1000mA rating - The *TRUE* solution to everyone's charger problems

[GuinnessX]

[NOTE: I do not have a Touchstone. This post is about charging via micro-USB.]

I'm sorry for starting yet another thread about chargers, but it seems like a new charger complaint pops up every day... and the answer to all of them is really very simple:

The Pre is designed to draw up to 1000mA of current when charging the battery. Therefore, you have to buy a charger that can deliver one full amp (1000 milliamps = 1 amp).

I'm sure there are people out there having success with 850mA chargers, and I have even seen some claim success with 500mA chargers, but you can rest assured that if you purchase a true 1000mA (or greater) micro-USB charger, you will be able to successfully charge your Pre every time--even in the car listening to mp3s via bluetooth with GPS Nav running.

MonoPrice has everything you need at prices you could pay using the change in your floorboard:
High-Speed WALL Power to USB Female Converter (1000ma) - Black for $1.80
Car CHARGER (Cigarette Lighter) to USB Female Converter (1000mA) - Black for $0.97
USB 2.0 A Male to MICRO 5pin Male Cable w/ Ferrite Core - (Gold Plated) - 3ft for $0.99

I ordered 5 sets of car chargers with cables and 3 sets of wall chargers with cables. All work perfectly, even at maximum load (i.e., every radio on and multiple cards running).

UPDATE:
It seems that the MonoPrice solutions don't work with the Touchstone. This post seems to explain why (and includes a "dirty" hack, if you're brave):
USB Cable Mod for third party USB adapters and Touchstone Dock

After reading that post, I checked the pins on all of my chargers with an ohmmeter, and confirmed that the OEM Palm wall charger and the MonoPrice car chargers both seem to be built to the new fast-charging standard (i.e., pins D+ and D- are shorted). The MonoPrice wall charger, however, is not.

[jhoff80]

But they don't seem to work with the Touchstone, from what I've read.

(Just something to keep in mind.)

[cglaguna]

Monoprice is great, thanks for posting your solution, now I don't have to research it. Now where is the Monoprice Touchstone equiv?

[GuinnessX]

Originally Posted by jhoff80

But they don't seem to work with the Touchstone, from what I've read.

(Just something to keep in mind.)

I never saw the point in having a touchstone, so I don't have one to test on... but I saw others post that they were able to file/sand/carve down the plastic on the micro-USB tip of a MonoPrice cable and get it to fit in a Touchstone. If you can handle this, you just need the 1000mA wall charger for the other end of your cable. If not, you can still use the MonoPrice charger, and buy your cable from Palm.

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

I never saw the point in having a touchstone, so I don't have one to test on... but I saw others post that they were able to file/sand/carve down the plastic on the micro-USB tip of a MonoPrice cable and get it to fit in a Touchstone. If you can handle this, you just need the 1000mA wall charger for the other end of your cable. If not, you can still use the MonoPrice charger, and buy your cable from Palm.

Wrong. The MonoPrice AC adapters have been said already to not work with the Touchstone.

[GuinnessX]

Originally Posted by jhoff80

Wrong. The MonoPrice AC adapters have been said already to not work with the Touchstone.

Sure... by someone who was not using a 1000mA charger, I'll bet. Can anyone with a Touchstone confirm this with a properly rated wall charger?

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

Sure... by someone who was not using a 1000mA charger, I'll bet. Can anyone with a Touchstone confirm this with a properly rated wall charger?

If you look at those other threads you'd mention you'd see that you're wrong on that one.

Edit: More info:

Not Working:
Monoprice 1 amp AC and Car power adapters

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...-adapters.html

[genEric122]

Also there are plenty of people with the official palm car charger (5v 1000ma) that are not working properly... I am one that has had trouble and it seems like there are times it works great and times it won't charge.
Today I bought the Palm charger to eliminate all problems and when I first pluged it in, it said charging and had the icon, but after 10 min. I lost over 6% battery... So I did the charging test and it started working fine.
You can tell when it's working cause it gets pretty hot.

[NickDG]

The 1amp monoprice chargers also seem to be charging the Pre at 500ma.

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by NickDG

The 1amp monoprice chargers also seem to be charging the Pre at 500ma.

You might want to check out this thread then for what might be the solution:

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...tone-dock.html

[NickDG]

Originally Posted by jhoff80

You might want to check out this thread then for what might be the solution:

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...tone-dock.html

Yeah I was going to give it a shot. I am scared to plug in my Pre first so I will use my old Centro as a test subject.

[GuinnessX]

Originally Posted by NickDG

The 1amp monoprice chargers also seem to be charging the Pre at 500ma.

Based on what? It would be pretty difficult to get an ampmeter in line with the charging circuit to verify that...

As I said, I have verified that the MonoPrice chargers are capable of charging my Pre at full load. I drove about 2 hours on Friday listening to mp3s via bluetooth and with GPS Nav running with the screen on the entire time. I started the trip with about 60% battery, and when I got to my destination I had a full charge. I seriously doubt that would be possible with a 500mA charger.

[NickDG]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

Based on what? It would be pretty difficult to get an ampmeter in line with the charging circuit to verify that...

As I said, I have verified that the MonoPrice chargers are capable of charging my Pre at full load. I drove about 2 hours on Friday listening to mp3s via bluetooth and with GPS Nav running with the screen on the entire time. I started the trip with about 60% battery, and when I got to my destination I had a full charge. I seriously doubt that would be possible with a 500mA charger.

I only tested with the wall charger, but the Palm provided adapter chargers my Pre right around twice as fast.

[GuinnessX]

Originally Posted by jhoff80

You might want to check out this thread then for what might be the solution:

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...tone-dock.html

I will try to check the "pins" of my MonoPrice chargers tonight to see if the D+ and D- contacts are connected. I'll let you know...

[TechFirstAid]

I bought 2 usb cigarette adapters from mono price and both of them get really hot within 15 minutes of use. Anyone else experience this? I am getting them rma'd just to be safe but I wonder if it's because of the cheaper quality.

[rc46]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

I never saw the point in having a touchstone, so I don't have one to test on...

You will see the point when you micro USB port fails after a few thousand plug in / plug out cycles.

[nimer55]

monoprice shiping for canada is hurting...


it's so hurting, i can get the same order for 38 bucks shipped Seattle that i need to pay 61 bucks for to get it shipped in Vancouver. Vancouver is like 2:00 h from Seattle. I guess I'll get it shipped at our friends house in California, and pick it up when i go there during the summer. Prices are cheap, shipping just plain out hurts.

[GuinnessX]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

Based on what? It would be pretty difficult to get an ampmeter in line with the charging circuit to verify that...

As I said, I have verified that the MonoPrice chargers are capable of charging my Pre at full load. I drove about 2 hours on Friday listening to mp3s via bluetooth and with GPS Nav running with the screen on the entire time. I started the trip with about 60% battery, and when I got to my destination I had a full charge. I seriously doubt that would be possible with a 500mA charger.

Originally Posted by NickDG

I only tested with the wall charger, but the Palm provided adapter chargers my Pre right around twice as fast.

I would pretty much have to build a circuit to actually measure the current being pulled by the Pre while charging... which I don't really have the patience for right now. But I did just check the center pins on all of my chargers and confirmed that the OEM Palm wall charger and the MonoPrice car chargers both seem to be built to the new fast-charging standard (i.e., pins D+ and D- are shorted). The MonoPrice wall charger, however, is not.

I guess this would explain what you have experienced and why my car charging experience was the opposite. I guess I haven't paid much attention to how long the wall chargers take, and I obviously have not been running GPS Nav while it's plugged into a wall.

[linh.nguyen]

Originally Posted by TechFirstAid

I bought 2 usb cigarette adapters from mono price and both of them get really hot within 15 minutes of use. Anyone else experience this? I am getting them rma'd just to be safe but I wonder if it's because of the cheaper quality.

all mine are... they are accepting RMA's on that? I just assumed it was cheap (all the cheap chargers, even some OEM ones, had always done that for me).

[NickDG]

Originally Posted by GuinnessX

I would pretty much have to build a circuit to actually measure the current being pulled by the Pre while charging... which I don't really have the patience for right now. But I did just check the center pins on all of my chargers and confirmed that the OEM Palm wall charger and the MonoPrice car chargers both seem to be built to the new fast-charging standard (i.e., pins D+ and D- are shorted). The MonoPrice wall charger, however, is not.

I guess this would explain what you have experienced and why my car charging experience was the opposite. I guess I haven't paid much attention to how long the wall chargers take, and I obviously have not been running GPS Nav while it's plugged into a wall.

Great that is good to know. The weird thing is the Touchstone in the car with the monoprice charger would not even start to charge with a normal cable. When I used the modded cable it did the on/off deal, but still got further.