Hi Everyone
I have been following this thread with interest because I bought a car charger off ebay for £1.99 free P&P.The charger has a sticker with 8500 on it I took it to mean a Nokia 8500,however after searching the internet I have found a phone called a Qtek 8500 which is produced by HTC!
Though I must say the build quality is not that great,I was going to put it aside and buy the one in Maplins but I thought I would try it.So last night I had to make a journey of 10 miles so I thought I would use the HTC sat nav with the car charger,the first indication I got once I had connected the phone to the car charger was charging AC.I noted the battery level which was 50%, using the sat nav and listening to the desires music player at the same time, and started my journey of about 20 mins at the end the battery level was 58%.
The chargers advertised on ebay for a HTC desire here is the link
I do believe its actually the data lines on the CHARGER that need to be shorted. THe USB cable can be the same whether for a true AC wall charger or a USB car charger.
Just as sandozer is asking, does anyone have a car usb charger that reads as "AC charging" on the phone / battery when plugged in?
I don't think that's quite right.
The phone needs to see the pins shorted out, it doesn't matter if it's the lead or the charger or both.
As long as the pins are shorted, the phone presumes it's connected to a power supply that can do more than 500mA. If it sees the pins shorted, it will say AC charge, no matter what it is plugged into.
AC, 1AMP, whatever you want to call it then the DATA LINES MUST BE SHORTED AT THE USB CHARGER SOCKET !!!!! The AC charging will be indicated on the phone.
I get the feeling I am repeating this post somewhat.
I think you have this right, but I'm going to slightly edit that......
To get the HI charge rate in the car,
AC, 1AMP, whatever you want to call it then the DATA LINES MUST BE SHORTED SOMEWHERE!!!!! The AC charging will be indicated on the phone.
Very interesting! I just want to check. When you say a "standard in-car charger for a Nokia", what kind of end does it have? A mini-USB (like those on a digital camera), or a round Nokia small like this
If that is the case, then the adaptor / Nokia charger combo must look like a "shorted" micro USB to the phone and voila! I may hunt one down then!
(Sorry sandozer, it would likely be a disaster if I try to open up and short my usb car charger!)
thats correct.i use the large pin nokia charger(its a few years old think its for a nokia 3330 or that era) and the 3.5mm large pin to micro usb charger only the one i have is the original nokia product(it has both large and small pin connectors)its def worth a try if it means you get a proper charge and it lets you use the in-phone sat-nav!good luck on your search mate,hail hail
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the cheap generic car charger i got with my desire screen mount also registers as charging ac! i've made belkin aware of this thread and the issues which have been raised and they're investigating with the product manager if the data pins are shorted on the device or not. should have an update soon!
Hi guys, I've been lurking around this forum for a week or so since getting my HTC Desire, and thought I'd like to add my two-penn'orth.
I would caution against putting a short in the USB cable as these wires are used for data transmission eg synch'ing the phone to PC.
Any charger designed & intended to deliver more than 500mA will (OK - should) already have the output terminals shorted to signal to the phone that it is not connected to a standard USB port (thus limited to 500mA O/P) and can safely draw more current to charge more quickly.
This shortcircuit in the charger is easy enough to check with a meter, but adding a short will not magically convert a low power charger into a high power one.
PS anyone without a meter - they're available form Maplins less than a tenner, so much cheaper than a new phone.
I've got the same USB car charger from Maplin's, is it the two centre points I've highlighted in red that you need to solder together? (Image attached)
And can you confirm that when using this and the HTC supllied lead it charges the battery whilst using navigation?
Thanks,
Bruno
Apologies for the slow reply - I forgot to subscribe to the thread...
Correct - it's those two centre points that you've marked in red. I shorted them with a blob of solder.
JuicePlotter shows battery charging during Navigation, including when playing music (from the phone's speaker - ugh!) at the same time.
Not the same road route as when I had the original problem though. That could make a difference, due to different signal conditions.
Last week I bought a car holder and charger from eBay (item no 170467443547)
The interesting thing is, that the supplied charger say output 600 - 750ma
I also have one of those chargers, which came with a car mount from an Ebay seller (maybe the same one as yours).
The Data lines are shorted together inside the MicroUSB plug. If you look (very!) closely, you can see four (easily breakable) lugs holding the plug casing together...
This is what causes the Desire to switch to AC charging mode, in which it will try to pull > 500ma from the charger.
The output voltage range specified is quite alarming. I didn't want to risk pumping 10V into my Desire so I'm not using this charger.
The Desire comes with a free car-charger from T-Mobile (UK). This is a complete lead, 12V to micro-usb. Using this charger the phone registers as charging on AC but the rate of recharge is not great. I haven't measured it precisely but roughly with the phone idle it is charging at 15-20% per hour. With GPS on to run Google Maps with voice directions it drains the battery slowly but steadily.
Using the supplied USB lead plugged in to a PC the phone charges at less than 10% per hour.
Using the supplied USB lead plugged into the AC Adaptor in a 220V socket the phone recharges at around 50% per hour.
I purchased one of the Belkin 1A Car Charger converters but, using the same cable as above, the phone only detects it as 'charging USB' and it recharges no faster than a PC connection. I guess I'll send it back.
Tried it out today on way home with Google Navigate running. It worked perfectly and gained 10% charger turning the 30 min trip! Very pleased.
One small downside is that it was a little loose in my car's electric port, and if I knocked it (changing gears) it popped out a little. That could be due more to the car though, my vodafone ones for my older phones did the same thing.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mecanician
Hi Everyone
I have been following this thread with interest because I bought a car charger off ebay for £1.99 free P&P.The charger has a sticker with 8500 on it I took it to mean a Nokia 8500,however after searching the internet I have found a phone called a Qtek 8500 which is produced by HTC!
Though I must say the build quality is not that great,I was going to put it aside and buy the one in Maplins but I thought I would try it.So last night I had to make a journey of 10 miles so I thought I would use the HTC sat nav with the car charger,the first indication I got once I had connected the phone to the car charger was charging AC.I noted the battery level which was 50%, using the sat nav and listening to the desires music player at the same time, and started my journey of about 20 mins at the end the battery level was 58%.
The chargers advertised on ebay for a HTC desire here is the link
IS it true that when the phone says its Charging (AC) its drawing 1A hence charging faster, but when it says Charging (USB) its drawing less than 1A?
Nearly. Providing the charger it's connected to is up to the job, it will try to take more current if in AC mode. In USB mode, it will only take up to 500mA, hence why some car chargers are struggling even if they are rated at 1A.
I've had to buy a car charger this week in an emergency, had an interview to go to, was stuck in traffic for ages so was running late. Phone dead so couldnt ring ahead and say i was on way etc.
Spotted carphonewarehouse... went in, bought a generic in car micro usb charger. The phone treats it as an AC supply, not USB. £14.99 well spent.
Barcode number: 8 124180 051460
In-car mobile charger
Micro USB connector
On back of pack shows ompatibility with N97, N85, i8910 omnia and Tocco Ultra, among others.
Yeah ideally i wouldnt have wanted to fork out £15 for a car charger but i needed it there and then. I forgot about the battery and was messing around with it all day in work.
I'm also not keen on carphone warehouse. More because of their staff than anything else. They always assume they're a mobile industry expert just because they work in phone sales.
I had someone who works there telling me the other day there absolutely will not be a new iphone launch next month because if there was going to be one carphone warehouse would know about it, and thus, so would he. EVERYONE IN THE WORLD expects there to be a launch next month... and nobody outside apple ever finds out before JObs announces it himself (at least not officially)... so why should some sales chump at carphone warehouse be any different?!
I had exactly the same thought while I was swimming this evening, but wasn't sure whether mini to micro adaptors are available (or how cheap they are).
I had exactly the same thought while I was swimming this evening, but wasn't sure whether mini to micro adaptors are available (or how cheap they are).
Have received the £1.99 charger. It DOES say AC charging when plugged in! Will try and do a journey with satnav to confirm with mecanician that it will supply enough current to charge it at the same time....
The iPod has a non-standard charging connection from USB. I haven't figured out what it is yet (let's face it, it can't be that complicated), but you might find that any iPod car charger will do the job.
Hi guys, I have the official HTC car charger, bought from here for £8.80.
I used the cable from the car charger to charge the phone using the usb on my office computer. When charging here the phone is saying "Charging (AC)" and I can get a full charge in about 3 hours. Reading this thread, am I undestanding correct that this could damage my PC by over-using the power supplied by the PC ??
I've got the same £1.99 charger as iyncognito and its brilliant! Did an hour's journey the other day with 25% battery before I started, had bluetooth on and spent 45 minutes on the phone, also Maps GPS and Navigator running (also viewing the navigation whilst talking) and I had about 60% when I finished! £2 well spent!
At first I tried it with an old micro usb cable from a blackberry that I had lying around at work and it showed up as USB charging. I then tinkered around with shorting the middle 2 pins. This was done without any soldering or anything, just a basic pinging up of one of the middle ones and pushing it under the other, but this still showed as USB charging.
When I got home I then tried it with my original cable and it showed as ac charging. I just tested it out by driving to work with co-pilot running and it increased the battery level. It's possible that the shorting of middle pins wasn't even necessary, but whatever, it works! It's also useful to have a general usb port in the car for ipod etc.
All in all, we have a success for £1.81 (exchange rate might vary day to day).
I bought the Maplin charger when I first got my Desire which (as already stated) unmodded reports USB charging. I did the wee blob of solder mod and now I have the AC reading. Many thanks guys for this excellent tip.
The other option is to fit an inverter to your car. I have a 300w one hard wired to my battery, under the drivers seat, from which I can charge my phone, wife's iPod and let my daughter watch DVD's on my laptop on long journeys. They're not that expensive and very useful.
I bought the Maplin charger when I first got my Desire which (as already stated) unmodded reports USB charging. I did the wee blob of solder mod and now I have the AC reading. Many thanks guys for this excellent tip.
Here's mine after the mod.
What a coincidence. I did the very same thing this afternoon too (though I disassembled mine properly - the bottom end screws off, the rest is obvious )
I've got the same £1.99 charger as iyncognito and its brilliant! Did an hour's journey the other day with 25% battery before I started, had bluetooth on and spent 45 minutes on the phone, also Maps GPS and Navigator running (also viewing the navigation whilst talking) and I had about 60% when I finished! £2 well spent!
I received the same charger today and used it on the way home from work with music player and trapster running and somehow managed to lose battery again. Thats 3 different chargers with no charging while using gps/music/navigation. Maybe the music and navigation is too much or there is a problem with my desire :s
I can report that my Maplin with blob mod is very definitely charging when under load. I took a 30 minute drive with System Panel, Alarm Klock, GPS on, GPS Test and Google maps/Nav all running and me flicking back an forth between apps - my battery was at 58% on departure and 79% on arrival.
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I'm charging using my sony AC to USB adaptor. I grabbed the first micro USB cable I could find under my desk and the phone reads 'charging AC'. I was down to 9% when I got home from work and I'm up to over 80% in less than 2 hours. Strange thing is, the sony adaptor is only supposed to supply 500mA max. Maybe the phone is stressing it and the adaptor is supplying more than it's rated to.
Hi guys, I have the official HTC car charger, bought from here for £8.80.
I used the cable from the car charger to charge the phone using the usb on my office computer. When charging here the phone is saying "Charging (AC)" and I can get a full charge in about 3 hours. Reading this thread, am I undestanding correct that this could damage my PC by over-using the power supplied by the PC ??
Probably not if it's a desktop PC, as they have USB ports that can supply a higher current to support things like USB powered disk drives and accessories. Laptops are different, for example, older HP laptops have a little dot next to the USB ports that can supply higher power. You'll need to check the spec of the PC to be sure. However MOST PC's will disable a USB port that's overloaded and you'll get a popup message from Windows.
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I received the same charger today and used it on the way home from work with music player and trapster running and somehow managed to lose battery again. Thats 3 different chargers with no charging while using gps/music/navigation. Maybe the music and navigation is too much or there is a problem with my desire :s
Not being funny Marshalex but had it not crossed your mind their might actually be a problem with your car?
If your cigarette lighter socket isn't putting out the power it should then no matter what you plug in you will lose power...
I can report that my Maplin with blob mod is very definitely charging when under load. I took a 30 minute drive with System Panel, Alarm Klock, GPS on, GPS Test and Google maps/Nav all running and me flicking back an forth between apps - my battery was at 58% on departure and 79% on arrival.
One idea:
There seems to be a consensus that heat is not good for Li-Ion batteries - therefore it sounds sensible not to charge the phone any faster than you have to - perhaps USB (~400mA) charging is preferable to AC (~800ma). The point with the car charger was that with GPS etc the battery wasn't charging much at the USB rate due to the power consumption.
For the Maplin car charger perhaps it would be worth wiring up the D+/D- connectors to a small SPST switch on the front (e.g. Ultra Miniature Toggle Switches : Toggle Switches : Maplin) , then you could choose whether to have high or low current charging (depending on whether you had GPS etc on, or if you needed to recharge more quickly).
That's really a great idea to be able to have the choice but I've not noticed any increase in temperature while charging like this. In fact it's actually a whole lot cooler than when it is in my hands for any length of time.
Add to this the fact that on hot days my desire is in direct flow from my air con (I am using one of those clip into the vent type holders) it gets darn right chilly.
Any chance that really big pic above can be re-sized?
Have received the £1.99 charger. It DOES say AC charging when plugged in! Will try and do a journey with satnav to confirm with mecanician that it will supply enough current to charge it at the same time....
Thanks for this.. just ordered I'll let you know how i get on !!
Not being funny Marshalex but had it not crossed your mind their might actually be a problem with your car?
If your cigarette lighter socket isn't putting out the power it should then no matter what you plug in you will lose power...
hadn't actually thought of that to be honest. i've got 2 outputs in the focus (one by the gearstick and one under the armrest) so i'll try the other one later on this week and the misses avensis and see from there
ok checked in the misses avensis while using charger, trapster and music player battery again discharging. i'm starting to think that its the phone now :s
Last edited by marshalex; May 31st, 2010 at 09:39 AM.
The HTC Desire is one of the latest high end phone by HTC bringing a huge 3.7" inch high quality AMOLED screen for crystal clear viewing, powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and runs on, you guessed it, Android.
We first heard a... Read More
Hope this helps someone.
