Car charger cannot keep up
Galaxie500
Newbie

My car charger (generic that I bought 2 years ago with Droid Bionic) cannot maintain a positive charge on my Galaxy S4 while any GPS related application is running.

Does Verizon or anyone know of a charging solution that can overcome this problem?

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Re: Car charger cannot keep up
tikibar1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Have you tried a different charger?

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Re: Car charger cannot keep up
ejfetters
Enthusiast - Level 2

the Galaxy s4 is more power hungry than most smartphones. Find a charger that is at least 2 amps.

Re: Car charger cannot keep up
Dave-in-Decatur
Specialist - Level 2

On a trip this summer, I had my new S4 plugged in and the Maps app Navigation running for extended periods of time, keeping the phone plugged into the charger. I too found that the phone would gradually lose charge. Thanks for the suggestion, ejfetters. I'll look into a stronger charger.

Bit of thread drift here: As I was driving, with the phone plugged into my charger and mounted on the dash so I could see it, I noticed the phone was getting hot, esp. as the afternoon sun shone on it. I took it out of the mounting bracket and put it in a cup-holder out of the sun, which helped it cool off some. So, a question: if I use the phone on the dash with the sun on it, Navigation running constantly, and the charger plugged in, resulting in a lot of heat building up, am I risking damage to the phone?

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Re: Car charger cannot keep up
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

I have always had to keep my phones out of the sun and often near an A/C vent to keep them from overheating when I was using the phones for navigation on long trips. I also tried to have the phone fully charged at the beginning of the trip and still plug it in for the navigation data and GPS drain. The phones were usually not full battery, but they weren't dead either.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Car charger cannot keep up
Dave-in-Decatur
Specialist - Level 2

Thanks for the tip, ejfetters. I checked the Atlanta-area third-party Verizon store where I bought my S4, and the guy said that few 2-amp chargers were available yet. I went to Office Depot, and did find one: Duracell model DU9806 5-In-1 universal cell phone charger for about $30. It's a 2.1-amp charger that comes with mini- and micro-USB as well as iPhone plugs, and can be connected both to a car cigarette lighter or outlet and to a household AC outlet. It has two USB ports, so it can charge two devices at once.

I tried it out on a weekend trip. A group of us traveling in several cars had to deal with a big traffic backup on the Interstate. I used Google Maps on my S4 to find a route around it through the country, calling the others to keep them advised. Basically I was on the phone with Maps and GPS running constantly for an hour, with the phone plugged into this charger all the while. During that time, the phone went from about 86% charge to 100% charge without getting hot in my hand. Then after a day's use at our destination, at the motel I plugged the same charger into the wall outlet and charged the phone up overnight. I definitely recommend it!

Re: Car charger cannot keep up
Colecago
Enthusiast - Level 2

Another thing to look into, is under the battery notification page if it says Charging (AC) or Charging (USB).  There are different charging rates depending on what you are plugged into.  I had this same issue and I noticed when I was plugged into my charger it thought it was charging at the lower rate.  I opened the charger and soldered the data+ and data- pins together and it made my phone think this was a higher rate (AC) charger and thus charged at a higher rate.  Some of the old chargers may support higher charging (1-2A) but unless the phone is aware of this, it will charge at the lower rate.

See here for modifying old chargers

http://blog.colecago.com/?p=221

Re: Car charger cannot keep up
Mystakul
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have the same charger for my DROID Turbo and I can run Hulu or navigator and Google play music and have it still charge to 100% using an outlet or vehicle in less time than my older chargers/phones. Yes highly recommended!!

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