USB Smart Charger

[UlkaHuren]

When I’m on the go this Anker 2 2.4 amp per port charger is in my purse for my mod and iPhone. I also have a nice 4 port charger in the car. If you have any less of a charger for your two battery mod it’s likely to get pretty hot! I think this was $22. It’s high quality and very smart. At home I have a 5 port table top version for all my things.

 

[Rossum]

Anker makes very nice "chargers". I have some 5-port ones.

 

[flavourchaser]

Nice

 

[stols001]

I wish my "cigarette lighter" in my car actually "worked." And by that I mean there is no mini toaster oven thing, but the "USB port" goes to nowhere. It's extremely frustrating, mainly because I sometimes need to charge my PHONE on the road, not my mods so much.

And yeah, it's a feature of the "ultra ultra base model" I purchased because I wanted stick shift and I wanted it then. I would literally have to pay Mazda to put the electronics in there.

I'd really prefer a working toaster oven, that has to be useful for "something" than what I have now. Etc.

Your charger looks nice though.

Anna

 

[KurtVD]

And yeah, it's a feature of the "ultra ultra base model" I purchased because I wanted stick shift and I wanted it then. I would literally have to pay Mazda to put the electronics in there.

Why don’t you find someone who can install an USB port for charging in your car? I did it in my car, it’s not that big of a deal, it shouldn’t cost you more than 50$. It’s literally just a matter of putting it somewhere and installing two wires plus a simple fuse. The hardest part is to find a good place on the dashboard, and install it there without destroying the plastics, unless you don’t care if it’s just dangling from behind the dash, on its wires.

If you have any less of a charger for your two battery mod it’s likely to get pretty hot!

What do you mean, what will get hot? For the batteries, it’s ok to charge them at a slower speed, if anything it’s even better for them.

 

[r77r7r]

I have an older 5 port with tablet or phone ports. I like the cooler slow charge from the phone port. Can't lose pairing Anker with Belkin cables.

 

[DaveP]

I have 8A and 3.1A multiport USB wall warts in the Kitchen for various devices including my USB ecig devices. Most USB 2.0 devices charge at a standard 1A, anyway. Having a stronger charger does allow multiple devices to charge at once. Some chargers don't come with an AC Adapter. If you have a high amp USB wall charger it can power the battery charger. That was the case with my XTAR VC4.

I also like my Merkury contact charger disc for charging cell phones (around $12). You just lay a contact charge capable phone on it and it starts to charge.

 

[stols001]

@KurtVD , that's an excellent idea. I have a feeling the husband would be totally capable of achieving that and this might be one of the better times to ask, because he's already getting all freaky about my hopefully soon length of daily commute (it is rather lengthy).

I have never asked since a) the idea never even occurred to me and b) I haven't needed it That Much, but I kind of am going to (hopefully) thanks for the suggestion.

Anna

 

[UlkaHuren]

Why don’t you find someone who can install an USB port for charging in your car? I did it in my car, it’s not that big of a deal, it shouldn’t cost you more than 50$. It’s literally just a matter of putting it somewhere and installing two wires plus a simple fuse. The hardest part is to find a good place on the dashboard, and install it there without destroying the plastics, unless you don’t care if it’s just dangling from behind the dash, on its wires.
What do you mean, what will get hot? For the batteries, it’s ok to charge them at a slower speed, if anything it’s even better for them.

What mean is the USB charger gets too hot because the mods that I’ve used overload the lower rate chargers or even cause them to shutdown. Also any PC with a lower rate charging USB port shutdown right away. The mods apparently don’t communicate to charge at a lower rate and max out the lower rate ports.

 

[UlkaHuren]

I wish my "cigarette lighter" in my car actually "worked." And by that I mean there is no mini toaster oven thing, but the "USB port" goes to nowhere. It's extremely frustrating, mainly because I sometimes need to charge my PHONE on the road, not my mods so much.

And yeah, it's a feature of the "ultra ultra base model" I purchased because I wanted stick shift and I wanted it then. I would literally have to pay Mazda to put the electronics in there.

I'd really prefer a working toaster oven, that has to be useful for "something" than what I have now. Etc.

Your charger looks nice though.

Anna

If it were my car and the mini toaster option was not installed, but had the hole plugged. I could either wire in the socket, or get a 12v USB charger to install under the dash and install a USB port in that plug.

 

[kross8]

Why don’t you find someone who can install an USB port for charging in your car? I did it in my car, it’s not that big of a deal, it shouldn’t cost you more than 50$. It’s literally just a matter of putting it somewhere and installing two wires plus a simple fuse. The hardest part is to find a good place on the dashboard, and install it there without destroying the plastics, unless you don’t care if it’s just dangling from behind the dash, on its wires.
What do you mean, what will get hot? For the batteries, it’s ok to charge them at a slower speed, if anything it’s even better for them.

agree, I installed another usb charging port in my car, I put it 'behind & lower than my right arm' inside my console,,, that way the wire isn't running in front of me,,I really hate that lol. the normal cig lighter in front of me to the right has a usb battery charger. I dont know if this would work for everyone,, I sorta got lucky as my car had power lines right under the console.

this is plugged into my cig charger (with a usb plug),, the 'body' lays perfect in the ashtray

 

[Ryedan]

What mean is the USB charger gets too hot because the mods that I’ve used overload the lower rate chargers or even cause them to shutdown. Also any PC with a lower rate charging USB port shutdown right away. The mods apparently don’t communicate to charge at a lower rate and max out the lower rate ports.

Thanks for bringing this up UlkaHuren, IMO it doesn't get discussed here often enough.

What you are referring to as a USB 'charger' is actually a USB adapter port (wall wort or USB computer port) that can safely put out a certain number of amps as per their rating.

The battery chargers which control battery charging are built into the devices, like a mod with a built-in charger, or a stand alone USB charger you put batteries into. The charger will draw X number of amps and if it draws more amps from the adapter than they can safely output the adapters will heat up. Some adapters have amp draw limiting circuitry in them, but the majority do not, specially the cheap ones.

I have a couple of battery chargers that draw over 2 amps when they are in the initial stages of charging. I only use wall adapters rated higher than the maximum draw they will see so they stay reasonably cool and I don't have to worry about their safety

 

[KurtVD]

I have a couple of battery chargers that draw over 2 amps when they are in the initial stages of charging.

I was under the impression that the maximum output of a USB adapter is 2.1 amps (as defined by the USB standard, but I could be wrong), except USB-c, which can go higher, AFAIK. However, a lot ot of USB devices still only draw 1 amp (which was the maximum for many years), usually 2.1 amp charging is advertised as ‘Quick Charge’ or something like that.
As for your adapters getting hot or even shutting down, that never happened to me, but I only use brand name wall adapters. A device can’t draw more power than what the adapter is capable of supplying, and the adapter should be able to supply that power without overheating (if it’s in a reasonably cool place with a little airflow).

 

[UlkaHuren]

I was under the impression that the maximum output of a USB adapter is 2.1 amps (as defined by the USB standard, but I could be wrong), except USB-c, which can go higher, AFAIK. However, a lot ot of USB devices still only draw 1 amp (which was the maximum for many years), usually 2.1 amp charging is advertised as ‘Quick Charge’ or something like that.
As for your adapters getting hot or even shutting down, that never happened to me, but I only use brand name wall adapters. A device can’t draw more power than what the adapter is capable of supplying, and the adapter should be able to supply that power without overheating (if it’s in a reasonably cool place with a little airflow).

Well apparently it doesn’t work that way from my own experiences with mods. Other devices work within spec and draw the 1 amp, but not so with different mods I’ve tried. If it’s my iPhone or other device, it’ll limit to 1 amp. Something about the mods is not to spec.

 

[KurtVD]

I wish my "cigarette lighter" in my car actually "worked." And by that I mean there is no mini toaster oven thing, but the "USB port" goes to nowhere

What do you mean by that? Do you have a 12V socket instead of a cigarette lighter? Or what is this USB port that 'goes nowhere'? Are you saying that on your dash, there's a USB port that's not connected to anything??

 

[KurtVD]

Well apparently it doesn’t work that way from my own experiences with mods. Other devices work within spec and draw the 1 amp, but not so with different mods I’ve tried. If it’s my iPhone or other device, it’ll limit to 1 amp. Something about the mods is not to spec.

There are also a lot of cheaply made USB adapters on the market, maybe those which overheated fall into this category. However, I'm no expert in electronics, so I'm not 100% sure.
But just to double-check, I've been charging my battery in my mod for the last hour, connected to a 1amp adapter, and it's not even warm to the touch by now (the battery's almost full now).

 

[UlkaHuren]

There are also a lot of cheaply made USB adapters on the market, maybe those which overheated fall into this category. However, I'm no expert in electronics, so I'm not 100% sure.
But just to double-check, I've been charging my battery in my mod for the last hour, connected to a 1amp adapter, and it's not even warm to the touch by now (the battery's almost full now).

The ones I’ve used were good brands including an Apple iPhone charger. It’s something out of spec with at least the mods I’ve come across. Also they shutdown the ports on computers too for excess current.

 

[Rossum]

The ones I’ve used were good brands including an Apple iPhone charger. It’s something out of spec with at least the mods I’ve come across. Also they shutdown the ports on computers too for excess current.

Apple doesn't abide by the specs from the USB standards body; they have their own "standard" for negotiating higher current from a 'charger'. One of the cool things about many of the Anker 'chargers' is that they're smart enough to correctly handle both Apple and more standard devices.

A wise old engineer once said, "The thing I like most about standards is how many there are to choose from, and how many ways you can interpret each of them.'

 

[KurtVD]

Apple doesn't abide by the specs from the USB standards body; they have their own "standard" for negotiating higher current

While that might be true, anything from Apple with a USB plug is also compatible with any non-Apple device. I personally own and have owned many Apple and other devices over the years, and charged my iPhones on a lot of different adapters, and never had a single problem.

 

[DaveP]

The best article I've found that explains USB charging and the different standards for USB specs.

How USB Charging Works, or How to Avoid Blowing Up Your Smartphone - ExtremeTech