Help Wireless charger weirdness, charger w/Ringke Fusion case weirdness? or No weirdness?

[OcalaFlGuy]

So I'm on activation curfew with my N4 until I can sell my Spirit but that doesn't stop me from getting some "needed" goodies for it and getting it set up in the meantime. Thankfully it came with the Fusion case as I might likely have gotten that one anyway if it hadn't.

So I got this RAVPower wireless charger for it. It gets stellar reviews from numerous N4 users.

Amazon.com: RAVPower Wireless Charger Charging Pad Qi-Enabled USB Charger Phone Charger for Nexus 5 / 7 / 4; Samsung Galaxy S4, S3, Note3, Note2; Droid Charge; LG Optimus LTE2, Spectrum; HTC Rezound, Incredible 2, Incredible 4 LTE; Motorola Droid 4;

Not being hooked up yet, I can't burn through much juice so I haven't done a lot of charges yet on the N4. I think a full charge took 3-3.5 hrs with the wired plug. (15%-100%)

Last night with the case on, it took over 7 hrs for the phone to charge on the RAVPower from 20-100%. Yes, the wireless chargers are Supposed to only charge 75-85% as fast as wired but this is TWICE as slow as wired, (50% as efficient). For grins I tried it for just an hour this afternoon with NO case and the charge rate works out to about the same. Though I have read that some chargers take longer with a case, this one seems drag ass either way. While RAVPower Does Say that cases > 5 mm won't charge correctly, I measured the Fusion and it's only 2 mm of poly-carbonate on the back.

Now the More Scary part.

Yes, the Qi chargers get warmer than wired. 110F isn't unusual from the A LOT I've read. (REVPower's words are "a little warmer than body temperature" in their literature.) Last night right after I started with the case charging wirelessly the phone got pretty damn warm, I'd say around 114 F or so. Freaked my ass out and I took it off the charger and noodled it out for a bit.

So I loaded this app to keep a REALLY close eye on things.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=src.schimi.temperatureguardfree&hl=en

I'll be damned if awhile later after charging for hours at around 107 F or so, BANG!, the high temp alarm goes off and the #%^&in' battery is at 115 F. I take it off the charger and reset the threshold for 120 F. It hasn't gone back off and the 115 F last night was the highest it got the rest of the charge time.

115 F concerns me. It the damn thing lights up to 120 F I'm gonna freak.

I guess I'll ring up RAVPower tomorrow morning when they open and see if I'm just being my usual paranoid self [1]. Or not.



[1] Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[Rukbat]

The charge receiver sits right on the battery. It gets hot. (Any shorted conductor in a varying magnetic field will.)

That's one reason I won't use wireless chargers until they improve the technology.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

RavPower's "a bit above skin temp" I take to be say 100-104 F. I know that under heavy use they can get quite a bit warmer than that for periods of time.

My Spirit today has hit 105 on charge in light use with a wired charger. That doesn't concern me.


If RavPower tells me there's some safeguard that would have killed the charging at say near my 115 F high, then I'm fine with that.


There's just enough that looks like it shouldn't be to rate a phone call to them tomorrow I think.


I already have to give RavPower some props. Apparently they monitor on-line reviews as they send people discounted units to review on-line and they React Quickly to problems. THEY contacted the one guy I saw that posted what looked like a problem unit issue and the expedited getting him a replacement that was fine. That's how on-line businesses Should Work.


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

And in ending, a fairly massive Aw S#^%! to balance out the prior given attaboy.

RavPower has NO, NONE, ZEE-RO, Technical Support by phone.


Email ONLY. Period.


It took SIX emails and a Amazon Review Response by them to get the same answers that Google Play verified over the phone in less than 2 minutes.


Worse yet, these Chinese Morons running RavPower are Totally Incredulous as to WHY anyone would actually, you know, want to SPEAK with someone On The Phone about a question versus playing multiple back and forth email games to resolve them. They have NO Technical Support AT ALL IN the U.S., they are all emailing you from China.


The answer appears to be that any temps of 140 F or LESS are OK to see while using Any wireless charger. (Per both RavPower and Google.)


I am inclined to think I don't have a issue with the charger though the 2x extended charge times do still concern me. I will keep a close watch over that to decide whether or not I keep the charger or return it.


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[mikedt]

Don't buy cheapo off-brand wireless chargers from China, even if it is on Amazon. "Sunvalleytek" or Ravpower" of San Jose, CA, is more that likely a Shenzhen trading company, with all that entails.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Don't buy cheapo off-brand wireless chargers from China, even if it is on Amazon. "Sunvalleytek" or Ravpower" of San Jose, CA, is more that likely a Shenzhen trading company, with all that entails.

Yeah but where do you draw the line.

RavPower sells All Kinds of products with their brand on it. The really crappy Chinese stuff usually doesn't have ANY company name on it. RavPower's wireless charges get overall BETTER reviews that the OEM Nexus chargers do. IF you will play THEIR game of email tag, they are Very Quick to address issues. In fact, they appear to have personnel who comb the online review areas to look for problems they can perhaps resolve and get the bad review changed. Many of the big, famous companies won't take the time and effort to do that.

The REAL ISSUE with RavPower is 100% culture related.

The Chinese think that Everyone Else on this planet Except Them are ******ed morons. They KNOW that Their Way is the ONLY way to do things and there's certainly no reason to take advice from any of the ******ed morons they are selling to. Not to mention that they will take advantage of their customers in any and every way they possibly can as long as it's to the Chinese advantage and they think they can get away with it. If they can't work With you enough to sell your product, they'll Steal it from you and make it and sell it themselves. They'll smile and yes sir you while they are sharpening the knife behind their backs to slit your throat with.

And, don't even THINK that's Racist talk, it's damn REALITY talk from my Personal Knowledge about how the country in general does business.

THAT is where the Chinese slip and fall off their Great Wall in trying to do business with Westerners.


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

I think I actually have a happy ending to report, it looks that way anyway.

I did my second charge with the RavPower and only checked the temp once after about 2 hrs. I just left it alone charging. I had the temp alarm still set at 120F and it stayed nice and quite.

Remarkably, I went from a 15% to 100% charge in about 4.25 hrs. This jibes RIGHT up with the stated 75-85% efficiency of the wireless charger to a wired one. Woot!

I flipped over to the temp time scan on the tracking app and the temp had stayed right at 105F while charging, coincidentally, the same exact temp my Spirit charged at the other day.

I am just SWAGing that the weird 115F spike I saw and the extended charge time the First charge with the pad was just the phone's battery system recognizing/learning a different parameter of charge(r).

I WOULD Recommend if you get this charger to preload the temp tracking app in my first post and set the alarm threshold at 120F before your first charge with the pad. 120F is still 20F below the Really Hot point but still hot enough that it should come OFF the pad until it cools down at bit. (IMO). Honestly, with the alarm set at 120F I don't think it'll go off.

Like ma boy Ron Popeil says, "SET it and FORGET it!"

I'll report back after the next charge and pending any brazarreness, call this one a wrap.

It DOES appear that the RavPower charger is going to be GREAT for the N4, even With the Ringke Fusion case. Those Especially Paranoid might do well to preload the temp tracking app for their ease of mind on the first charge.

Also still keep in mind that IF you need to communicate with the company you'll have to go back to cans and string or carrier pigeons to do that but that'll still work. (Mostly)


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Fini;

The next charge went even better. Right at 4 hrs from 15-100%. The temp wandered around 101-105 during the charge and that actually jibes with what I've seen with the wired charger on my Spirit.

It appears the phone charging system takes a couple charges to learn the wireless charger just like it does for the first wired charges.

As long as you keep in mind the communication caveat with RavPower, this seems to be a great charger for less than half of the Official one.


Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[jhonb]

I think you over analyze and worry too much. I have been using a Zens (brand) wireless charger for quite some time now. I just plop the thing on it before I go to bed at night and take it off when I wake up in the morning. I have no idea how long it takes to charge or exactly what temp it gets, I just know it is at 98% to 100% every AM.

Me happy, Me no care about the rest....

Don't sweat the small stuff. Use and enjoy your phone.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

There are NUMEROUS REPORTS of Some wireless chargers getting so hot they fry themselves.

If YOU consider yourself so immune to bad things happening to you, then that's GREAT for you.

I really don't give a rat's ass whether YOU think ME monitoring a KNOWN problem issue is "over analyzing and worrying too much". It's MY money I spent on my N4 and wireless charger, not yours.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[jhonb]

There are NUMEROUS REPORTS of Some wireless chargers getting so hot they fry themselves.

If YOU consider yourself so immune to bad things happening to you, then that's GREAT for you.

I really don't give a rat's ass whether YOU think ME monitoring a KNOWN problem issue is "over analyzing and worrying too much". It's MY money I spent on my N4 and wireless charger, not yours.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

YIKES

I think you took my message as criticism of you, it was not. I am sorry you took it that way. You have to calm down and enjoy this beautiful life, it is so short to worry about a phone overheating.

jhon in Jersey
soon to be your neighbor...
Jhon in Punta Gorda

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

YIKES

I think you took my message as criticism of you, it was not. I am sorry you took it that way.

Try reading your first sentence in the first post again.

I took it as criticism of me BECAUSE IT WAS. In plain and simple unbroken English. If YOU are incapable of seeing what you typed as critical than again, the problem here is not with ME.

And it's ignorant criticism at that.

YOU may be the only one here who thinks that frying one's $250 phone is nothing to worry about.

You are in the minority in that belief.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[jhonb]

Try reading your first sentence in the first post again.

I took it as criticism of me BECAUSE IT WAS. In plain and simple unbroken English. If YOU are incapable of seeing what you typed as critical than again, the problem here is not with ME.

And it's ignorant criticism at that.

YOU may be the only one here who thinks that frying one's $250 phone is nothing to worry about.

You are in the minority in that belief.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

"I think you over analyze and worry too much."

Bruce, again, I am sorry if I offended you. That was not the intent of my post. I don't read what you do into that sentence, but different interpretation is just one of those things that makes people different and that makes the world go around.
Oh, and you got a much better deal on your phone that I did. But I guess a lot more worries. Enjoy the phone, it is a good one. I decided to skip the 5 and will wait for the 6. I had the original Gnex and will probably stick with the nexus line.