Beware external battery chargers - AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717

Alot has been said about the quality of various batteries that we are all looking at for our devices...however very little about the different chargers that are out there.
I thought my charger that I bought was defective cause I let it charge overnight and it wasn't fully charged. That is not the case.
The Charger that the Note comes with charges at 1A. Most of these external battery only chargers charge at 350mA.
Take a look at this calculator:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterychgcalc.html
Using the link to the calculator above, you should expect a 2600mAh battery to fully charge using one of these cheap chargers in about 9 HOURS!! The charger that the note comes with should expect about 3.4 hours. That's a huge difference in charge time!!
So be sure to take a look at the output of these chargers before you get too excited and purchase one. If it takes you 24 hours to charge a battery, what good is it to you?

---

Thanks for the battery reference URL.
This is basically another scenario of 'you get what you pay for..'
It seems to often apply to batteries and chargers.
Whereas for like cases, you have a better chance of actually saving money and getting quality at the same time.

---

CradleRob said:
Alot has been said about the quality of various batteries that we are all looking at for our devices...however very little about the different chargers that are out there.
I thought my charger that I bought was defective cause I let it charge overnight and it wasn't fully charged. That is not the case.
The Charger that the Note comes with charges at 1A. Most of these external battery only chargers charge at 350mA.
Take a look at this calculator:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterychgcalc.html
Using the link to the calculator above, you should expect a 2600mAh battery to fully charge using one of these cheap chargers in about 9 HOURS!! The charger that the note comes with should expect about 3.4 hours. That's a huge difference in charge time!!
So be sure to take a look at the output of these chargers before you get too excited and purchase one. If it takes you 24 hours to charge a battery, what good is it to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess for battery longevity, you should use a 500 mA charger (the typical USB output). That way it doesn't charge it too quick (and overheat the battery).

---

SPtheALIEN said:
So I guess for battery longevity, you should use a 500 mA charger (the typical USB output). That way it doesn't charge it too quick (and overheat the battery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, actually. Lithium ion batteries, unlike nickle-cadium batteries actually perform and last better with short, fast charges. Android's battery stats are helped by a few full cycles, but it is not better for the battery to full cycle or slow charge.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

---

Thank you for this information, very helpful as I have other phone chargers. Is there a way(Windows based utility) to tell how many mah a USB port is outputting while charging?

---

lmike6453 said:
Thank you for this information, very helpful as I have other phone chargers. Is there a way(Windows based utility) to tell how many mah a USB port is outputting while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A multimeter
Sent from my SGH-I717R using xda premium

---

lmike6453 said:
Thank you for this information, very helpful as I have other phone chargers. Is there a way(Windows based utility) to tell how many mah a USB port is outputting while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*I am not an electrical expert, I just play one on TV.*
There are standards for USB outs. Just Google the standard. That said, there is USB1, USB2, and now USB3. Check your motherboard to see which one you have. There is also a newish thing on motherboards that will do a rapid charge by changing a setting on the BIOS. That's what i got off the top of my head. Do a little research.

---

As was pointed out on another thread, the Note looks for a low resistance/short between pins 2 and 3 of the USB cable. If it sees the low resistance, it enables a high current charge; otherwise, it sticks with USB standard charge of less than 500 ma. The 2/3 pin setup is not true of USB connections to a computer. The Note power adapter is set up this way to do a fast charge. Most chargers and portable battery chargers leave pins 2 and 3 unconnected, so they will not fast charge a Note even if they can supply 1A.
I purchased a Scosche 5000 mah battery with USB ports for charging Ipads, Iphones, and other devices. It also charges a Galaxy Tab with a special USB adapter plug. I tried the Tab adapter with my new Note and it was charging at 5 percent charged every ten minutes or so. Without the USB adapter, the Note charged at 2 percent every ten minutes or so. Without the adapter, the Note displays an MTP initialization notification. With the adapter, there is no MTP notification.
The Scosche battery is a big improvement over older Trent 5000 mah batteries. There is a push button to turn the Scosche battery on. The battery will turn off if no device is attached or it the device is fully charged. One of the ports can output 2.1A for an Ipad. The Trent battery would run down if it was left on.
Staples carries the Scosche battery for $80. I used a $29 online coupon from Staples that expires 3/5/2012.
I did not see anywhere on the Scosche website where they sell the Tab adapter by itself.

---

Ipaqman01 said:
As was pointed out on another thread, the Note looks for a low resistance/short between pins 2 and 3 of the USB cable. If it sees the low resistance, it enables a high current charge; otherwise, it sticks with USB standard charge of less than 500 ma. The 2/3 pin setup is not true of USB connections to a computer. The Note power adapter is set up this way to do a fast charge. Most chargers and portable battery chargers leave pins 2 and 3 unconnected, so they will not fast charge a Note even if they can supply 1A.
I purchased a Scosche 5000 mah battery with USB ports for charging Ipads, Iphones, and other devices. It also charges a Galaxy Tab with a special USB adapter plug. I tried the Tab adapter with my new Note and it was charging at 5 percent charged every ten minutes or so. Without the USB adapter, the Note charged at 2 percent every ten minutes or so. Without the adapter, the Note displays an MTP initialization notification. With the adapter, there is no MTP notification.
The Scosche battery is a big improvement over older Trent 5000 mah batteries. There is a push button to turn the Scosche battery on. The battery will turn off if no device is attached or it the device is fully charged. One of the ports can output 2.1A for an Ipad. The Trent battery would run down if it was left on.
Staples carries the Scosche battery for $80. I used a $29 online coupon from Staples that expires 3/5/2012.
I did not see anywhere on the Scosche website where they sell the Tab adapter by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a model number on that USB adapter? Maybe in the instructions?

---

There is only the name Scosche on the adapter. The guide only calls it the Galaxy Tab adapter.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk

---

Ipaqman01 said:
As was pointed out on another thread, the Note looks for a low resistance/short between pins 2 and 3 of the USB cable. If it sees the low resistance, it enables a high current charge; otherwise, it sticks with USB standard charge of less than 500 ma. The 2/3 pin setup is not true of USB connections to a computer. The Note power adapter is set up this way to do a fast charge. Most chargers and portable battery chargers leave pins 2 and 3 unconnected, so they will not fast charge a Note even if they can supply 1A.
I purchased a Scosche 5000 mah battery with USB ports for charging Ipads, Iphones, and other devices. It also charges a Galaxy Tab with a special USB adapter plug. I tried the Tab adapter with my new Note and it was charging at 5 percent charged every ten minutes or so. Without the USB adapter, the Note charged at 2 percent every ten minutes or so. Without the adapter, the Note displays an MTP initialization notification. With the adapter, there is no MTP notification.
The Scosche battery is a big improvement over older Trent 5000 mah batteries. There is a push button to turn the Scosche battery on. The battery will turn off if no device is attached or it the device is fully charged. One of the ports can output 2.1A for an Ipad. The Trent battery would run down if it was left on.
Staples carries the Scosche battery for $80. I used a $29 online coupon from Staples that expires 3/5/2012.
I did not see anywhere on the Scosche website where they sell the Tab adapter by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does an "MTP initialization notification" look like on the Note? How do I identify it?
If I don't see it when charging, does that mean it's getting a fast charge for sure, or just that it might be?

---

lastdeadmouse said:
A multimeter
Sent from my SGH-I717R using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly would you use a multimeter to do this? From what I've seen, they have two contacts -- where would you stick those? Or is there some kind of micro USB conversion thingy to use with a multimeter?

---

capite said:
How exactly would you use a multimeter to do this? From what I've seen, they have two contacts -- where would you stick those? Or is there some kind of micro USB conversion thingy to use with a multimeter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cut a USB cable, and strip a portion of the power wires. Set the multimeter to a 10A DC current scale (assuming it supports 10A, but most craftsman and up do, with common and a 10A lead), disconnect the plug, attach common to negative wire and positive to positive wire, gator clips or something, then plug it in and read it. The current support and time it can be on depends on the multimeter. Mine does up to 10A for Max 30 sec.
Sent from my SGH-I717R