Cigarette (USB) Car Chargers

illumination on 20/04/2013 - 00:34

Guys,

Would like a little bit of advice. From memory I read a deal here posted for an official Samsung cigarette car charger on clearance from officeworks for $2. Some people talked about how "buying an official charger, you know that you will be getting one with the right voltage" - something along those lines. As I'm not familiar with voltage and all that, I'm looking at buying a few of the cigarette adapters on ebay with USB ports and plugging in my own USB.

I've found the following:

1) 2 cigarette ports, 2 USB (unwired), Input: 12/24V - $3.63
2) 2 cigarette ports, 2 USB (wired), Input: 12V - $4.45 - w/ Fuse protection
3) 3 cigarette ports, 1 USB (wired), Input: 12/24V - $2.54
4) 1 cigarette port, 2 USB (unwired), Input: 12-16V - $3.32 - w/ Fuse Protection

Unwired for flexibility (a bit more flexible with where to place it)

They have different input voltages and I'm unsure about what they mean.
2) and 4) also says it has fuse protection - protects.. one USB port being damaged from damaging the other USB port? That's the point of "fuses" right?

I'm also thinking it's a better idea to just simply use USB to charge the phones that I'll be charging (Galaxy S2/S3), since it's more flexible being a USB cable as opposed to a car cigarette charger. Can I get your 2 cents?

Thanks!

Mobile

Comments

  • _Bruce_ on 20/04/2013 - 10:20
    +2

    1: Input voltage:
    Cars run at '12V' but this is often up to 14V is practice. Anything that says 12V should work just fine. Trucks run at 24V, so be careful about mixing devices.

    2: Output voltage:
    USB provides 5V. Cheap devices may provide less (not a big issue) or more (potentially damaging devices) but this isn't usually an issue.

    3: Output Current:
    This is how fast the device can charge. There are standards around providing 100mA, 500mA or 2A in certain configurations but almost all devices ignore these so generally the device you are charging will take whatever it can get.

    4: Fuse:
    The devices shown are fused at the 12V stage not the 5V stage. This means that it is unlikely to protect your USb device at all, but if you connect a faulty 12V device or there is a short within this device then it will trip the fuse rather than short across the car battery potentially damaging car electronics. Note that most cars will have a fuse for this socket anyway so it doesn't achieve much.

    • deal88 on 20/04/2013 - 10:29

      Just on point 3-output current. Things like an iPad usually draw up to 2.1A using a home charger, so getting less will result in slow charging.

      I would suggest getting a 1A or 2A if possible. A dual USB 2A version would be capable of charging at 1A per USB at a time, or usually can also do one device at 2A.

      • deal88 on 20/04/2013 - 10:42

        Something like this is a bit more $ but has 2.1A. This is a US site, just can't find an Aussie link at moment, but wanted to show you the spec difference.

        http://www.autobarn.net/cup-holder-charger.html

        • illumination on 20/04/2013 - 12:54

          I see it. I notice the output voltage/current on 2) and 3) (in my OP) are 700mA and 500mA respectively. From my understanding, 1000mA = 1A - so these USB outputs are actually less than the "standard charge" for mobile phones (of 1A). All I want to charge is my phones really, so I don't need 2.1A and as I said in my reply to Bruce, I actually heard charging phones (which usually take 1A) with 2.1A chargers can damage it?

          4) in my OP says output current: 1000mA but I don't know if it means the cigarette output or USB.

        • _Bruce_ on 20/04/2013 - 17:39

          "standard charge" for mobile phones (of 1A).

          Actually standard is 500mA as this is what they can get from a computer. Most will draw more from a charger, but will work on 500mA.

          I actually heard charging phones (which usually take 1A) with 2.1A chargers can damage it?

          Nope, the phone will take what it needs, up to the maximum that the charger and phone can support.

    • illumination on 20/04/2013 - 12:51

      That makes sense.
      1: Do you mean we shouldn't use cigarette adapters like the ones I posted in both a truck and a car because of the different input voltages?

      2: I've actually heard that if you provide a device too much power it CAN damage devices. e.g. charging an iPhone with an iPad's charger (2.1A into a device that's supposed to be receiving 1A).

      4: Ok so I won't bother about the fuse thing.

      • deal88 on 20/04/2013 - 13:09
        +1

        Regarding 2. Devices should only pull the amps they need. If you look at the iPad charger it looks identical to the iPhone one and has no warning not to use it wirh an iphone even though it has twice as many amps.

        You should look into it further, but my issue has been 0.5A chargers do not have enough power to charge when using GPS, at least on my iPhone.

        • illumination on 22/04/2013 - 12:20

          Do you mean your iPhone's battery level drops while using GPS despite charging through the 0.5A chargers?

        • deal88 on 22/04/2013 - 14:09

          Yes, GPS seems to draw more than 0.5A. Also have the same issue with the inbuilt USB in my Holden, that I assume is also 0.5A.

          I was caught out when interstate and bought a 1A charger and this is able to charge while using the GPS. I also have a micro 2.1A car charger that works fine. So it looks like at least 1A is needed to charge whilst the GPS is being used on an iPhone 5.

          What I bought……
          http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/puregear-car-…

      • _Bruce_ on 20/04/2013 - 17:40
        +1

        1: Do you mean we shouldn't use cigarette adapters like the ones I posted in both a truck and a car because of the different input voltages?

        Yes, unless you get one that works on 12V and 24V.

        2: I've actually heard that if you provide a device too much power it CAN damage devices. e.g. charging an iPhone with an iPad's charger (2.1A into a device that's supposed to be receiving 1A).

        Not true. Only too much voltage is an issue.

  • illumination on 20/04/2013 - 12:55

    I was also wondering.. does using these chargers drain your car's battery out faster? So does it reduce your car battery's life and mean that you would have to replace it earlier?

    • altomic on 20/04/2013 - 15:34

      nah.

    • _Bruce_ on 20/04/2013 - 17:42
      +2

      If you are using them when the car is running they are powered by the alternator not the battery so it makes no difference. If you are using them when the car is not running then it will have an effect, but this effect is very small. As long as you don't let the car battery get very low then there will be almost no effect.

      • deal88 on 20/04/2013 - 19:05

        What Bruce said.

      • kryptoz on 20/04/2013 - 20:38

        most cars switch off the cigarette lighter when the ignition is switched off, so there is little opportunity for any device to drain the battery, provided the battery is not both defective and undercharged.

  • deal88 on 21/04/2013 - 15:36
    +1

    FYI. Just received the Aldi catalogue. One of these is for sale on the 27th if April. Two USB outlets and three 12 points. $4.99. Plus you can return it if no good.

  • dsp26 on 22/04/2013 - 15:50
    +1

    Get the 1A/1000mah since you have samsung devices. and same for all newer androids. it does not matter as the kernel is set to draw 650mah from an wall charger and 450mah from a usb port. unless you run a custom kernel that supports fast charge and you can set miscellaneous usb to 650mah. i wouldnt set a pc detected usb port beyond 500mah because youd probably fry the port or board unless you plug it into a usb3.0 port which has 900mah. usb2.0 only has 500mah

    mostly irelevant to what you asked.. just get a 1000mah and be done.

    in fact ive mixed blackberry/android/iphone chargers since they are all 5v and 1000mah. blackberry is 700mah. what you should NEVER USE is a nokia charger.. different output voltage.. fried the touchscreen on my galaxy s1 years ago

    • _Bruce_ on 22/04/2013 - 16:11

      1: The 'kernel' does not set to draw anything…

      2: USB charged devices can detect if they are on low power USB (100mA) high power USB ('500mA'). There is a standard for chargers to indicate that they provide 500mA. The end results is that many phones will just draw as much as they can when not on a data connention and correctly limit to 100/500mA on a data connection. The supply voltage drops when the phone is drawing too much so this is used to limit the actual charge rate (which may be very different to what is printed on a cheap charger).

      3: mah is a measurement of battery life, not charging rate you mean mA.

      4: Nokia voltage difference sounds very wrong to me, where you trying to charge from a non-USB charger? Got a reference for this information?

      • dsp26 on 22/04/2013 - 19:39

        1 & 2: Yes they can. See here:
        http://www.redmondpie.com/enable-force-ac-fast-charging-on-g…
        and here:
        http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1564973
        and a screenshot from my SGS2 here:
        https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28027941/2013-04-22%2019…
        I use the second mode because i have a cheapo 1A car charger and all the samsung chargers are 1A anyway.. but currently using a BBold charger with 700ma because of the really long cable

        3: Yes you are right i meant mA. wrote mah because ive been researching for legit extended batteries all day

        4: maybe, i bought the charger when i was in Rome/Italy July 2011 looking for a charger because i pointlessly brought my aussie plug. I bought a nokia charger for a nokia phone around that era because it was 1A current output.. didnt realise it was 5.2v output… touchscreen kept going unresponsive and eventually died… and just like you said.. the phone wouldve been trying to draw 500ma from its 1a capacity but at 5.2v!

        Source? plenty here:
        https://www.google.com.au/search?q=android+charger+incorrect…

        But android probably has a software regulator in now from ICS onwards from the look of it… at that time i had gingerbread 2.3.7

        But plenty of reports for HTC/Motorola/Samsung of touchscreen issues from wrong voltage

        • _Bruce_ on 22/04/2013 - 22:48

          1 & 2: Yes they can. See here:

          OK What this change does is allow the charging system do to it's 'draw what you can' thing when connected to a data connection. This happens anyway if you are off a charger. The reason that it is not done on a data connection is because it breaks the USB spec badly and bad things can happen. Either way the kernel just sets the flag, the draw amount is done in hardware. I presume yours lists 650mA just because that is the limit that the phone will draw.

          I bought a nokia charger for a nokia phone around that era because it was 1A current output.. didnt realise it was 5.2v output

          5.2V is within USB spec. All USB devices must work at this voltage to conform. If they don't it is the device that is faulty.

          Source? plenty here:
          https://www.google.com.au/search?q=android+charger+incorrect…

          Don't see any examples of Nokia charges being different, just generally faulty/bad chargers (see my first post in this thread).

          But android probably has a software regulator in now from ICS onwards from the look of it… at that time i had gingerbread 2.3.7

          Can't regulate voltage in software, but you can detect it and error (as shown in some of the search results).

  • illumination on 01/05/2013 - 22:47

    Couldn't get it from Aldi they had no stock. I might just grab one of the eBay ones.

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