Quick question about Wall to USB chargers

[spaceballsrules]

I know a wall charger converts the electricity to USB 5V, and the only spec that changes on different chargers is the ma. Some are 200 ma, some are 300 ma, some are 800 ma, etc. What does the ma dictate? Can I use an 800 ma charger for a battery that originally came with a 200 ma charger?
Thanks

 

[VapApe]

Yes you can.
The ma rating of the wall convertor is its working load.

That is an 800ma rated convertor can handle any load up to 800 ma.

 

[SirVette]

You can use a lower ma charger than it came with, but not larger as the battery can blow up if it's too high.
Using lower will take longer to charge.

 

[spaceballsrules]

OK 2 conflicting answers, sort of.

Personally, I have a V2Cigs wall adapter that is rated at 200ma. I also have an Elite 808 charger rated at 300ma. I CAN charge my Elite 808 on the V2 wall adapter, but I CANNOT charge my V2 on the Elite charger?

BTW I am sticking the batteries on their respective chargers, and have no plans to mix them up. I am just asking out of curiosity.

 

[SirVette]

2 different issues. The wall USB adapter or car USB adapter capacity (has to be equal or higher rating than charger) & charger rate has to be equal or lower than OEM supplied charger.

 

[spaceballsrules]

2 different issues. The wall USB adapter or car USB adapter capacity (has to be equal or higher rating than charger) & charger rate has to be equal or lower than OEM supplied charger.

Ok That makes perfect sense. Thanks!

 

[AttyPops]

Are you talking about the wall-wart with a USB connection on it? Go with post #2. The charger will only draw as many amps as it needs but is not allowed to draw more than the A/C->USB adapter is rated for. So the rating can be higher.

The charger output... is a different issue altogether... like SirVette said. Some units are combined into a single AC converter/charger/plug thing too. But that's not your question, if I understood the OP. Also, some chargers have "smarts" built into them, some have reversed polarities, meh. Best to keep same-same. But for a 5 volt USB power supply... more amp capability is OK.

 

[madjack]

...the short answer is, you can charge a big batt with a small charger...you cannot charge a small batt with a big charger as it will probably burn it up...in other words, you can't charge your slimline batt with a charger rated more(say 5-800ma) than it's original charger...probably in the 200ma range...but, you can charge a fatt batt such as an Ego or Riva with the 200ma charger...............
madjack

 

[stephpd]

Using a higher rated charger then what came with your battery is risking blowing up the battery.
I know, it happened to me. Got stuck at work with a 'surprise' double and hadn't brought the charger with me. Tried using one for another battery and it made a smokey mess.

Killed the battery, to say the least. It was glowing red and blew the button across the room. Filled the room with smoke too.

 

[annah]

Just to make sure I understand, since I was wondering the same thing. My ego came with the usb charger, and a usb to ac adapter. I could for example, use a 510 charger on my ego (but not the ego charger on the 510).

And to replace my usb to ac adapter (it broke the day after i got it), I need to go bigger (than the rating of the ego charger, it says input is 500mah), so a 1000mah ac adapter would be ok.. Is that correct?

 

[SirVette]

annah
The eGo wall adapter is 500 output & that's all you need for the eGo charger which is 420 out.

 

[stephpd]

Just to make sure I understand, since I was wondering the same thing. My ego came with the usb charger, and a usb to ac adapter. I could for example, use a 510 charger on my ego (but not the ego charger on the 510).

And to replace my usb to ac adapter (it broke the day after i got it), I need to go bigger (than the rating of the ego charger, it says input is 500mah), so a 1000mah ac adapter would be ok.. Is that correct?

First part is correct.

For the wall adapter a 500mAh one would be perfect. Going for a higher capacity there won't hurt anything. A smaller one will just make charging take longer. Walmart has them fairly cheap. Some even have two usb slots.

 

[annah]

I was just wondering if bigger was ok, since I have found them on Amazon much cheaper than my Walmart has, but Amazon only has bigger ones.

 

[SirVette]

... For the wall adapter a 500mAh one would be perfect. Going for a higher capacity there won't hurt anything. A smaller one will just make charging take longer. ...

This part is not clear.
A lower charger will make charging take longer. Wall 500 or 1000 no difference in this case.

 

[DaveP]

My answer is that you need at least the mah rating of the standard charger. Raising it won't hurt. A standard USB port on a computer supplies 500ma to a device.

Lower mah ratings will just take longer to charge a battery. The charge dongle that plugs into the adapter regulates the charge to the battery it's designed for. It's like different wattage light bulbs that all operate on a 120v line. Resistance vs voltage is what determines current draw and that is designed into the charger dongle. This is why a slim 510 batt will burn up on an eGo charger and 510 charger will take much longer to charge the eGo batt.

 

[markfm]

I'm getting confused by the answers, so let's try this.

There are two parts, the thing that goes from the wall outlet or cig lighter adapter to a USB female connector (like found on the side of a PC), and the thing that has USB male on one side, and your PV battery connector on the other. The first part is a USB power supply. The second part is a PV charger.

The USB power supply output should be equal to or greater than the PV charger input. Every PV charger I've heard of has its input and output numbers stamped on it, as do USB power supplies. For instance the PV charger may say "Input 5VDC 200 mA" (or 0.2 A), "Output 4.2VDC 150 mA" (or 0.15A).

For the above case, where the charger input is specified as 200 mA, you want to make sure your USB power supply is rated for 200 mA output or greater. A 500 mA, or 1000,or 2000 mA USB power supply is absolutely fine, but you should NOT be using a USB power supply that is only rated 100 mA. The PV charger wants to sink 200mA, and if the power supply cannot source that much it is being over-driven, out of spec.

Now for that PV charger. You do not want a PV charger with too high an output current for your particular PV. For instance a standard Riva or eGo charger may output 4.2VDC 500 mA. You should NOT use this charger on a small standard 510 battery, one that is only 180 mAh capacity; the charger is driving too much current for that little battery. The converse, however, using a little 4.2VDC 120 mA output standard 510 PV charger on a big eGo or Riva battery, is okay. It may take a long time to charge the battery, but the charger is not outputting too much current, it is safe to do.

The other, ugly, aspect of chargers is that some vendors use reverse polarity. Typically the center contact of a battery is the positive, +, "hot", while the outside edge of the connector is negative, -, "return". Some vendors instead have the + on the outside of the connector, with the - on the center post. This is just a flat-out ugly thing for any manufacturer to do, but it is done. For example, I believe the Blu is a 510 connector, but reverse polarity - you cannot mix and match blu PVs and chargers with other, standard, 510, equipment.

(atomizers and cartomizers don't care about polarity -- they are simple resistive items, doesn't matter what direction the current is flowing)

 

[madjack]

Just to make sure I understand, since I was wondering the same thing. My ego came with the usb charger, and a usb to ac adapter. I could for example, use a 510 charger on my ego (but not the ego charger on the 510).

And to replace my usb to ac adapter (it broke the day after i got it), I need to go bigger (than the rating of the ego charger, it says input is 500mah), so a 1000mah ac adapter would be ok.. Is that correct?

...the first paragraph is correct...

...most AC adapters output 2000mah and will work with any USB charger regardless of it's rating...the charger is "pulling" what it wants from the wall adapter...the wall adapter is not "pushing" amps, just making them available to the USB charger...making the 2nd paragraph correct as well........
madjack

 

[spaceballsrules]

Oh lordy. I am now officially confused again....

How about a flow diagram?

Wall-USB plug ____?____ USB-Battery ____?_____ Battery

Fill in the blanks with either (greater than or equal to) or (less than or equal to).

Or we can even use pics....

___??______??___

Once the correct answer is given, everyone else confirm that it is, in fact, CORRECT.

 

[markfm]

First ?? is "greater than or equal to", second is "less than or equal to"

Gozouta from the power supply must be greater than or equal to gozinta to the charger.

Gozouta from the charger has to be less than or equal to the permitted gozinta to the PV.

Gozinta to the PV is device specific, normally can be related to the mAh of the battery in it. Keep the charger gozouta in mA less than the numeric mAh rating of the PV. This means you charge at less than or equal to "1C".

If the PV is 650 mAh, a charger outputting anything under 650 mA is okay. If the PV is 180 mAh, you want the charger output <= 180 mA.

 

[spaceballsrules]

First ?? is "greater than or equal to", second is "less than or equal to"

Gozouta from the power supply must be greater than or equal to gozinta to the charger.

Gozouta from the charger has to be less than or equal to the permitted gozinta to the PV.

Gozinta to the PV is device specific, normally can be related to the mAh of the battery in it. Keep the charger gozouta in mA less than the numeric mAh rating of the PV. This means you charge at less than or equal to "1C".

If the PV is 650 mAh, a charger outputting anything under 650 mA is okay. If the PV is 180 mAh, you want the charger output <= 180 mA.

Disco!

Because I am a VERY visual learner (words mean nothing lalala) I am bringing the pics into it....

(ma)greater than or equal to(ma)


AND


(ma)less than or equal to (mah)


Please confirm if this is correct or not.