Walmart purchased car charger fried my droid

[wmklein1972]

I am beside myself! I bought a Talk Works universal car charger from Walmart Friday and didn't use it til today ( my regular usb adapter stopped working) and when I used it on the way home from a short trip, my droid went nuts, the screen is either non responsive or starts choosing it's own things to start doing and if i try to go to the text part, I can hold it flat in my hand, not touch it, and the damn thing starts typing like this all by itself :kkkkkdjihnhannnnndllluulllnknhhhdkkk aslllnc..s.oo d o./
so yeah...... I am UPSET! I tried turning it off, resetting, and crying (that didn't help lol) what do I do????? I loooove my droid and don't have an upgrade available or I would just let it go and get a new phone. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[macgiobuin]

Take it to the nearest network provider store and tell them it isn't working right since your phone's charger started acting up.

 

[dirkbonn]

Sometimes the money you save by buying the Walmart/China stuff turns out to be not such a good buy afterall..... That being said, I've bought stuff at Walmart too....

 

[Nyobie]

Take the phone and charger to Walmart and tell them you'd like them to cover the cost if the damaged phone. They sold you a product that not only didn't work as a so called universal charger but it also damaged your phone! The worst thing they could say is that they won't cover the cost of the phone but I'd be surprised if they don't.

 

[artaxerxes]

That sometimes happens when the charger is putting out more amps than the phone is used to. Two solutions:
1. Unplug the phone to use it
2. If number one fails, reboot and then use it (but keep it unplugged).
I would not recommend more than an amp (1 A or 1000mA) for most smart phones, as some phones simply do not like more than the oem standard charger amps. Simply put, don't use your phone while charging unless it's the oem charger that came with the phone (made by the same company as the phone). Also, check the amps on the charger.

 

[mehad]

:O I would go make refund

 

[dlamber7]

Not to mention that different manufacturers, despite making the same body (ie, micro USB) have different pin setups telling the phone different things.

As was said, going over 1.0 Ah or 1000 mAh will generally put out too much power for the phone. Rapid chargers are more than 1.0 Ah

 

[EarlyMon]

I don't know what's up discussing a year old problem but let's clear the air.

Voltage is forced.

Current is drawn.

If a phone can only draw one amp, then that's all that it can draw.

You can put it on a two amp supply and nothing bad will happen.

It's when you get outside of the voltage spec, at any current level, or if the cable is shorted that you get damage.

And let's mention that all usb ports have the same exact wiring and pins for power and data because it is, in fact, an industry standard.

To date, the only exception has been with the SGS3 for MHL connections, none of which has anything to do with usb charging or data transfer.

 

[Jus10]

No body believes me when I tell them to pony up $30 and buy a car charger from a cell phone store. Cheap chargers continue to charge your battery even when it's full. They're made of cheap plastic so they do melt in the heat of your car.

 

[EarlyMon]

Safety circuits are on the phone side.

Once a phone is full, it shuts down charging.

 

[Oldhead775]

While I agree with EarlyMon on the electrical side of things (I have a degree in digital electronics), there is definitely something going on with aftermarket/other-brand chargers. I couldn't use a Motorola charger with my old Samsung transform ultra without having serious glitchy screen reactions, apps opening/closing on their own, lag, just plain weird stuff. A Sanyo charger and a Nokia one both gave me smaller glitches, in descending order of magnitude. Maybe something to do with the regulator circuit modulating the output according to brand? Another example of corporate wars where only the consumer suffers? I recently got a gs3 and haven't used other branded chargers, just my pioneer head unit and an energizer and also a non-branded car charger, both without attached cables.

 

[EarlyMon]

I agree that sometimes there can be more to it.

I have one aftermarket charger that makes almost anything happy, I've thrown a lot of devices at it - except the Samsung Stratosphere 2 - that throws up a dialog saying that the charger is incompatible and that charging is terminated.

I'd say it's fair that there are exceptions to any rule but they're far less common.

 

[Not Rich]

I bought a universal car charger from a garage for my s4 mini and with the sat nav running the phone indicated charging but did nothing apart from staying at the same battery level. The charger was rated at 300ma ;(

I bought one of these not really expecting much but it charges my old Galaxy ace quite well and looks flashy too.

Since usb is a standard I could plug the cable into a photocopier, television, anything with a usb socket and charge my phone with it.

 

[Jus10]

Safety circuits are on the phone side.

Once a phone is full, it shuts down charging.

Tell that to my Samsung S4 with a swollen battery. Left it on the charger for... a long time. Now the battery spins like a top. Used a third party charger on it.

 

[Not Rich]

Tell that to my Samsung S4 with a swollen battery. Left it on the charger for... a long time. Now the battery spins like a top. Used a third party charger on it.

I only have a basic understanding of electronics but I understand ohms law, current flows depending on the resistance of the circuit and the battery charging circuit in the phone should protect the battery from overcharging. Maybe someone with more knowledge could enlighten me?

 

[EarlyMon]

Tell that to my Samsung S4 with a swollen battery. Left it on the charger for... a long time. Now the battery spins like a top. Used a third party charger on it.

Tell that to Samsung.

The SGS4 has a known charging defect and a number of them have caught fire from overcharging - using the charger that came with the phone.

The third party charger is not the problem.

 

[Jus10]

Why won't any other charger I own charge my G2? Any charger, any cable, nothing works but the charger it came with. Again I don't have a degree in this stuff and I'm very old school before I let someone leave my store telling them, use the charger this smartphone came with. Don't use any other charger because it either won't charge the smartphone or if it does it would be a very, very slow charge.

Customers who come to my store with swollen batteries, how do you charge your phone? I leave it sit over night.

Customers who have phones for a few years with no issues, how do you charge your phones? Charge it up to 100% then unplug it.

I don't care what the manufacturers or text books say, I'm a real life consumer who works with real life consumers. I know what has damaged my phones and what hasn't damaged my phones.

 

[EarlyMon]

I have been charging a multitude of Android devices overnight, even days on end, with ZERO ill effects and I'm not the only one by any stretch.

For 4 years.

Devices not being safe on a charger overnight are 1) an exception to the rule established by safety circuitry (that's been driven by legislation in some regions and attorneys in others after having devices catch fire during flights or worse) and 2) ought to be considered for replacement.

I'm sorry you've had trouble with your G2.

If you're referring to the HTC G2, it's defective.

HTC charging circuits and batteries are mostly patented and if you look, they're designed to be safe.

With generic chargers, overnight.

The reason those batteries are swelling from your customers is because of HEAT.

Those users are constantly driving their batteries to full depletion, and the battery heats as that happens.

If doing it with intensive apps such as games then the main processor is at maximum speed, heating and transferring that heat to the battery as well.

Then, the usual habit is to stick it on the charger and leave it on instead of turning it off to let it cool.

It's that type of heating that is causing the battery to swell.

The reason that you're correlating it to overnight charging is because everyone does it.

Overnight charging does not contribute to swelling.

Chargers shut off and do not trickle charge by design - lithium batteries would catch fire if trickle charged.

I've done it under laboratory test conditions and I can assure that the resulting fire is exactly like a blowtorch and nothing to trifle with.

Replace swollen batteries immediately, don't run your phone to nothing and immediately force it on during charging after a depletion driven shutdown, and cool it off if it gets hot to the touch - and if you can't, turn it off to let it cool.

If you want to serve your customers, tell them that.

Because overnight charging has nothing to do with it.

 

[Jus10]

Lg G2... There's even an insert in the box that discourages different chargers.

I can locate it and take a picture if you'd like?

 

[EarlyMon]

That's fine, they all say that, once in a while it's true. The larger capacity battery of the LG G2 may well be happier with its own charger - or aftermarket equivalent.

Not all aftermarket chargers are the same.

Btw, please see the edits to my post just above yours.

 

[EarlyMon]

Heat during depletion causes the metal structures in a lithium battery to deform.

When enough of that happens, the battery will swell up.

At that point, it's dangerous.