine the charger overheating which causes the voltage to drop. Which probably causes the kaiser to stop using USB power. But this is all speculation.
I am planning to use a 5A voltage regulator to 'upgrade' the USB charger, and see if this solves the problem.
--After a bit more reading, I found some info about the kaiser detecting if it is connected to a charger or a USB host device, and regulating it's maximum charge power accordingly. So I will try a modified USB cable to let the kaiser know it can get 1000mA from the car charger.

It's not the USB charger. I have 2A and 3A Olympus Camera chargers that I modified to use as a USB charger. Also cheaper 1A AC chargers. I thought the Olympus chargers would be perfect, because they were high amperage, and built solidly. I had the same charge problems with the TyTn II, and an iPod Nano. They would either charge partially and then stop, or not charge right away, but the charge light would come on after awhile. But still only partially charge.
My guess is that the chargers that work may have a load added in, so that the switching regulator will turn on with any additional load from the device, and stay on. I never found any information on this, though.
What does work: The USB chargers made for any PDA phone. Apple iPod chargers. I bought an 800ma iPod charger (probably a clone). It's a small white cube, with a USB outlet, and interchangeable AC plugs. It charges the Nano, and the TyTn II OK. The Nano last for a week now, instead of 2 days. The TyTn II starts charging right away, and stays charging. So whatever the Apple USB chargers do, they do work.
A thought for the car is to get a car charger made for the iPod, and see if that may work.

To be more accurate, the iPod charger starts charging the TyTn II right away, and the charge light stays lit. I've not actually done a controlled test on it. Just charged for awhile, and verified that the charge light comes on right away, and stays on. Everything looks normal, though. I will try a more controlled test, and post the resutls.

please keep us posted. I've also contaced HTC support about this, I'm waiting the response. Once I found out I will post here.
Hopefully iys not a ksier limitation.

Test results.
Battery at
- 61%, Display off while charging
- 83% - after 70 mins of charging. Then stopped, as was going out.
Started again at:
- 88%, Display off
- 100% - after 60 mins. A little shorter, probably, as I missed when the charge light went green.
I believe the PDA will fast charge up to around 80%, and then slow charge for the remainder. That would explain why it takes 60 mins to charge from 88% to 100%.
So, the iPod charger works great for a PDA, and will start charging right away when it is connected, and it will charge to 100% full charge. It is not the PDA that is stopping the charging. It just has special requirements that only some chargers can handle, so you have to get either a charger built for a PDA, or something like the iPod charger.
So it works quite well as a general purpose charger for iPods, and for the TyTn II, and probably anything that uses a USB charger. It is small, with interchangeable AC plugs. A good travel/general purpose charger. I can bring just this, and different cables for different devices. Phone, MP3, etc.
It is labeled Input:100-240V, Output 5V 1A
Looks like:
Apple MA592LL/A iPod USB Power Adapter
Just as an aside, I have a lithium battery pack 2 7/8" x 2 1/8" x 1/2" thick. It is rated at 2400mAh, input 5V, through a built in retractable USB plug. Output is 5V 450mAh through a female USB plug. Just extend the USB male plug and plug into any USB source to charge it. It works quite well as a small portable battery pack to power/charge a PDA if using GPS steadily. It's flat, and easy to carry.
And it is quite cheap.

ttt123, thanks for your info. I guess I need to get an iPod charger then.

Car chargers bricking Kaisers

What exactly is the scoop on this? Is it that they overpower the charging circuit (everyone says they charge the phones faster)? Is there a way to tell you're about to do damage?
I don't use the car charger that came with my Kaiser, I have several generic chargers which all work just fine. However I noticed that when running GPS, although the charge light was on, the battery wouldn't really charge. It wouldn't discharge either, I put it up to the extra drain on the phone's power system.
The other day though, my phone... stopped charging? I was driving (GPS) and the phone suddenly beeped a critical battery warning, the charge light was off... but the power was plugged in and the charger's power light in the cigarette socket was on. It WAS making a connection to the phone: if I unplugged it the screen would go dimmer, if I plugged it back in it would get brighter. But it still seemed to be running off the battery, which was draining regardless. The moment I got to my destination, it all powered off. Is this a forewarning of darker circumstances to come?

from what I've read you should not be using generic chargers. The amperage could differ. Therefore, if the electricity in your vehicle spikes you could be riding with a paper weight.
In addition, it is common that your device will not charge (nor discharge) while running your gps application. I play monopoly often while my phone is in the charger and my device usually doesn't charge while I am playing.

Also, I think the pinout on generic USB chargers are different. The ones that are for Moto Razr / Blackberry phones dont work to charge the phones ( as I have a work blackberry and tried it) It didnt hurt my phone, however it just didnt charge. I have heard of others damaging but if its not made for the kaiser, I wouldn't try it.

I've never had access to Moto Razr / Blackberry chargers. While I can't speak for those, I know generic USB chargers would have exactly the same pinout as the stock Kaiser charger. The amperage supplied may indeed differ, I think that might have explained my issue above. It was almost like the charge circuit 'gave up' since the phone was demanding as much/more power as it was getting.

CrArc said:
I've never had access to Moto Razr / Blackberry chargers. While I can't speak for those, I know generic USB chargers would have exactly the same pinout as the stock Kaiser charger. The amperage supplied may indeed differ, I think that might have explained my issue above. It was almost like the charge circuit 'gave up' since the phone was demanding as much/more power as it was getting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My razr charger works perfect with my tilt.. (MOTOROLLA branded - not generic)

Ditto on the motorola razr charger;Have an old razr charger I use it for travelling instead of unplugging my original;works fine!!

+2 on the Motorola branded car charger...charges my Tilt just fine. Now I'm paranoid, though...

CrArc said:
What exactly is the scoop on this? Is it that they overpower the charging circuit (everyone says they charge the phones faster)? Is there a way to tell you're about to do damage?
I don't use the car charger that came with my Kaiser, I have several generic chargers which all work just fine. However I noticed that when running GPS, although the charge light was on, the battery wouldn't really charge. It wouldn't discharge either, I put it up to the extra drain on the phone's power system.
The other day though, my phone... stopped charging? I was driving (GPS) and the phone suddenly beeped a critical battery warning, the charge light was off... but the power was plugged in and the charger's power light in the cigarette socket was on. It WAS making a connection to the phone: if I unplugged it the screen would go dimmer, if I plugged it back in it would get brighter. But it still seemed to be running off the battery, which was draining regardless. The moment I got to my destination, it all powered off. Is this a forewarning of darker circumstances to come?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the exact same thing I am experiencing with my Tilt.
Tilt is charging from a generic car-to-USB and USB cable.
I start TomTom.
Charging works fine for a while.
Then suddenly the charging stops and the battery is drained.
I found only two ways to get it to charge again:
1. Turn off device with TomTom charging; hold Tilt against cool air flowing from AC; plug into charger (while still off) ... then the phone turns on and charges.
2. Take out the battery; put it back in ... start phone.

It does seem that either the phone can draw power faster than a USB charger can supply it or the use of wifi and gps whilst charging overheats it. I particularly see this behavior when I'm running tomtom and navizon. The phone seems to remain charging longer in cooler weather or if I point an air vent at it. My current no wifi woes started after an occurrence of just this behaviour the other day.

RAZR chargers don't have enough current and it doesn't keep a positive charge when using the GPS. It says it's charging but ultimately it goes down. Sometimes it stops charging and I had to unplug it and plug it back in. Use a charger made for the Kaiser. The charger from my brother's bluetooth GPS works fine though.

I have a generic USB cigar lighter adapter which I have been using to power mine with no problem. The only way I can see a charger frying a phone is if there is a voltage spike that isn't regulated.

The charger needs to be rated with an output of 5v 2amps which is what the electric charger is rated at. Bought one off ebay for $6. Most car chargers are rated quite a bit lower (400ma).

As the previous post states, some chargers are rated at under 500ma. This is not enough to change the Kaiser... I find that the Blackberry charger works fine, but sometimes takes a very long time to charge as the current isn't quite enough. I have a generic one at about 1000ma and that works fine.
USB from a PC is normally 500ma sustained.

I think there's another thread or 2 about this somewhere. I've been having the same problem with the Kaiser not charging via generic and razr car chargers.
After seeing the other thread I bought an HTC charger from ebay - at least it looks like one and is advertised as one! The sticker on the 'real' HTC charger only says 0.5 amp (same as the others are rated), but charges no problem with TomTom going.
I tried measuring the current using different chargers and PowerGuard and I think there is a definite difference (although not an easy thing to interpret). I notice the cable is significantly heavier on the real HTC charger (also coiled and tends to drag the phone from where I mount it a little). Others have said the pinouts are different too.
I looked for a 2amp charger but couldn't find one (if anyone knows a source?).
It's an intriguing problem but a 'real' HTC charger seems to fix it.
The other thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=406771

There were a range of brodit car mounts with built-in chargers that bricked the kaiser. I bought one and it instantly blew it's fuse. I replace the fuse and it blew my kaiser up instead.
Assuming it was the kaiser I had it replaced, only for the charger to blow it up again.
Since then I contacted dsldevelopments (UK Distributor) who replaced it with an updated model. I have not had any issues after that.

I had this problem (Kaiser not charging in the car when GPS is on) and resolved it totally by getting the offical HTC car charger. Although output is 0.5A it is rated to 2A - my previous generic car charger was only rated to one amp and that would work fine as long I wasn't using GPS but once I ran GPS it just couldn't cope. Definately resolved this problem with the official HTC car charger (got mine of flea bay for £8)
cheers
Barney

I've had no problem with designed-for-Moto chargers and ones specifically designed to charge over USB from a dumb charger.
The problem is that drawing more than 100 mA without negotiating a connection with a PC violates the USB specification. Many manufacturers have gotten around this by finding other ways to signal the presence of a "dumb" charger, telling the phone it can draw more than 100 mA.
In the case of Mini-USB devices like the Motos, Blackberries, and HTC devices, the Mini-USB connector has a fifth pin that is normally not connected. If the charger plug grounds this pin, it signals to the device that it is permitted to draw more than 100 mA without a PC connection.
If you get a charger that does not ground this pin, an HTC device will not charge rapidly, if at all. (Typically only charges slowly when screen is off). This is why you get two cables when you order a single MiniSync from BoxWave, for example. They give you one "Sync and charge from PC" cable (no pin grounded) and one "Charge only" cable (pin grounded for dumb chargers). (If the pin is grounded it interferes with data communications for most devices.)

I use a motorola charger, which is fine if you do not use GPS.
when I use the GPS after some time the battery is very hot and stops load, but if I put the cell in front of the AC, just cools again to load.
I think the problem is due to protection from overheating battery

Belkin Charger
I grabbed a Belkin charger for my KRAZR/RAZR phones and it seems to work just fine, even with GPS running. My official Moto one also works fine with the tilt in GPS mode.
I do notice, though, that no matter what I'm using to charge it with, with GPS it gets hot. Since Li-Ion batteries are supposed to stop charging at a certain temp, it's possible that the combination of a lower grade charger and the heat generated by using GPS/WiFi/Cell at the same time (or any combo of the three), might be the issue.

Car charger battery issue...

I bought myself a car charger off ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140759787237?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
For use with my galaxy note...
It charges... slow... The problem is that if I use Google Navigator with data and GPS on, the batter % drops and makes the charger useless for long journeys.
Does any one have any suggestions? I am looking for a charger with a long cable to reach where the holder is in my car...
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0089...ile?redirect=true&ref_=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

Nexus 6 losing charge while navigating on qi charger

Have a nexus 5 qi charger (googles own) and proclip setup in car. When using the nexus 6 with google maps for navigation, phone is losing charge even while on qi. This never happened on my previous nexus 5.
Is the power draw on the 6 with screen on much higher than what the charger puts out? If so, this would be extremely inconvenient since I use my phone for navigation every single day.

xxaarraa said:
Have a nexus 5 qi charger (googles own) and proclip setup in car. When using the nexus 6 with google maps for navigation, phone is losing charge even while on qi. This never happened on my previous nexus 5.
Is the power draw on the 6 with screen on much higher than what the charger puts out? If so, this would be extremely inconvenient since I use my phone for navigation every single day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, the power output of the n6 could possibly be much more than whats going in, while using the wireless charging plugged in via a car.

I would say so, my nexus 5 would lose charge while navigating and charging in the car too

Can anyone point me to an app that would automatically dim the screen when phone is charging? I can save some juice that way in the car

xxaarraa said:
Can anyone point me to an app that would automatically dim the screen when phone is charging? I can save some juice that way in the car
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need a high power car charger to keep up with the charging. USB charging and wireless charging is not going to cut it.
there are turbo cigar port adapters that you can pick up. I have one.

marctronixx said:
you need a high power car charger to keep up with the charging. USB charging and wireless charging is not going to cut it.
there are turbo cigar port adapters that you can pick up. I have one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not plugging in a phone each time I get in the car. Defeats the entire point of qi charging for me. I'm going to automate screen dimming when charging and see if that gets me to stable power while navigating.
Anyone have a recommendation for an automatic app?

xxaarraa said:
Not plugging in a phone each time I get in the car. Defeats the entire point of qi charging for me. I'm going to automate screen dimming when charging and see if that gets me to stable power while navigating.
Anyone have a recommendation for an automatic app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... Tasker?

xxaarraa said:
Not plugging in a phone each time I get in the car. Defeats the entire point of qi charging for me. I'm going to automate screen dimming when charging and see if that gets me to stable power while navigating.
Anyone have a recommendation for an automatic app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the stock nexus 6 wired wall charger can put in as much as 2500mV(what the n6 takes in). my nexus 5 takes in 1100mV max. where the heck are you going to find something thatll put in that sort of charge, from in a car? by default, you will get less power than my nexus 5 maximum intake. it may say AC while charging, but in reality you are just getting a fraction of a full charge. keep it plugged in, not wireless, and it might keep the charge, and not drop.

simms22 said:
the stock nexus 6 wired wall charger can put in as much as 2500mV(what the n6 takes in). my nexus 5 takes in 1100mV max. where the heck are you going to find something thatll put in that sort of charge, from in a car? by default, you will get less power than my nexus 5 maximum intake. it may say AC while charging, but in reality you are just getting a fraction of a full charge. keep it plugged in, not wireless, and it might keep the charge, and not drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most car chargers only output 1 Amp, car chargers are available that can output 2.4 Amp. Getting a more powerful charger could solve your problem. See Link http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-car-charger/

bhdunn said:
Most car chargers only output 1 Amp, car chargers are available that can output 2.4 Amp. Getting a more powerful charger could solve your problem. See Link http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-car-charger/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have a 2A cig lighter socket in the car already. I downloaded the "automateit" app and set a rule to dim screen to 50% when on charge. Otherwise, I like the screen at 100% all the time.
We'll see if that solves it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P9UILUM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

do me a favor next time you charge with it, grab the current widget app, and post how muvh voltage is coming into the phone. thanks https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget

simms22 said:
do me a favor next time you charge with it, grab the current widget app, and post how muvh voltage is coming into the phone. thanks https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you guys understand what I am saying.
Yes, I realize the N6 takes in a lot more mA's than previous phones.
Yes, I do know all about 2 amp cig lighter socket chargers.
Neither of those is relevant to my challenge. I use the phone for navigation extensively and I have a proclip dock + qi pad setup in both cars. I get in the car, and dock the phone. I am NOT going to get in the car and fiddle with plugging in wires. That's going backwards to 2005. That's going to a pre-Qi phone, which is a deal breaker for me. So, I either get the phone's power use while on Qi minimized to a point where its not draining while navigating, or I get another phone.
If I can't solve this, this is yet another major disappointment with the Nexus 6, for me. Frankly, I am regretting getting rid of my Nexus 5 so quick. The big screen on the Nexus 6 seemingly takes NUMEROUS sacrifices in usability with power draw being one of them.

my man...
Qi charging is SLOW! it you have gps running, which is a CONSTANT data connection, no trickle charge USB port power is going to keep up with that.
PERIOD.
keeping the screen off or muted/dimmed will not help if you have a CONSTANT data communication!
you need AC power to keep up with this type of battery discharge!!
same as if you are watching a video on your device. that is a lot of power being used (cpu, ram, screen, decode/encode file to watch, other things happening in the background) and no trickle USB port power can maintain a charge thats AHEAD of that.
qi charging is cool tech but its not yet ready to keep up with these types of demands.
you either use a turbo charger, high amp cigar port charger, in other words WIRES, to plug up the phone and keep it charged or stop using battery intensive applications.

Qi charging is not very efficient, there is no way you will maintain a positive charge while navigating, add to the heat issue, your phone could stop charging entirely. Qi is great for around the house or in the office but otherwise it can't really replace a physical connection.

I hear you guys. But I also know that my nexus 5 was used with a qi dock for navigation for well over a year. Thousands of miles. So I know its possible, maybe or maybe not with this phone. Well see.

I solved this. I am using the app called automateit and created two rules: when phone gets external power, I set the screen to 25% power and when external power is disconnected, I set it back to adaptive brightness. At 25% brightness, with navigation and use of an mp3 app and making calls, phone is stable on qi. In fact, it even charges at the rate of 1-2 additional percent each hour.