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Accessories chargers, OEM vs aftermarket, and wierd side effects

ikediggety

Well-Known Member
Apr 8, 2010
184
38
Fernandina Beach, FL
Okay, i've got about five minutes to type this before my show starts...

As many of you from the IRC channel know, i was having some wierd issues with my incredible. i would experience periods of 3-4 minutes where the phone's response would slow down dramatically. i mean my phone would CRAWL. The other main symptom was that, when plugged into a charger and headphones, the music player would come up randomly and skip very rapidly through all the songs in the current playlist.

Yesterday I finally managed to narrow it down and find the culprit - my aftermarket moto droid charger from Wal-Mart. Now I had some trepidation about using this charger in the first place because it has the opposite polarity of my wife's samsung moment charger, which i had found to work flawlessly. But the one thing that this Wal-Mart charger did properly was charge the battery. I didn't notice the side effects until later.

So, having determined that it was the charger, I went to the local Verizon store. Surprise surprise, I got a CSR who, while dressed to the nines, was absolutely clueless. He'd hardly even seen the incredible. Like most of us here, I wound up educating a Verizon (reseller) CSR about product he was supposed to be trying to sell. Anyway, $40 later, I left with an "official" verizon incredible charger. Right?

I'm kicking myself for not examining it closely before I left the store, because I noticed today that it's actually putting out 5.5v, instead of the usual 5v. This is not a small issue. I've had electronic devices literally catch fire on my lap before due to using incorrect voltages for their power supplies.

So my question is this. I've looked at the spec sheet, I've googled, I've checked HTC's website, I've checked Verizon's website - and i can not find ANYWHERE any official doc that says what the voltage requirements of this phone are. the HTC USB adapter and usb cord that came with the unit do not appear to have the voltage, amperage, and polarity on them, which surprised me.

So does anybody know? What are the official power requirements for this phone? And why on Earth would anybody make a microUSB charger that puts out 10% more voltage than most devices are built to accept?
 
So does anybody know? What are the official power requirements for this phone? And why on Earth would anybody make a microUSB charger that puts out 10% more voltage than most devices are built to accept?

is the wall charger a USB wall charger?
With my motorola droid I bought about 4 extra usb cords as back up and travel cords (one in cars usb, one in laptop bag, one at home, one backup)

all seemed ot work well. I guess what i'm asking, is it the call plug that was doing it, or the cord?

It only makes sense that it would be the wall adapter.

Kinda freaky. Did it only effect your phone when plugged in?

I definitely only buy chargers for things if I have seen someone say that it works for that product correctly (amazon comments)

One of my brothers accidentally used my dads laptop charger and it killed his laptop completely. They need better standards for these things.
 
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thanks, drPheta. i swear i looked on my HTC block and couldn't see that...

ok, that settles it. there is no WAY i am using this POS verizon sold me. they could have seriously damaged my phone. I will be making a very unhappy return visit.

does it also specify the polarity on your HTC charger? the dotted line / solid line combination, which one is on top?
 
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there shouldn't be any voltage issues with any of these usb adapters.
as long as it is rated for more than the 4v the phone runs at you are all set.

the difference between 500mA, 700mA and 1000mA (or 1A) is only going to be how long it takes to charge the phone. lower ratings will, take longer. They will not do any damage to the phone.

a very low number might not work at all, but again it won't blow your phone up.

All of my bb stuff works (500mA-750mA range) but it is a bit slower than the stock 1A.

USB ports on a computer (I believe) support up to 500 mA. So again fine, but slower than the stock wall charger.

There are many reports of certain wall and car charger either not working or causing the phone to misbehave when plugged in. It would seem the Inc is a bit finicky. I personally have had issues with low amp car adapters, but no issue with wall chargers. Others are vice versa.
 
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I found this in the Incredible manual...not sure if it's what you were looking for.
 

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If you want some cheap alternatives that work great, head over to monoprice.com. I got 3 wall chargers, 2 car chargers, and about 5 USB cables for

I love monoprice, but the supposedly 1A wall charger i bought for my Inc messes with the phone. When plugged into it, the phone's touchscreen doesn't work. However, the car charger i bought from them works just fine. For the $2 bucks I spent on the wall charger I'm not that angry, but beware.


Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
 
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I love monoprice, but the supposedly 1A wall charger i bought for my Inc messes with the phone. When plugged into it, the phone's touchscreen doesn't work. However, the car charger i bought from them works just fine. For the $2 bucks I spent on the wall charger I'm not that angry, but beware.

Works fine for me? Did you get the white one, with the red LED?
 
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I have some of these same issues. I bought some extra motorola home chargers to keep at cabin and in travel bags. Very weird sometimes they work sometimes they don't. I got 2 from the same company and one the screen locked up the other one worked 1 time then now won't even charge. Does the USB charger charge in car just as fast as the car charger? I haven't had any issues using other car chargers, just home chargers
 
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There is something funky with those chargers. The Incredible charges fine with most standard micro-usb chargers that provide regulated 5v from 500mA and up. Apparently the Incredible doesn't like some chargers (probably the charger's fault).

Interesting (technical) charging story about the iphone requiring a special charger as it also reads the data lines as well as the charging lines (not so on the Incredible):
tzywen.com - How to Charge an iPhone
 
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a USB cable has four pins. 1 5v, two data (positve and negative) and the ground. Under a normal charger, it will output 5v. By connecting the two data pins to 2.5v, the chargers output the full 1A. That's all there is to them. No magical chip or sensors, no special hidden pieces, nothing. So why pay an extra $20 for the same, basic, charger? There's nothing wrong with the mono price chargers.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
 
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So why pay an extra $20 for the same, basic, charger? There's nothing wrong with the mono price chargers.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Only issue with the monoprice wall units is that there are reports of a number of DOA units. So if you are going to boy them, buy a bunch.

I have plenty of wall chargers, otherwise I would have picked up a few of these.

Why certain Incs seem to reject certain chargers is a bit odd. I have seen it with one of my usb car chargers (screen doesn't respond, reboots etc.) But none of my wall chargers has caused any issues.
 
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Thanks, here it is: For only $1.75 each when QTY 50+ purchased - High-Speed WALL Power to USB Female Converter (1000mA) - Black | Power to USB Converters

I don't think I like it considering the reviews and defect rate. It's too cheap to trust so to speak.

In the rare event that you do have an issue, just take a pic of the charger, email it to them explaining that it doesn't work, and they will (95% of the time) refund the money without asking for it to be sent back, unless they think something is up, then they will.
 
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