Accessories Car Charger NOT Charging - Just "Running in Place"??

[scudder]

Hello...

I had my EVO in for repair and got it back (after 20 days) on 8/3 when 2.2 was released and update my phone. Today, I decided to try out the Google Navigation for the first time on the phone since the 2.2 update and return from repair because it appeared that the Navi app had been updated during my long repair.

Anyway, with the phone PLUGGED INTO MY CAR using Google Navi in conjunction with whatever other service the Navi needs (GPS, Google Maps, etc) plus my "basic settings" (brightness around 25%, email sync for 5 accounts ever 30 minutes, my weather apps running) the battery ***WAS NOT GAINING CHARGE WHILE PLUGGED IN***!!!!! I am essentially RUNNING IN PLACE while plugged into the car :-///

MY reading of this issue is that the phone was using the battery AS FAST AS the car charger was charging the battery. Before my 2.2 update I was using the SAME phone with the SAME charger WITH Google Navigation and my phone WOULD increase charge (albeit slowly).

I do NOT have the specs on the charger that I am using in the car but my ASSumption is that the "charging power/rate" (layman's term) for the charger is just NOT ENOUGH to keep up with the battery consumption while using Navi and everything else while in the car.

Can anyone guide me as to whether my above theory is right?? Can someone suggest MINIMUM "specs" for a car charger so that I actually experience my battery CHARGING in the car and not just "running in place"??

THANK YOU!!

 

[slugbug]

Just a guess/suggestion cuz this happened to me - your charger may be broken. My car charger would light up when plugged in but it did NOT charge the phone. I bought the charger from Spring when I bought the phone. It was working fine one day, a few days later same thing as you - plugged it in, light was on, I assumed it was charging and I plugged it into my aux stereo to listen to some tunes, ran some errands, checked emails, texts, etc, got home and the battery life was way too far down for it to have been charging. I also wondered if the charger just couldn't keep up. So next time I got in the car I plugged the phone into the charger, the charger light was one, the phone "recognized" (I don't remember what it does, maybe home screen lights up?) the charger but......that little lightening bolt symbol in the battery charge indicator was not there.

i took the charger back to Sprint, they checked it out, and replaced it. All is good now

Dont know if this helps but might be worth checking out.

 

[J03]

The car chargers and charging through USB on your computer are not as quick as plugging it in at home. My phone does the same. Under very heavy use while plugged in to the car charger or my laptop, it barely trickle charges at best and sometimes slowly loses charge. That's just how it is, no way to fix that.

 

[Jewo]

From what I've noticed from using Google Nav in the car, if I just plug it into the cigarette lighter it will not gain a charge. If I have Google Nav and Pandora/Grooveshark running it will actually drain the battery. What I've been doing now is run the USB cable to my converter which will actually charge it a little when running both apps.

 

[scudder]

From what I've noticed from using Google Nav in the car, if I just plug it into the cigarette lighter it will not gain a charge. If I have Google Nav and Pandora/Grooveshark running it will actually drain the battery. What I've been doing now is run the USB cable to my converter which will actually charge it a little when running both apps.

Thanks Jew and J for the info. I guess I'm not alone. Is what it is...and I knew of the trickle charge being slow...just wanted to confirm that there wasn't a problem with my charger.

Perhaps there are more higher rated car chargers that will charge better (or at all) during Navi and taxing processes in the car??? Or is it a function of the CAR LIGHTER SOCKET and it is what it is???

THANKS

 

[scudder]

Just a guess/suggestion cuz this happened to me - your charger may be broken. My car charger would light up when plugged in but it did NOT charge the phone. I bought the charger from Spring when I bought the phone. It was working fine one day, a few days later same thing as you - plugged it in, light was on, I assumed it was charging and I plugged it into my aux stereo to listen to some tunes, ran some errands, checked emails, texts, etc, got home and the battery life was way too far down for it to have been charging. I also wondered if the charger just couldn't keep up. So next time I got in the car I plugged the phone into the charger, the charger light was one, the phone "recognized" (I don't remember what it does, maybe home screen lights up?) the charger but......that little lightening bolt symbol in the battery charge indicator was not there.

i took the charger back to Sprint, they checked it out, and replaced it. All is good now

Dont know if this helps but might be worth checking out.

Good thought but everything was showing...from the light on the charger to the lightning bolt on my phone...that a charge was happening.

 

[Jewo]

Perhaps there are more higher rated car chargers that will charge better (or at all) during Navi and taxing processes in the car??? Or is it a function of the CAR LIGHTER SOCKET and it is what it is???

If you can get a 1000mAh charger for the phone, it should charge fine. The problem is, many car chargers are rated somewhere between 500mAh and 800mAh. I don't have the Sprint charger, so I don't know what it's rated at. However, using my dc/ac converter in the car I am probably getting around 1000mAh.

I think there's a post some where here with links to a 1000mAh usb charger for the car.

 

[scudder]

If you can get a 1000mAh charger for the phone, it should charge fine. The problem is, many car chargers are rated somewhere between 500mAh and 800mAh. I don't have the Sprint charger, so I don't know what it's rated at. However, using my dc/ac converter in the car I am probably getting around 1000mAh.

I think there's a post some where here with links to a 1000mAh usb charger for the car.

Thank...I took a quick look for a search like "1000 ma car charger" and couldn't find simply

I will look again but if anyone has a suggestion for a 1000 mA car charger brand/model, please post...thanks!!!

 

[Jewo]

This is the link I was talking about.

http://androidforums.com/accessories-evo-4g/102182-there-1000ma-usb-car-charger-actually-works.html