Verizon Rezound Window and Dash Vehicle Mount

andr01d · Jan 20, 2012

Hi Harry, sorry for the delay. I finally got around to it. I did this indoors this time with a desktop 13.8V 10A power supply (for testing/debugging custom car electronics; i happen to have one). I connected a 12V accessory/lighter socket/port to that power supply and then plugged the Griffin 2.1A USB charger into this socket.

I have an older nokia micro-USB cable that i don't quite need any more and figured I can sacrifice and slice right into it! First I cut into it near the phone's end/side to measure the voltage/current (also have the D+ and D- tied together for the fast charging mode).

At 46.5" or 1.2m long, there is about a 0.354V drop (0.89A flowing) with the phone plugged in. When I cut this USB cable shorter to 5" or 0.13m, there is a voltage drop of about 0.042V (0.90A flowing).

Yes there is indeed a larger voltage drop with a longer cable (and more voltage drop with the dock and test fixture before this

).

Thanks. bye.

Harry2 · Jan 20, 2012

Hi Phil, thank you very much for your great work

So we see that this lesser voltage drop of the shorter cable hasn't been much of advantage for the 2.1A charger.
With the short cable the phone gets just 10mA more charging current.

The "weaker" charger might get an advantage with a short cable (or with a cable with very thick power wires

).
But I think the best solution for real life with the dock is using the 2.1A charger and having your dock mods

Harry

Race Director · Jan 27, 2012

You're gonna love this...

I exchanged my original ibolt dock hoping for the best and got the same issue, NO CHARGING.

I then contacted ibolt. Calling the number got me in voice mail so I used the generic form on the lower left on their website to contact them via email. Within an hour I got a response.

iBolt.co - iBOLT - Contact us

I told the lady the situation and she said she would send me out a replacement. Being skeptical that any of these things are going to work I told her my story about exchanging it at Verizon and the 2nd unit not working. She then informed me that they had a bad batch of circuit boards and she will send me a working unit....

A week later I got the package from Utah. She sent me a new cradle. Test it out and it works, I cant believe it!

Using Battery Monitor Widget with GPS on and WiFi off, streaming Pandora to a bluetooth Jawbone Jambox I ran some tests.

Starting out at 63% battery and using a 700mA Blackberry 120v A/C charger

-680mA with nothing plugged into the phone
-212 to +63mA with the old ibolt cradle :mad:

+450 to + 620 with the charger plugged into the phone directly
+422 to + 596 with the new ibolt charging cradle

There you have it, defective PCB and the replacement works as it should. Im glad to put this issue to rest and get on with my travels knowing my phone will be charged and ready.

Race Director · Jan 27, 2012

One more thing, she didn't send me a complete retail package dock with all accessories. I got the cradle only so don't think you can get them to ship you a free one. Just buy one like the rest of us...

andr01d · Jan 27, 2012

@RD can you open the cradle to look at the PCB and let us know how they did it? Is it a new PCB or did they jump two pins, etc? (Also if anything else on the PCB looks different(?)) Thanks.

mjones73 · Jan 29, 2012

andr01d said:
@RD can you open the cradle to look at the PCB and let us know how they did it? Is it a new PCB or did they jump two pins, etc? (Also if anything else on the PCB looks different(?)) Thanks.

I saw this over at XDA, user had the same experience with getting a replacement that worked and he posted the boards in this post (may be the same poster as here, I don't know)

xda-developers - View Single Post - [Q] Car Mount?

Harry2 · Jan 29, 2012

mjones73 said:
...
xda-developers - View Single Post - [Q] Car Mount?

So the circuit board had a weighty redesign ... haha, after "a bad batch of circuit boards"

Harry

mjones73 · Jan 29, 2012

Harry2 said:
So the circuit board had a weighty redesign ... haha, after "a bad batch of circuit boards"

Harry

More like "whoops, we f'd up, better fix it ASAP"

I got mine via Amazon yesterday, it's apparently the "bad" board also, already sent in a request for a replacement, hopefully I'll hear back Monday.

andr01d · Jan 29, 2012

hmmm yeah... looks like a major fix!!

Shawnz · Jan 29, 2012

So if you are buying one in store, is there any way to find out if it's a good one other than plugging it in and waiting for it to suck?

mjones73 · Jan 29, 2012

Shawnz said:
So if you are buying one in store, is there any way to find out if it's a good one other than plugging it in and waiting for it to suck?

Doesn't appear there is, you need to get it home and either do some tests or take it apart and see what board it has in it.

Satires · Jan 29, 2012

andr01d said:
HTC Rezound

mjones73 · Jan 30, 2012

Satires said:
I didn't read all of the responses, sorry if this was already said. I would steer clear of "Suction cup" gadgets! Use something that has a very strong adhesive and apply it properly. Or, you can do what I did, I modified a universal smartphone holder ajd screwed it into the dashboard, it ain't going nowhere! lol

I had the Droid holder on my dash for about two years without issue, this one seems to hold on pretty good too.

Satires · Jan 30, 2012

mjones73 said:
I had the Droid holder on my dash for about two years without issue, this one seems to hold on pretty good too.

That's cool.

Glad it worked out for you. Something just bothers me about putting a 650.00 dollar computer on such a device! lol

mjones73 · Jan 30, 2012

I reached out to ibolt about my dock, got a response this morning that they would send me a replacement. I suggest anyone else having problems do the same. Use the contact form on their website - iBolt.co - iBOLT - Contact us

mjones73 · Feb 2, 2012

I wanted to update that I received a new cradle and inserts from ibolt today, plugged it into my home charger to test and I'm getting 800+ milliamps through it vs the 490 I was seeing with the old dock.

Now I need a stronger car charger, off to get a Powerjolt tomorrow.

rsb148 · Feb 3, 2012

Thanks for ALL the great/helpful intormation here. You're all a valuable assest to the forum!

mjones73 · Feb 4, 2012

Thank you guys for the information, I have my dock straightened and running with a Belkin 2.1 amp charger now, it provides plenty of juice to the phone now.

ronh95 · Feb 6, 2012

I too, contacted iBolt and was sent a replacement dock and am happy to confirm reports that it does indeed charge while in GPS mode. It went from 59% to 65% charge this morning on my 45 min commute. Using a 2.1 amp charger from Quemaddix (something like that) being sold at the 'premium reseller' near me.

Unfortunately, the damn thing was 'Searching for GPS' the entire way in which I don't understand at all. Some cloud cover, but for it to have never been able to find GPS struck me as just wrong. My old Droid Eris could find GPS in seconds.

mjones73 · Feb 7, 2012

Odd, mine usually locks on pretty fast.

ronh95 · Feb 7, 2012

FWIW,I fixed the lock issue. Read online yesterday that the latest Google Maps update was causing issues and to try uninstalling the update. Didn't even know that was possible to do, but when I went into Market/My Apps and then Google Maps, it had an 'uninstall' button. When pressed it asks if you want to uninstall updates. I said 'yes' and then went to GPS Test app to see and suddenly instead of nothing it had about 10 sats showing, 15' accuracy and that was while indoors 50 ft from any windows!

Tried the GPS on the way home last night after the above and lock was instantaneous and it worked perfectly. I reinstalled the google maps updates and it's still working strong today. Also was able to confirm again that the new replacement dock from iBolt is definitely putting a positive charge into the phone while in GPS mode. It does much more than just 'keep up' with consumption. Suggest anyone having issues contact iBolt immediately via the web link earlier in this thread. They contacted me in less than an hour by email and asked for my address so they could ship one out. It came from Utah to So Cal in 2 days. They don't ask for your old one back, so if you've modded it to try to get it to work, no worries. = )

mched · Mar 8, 2012

I just got the Verizon rezound car dock and so far it works great. I do have one question though. When I mount the phone, it automatically goes into car mode which is great but it also turns on wifi.
I know that this has been brought up already but has anyone figured out if there is a way to have it not do it?

Race Director · Mar 8, 2012

mched said:
I just got the Verizon rezound car dock and so far it works great. I do have one question though. When I mount the phone, it automatically goes into car mode which is great but it also turns on wifi.
I know that this has been brought up already but has anyone figured out if there is a way to have it not do it?

I use gesture search to find dock mode then...

Dock Mode > Menu (hard button) > Settings > uncheck Auto Wi-Fi On

Shawnz · Mar 8, 2012

Now to see if we can get 'that' dock mode to come up in this dock vs the POS car panel!

SamXp · Mar 8, 2012

Shawnz said:
Now to see if we can get 'that' dock mode to come up in this dock vs the POS car panel!

Just clear defaults for the Car Panel and it will prompt you the next time you dock, for which Car Dock Mode you'd like to use.

Verizon Rezound Window and Dash Vehicle Mount

Android Enthusiast

Extreme Android User

Newbie

Newbie

Android Enthusiast

Newbie

Extreme Android User

Newbie

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Newbie

Android Expert

Newbie

Android Expert

Newbie

Newbie

Lurker

Newbie

Lurker

Newbie

Lurker

Well-Known Member

Newbie

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads