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Thread: USB charging extremely slow and possible ways to fix

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    Default USB charging extremely slow and possible ways to fix

    We all use our smartphones and tablets more than ever before, so having a fully charged device is a must so to say.
    I had the old Nexus7 and now the new model as well as a Galaxy S4.
    So I fitted my car with a 5A 4-port USB hub, home made of course accept for the power supply (that's why I keep old stuff ).
    To my surprise I noticed that my tablet and phone would still discharge the battery during heavy use!??
    Checked the same running programs at home on the (genuine) wall charger and had the same result.
    So what is the point of buying an expensive, genuine charger if the damn thing is so slow?
    Next step was get a little gadget that plugs between USB port and cable and shows the actual voltage and current running through.
    Best 10 bucks I ever invested for testing equippment!
    On the car it showed a constant 500mA, same story for the wall charger - unless the phone was off, now it used about 900mA to charge.
    I had a first clue that the slow charging might be related to the phone itself and a quick Google search showed the 4.3 update can even cause the charging to fail completely - but I was still running 4.2.2....
    Back t the drawing board I got a bit desperate and started testing all suitable cables and chargers that I could find.
    On old wall charger for a no name GPS gave the final clue as all devices showed over 900mA when connected to it, although the charger was only rated for 800mA and getting quite hot.
    What could be different so an underated charger provides more juice than all OEM solutions???
    Only way to find out was to destroy the casing so I could get into the guts, same for another (non OEM) charger rated for 2A that only delivered 500mA.
    After a lot of checking with my trusted multimeter I noticed the difference is so obvious that it actually did hurt to see!
    The only difference was that the data lines on the fast charger had been bridged so they had a total short.
    I thought it can't be that easy and based on the new info I did another Google search for the USB standards.
    Of course Apple uses their own system by suppling different voltages to the data lines to tell the phone at what rate to charge, but the general USB standard said:
    Open data lines are to be ued for charges or hubs that also provide data transfer, closed data lines are to be used for charging only.
    Seemed it really is that easy so I cut and old USB cable, soldered the data lines together,
    used bright yellow tape to mark it against the use on the PC and checked again with the OEM and car chargers.
    Success! At 50% charge the tablet started to use almost 1.2A directly and the phone at only 5% charge left used 1.8A to charge.
    The full charge of the phone was completed in less than 2 hours compared to over 5 hours before.

    As it was quite easy I opened an old cigarette lighter charger, rated at 2.1A for Ipods and investigated.
    Sure enough there was 2V on the data lines so the rotten apple would know how to use it.
    Use my dremel to cut the circuit board right at the USB pins and soldered a bridge ove the data lines.
    Plugged into the car and the tester now showed full charging for my stuff instead of the 500mA I had before.

    If you want to try this mod:
    On a USB connector the outer two connections are for the power, the inner pair is for the data transfer.
    Since cable colors are not always according to the standard you can be lucky that the power cables are still black for ground and red for the 5V.
    The data lines should be white and yellow.
    To be 100% when modding a USB cable you should either use a multimeter to check for continuity from the plug to the cable in question or open the plug itself.
    The plasic can be carefully cut with a sharp knife along the sides and with a bit of peeling and cutting you can seperate the two halfs without damaging the cables.
    If you do you should still be able to see where they are connected and you simply cut them all for a new and clean soldering connection.
    Other option as said above is to modify the charger itself by bridging the data lines.

    Again: Apple does it differently, so use these mods only for other devices!
    I don't claim it will work for all phones and tablets, and you should check the battery options or use one of the USB testers to confirm the values before messing around with the charger/cable.
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    I have suffered all kinds of charging issues with Samsung products.

    After much testing and using the mA app, it seems to be the the USB lead at fault most times.

    I have;

    1 x Samsung Genuine 2A wall charger and Genuine USB lead (it ALWAYS charges my products at 1000mA +)
    1 x eBay bought so called Genuine 2A wall chager and USB lead (Wall Charger is fine, USB lead doesnt even work)
    1 x Samsung Genuine 1A wall charger (will charge anywhere from 300mA to 700mA... generally 500mA or 600mA)
    Same USB lead in an Apple Wall Charger will get (300mA to 700mA, once again it seems down the lead and connection)
    1 x After Market Car Charger, used to be always 1000mA, now it has connection issues.
    1 x ArkPak with USB outlet (different mA output depending on USB lead used)

    Bottom Line for me is very much become the USB lead and connection.
    Once i found the best USB lead, i tried it across all my chargers and it gave the best results from each.

    I am amazed these products are so particular to leads etc, its a real pain in the ass.

    Best all round solution for me has been to use the Genuine Samsung Galaxy Tablet 2A charger and its USB lead where ever possible on all my Samsung phones...
    Charges the phone in under an hour, the charger the phone came with takes 4 to 5 hours, sometimes 8 or more.
    Last edited by ol' boy; 01-01-14 at 04:41 PM.

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    Some days ago for Samsung Galaxy devices application "Galaxy Charging Current Lite" was uploaded to Google Play Store. A no-ads Pro version is also available.
    The application displays three values that will tell you if the device's battery is charging correctly:

    current_now:
    The theoretical charging current, i.e., the rate at wich the battery *should* be charging (usually 999 on AC and 466 on USB).

    current_avg:
    Usually is the same as current_max (at least after some seconds).

    current_max:
    The maximum charging current. In other words, the phone will not get more current to charge the battery than the value displayed here. This is the value that matters most.

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    @ jwoegerbauer: These tools are nice and handy but not all phones/tablets support them - for those that do they are perfect for a quick check of the euippment.
    But for general use I really prefer my USB tester now

    @ oceanboy: Check the charger (unplugged) for continuity between the data lines, the ones labeled for Apple use should only be used for Apple products as otherwise they only will deliver normal USB charge (around 500mA).
    As for the leads I had similar experiences, some cheap ones do work fine, others fail after a short while of use. Same for chargers.
    But I found a way to make sure connection isues are limited:
    On the charger side I make sure to get ones that use spring contacts instead of the flat solid connections.
    Most cheap USB cables have the connection plate a bit too thin or made from cheap plastic, causing problems in ports that don't use spring contacts.
    Other propblem I found with them is that some use unsuited cables.
    I have one pretty thing cable that was sold as extrem flexible to avoid stress on the contacts.
    Well it is flexible indeed, but the internal resistance is so high that most devices won't work properly with it.
    I no longer buy my cables online, I got to a shop or the market and check them, if there is no idication of the wires used in the cable I give it a miss, same if the USB plug uses plastic instead of a ceramic pad for the contacts.

    On a side note I noticed that USB extensions cause any charger to go only provide the 500mA USB charge instead of a full charge.
    I tested this with 3 extensions I have and the result was always the same.
    Since all 4 leads including the ground is directed through I have to assume that the internal resistance of the data lines is enough for my phone to say it no wall charger connected.
    My Nexus does the same while two GPS systems definately charge much faster than on their original 900mA chargers.
    I'm thinking now of making "charge adapter".
    Just a micro USB to mini USB connector (so I can use my left over cables) that has the data lines open on the mini side and bridged on the micro side.
    This way the device always assumes a wall charger and charges with full power while at the same time any charger on the other end can be used.
    Of course this is not recommended for the charge on a PC or laptop unless a USB3 port is used.
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    Handy tool for checking USB charging or many appliances.

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    You get them on Ebay as well, often for under 3 bucks incl. postage.
    With it I checked the various chargers and cables to verify the charge rate
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    Quote Originally Posted by Downunder35m View Post
    You get them on Ebay as well, often for under 3 bucks incl. postage.
    With it I checked the various chargers and cables to verify the charge rate
    Got any links?
    Sounds good

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    I have the same issue in USB charging. That's why I have totally given up and I always just prefer plugging my device directly into the socket. It's more inconvenient as compared to USB charging, but in terms of time it takes to do so, it's definitely much much better.

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    Of course USB charging has less power as compare to the mains power. That is why it is recommended that you charge your phone through the mains power. It is better and will recharge your battery more quickly thus saving you a lot of time.

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