USB charging port

[billybovine]

All the stuff that needs charging that I carry with me on the Spyder (Sena headset, LG feature phone, Playbook tablet), they all use USB connectors for charging. So I found a weather proof dual outlet USB charging port online. Ordered and installed it near my tank bag and found that it charged the Sena, but the phone would come up with a message saying to use a LG charger and the Playbook tablet will not charge at all. That was disappointing but it did serve the main purpose to charge the headset. This Christmas I received an adapter for my car that gives me two USB charging ports from one power outlet. This unit give me the same problems as the one on my Spyder. The last adapter is rated at 2.1 amps output so the amount of power available should not me an issue.

So now I want to know what’s going on and is there something I can do to fix it?

I did a search online and found a recommendation to short out the two data lines and another not to short out the data lines but put a resister between them.
I’m confused, any ideas folks?

 

[shelbydave]

Check the voltages of the chargers for those devices. Normal USB voltage is 5V, but my ASUS Tablet wall charger has an output of 12V. I can use the cable to sync with my PC, but I HAVE to use the wall charger to charge it. The standard 5V ones won't do the trick.

 

[billybovine]

Thanks Shelbydave I will check the voltages. I did some experimenting with the wall chargers that came with the three devices. All three devices will charge when connected to a computer USB port, but my tablet will show a plug symbol showing slow charge. All three devices will charge connected to the wall charger that came with my tablet and my tablet will show a lightning bolt fast charge. The Sena charger will only charge the headset. The phone charger will charge all three devices, but the tablet will be in slow charge. I think there is more going on then voltages.

 

[thehawk]

Welcome to the world of USB (Universal Serial Bus) that is anything BUT universal.

Four wires but unfortunately there may be inteligent(?) devices on both ends ... including the chargers themselves ... as I suspect is happening with your LG and Playbook ... probably looking for their specialized chargers to avoid damage to the devices.

i carry a zipper case of OEM chargers and a power strip ... certainly not elegant ... but it's worked over the long haul for me.

thehawk

 

[stevedfive]

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?41162-USB-Power-Port&highlight=stevedfive

 

[Pincushion]

I added this to my GS/RS.
http://www.3brpowersports.com/products.htm

! Love it!

 

[billybovine]

Problem Solved

I cut the USB cable I use for charging my devices and spliced together the two data lines so that they are shorted on the output end. Works great!

For an explanation. The USB standard requires that dumb charging only devices, must have the data lines shorted out. So my phone and tablet are following the standard and will not charge using a dumb charger unless they sense that the data lines are shorted together. The Sena headset does not care and will charge either way. So the question arises as to why the charging port I bought does not follow the USB standard. From what I am able to find on the internet some Apple devices will not work with a charger with the data lines shorted. The charging port I got advertised itself as compatible with all Apple devices. I did not know this was code for it will not work with some other brands of devices.