Motorola Car Dock, battery drains?

johng75 · Apr 18, 2011

my atrix is running 1.5.7 update and is rooted...

phone starts at around 90-100%

when i dock the phone the car app starts no problem, battery shows as charging also...

i click on default location button, and it brings my google maps and then asks for destination, i select one from my stared places and click on directions... it brings up the time/distance, and turn by turn text directions... (still shows as charging)

i then click on the navigation button and it opens up google navigator and gives driections (still shows as charging)

after lets say a 1-2 hrs trip, i exit out of the programs using the back button all the way to the default dock screen, then undock the phone, all the time the charging indicator is showing on the phone... when undocked the phone temp reads around 115-120F... the outside temp was around 70ish, and i still had the AC running in the car (i like it cold), and the battery % shows around 40-50%???

i have never had a car dock not actually charge the phone while plugged in... are all the clicks actually opening multiple programs and the processor drawing that much power that the charger just cant handle it? and why oh why is it getting that hot?

not the whole phone, or even the battery, just the bottom portion of the phones where the sim and sd card would go....

to test this theory on other trips, when the car app opens i close it (while docked) and browse directly to the navigation app, open it and set starting and ending points and drive... same length of trips, same weather and temp conditions, the battery charging indicator still shws as charging...

when i exit and undock, the temp is still getting up to the 120F mark, but it is actaully fully charged when i reach my destination...

i can be the only one, can i?

*note i have the dock and charger bought directly in the motorola packaging with the usb power adapter included, not the one in the ATT box w/o usb power adapter

should that tell me something? did att know the motorola adapter couldnt handle it, so it didnt include it, thus giving them an out when complaints started bout losing power? we must be using a bad usb adapter?

maybe its something to do with the special usb/audio cord? i know when i plug the special cord into the usb power connector directly intothe phone, the phone doesnt register it... maybe i should try a reg usb cord to the dock? i dont have an aux port so i would never use the audio cord, at least not in my car...

dharbot · Apr 18, 2011

Hi,

I've got the car dock as well, and use the included usb/audio cable to charge.

I have not noticed the battery drain you speak of. And i'm running navigation + power amp on my trips.

The battery charges, but slowly (500mA on the usb). I have not lost charge nor has my phone gone over 120F/48C.

Do you have some other cpu intensive program running in the background? You can check the battery status to see whats been using the battery the most.

D

sleepovr · Apr 20, 2011

I used to have the same situation with my milestone, if I used gps and had the car charger it would slowly drain. I just chalked it up to the fact that the gps, screen and processing power required equaled more then what the charger was giving.
I have not noticed the drain as bad with the atrix but my new work truck also has an usb port that outputs up to 2.1 amps.

GatorRuss · Apr 20, 2011

I have experienced exactly what you are talking about. I do a lot of long drives, and have had the phone on the verge of death by the time I reached my destination.

My solution: I used to have the dock attached to my windshield on the left side of my car; I now have the dock attached to the drivers side window, right in front of my a/c vent. The phone never reaches 80° now, and actually completely charges my phone.

The drawback: I can't roll down my window at the spur of the moment.

Here is a screenshot I took while driving of the overheat.

jjwatmyself · Apr 24, 2011

I'm doing a paste of my other post just to inject some data onto this thread. I hope you find this of use.

I believe that there is an issue with charging performance in the Atrix car dock. I'm using the OEM Motorola ECOMOTO Rapid Rate vehicle power adapter (850 mAH) with dual USB ports. You can tell this USB charger is a good product just by the weight of the thing! A test charge in the Atrix car dock began at 7:45 AM and the phone's charge was 20%. At 9 AM 30% and 10:30 AM 40%. This is obviously nothing like the wall charger so it made me believe that the phone was powered by the charger while docked but only receiving a trickle charge. Connecting the phone directly to the USB car charger (without the car dock) using a stock USB to micro USB charging cable, at 8:00 AM the phone was at 20%, 8:20 AM 40%, 9:00 AM 70% and 10:00 AM 100%. What a contrast!! So it appears that there is an issue with charging performance while in the car dock. I've reported this to Motorola and hope that they can reproduce and address.

neotekz · Apr 24, 2011

i have 3 usb car chargers and they all have different charge rates on my atrix. two of them would slowly drain with gps and maps on, the other ones charges the phone well even in use. i think that one is rated for around 700mah output. sounds like teh car dock is only putting out 500mah or less. thats kinda lame for an official motorola product that cost $60.

jjwatmyself · Apr 24, 2011

Knowing about the trickle charge bug while docked, I sat in my car today and browsed the web. When I was done the Atrix was at 30%. So the phone wasn't even being powered, let alone charged while being docked. I will continue to call Motorola to report this issue until I get a tech who is able to provide some two way communication in the issue. I digest everyone else do the same please.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

alphadog00 · Apr 25, 2011

Mine works fine - I am using the Moto branded dock and bundled charger (not AT&T).

Keep in mind it is easily possible to discharge faster then charge - this is true of ALL smart phones. If you are using Data, GPS, screen, and a bunch of apps, you can use more power then the charger supplies.

This is NOT a bad thing. The phone has circuitry that limits charging rate to make sure the battery is not damaged. You can't always charge faster then discharge, and if the phone gets very hot (sitting in the sun) then the charging rate may be throttled back.

If my phone is in the dock, doing NAV with push email in the back, it charges faster then it discharges.

jjwatmyself · Apr 25, 2011

Not sure if you read my notes on test charge cycles. The car dock is an issue.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

jjwatmyself · Apr 26, 2011

I spoke with Motorola Support today regarding the care dock charging issue and there response was "we have escalated to the engineering department but do not have any feedback at this time."

reflexxx · Apr 26, 2011

I purchased the car charger from Verizon.. It also has an additional usb plugin slot on top of the charger so 2 things can charge at the same time..

It works great and I don't see the discharge issue.. The phone is warm when I take if off but not bad even after 2hr ride..

chromedome00 · Apr 26, 2011

my experience as well.

doaneramma · May 2, 2011

I have run into it as well, but I admit that I run with trapster, 3 email accounts and slacker running most of the time. But this isn't the first device I have done this with. And I have had similar problems with them. I am just disappointed that Moto designed such a set up, and did not anticipate this kind of use and given us enough amps!

I wonder about maybe plugging it into one of those 1.2A usb iphone chargers.....

jjwatmyself · May 2, 2011

doaneramma said:
I have run into it as well, but I admit that I run with trapster, 3 email accounts and slacker running most of the time. But this isn't the first device I have done this with. And I have had similar problems with them. I am just disappointed that Moto designed such a set up, and did not anticipate this kind of use and given us enough amps!

I wonder about maybe plugging it into one of those 1.2A usb iphone chargers.....

If you charge in yiur car with a stock usb to micro usb cable without the dock, the charge speed is like the wall charger. There is a problem. I've measured this and reported to Motorola.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

ranova · May 2, 2011

This kind of happens with my multimedia dock - When using it in webtop mode, it will charge for about 10 or so percent, then it starts to drain, even though everything shows that it is still charging. Im using the power adapter that came with the dock and its plugged into the wall.

fincan · May 2, 2011

I see this from time to time as well, but not always. I am using a 1000ma charger in my car, and sometimes I find the battery drained at the end of a drive. My program use is almost always the same (google maps, trapster, music player)

csyrell · May 2, 2011

GatorRuss said:
I have experienced exactly what you are talking about. I do a lot of long drives, and have had the phone on the verge of death by the time I reached my destination.

My solution: I used to have the dock attached to my windshield on the left side of my car; I now have the dock attached to the drivers side window, right in front of my a/c vent. The phone never reaches 80° now, and actually completely charges my phone.

The drawback: I can't roll down my window at the spur of the moment.

Here is a screenshot I took while driving of the overheat.

This is, from my experience, absolutely the correct answer. When your battery temp gets too high, it will stop charging as a safety precaution. Once it stops, it doesn't seem to start back up until the temp goes back down. But if you are running navi/trapster/email/etc., it's not going to cool down on its own. Putting in front of an AC vent is the best solution. I like Gator's creative approach of using his side window. I still keep my dock mounted to the windshield, but what I do is run my AC through my defroster setting, so the cool air is coming out onto the windshield and on my feet. For a long drive it still keeps the ambiant temp comfortable, and provides a flow of cool air to the back side of the phone and dock.

jjwatmyself · May 2, 2011

csyrell said:
This is, from my experience, absolutely the correct answer. When your battery temp gets too high, it will stop charging as a safety precaution. Once it stops, it doesn't seem to start back up until the temp goes back down. But if you are running navi/trapster/email/etc., it's not going to cool down on its own. Putting in front of an AC vent is the best solution. I like Gator's creative approach of using his side window. I still keep my dock mounted to the windshield, but what I do is run my AC through my defroster setting, so the cool air is coming out onto the windshield and on my feet. For a long drive it still keeps the ambiant temp comfortable, and provides a flow of cool air to the back side of the phone and dock.

I'm buying the explanation.... I really am.

(pause for effect) ... but I tested with everything disabled... gps BT data sync,etc. It would not charge more than 10% per hour in the car dock. The exact same test 24s later connected with a stock USB to micro USB cable in th car and the result was astounding. 40% per hour from what I remember. (Test results posted earlier in this thread)

So why is it getting so hot in the dock with nothing running? Mine is in the top corner of the windshield.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

jjwatmyself · May 2, 2011

Btw the explanation on heat is probably hitting the nail right on the head.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

csyrell · May 3, 2011

jjwatmyself said:
I'm buying the explanation.... I really am.

(pause for effect) ... but I tested with everything disabled... gps BT data sync,etc. It would not charge more than 10% per hour in the car dock. The exact same test 24s later connected with a stock USB to micro USB cable in th car and the result was astounding. 40% per hour from what I remember. (Test results posted earlier in this thread)

So why is it getting so hot in the dock with nothing running? Mine is in the top corner of the windshield.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

I do agree that it seems to charge VERY SLOWLY when docked. I was only commenting on the question about it stopping it's charge, and my thoughts about temp being the culprit. I'm wondering if the docking programs are chewing up RAM or something, causing it to charge very slowly??? Something about the doc is causing a slow charge.

Motorola Car Dock, battery drains?

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