Questions regarding smartphones tablets and charging them!

[qube 3570]

I have had a look at other tech forums and googled it but there doesnt seem to be a definitive answer.

We have in our household, a note 3, iphone 5, LG L7, galaxy s4, nexus 7 tablet at the moment.

I am using the stock charger for the note 3 with usb 3.0 cable which is quick as.

we have multiple apple charging adapters (the wall plugs) that are labled "5W usb power adapter" that we use to charge the iphones using the normal lightning cable or whatever its called.

when i use it to plug in my usb 3 cable from note 3, it chargers very slowly.

when i plug in a normal usb 2 cable into this 5w charger to charge the s4 it seems "normal"

when i plug in the lg l7 it says displays a message something like there is not enough power so will charge slower than normal.

when i plug in the nexus 7 tab it is suuuuper slow.

now when i used the nexus 7 factory wall plug and usb to charge the s4, it was super quick, same with the lg l7.

THE question is:

is it safe to use the "higher powered" i think 10W? wall plugs to charge any of these devices? will it cause troubles for the battery or damage any components?

some people have said that the phone itself "limits the amperage" so it doesnt matter, some say they experienced problems using higher power chargers.

whats the answer?

sorry for the long post it took a while to illustrate what i was trying to say..

[yng_750 247]

Well a 5w output is 1 amp which on many phones is the minimum. Any less it wont charge. i charge my galaxy on a 10w usb adaptor. Doesnt seem to charge any faster than the factory wall charger.

[qube 3570]

im still investigating but the general consensus seems to say that the "phone's battery will only draw as much power as it is designed to" so theoretically it seems okay to use anything higher than the recommended and it will just take what it needs to charge it?

obviously, if i was to use a 5w charger for the nexus 7 tablet or an ipad it just wont charge or very slowly.

another info that i have found is that a computer usb2.0 port only allows 0.5A and 3.0 allows 0.9A so even a computer cant charge a tablet it seems.

[polley 916]

They will charge at the lower rates, just slower. The devices have built in charge controllers and battery monitors. You can connect it to a supply capable of 20A and it will still only draw as much as it needs. As long as your charger can deliver enough current it will charge as fast as possible.

[qube 3570]

ok, im gonna try find the "maximum amperage" values for the phones and devices I have and see what it says thanks

[kingkarl 136]

stop fluffing about and hook it up to your jumper leads.

charge that mofo in 2 seconds flat

[qube 3570]

hahaha

[rowans17 19]

Yes definitely safe.

Device will only draw what it needs. Connect it to a computer usb it will take the max 500ma but connect it to a 3a/15w charger most phones will only draw the max which is about 2100ma. No harm in it, does't damage your battery or anything.

[qube 3570]

ok sweet. good to know.

any1 know if the actual USB-microUSB makes a difference in charging speed?

[handgrenade 189]

shouldnt make a difference.

Check on the charger itself what the amperage is. some useless chargers only output 500mA which is the same as a computer USB.

you can hack your device to pull more from a USB port (mod is called USB fast charge) and will pull more out of the a usb source.

I would suggest using the nexus 7 charger .. it outputs 2A if i recall correctly. I use it to charge all my devices which need a plug. otherwise I use induction charging at 1A

[qube 3570]

Yea i tend to use the nexus one unless im charging more than 1 device at once.

How safe is this usb fast charge thing?

[euroriffic 609]

Good old ohms law, current is relitive to voltage and resistance. Amps/current isnt the problem as it's all relative to resistance/load and is just stating the chargers maximum current rating. So a 250mA is good for up to that, so if your device was drawing more than that, should specify what it requires, it will take longer to charge or overload charger as it's not designed to suppy that amount of current. So if it's taking ages to charge I'm guessing the device is drawing more current than the charger can suppy.

[handgrenade 189]

Used USB fast charge on all my devices with no probs Kyu

[handgrenade 189]

Ah - didnt know that the chargers themselves are coded.

The USB fast charge mod that I use is device based .. means the device will pull more than 500mA from a USB2.0 port.

[KwS 2425]

Never heard of coded chargers, and certainly my Apple, Samsung and LG chargers charge everything at normal rates (except my ipads, they stick to the apple chargers due charger rating). The only difference i have encountered is the output rating, which obviously lower the rating the slower the charge (and most ipads wont even power on or charge using a low rated charger if the battery is completely flat).

[handgrenade 189]

Some news on the charging front

http://www.motorola.com/us/accessories-batteries-chargers/Motorola-Turbo-Charger/motorola-turbo-charger-pdp.html

[KwS 2425]

Well then you learn something new every day don't you?

Indicated charger type

A device being charged can detect what type of charger is being used through specific voltages on the USB data pins. Because of this, some devices only work with their own special chargers. For instance, an "incorrect" charger may be rejected by an iPhone 3GS or later with the message "Charging is not supported with this accessory".

http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html

Yeah thats not really "coding" though. "coding" implies it uses a chip to identify it self when really all its doing is using voltage sensing.

If a phone needed a certain output from an Apple charger in order to charge, it wouldnt charge over USB on a normal computer, now would it?

The only time i have seen an Apple device say "charging not supported" is newer devices on older chargers which used the "firewire charge" pins on the Apple 30pin connectors (or if the phone has been liquid damaged or has a damaged port).

[qube 3570]

Using a 5w 2a wall plug (that came with my phone) with a normal usb2.0 cable gives me much slower charge speed compared to using the usb3.0 cable that i got with my note 3.

Just sayin

[handgrenade 189]

Off topic but just picked up a Samsung s5 from work and its a bit different from my usual nexus phones I know and love. Not quite sure what to think of it yet!! Always been a nexus purist !!

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

Well then you learn something new every day don't you?

Indicated charger type

A device being charged can detect what type of charger is being used through specific voltages on the USB data pins. Because of this, some devices only work with their own special chargers. For instance, an "incorrect" charger may be rejected by an iPhone 3GS or later with the message "Charging is not supported with this accessory".

http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html

Not quite true.

Yeah thats not really "coding" though. "coding" implies it uses a chip to identify it self when really all its doing is using voltage sensing.

If a phone needed a certain output from an Apple charger in order to charge, it wouldnt charge over USB on a normal computer, now would it?

The only time i have seen an Apple device say "charging not supported" is newer devices on older chargers which used the "firewire charge" pins on the Apple 30pin connectors (or if the phone has been liquid damaged or has a damaged port).

This is correct, though I cant speak for non-Apple, i dont use any non-Apple gear,

but an iPhone etc will charge faster on its own charger than it will on other chargers, i have used Blackberry/Acer, my external battery pack, even my Van cigarette lighter and the computer.

And the only time i have ever seen charging not supported is on a firewire type charger from a very early iPod i accidentally tried at one point.

[my_e36 43]

THE question is:

 

is it safe to use the "higher powered" i think 10W? wall plugs to charge any of these devices? will it cause troubles for the battery or damage any components?

 

some people have said that the phone itself "limits the amperage" so it doesnt matter, some say they experienced problems using higher power chargers.

 

whats the answer?

 

I guess to answer your question, it is safe to mix and match chargers. Charging is a bit of an black art managed by the device, too hot, too cold, too discharged, it will slow it down.

Just to throw a bit of a spanner in this discussion, have read somewhere that the cable itself makes a difference despite all being "USB". Some cable have better wiring inside makes it lower resistance hence deliver a higher amperage (or lower lost) at the device's port. I don't know how much difference this makes but certainly is interesting.

[handgrenade 189]

It is true the cable does matter. I have used some useless cables before which definitely affected the charge rate.