Please sell me your car charger

[vapor]

I have been trying to get hold of a working car charger for the Universal that would charge the phone while it is running navigational programs but to no avail.

If anyone has any for sale, do let me know.

[nuclear]

I have been trying to get hold of a working car charger for the Universal that would charge the phone while it is running navigational programs but to no avail.

If anyone has any for sale, do let me know.
The car charger costs barely $5 in china and on ebay. It can be purchased from anywhere. I use the car charger that i got with my Holux GPS reciever. I have a lot of car chargers. This is how they work. You plug in your USB cord into the car charger and the car charger goes into the cigarette lighter in the car. I am not selling mine. Go get one from ebay. Just search on ebay for USB car charger.

[vapor]

The car charger costs barely $5 in china and on ebay. It can be purchased from anywhere. I use the car charger that i got with my Holux GPS reciever. I have a lot of car chargers. This is how they work. You plug in your USB cord into the car charger and the car charger goes into the cigarette lighter in the car. I am not selling mine. Go get one from ebay. Just search on ebay for USB car charger.

I have done so and the thing, its either I'm having bad luck with them or there's something wrong with my phone. The best I ever got was that it charged the phone when it was OFF but when I switched it on, the charge disappears.

I tried using my GPS's car charger and another USB Car Charger as well but they both do not work and I do not know why.

I have spent so much searching for the right car charger which is why I am so desperate now just to get a second hand one that would definitely work.

[mavrik64]

I have done so and the thing, its either I'm having bad luck with them or there's something wrong with my phone. The best I ever got was that it charged the phone when it was OFF but when I switched it on, the charge disappears.

I tried using my GPS's car charger and another USB Car Charger as well but they both do not work and I do not know why.

I have spent so much searching for the right car charger which is why I am so desperate now just to get a second hand one that would definitely work.

I think you'll find this has been discussed here before, try searching.
FYI, I used the charger from my Holux GPS, and whilst it works, it dosn't charge whilst using TomTom. If you try a long trip with this setup, you will find that the battery charge drops. This charger is good only for topping up the Uni whilst not in use. I use the genuine iMate charger and this does run TT and charge at the same time. You need the higher amperage of the iMate charger.

Mav

[nuclear]

I think you'll find this has been discussed here before, try searching.
FYI, I used the charger from my Holux GPS, and whilst it works, it dosn't charge whilst using TomTom. If you try a long trip with this setup, you will find that the battery charge drops. This charger is good only for topping up the Uni whilst not in use. I use the genuine iMate charger and this does run TT and charge at the same time. You need the higher amperage of the iMate charger.

Mav
Nope, my car charger works fine in charging the Universal while in use and turned off. It just charges a bit slower while in use and thats quite an obious reason.
Only thing to consider is how much the output levels are of the car charger.

[vapor]

Thanks for your input guys

I have done my research on the car chargers and from my understanding, the only reason could be the shorting of pins 4 and 5, or something along those lines. Other than that, I have tried out various models of chargers and they do not work.

For those who say you need a higher output, I have tried those rated at 1000mAh which is that charger output for the wall unit. This charger connects to the USB cable yet even when I tried a couple of types of USB cables, it still did not charge the phone.

I also used a lower output of 850mAh and it worked fine with the cables tested abouve, so it shows the cable had no problem. But it could only charge the Universal when the phone was turned off. When switched on, the phone does not even charge, not even in the least bit and I am not sure why. Surely 850mAh is more than enough to get it charging while on the navigational (TomTom) programs because when I connect my Universal to my laptop to charge, I am still able to run TomTom and that charge is only rated at 500mAh.

Thus you can see why I am so frustrated with all these charges. If any of you are able to point me in the direction of getting an original chrager online, I would be more than grateful for your help and guidance. I also wouldn't mind buying a third-party charger as long as it works perfectly with the phone when running nagivational programs.

[wassa]

This is the one i have. works brilliantly, charges universal and BT GPS reciever and lets me use my copilot navigation software.
http://www.easydevices.co.uk/sp/searchbox13/products.asp?partno=MTCUSJASJR
http://www.mdapro.co.uk/shop/xcart/T-Mobile-MDA-PRO-Handsfree-Custom-Car-Kit-with-speaker-pr-36.html

[mavrik64]

Thanks for your input guys

<snip>

I also used a lower output of 850mAh and it worked fine with the cables tested abouve, so it shows the cable had no problem. But it could only charge the Universal when the phone was turned off. When switched on, the phone does not even charge, not even in the least bit and I am not sure why. .

Well, I can only guess the 1000mAh you tried may have been defective???
My car charger is the iMate genuine car charger. This rated at 1000mAh and works great. It charges and runs TT6 no problem. (well, that was untill it packed up the other night so I'm sending back under warranty) But it did work great.

All the best

Mav

[adamelphick]

Poundland have a USB car adapter that works perfectly with your USB lead to charge the Exec - works fine on mine!

[vapor]

Well, I can only guess the 1000mAh you tried may have been defective???
My car charger is the iMate genuine car charger. This rated at 1000mAh and works great. It charges and runs TT6 no problem. (well, that was untill it packed up the other night so I'm sending back under warranty) But it did work great.

All the best

Mav

I thought that could be the case but it charges my GPSr fine so had to strike that one out.

[little_rock]

This is the one i have. works brilliantly, charges universal and BT GPS reciever and lets me use my copilot navigation software.
http://www.easydevices.co.uk/sp/searchbox13/products.asp?partno=MTCUSJASJR
http://www.mdapro.co.uk/shop/xcart/T-Mobile-MDA-PRO-Handsfree-Custom-Car-Kit-with-speaker-pr-36.html

Hi Wassa you se co pilot - so do i - so please can you tell me what onthe easy devices what you chose for the correct cable that will owrk with the bluetooth gps unit.

cheers mate - thanks for your help.


lr

[mickey_jaw]

just one thing to ask: are you a smoker?
I only say this because i use a usb car charger and it only charges faster than it drains if you are careful to blow/clean all the fag ash out of the socket in the car to get a good connection. Otherwise the charging led sometimes comes on but cant supply enough power to charge quicker than my universal drains its battery

[vapor]

just one thing to ask: are you a smoker?
I only say this because i use a usb car charger and it only charges faster than it drains if you are careful to blow/clean all the fag ash out of the socket in the car to get a good connection. Otherwise the charging led sometimes comes on but cant supply enough power to charge quicker than my universal drains its battery

nah I do not smoke so I do not see why it should be happening.

[nuclear]

just one thing to ask: are you a smoker?
I only say this because i use a usb car charger and it only charges faster than it drains if you are careful to blow/clean all the fag ash out of the socket in the car to get a good connection. Otherwise the charging led sometimes comes on but cant supply enough power to charge quicker than my universal drains its battery
I never get ash in there. Its impossible to get ash in there unless you really want it there. You are supposed to use the knob and not stick your cig in there. lol

[AlanJC]

I have used a Belkin one, one that I bought for an iPod that has a standard USB socket you can plug any cable into, and a cheap ebay one.

They all work, BUT.. you have to plug them in when the device is off. Once the charge light comes on, you can turn it on, and it will charge, although slowly.

If you plug it in while the device is on, it will not start charging.

I don't know why this is, but considering it's the same on all 3 chargers, and I have seen people complaining about this on the Universal a few times, I think it's just the way things are.

[nuclear]

I have used a Belkin one, one that I bought for an iPod that has a standard USB socket you can plug any cable into, and a cheap ebay one.

They all work, BUT.. you have to plug them in when the device is off. Once the charge light comes on, you can turn it on, and it will charge, although slowly.

If you plug it in while the device is on, it will not start charging.

I don't know why this is, but considering it's the same on all 3 chargers, and I have seen people complaining about this on the Universal a few times, I think it's just the way things are.
Yup because at first i was wondering too why my device isnt charging. Actually the charge light on my GPS came on quicker than the Universal.lol... i had to wait for a few moments and kept trying till the universal began charging. So yeah you gotta wait with the universal shut off.

[ice_coffee]

I have not bothered reading all the replies but the problem with most car chargers is the AMPS, the voltage is right @ 5 volts but the amps is usually 0.5. Ideally the universal needs 1 or 2 amps, the new tomtom standalone units use 2 Amp USB car chargers and are a direct fit for our universals !!! isnt that convenient.

[amgeu1]

I don't have a charger as such but I use - strangely enough - a sony psp usb cord that goes through a USB cigarette adapter picked up from a poundshop here in UK ( a shop that sells lots of cheap gadgetry - for the non british of you )that also has a connector that is exactly what is needed for my fortuna bluetooth . it works fine . I realise that it does not recharge the phone but keeps it charged . I've not tried the usb to usb mini through the usb lighter adapter though . I guess that the trick its to have a charged universal before you leave on a trip .

[Thrudd]

I found I was having trouble charging my Universal with a USB adaptor in the car. The "charging" light would only come in if the phone was off, and while it would stay on when the phone turned on, it would not actually be charging and the damned thing would eventually run out of charge (I drive lots).

I eventually realised that if I turned the screen brightness down to it's lowest illumination whilst charging it worked fine. Obviously not much power comes out of the socket...

Now my battery has packed up due to another issue, but turn the screen down and it should be fine.

[towinguk]

I have read with interest all the comments and solution here and thought it might help to add mine what I have made and fitted to all my vehicles is a mini USB power supply, simply cut the pc plug from a mini USB lead and add one UA 78S05
VOLTAGE REGULATOR 5V / 2A /
http://www.donberg.ie/descript/u/ua78s05.htm
Connect the input leg to 12 v dc bolt the regulator to a GOOD earth/heat sink (car body) and off you go up to 2 amps @5v BUT DO TEST WITH VOLT METER BEFORE CONNECTING PPC

[mbirth]

I also have this problem with charging in my car. I bought a 12V cigarette-lighter to 2x USB-adapter some while ago and following effect:

-Powering my GPS with its own data cable (with some USB->Serial-adapter in it) works fine. (btw: It's a Fortuna GPSmartBT.)
-Powering my GPS with a standard USB cable DOESN'T work

-Charging my Uni with a standard USB cable makes the "charging" light go yellow, but DOESN'T CHARGE anything. The battery just drains normally.
-Charging my Uni with the GPS cable works and charges very quick, but the Uni needs about 2 minutes to "realize" that it's charging (yellow light).

Output of the cigarette-adapter is 5V at about 1,5 Amps.

So question is, how to make the Uni charge using a standard USB-cable ... maybe there's really something like two shortened pins or so....

Cheers,
-mARKUS

[SiliconS]

I have read with interest all the comments and solution here and thought it might help to add mine what I have made and fitted to all my vehicles is a mini USB power supply, simply cut the pc plug from a mini USB lead and add one UA 78S05
VOLTAGE REGULATOR 5V / 2A /
http://www.donberg.ie/descript/u/ua78s05.htm
Connect the input leg to 12 v dc bolt the regulator to a GOOD earth/heat sink (car body) and off you go up to 2 amps @5v BUT DO TEST WITH VOLT METER BEFORE CONNECTING PPC
This is really interesting. Thanks for your post.

I've just bought a dual USB charger from Addonsworld (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330068857612) on eBay that was advertised to deliver 2 amps. It doesn't. Same old story: it'll charge the Exec if it's turned off, but when turned on, running TomTom the charge actually falls. And this is before I even plug in my bluetooth GPS thing. I'm going to see what Addonsworld's attitude is like as I ask for a refund. :(

However, I was starting to wonder whether I could somehow make something myself that would deliver 2 amps, and your post has piqued my interest. It looks ideal, especially since I've now got a dismantle-able device with two USB output leads. All I need is a soldering iron and a regulator.

Where did you get hold of a regulator like that? The website you link has a minimum order value of €12.50 and a minimum shipping charge of €12.70 :( I can't find anything similar on the Maplin website.

Edit:
How much heat does the regulator kick out? Must it be sinked to the car body, or could it be integrated into a car cigarette lighter plug?

[kecido]

Don't use a linear regulator, they generate lots of heat, all the "unnecesary" power is dissipated as heat by linear regulators, you can't use it in a compact -yet high power- housing, use switching type regulators instead, there are many of them, i just mention two of them, the LM2576-ADJ (rated at 3A, made by national semiconductor) and the MC34063 (this needs an external pmos transistor to give you 2A, made by on semi -ex motorola- and many others).

bye

[towinguk]

HI

I get my regulators form local electronics shop here in the uk http://www.ansoncomponents.com but I did a search on ebay with positive result
My idea is not to build this in to a box (IT MUST BE FIXED TO A SUBSTANTIAL HEAT SINK AND THERE IS NON BIGGER THAN THE METAL BODY OF THE CAR) and then I have a trailing lead coming from the dash; mine comes from the heater vents

[mbirth]

After playing around with my GPS it seems that it's all a matter of the Pin #4 (ID-Pin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#Mini-USB_signaling)) connected to Ground or not.

As I wrote before, my GPS has the same symptoms as my Universal. Connecting it using a standard USB-cable does nothing. Well, as I just found out, I can still turn the GPS on and activate backlight (via a button) but there's nothing displayed and so it's only useful as an ambient light source ... seems to me the same like the Uni firing up the "charging"-LED without actually charging.

I then opened my GPS and shortened Pins 4 (ID-Pin) and 5 (Ground) and turned it on again .... et voilà ... I saw the "GPSmart"-logo and it worked. Removing the short let the display fade away instantly.


My first thought was to short those pins on the connector using conductive paint (same liquid as for repairing your rear window defroster grid). Then I remembered I had an adapter somewhere ... it looks like this:

http://www.i88990.com/images/usb-b2s.jpg
http://superveci.cz/images/001/UADAP000200_01_L.jpg

And well, this adapter seems to have Pins 4+5 shortened ... connecting this to my car adapter and to my GPS works fine. Will try charging my Universal later on.... but I guess this will work. Finally!

Cheers,
-mARKUS


P.S.: My GPS connector cable mentioned earlier in this thread has a FTDI FT232BM (http://www.ftdichip.com/FTProducts.htm#FT232BM) USB-serial-controller which also manages the ID-Pin.


UPDATE: IT WORKS!!! As already mentioned here, you have to plug in the charger with the Uni switched off so that the yellow LED lights up. But then it charges fine. Got +3% in <10mins.

[SiliconS]

I get my regulators form local electronics shop here in the uk http://www.ansoncomponents.com but I did a search on ebay with positive result
Thanks for the link, towinguk.

I've had another idea... Before Christmas I bought a proper O2 Exec charger from an O2 shop (for £15!!!) that charges my Exec just fine. I plan to try and find an adapter to take the mini USB plug of the O2 charger and adapt it to a standard USB socket into which I can plug any USB accessory that I want. The O2 charger must have a hefty power capability so I'm hoping this works. Perhaps I'll butcher the useless Addonsworld USB charger to expand the single O2 USB output into two USB sockets - that'd be ideal.

What a pain in the arse.

[Ralith]

Not speaking from experience here, but judging from what others have written, if you short pins 4 and 5 on the "useless" charger's outputs it should work fine.

[SiliconS]

Not speaking from experience here, but judging from what others have written, if you short pins 4 and 5 on the "useless" charger's outputs it should work fine.
I'm using the proper out-of-the-box Universal charge cable with my useless charger. That cable works for a standard computer USB socket so it ought to work with a car charger, surely?

[vapor]

After playing around with my GPS it seems that it's all a matter of the Pin #4 (ID-Pin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#Mini-USB_signaling)) connected to Ground or not.

As I wrote before, my GPS has the same symptoms as my Universal. Connecting it using a standard USB-cable does nothing. Well, as I just found out, I can still turn the GPS on and activate backlight (via a button) but there's nothing displayed and so it's only useful as an ambient light source ... seems to me the same like the Uni firing up the "charging"-LED without actually charging.

I then opened my GPS and shortened Pins 4 (ID-Pin) and 5 (Ground) and turned it on again .... et voilà ... I saw the "GPSmart"-logo and it worked. Removing the short let the display fade away instantly.


My first thought was to short those pins on the connector using conductive paint (same liquid as for repairing your rear window defroster grid). Then I remembered I had an adapter somewhere ... it looks like this:

http://www.i88990.com/images/usb-b2s.jpg
http://superveci.cz/images/001/UADAP000200_01_L.jpg

And well, this adapter seems to have Pins 4+5 shortened ... connecting this to my car adapter and to my GPS works fine. Will try charging my Universal later on.... but I guess this will work. Finally!

Cheers,
-mARKUS


P.S.: My GPS connector cable mentioned earlier in this thread has a FTDI FT232BM (http://www.ftdichip.com/FTProducts.htm#FT232BM) USB-serial-controller which also manages the ID-Pin.


UPDATE: IT WORKS!!! As already mentioned here, you have to plug in the charger with the Uni switched off so that the yellow LED lights up. But then it charges fine. Got +3% in <10mins.

Could you tell me where you got it and do they ship to Singapore?

[mbirth]

Could you tell me where you got it and do they ship to Singapore?

Sorry, I have no idea where I got this from ...

Cheers,
-mARKUS