Charging issues for Rezound

[chrisrach3]

Anyone else having issues with charging via USB cable/computer? Mine is not only not charging, but it's losing charge. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ann154]

Are you having the same issues when using the wall charger?

[demmo86rt]

The USB cable connected to a computer charges about half the speed of a wall charger, about 0.5 mAh vs 1 mAh.  With the large HD screen and fast processor, this may not be enough to charge the phone, especially if you are doing anything with it.  I have an app called battery monitor widget that, in addition to other things will tell you whether you are gaining or loosing power.  The same thing goes for older car chargers, some of the new ones have "fast charge" meaning it charges the same as a wall charger.

[techguru]

demmo86rt wrote:

The USB cable connected to a computer charges about half the speed of a wall charger, about 0.5 mAh vs 1 mAh.  With the large HD screen and fast processor, this may not be enough to charge the phone, especially if you are doing anything with it.  I have an app called battery monitor widget that, in addition to other things will tell you whether you are gaining or loosing power.  The same thing goes for older car chargers, some of the new ones have "fast charge" meaning it charges the same as a wall charger.

Late to the party, but dealing with this issue with great frustration.

Using a combination of Battery Monitor Widget and a multi-meter, I have determined that all of my .8 amp or above wall chargers, which work fine on the Rezound (the 1amp faster of course) put out 5.5 volts, which is slightly over the USB spec.

The inductive charging pad is slow, and if I have Bluetooth on and streaming music or phone call, it can't keep up with the discharge on the phone, but it is close.

I have several car chargers ranging from old .5 amp to iPad 2.1 amp and in between.  None of them can charge the Rezound even in idle, let alone actually doing work like GPS navigation and/or music streaming.  I determined that every one of them puts out 5.0 v not the 5.5 that the home chargers do.  Same with the USB port on my computer which also can not charge the Rezound.

I am going to buy an adjustable voltage regulator and other circuit parts and try to build my own car charger.  What I need to do now on long trips is use my old Thunderbolt, powered off but plugged into another 12v adapter as a battery charger with a spare battery so when my Rezound is close to dead I have a spare battery I can swap in.  The Thunderbolt charges quite fine on a .5v 2.1 amp charger.

Alan

[demmo86rt]

Sounds like you may have a real issue here, I don't have any problem charging my Rezound in the car using a (Verizon branded) high speed charger.  I've even charged my phone, while using Nav, with my wife's phone plugged into the second USB port on the charger.  Now that the weather has gotten warmer, sometimes it will overheat while charging in the car, but it still charges.

[techguru]

I have confirmed that the issue with charging in the car (and from USB on my computer) is voltage, not amperage.  I picked up a universal charger from Radio Shack that can be set to 4.5, 6, 9, and 12 volts.  It didn't have a Micro-USB tip, but I cut the cable and wired on a tip form one of the dozens of USB cables I have.  Tested it out with the Incredible first (which also had this issue) to make sure 6v wouldn't cook the phone.  Worked perfectly, so I plugged in the Rezound and now with Bluetooth streaming stereo from Google Play cloud to my car, GPS on, Daily Roads Voyager capturing video all running, I am still at +215 Ma and the battery charges. 

Yesterday, when it was so hot out and with the phone in the window getting some solar heating, I did get an over-heat warning, so I switched to 4.5 volts and it was similar to giving it only 5 v.  I was losing power, but not as fast as if it was unplugged, and it cooled down.  So, with careful monitoring, I should be OK with this solution.

Alan

[demmo86rt]

Have you tried using a "fast charge" car charger?  I don't know what sort of voltage it puts out, but battery monitor widget shows it as AC plugged vs. USB plugged.  May be more than just voltage, could also be how the phone receives it.  I have an older wall charger that I use sometimes (the type that you plug a USB cord into) and sometimes it shows as USB plugged.  It's the only wall charger that I have this issue with, and will actually show the phone discharging while using it.  There is something about having two of the contacts jumpered together for the phone to recognize it as AC, but I don't know exactly how to modify the charger.

[techguru]

None of the chargers I have explicitly say "fast charge" . I'll look for that.

Motorola used to do something in their phones that even when the started using "standard" mini USB (pre micro) it had to be a Motorola brand charger to work. Maybe fast charger have something on the signal lines to tell the phone to draw more amps.

Time for some research.

Thanks

Alan

[slingblade01]

Humm, 5.5v!  Thanks for sharing.

I have the same issue.

[techguru]

researching fast charge, I may have found a better solution.  Apparently shorting the data pins tells the phone to draw more amperage.  AC chargers do this, but most car chargers don't. 

  I am going to experiment (withmyold Incredible which shares this issue so I don't wreck my Rezound if I am wrong) and will report my results here.

Alan