Car Charging Just Ain't The Same

[PaporPlas]

I know this from being a free-lancer that spends much time on both my cell phone and iPad. Charging your PV, or any device for that matter, is no where near as effective as when you do it via your car charger, or computer USB, as quickly as when charging from a wall socket. So, if you have battery problems, try plugging into the electrical outlet rather than your car charger. If your PV's manufacturer states 2-3 hours for a full charge on your battery, they are referencing a wall outlet charge. Probably should triple that in your car. Car charging will be more like 6-9 hours.

I'm sure some techie on here can give us the Amp charge rate difference between the AC charging vs DC.

 

[washvap]

Thanks for the post. It'll be very useful to all the newbs here.

 

[denali_41]

if it uses a usb to connect,,it will charge the same in the car as on the wall,,

perhaps there is a problem with your cars alternator ????

 

[TreeKiller3120]

I use my laptop, car charge, hell even plugged into Xbox- no extra time to charge to green here. Of course my batteries are only 3wks old. maybe 25 charges each

 

[bigtiime]

The charge rate is regulated to 5 volts by the car charger or your wall wart. So the rate that the battery charges should be approx. the same.

 

[stephpd]

Yep. 5 volts and most are regulated to less then .5 amps.

Except for the computer, which may or may not be able to supply that amount of current, they should all be about the same.

 

[I.V.]

You might be wired up bad on the car. Most of the smallest fuses would be for 5 Amps at the minimum. So you either have a bad connection to the car charger or if your alternator is not charging you'll know when you can't start the car either.

 

[subliminalurge]

The charge rate is regulated to 5 volts by the car charger or your wall wart.

This is simultaneously 100% true and 100% irrelevant.

What matters in regards to charging speed is amperage. The vast majority of car chargers output a much smaller amperage than a wall wart. Looking through my basket of chargers I have everything from car chargers that only output 100 ma up to a wall wart that can output 2.5 amps. You'd better believe there's a difference in how fast each one can charge my phone. And yes, obviously, they all output 5 volts.

Now, if you have a small battery that uses a wimpy charger that any of the options can keep up with, then you'll see no difference in charge times. But if the charger operates at 500 ma or above, that's where you'll start to see significant charging speed increases by making sure your power source can supply the amperage the charger wants.

 

[brandontrjn]

I use minis and don't notice a difference in the car, computer or the wall. That being said, the computer would most likely be the slowest as there are different types of USB. USB 2.0's max load is 500 mA, and USB 3.0's max load is 900 mA both are 5 V connections info is here .

 

[DrOckW]

Just a tip from a vet.

Walgreen's sells these little USB charger plugs for the car, they're like $5 a pop here, sold in a tub near the check out. These little suckers are powerful enough to run my adjustable voltage eGo (which requires more amperage than most) and they're cheap. Remember higher amps = faster charge when dealing with the car. You can also go find special high amp chargers at best-buy but make sure it lists at least 2amps on the box or don't buy because you're just getting another cheap adaptor. Look in the ipad section if you can't find high amp adaptors.

 

[subliminalurge]

the computer would most likely be the slowest as there are different types of USB.

It will only be the slowest if the charger operates above 500 ma. I have in my hand a charger that only charges at 180 ma. That charger would charge equally fast on any of the options. My phone, however, charges faster as you increase the amperage, at least up to 2 amps.

 

[stephpd]

Just remember that the wall charger and car charger are just one part in charging a battery. There's also the usb to 510 part of the charger too. Those are also rated in mAH. Some rather low and others fairly high.

And not all batteries can be charged at the higher amperage. Use to high an amperage charger and you risk blowing up the battery.

 

[PaporPlas]

Hmmm. When I charge my Smart Phone and/or iPad from my care it takes 3 times as long as if I plug into a wall socket. Spoke with the guys at the Apple store and they said cigarette car charges charge at slower rates. Now, when I plug in my transformer to my car's cig plug it's just as fast as the wall. Maybe it is the USB cig charger plug I am plugging my USB into? That makes sense. But, I have used a number of cigarette lighter USB units over the years and they always seem to provide less power. For sure when I am WiFi tethering my phone my car charge can not keep up like a wall outlet.

I guess the bottom line of what I am saying is if someone is having batteries not last very long. Plug them into the wall for the recommended charge time and see if that helps.

 

[PaporPlas]

Thanks DrOckW! That's what I'm talking about. An inexpensive solution with a practical application. I'm picking one up today. Heck, it might even fix my rolling office problem.

Just a tip from a vet.

Walgreen's sells these little USB charger plugs for the car, they're like $5 a pop here, sold in a tub near the check out. These little suckers are powerful enough to run my adjustable voltage eGo (which requires more amperage than most) and they're cheap. Remember higher amps = faster charge when dealing with the car. You can also go find special high amp chargers at best-buy but make sure it lists at least 2amps on the box or don't buy because you're just getting another cheap adaptor. Look in the ipad section if you can't find high amp adaptors.

 

[throatkick]

There are higher amp car charger adapters that should resolve this.