[Q] Cheap replacement USB cable?

[Bytion]

I got my NC from amazon, and now the cable is broken somehow, only charge it when NC is off, and not connecting to my pc anymore.

so if I call them, will they send me a replacement?cuz I am live in France.

 

[bfum1059]

i havent used my nook charger but once. i use blackberry and motorola wall power cables and usb data cables. it doesnt show up as charging on mu nook color. The data cables tranfer data fine, and the home charger charges it over night. i have used the motorola car charger but dont know if it keeps up with the power usage. thinking of going the route of asking the store managers if they have extras from retunrs. Good suggestion. would like to get some that show its charging if i travel

 

[KidJoe]

And if I'm not mistaken, if you're connected to a computer you will only get a tricklish charge as it's limited to .2 or .25A (I believe).

Actually, standard USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 ports on computers are spec'd to supply 550mA (which is .5A). Its why portable usb hard drives sometimes came with "Y" cables to pull power from 2nd USB port or PS/2 keyboard, otherwise the drives didn't spin up.

Also, in the past some mother boards were designed that if you connect a device that tries to draw more current, the ports may actually shut down/off, and a reboot of the PC may be necessary to restore function.


Not sure what USB 3 ports are spec'd for.

 

[cj1896]

Any standard micro usb has worked for me

 

[DizzyDen]

I've had no problems at all using standard USB cables.

 

[cmstlist]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I can report:

- On stock firmware, with no charger, the battery status is "Discharging"
- With the BN charger, battery status is "Charging"
- With my Moto Milestone micro USB charger, battery status is "Not Charging"

So it knows that it's plugged into something, but it also knows it's not getting enough to actually charge.

 

[Nooter]

If it's purely for charging, my BlackBerry Bold charger (microUSB) works, but it takes all night to charge the Nook with the screen off; with the screen on, the battery actually drains faster than the charger can charge!

I was not able to connect through ADB when I used any cable except the B&N one.

 

[911jason]

Actually, standard USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 ports on computers are spec'd to supply 550mA (which is .5A). Its why portable usb hard drives sometimes came with "Y" cables to pull power from 2nd USB port or PS/2 keyboard, otherwise the drives didn't spin up.

Also, in the past some mother boards were designed that if you connect a device that tries to draw more current, the ports may actually shut down/off, and a reboot of the PC may be necessary to restore function.


Not sure what USB 3 ports are spec'd for.

http://www.everythingusb.com/superspeed-usb.html

• 
  More power when needed
  
  - 50% more power is provided for unconfigured or suspended devices (150 mA up from 100 mA), and 80% more power is available for configured devices (900 mA up from 500 mA). This means that more power-hungry devices could be bus powered, and battery powered devices that previously charged using bus power could potentially charge more quickly.
  
  - A new Powered-B receptable is defined with two extra contacts that enable a devices to provide up to 1000 mA to another device, such as a Wireless USB adapter. This eliminates the need for a power supply to accompany the wireless adapter...coming just a bit closer to the ideal system of a wireless link without wires (not even for power). In regular wired USB connections to a host or hub, these 2 extra contacts are not used.​

Not sure what that second paragraph is talking about... but could we use a Y cable to charge our Nooks from the computer with USB 3.0? 900mA x 2 should be sufficient.

 

[kbear99]

careful not to damage your battery

Folks, I would be very careful charging from a computer or any other output with low power. Every technician I've talked to regarding various devices have told me not to charge with anything less than the rated mA spec.

This issue is at the top of B&N's support Q&A. I don't always follow manufacturers' advice but I think this advice is valid. I'm not allowed to post links but here's a synopsis:
- Only the original charger/cable should be used.
- Do NOT power off while charging (let it sleep). Not sure why -- guess it's for the intelligent charge function to work?
- You cannot charge from the computer.

Even if you can get it to trickle charge from a computer, you might be harming the battery.

The original charger is 1.9A. Not sure if this is the actual minimum that can be safely used. Anyone know what the actual minimum is? It'd be nice to know if I can use a 1A charger which are more common. Even so, I wonder if the extra pin on the original cable mentioned in an earlier post is necessary for the intelligent charge function. Darn, I guess I'll just stick to the original kit.

 

[jimmyz]

The cable that came with the NC is unusual- I took a careful look and it appears to have the standard connection + an extra set of pins at the NC end- the connector is also longer than a standard connector to accommodate the extra pins- its almost like have 2 cables in one.
Also I can't see why charging at a lower mA would hurt the battery- it seems to me the slower you charge the less heat etc- it just isn't convenient.

 

[grover_nyc]

My cheap replacement cable experience

I bought a cheap generic cable from Amazon (retractable) to use mainly for data transfer. It worked great along with ADB on rooted stock. Stopped working for data and ADB when I moved to Froyo and/or CM7 but do now get trickle charge...

 

[kbear99]

... I can't see why charging at a lower mA would hurt the battery- it seems to me the slower you charge the less heat etc- it just isn't convenient.

That was my previous assumption also. Unfortunately I can't explain the reason behind this (and a quick search on the web didn't turn up anything).

All I can say is that I've been told by three different sources (an engineer from a manufacturer and a couple of repair technicians) that higher mA is ok, but lower is not. Hopefully some technical person here can offer an explanation.

 

[bbells]

The reason why they say you need a higher amperage charger is because if the NC is turned on it uses too much power for the lower power chargers and does not fully charge the battery. If you turn it off and keep it turned off while charging you should not have a problem.

 

[philoscience]

I got my NC from amazon, and now the cable is broken somehow, only charge it when NC is off, and not connecting to my pc anymore.

so if I call them, will they send me a replacement?cuz I am live in France.

I'm in the same boat. My amazing nook color recently arrived here in Denmark, and I am in love. After a day of fiddling I got an OC kernel and CM7 running no problem. The only issue is the USB charger- I had it in my bag for ONE day and when I got home it was completely shredded. I've had this bad boy for less than a week, so it seems like I should be able to get B&N to replace the cord. You need the B&N nook cord because it has an extra pin for fast charging, whereas a regular mUSB will only trickle charge. My nook color only charged 40% in an entire night with a regular cord. I bought the nook from the recent Ebay special- any ideas how I can go about getting a replacement cord from B&N?

Edit: found this on the B&N webstore comments for new USB. It seems that the pulling apart is a very common issue and B&N will replace the cords under a 1 year warranty. Is a hassle to have it shipped to me in DK but worth it...

If you are having issues with your charger go to a B&N store for a free replacement, or if you don't live close enough call 1-800-THE-BOOK and they will ship one out... you should only buy this if you need an EXTRA charging kit. The charger is covered under the 1 year manufactuer's warranty.

 

[caballar]

thanks for the info

 

[Geekbabe]

I've had my Nook Color for exactly 5 days, the usb cable has snapped off right at the plug after being carried to work once!

I'm using another cable with the charger & it appears to be working but how do I go about getting a replacement cable without spending another $15 plus shipping?

 

[nphil]

I swear these things break too fast, I just bent the micro usb part of my THIRD USB cable.

 

[spikey911]

Folks, I would be very careful charging from a computer or any other output with low power. Every technician I've talked to regarding various devices have told me not to charge with anything less than the rated mA spec.

This issue is at the top of B&N's support Q&A. I don't always follow manufacturers' advice but I think this advice is valid. I'm not allowed to post links but here's a synopsis:
- Only the original charger/cable should be used.
- Do NOT power off while charging (let it sleep). Not sure why -- guess it's for the intelligent charge function to work?
- You cannot charge from the computer.

Even if you can get it to trickle charge from a computer, you might be harming the battery.

Just wanted to add a little bit to this.

As far as I can see its all nonsense.

Yes you can charge from the computer, and no you cannot stop the Nook from charging when its plugged into the computer. There is simply no way to do it.
So its kind of silly to say not to charge it from the computer, because it does it automatically as soon as its plugged in.

They tell you not to charge with less milliamp charger because you could overheat the charger itself and damage it.

The Nook regulates its own charge via the charging circuit, so technically your "charger" isn't really charging the battery, its supplying the charging circuit with the power to charge the battery and operate the device.

Although it is true that these lithium batteries prefer fast charging, it is the job of the charging circuit to regulate the minimum and maximum allowable charge to the battery without damage.

In other words, I would not worry about it.