use of car charger for smart phone

[derolph]

Any of you used a smart phone car charger in your 3rd gen Accord? It should work fine, right?

[lostforawhile]

why wouldnt it work?

[2oodoor]

Some of those cig lighter plugs with usb charging ports just don't play nice on some cars, it's hit or miss. I would hard wire in something if it's to be reliable.

[MessyHonda]

my stereo has a USB port and that's how I charge my phone.

[lostforawhile]

only issue I would see, is some of them are horribly shielded and the switching power supply can knock out your radio reception, not a third generation issue, but a big issue on a lot of cars. I had to go through about 10 chargers on the truck to find one that didn't kill all fm reception, I thought it was just me until I searched it

[Dr_Snooz]

They charge slowly, if that's what you're asking. My phone goes bananas if I run it dead, then plug it in. The genius programmers built it so that it powers itself on as soon as you plug it in. Yet when the higher level power management software loads up, it realizes the power is too low and turns it back off. Then it turns itself back on again... I get stuck in a boot loop for a good 20 minutes before it's charged enough to stay on. It does charge though.

[lostforawhile]

most of the chargers they sell at box stores are worthless, most are around 2 amps, if you get a dual port charger and try to power two devices, you are only getting an amp apiece, also the cheap usb cords have such small gauge wire, they can restrict your charging speed, you really need to find at least a 4 amp charger to get decent charging speed for a smart phone, and a high end cable, do some searching for best usb cables etc, the best chargers I saw were remote mount supplies with a separate charging jack, they make some really nice hardened supplies for use in police cars, military vehicles etc, but they are pricey, if you spend a lot of time on the road they are worth it though.

[gp02a0083]

Addressing Snooz's comment. I agree that the software developers and EE's should by pass an auto-on feature when the battery is under 10% capacity. The newer generation of lithium and Li-Po batteries are VERY VERY touchy when it comes to low level charge levels and charging profiles. Discharge characteristics are much different than the older battery chemistries, Lithium based batteries have a steep "cliff" drop off when they reach a certain electrochemical potential where as say lead acid will keep discharging with diminished capacity. This is part of the reason that your phone will act up, its hitting an almost "brown-out" condition. So to sum it up here , Lithium based batteries are very very picky about its discharge potential level and its charging profile. Don't let its charge dip below 5%-10%

A vast majority of car chargers for cell phones were/are just simple step down circuits utilizing LDO regulators being they are dirt cheap. Many are/were based off the IC LM7805 and IC LM123 that are capable of 1A and 3A respectfully. These designs really tend to throw off a decent amount of wasted energy in the form of heat. Some of the newer stuff uses Buck and flybacks to achieve the step down with little heat generated, however cheap parts / crappy assembly can cause these to throw off more RF and still have crappy regulation. Add other problems like leakage current and isolation of the input and output ends can cause things like this. Could have easily tried potting the electrical assembly or Ferrite magnets.


As far as chords are concerned, you have to look at what type of cable you are buying / using. Is it a data transfer cable or a simple power cable? Data cables have been reported to have slower charging speeds and if i recall correctly are limited to something around 500mA-1A with USB 1.0 and 2.0. Other renditions like the micro-usb and the newer apple lightning cable can handle beyond 1A. Be a smart consumer and get a charger that is correctly rated for your phone / device. For instance, a Galaxy S3 spec's are 5.0V DC @ 1.0A for the wall charger, i wouldn't use anything rated higher than that.

[Dr_Snooz]

Be a smart consumer and get a charger that is correctly rated for your phone / device. For instance, a Galaxy S3 spec's are 5.0V DC @ 1.0A for the wall charger, i wouldn't use anything rated higher than that.

When you see one of those boxes next to the register with the pink or green button chargers, one side is a lighter plug and the other is a USB jack, how do you know what the capacity is? It's not like back in the olden days where every phone had a proprietary charger. Now you assume that if it looks right, it must be right. How do you know if your USB cable is the wrong one? Those darn things move around a lot as old peripherals die and new ones replace them.

[gp02a0083]

When you see one of those boxes next to the register with the pink or green button chargers, one side is a lighter plug and the other is a USB jack, how do you know what the capacity is? It's not like back in the olden days where every phone had a proprietary charger. Now you assume that if it looks right, it must be right. How do you know if your USB cable is the wrong one? Those darn things move around a lot as old peripherals die and new ones replace them.

Personally I don't buy anything like that from the local mini marts, china made junk and stuff. halfway decent stuff should at least have some kind of label or tag but not always. indeed that with port standardization i can see how many would think that all micro usb cables and/or chargers are the "same". I learned my lesson a while back with using no-name chargers and cables like that, they tend to either kill the service life of the battery or cause some other issue. The take away from this should be to do a little homework on the products you buy before blindly purchasing. don't have to be an expert , but at least an informed consumer.

[Oldblueaccord]

Hell find me one NOT made in China!