Charger keep charging
September 18, 2015 2:01 PM Subscribe
Not sure if it is coincidence or concerning, but cell chargers seem to go kaput pretty quickly in our house. Husband has iphone, I have android, both of us are suddenly having a hard time getting our phones to charge. Both of us got new chargers to see if that would fix it and it did for a day or two. Then it didn't again. Is it possible there is something about our house causing this or sheer dumb luck?
His iPhone clicks in and out of charging mode. My android says 'slow charge, please use original charger' even though I was. Both of our new cords started doing the same thing after using them about a week or two. Our house is about 13 years old, we only just moved in 2 years ago.
What could this be?
His iPhone clicks in and out of charging mode. My android says 'slow charge, please use original charger' even though I was. Both of our new cords started doing the same thing after using them about a week or two. Our house is about 13 years old, we only just moved in 2 years ago.
What could this be?
Are you using the same outlet/wall socket? It's not likely to be anything about your house, but it could be an issue with an individual outlet.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:05 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by Itaxpica at 2:05 PM on September 18, 2015
Is it the cable that's failing (the usb cable that goes between the plug and the phone), or the electrical part that plugs into the wall? In my experience, the microusb (or whatever they're called) cables that come with Android devices seem to flake out really quickly (though I've had some that are better than others). The Lightning cables that come with current iPhones and iPads are a lot more durable from what I've seen; with those the more common problem is dust or lint in the actual connector on the device. But all of those cables will fail if they're handled roughly bent a lot, pulled out by the cord rather than the connector, etc. I don't know that I've ever seen the part that plugs into the wall fail, and I have a ton of devices that use those things...
posted by primethyme at 2:05 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by primethyme at 2:05 PM on September 18, 2015
Response by poster: Both of us got new cord sets: new wall part and new cord. We have also alternated old parts with new to see if it helped. Different outlets are used depending where we are in the house.
posted by MayNicholas at 2:11 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by MayNicholas at 2:11 PM on September 18, 2015
FWIW, I find that almost all USB charging cords seem to gain internal resistance pretty rapidly (so phone charging takes longer and longer, eventually it won't gain any charge at all). I think that every time you bend or handle the cord, copper fibres break or something. Whatever it is, I find that the chargers are always as good as new but the cords need regular replacement.
Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to know ahead of time whether a cord is high quality vs cheaply-made with a large price mark-up. I find that the cord that came with the phone is going to be high quality and last longer, but otherwise... I just make sure I have some never-been-used spare cords around, and grab one when charging starts to become slow.
My advice would be set up a wireless charger (for phones that support that) so that you never need to disturb the cord. My wireless charger's USB cord has been mostly undisturbed and has been working fine for nearly 3 years now.
posted by anonymisc at 2:11 PM on September 18, 2015
Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to know ahead of time whether a cord is high quality vs cheaply-made with a large price mark-up. I find that the cord that came with the phone is going to be high quality and last longer, but otherwise... I just make sure I have some never-been-used spare cords around, and grab one when charging starts to become slow.
My advice would be set up a wireless charger (for phones that support that) so that you never need to disturb the cord. My wireless charger's USB cord has been mostly undisturbed and has been working fine for nearly 3 years now.
posted by anonymisc at 2:11 PM on September 18, 2015
Are these official chargers or 3rd party ones?
posted by Hermione Granger at 2:18 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by Hermione Granger at 2:18 PM on September 18, 2015
FWIW, I have found these to be marginally more durable than average, and they're cheap.
posted by primethyme at 2:23 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by primethyme at 2:23 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just had a though regarding finding cords that keep working for longer - I would think that cords designed and marketed for USB 3.0 would be more reliable because the spec is more demanding. On the other hand I suspect that plenty of companies just slap a 3.0 on the marketing for regular old USB cords, but I think I'll try buying some 3.0 cords and see if they last longer.
posted by anonymisc at 2:23 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by anonymisc at 2:23 PM on September 18, 2015
What happens when you try to charge them using these chargers at your work or another person's house? (Or a library, coffeeshop, etc.)
posted by umwhat at 2:36 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by umwhat at 2:36 PM on September 18, 2015
Response by poster: The chargers worked everywhere when they worked. Once they started fritzing out, they did it everywhere.
Both original chargers came with our respective phones. I phone's second charger set was also from apple. My adroid's second charger was a generic. Both seemed to fail equally quickly.
Fwiw, I am a stay at home mom so I only charge my phone at home.
posted by MayNicholas at 2:54 PM on September 18, 2015
Both original chargers came with our respective phones. I phone's second charger set was also from apple. My adroid's second charger was a generic. Both seemed to fail equally quickly.
Fwiw, I am a stay at home mom so I only charge my phone at home.
posted by MayNicholas at 2:54 PM on September 18, 2015
Do you run a humidifier, or is your house otherwise exceptionally humid?
Humidity to a point of condensation will kill these things as surely as a dunking, though more slowly, and wall sockets have a tendency to be much cooler than the rest of a room when it's cool outside, and that will make anything plugged directly into them more subject to condensation.
posted by jamjam at 3:28 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Humidity to a point of condensation will kill these things as surely as a dunking, though more slowly, and wall sockets have a tendency to be much cooler than the rest of a room when it's cool outside, and that will make anything plugged directly into them more subject to condensation.
posted by jamjam at 3:28 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sounds awful strange. Do you have issues with other appliances in the house? do light bulbs burn out quicker than they should for instance? or seem to dim and go back to full brightness often? I'm just wondering if maybe your problem is with abnormal voltage fluctuation in your electric network. But honestly, even that shouldn't really cause the problems you're having as almost all chargers i've seen are rated to work with input voltage between 120-240 volts.
posted by postergeist at 5:03 PM on September 18, 2015
posted by postergeist at 5:03 PM on September 18, 2015
Wild card: Do you have a cat or dog? I went through chargers like candy until I realized my cat was stealthily nibbling the pin ends, rendering them totally useless with almost no trace.
posted by peachfuzz at 5:40 PM on September 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by peachfuzz at 5:40 PM on September 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
Some of the little wall chargers are only one amp and sometime even less. They wilt fried after awhile charging a iPad as it want to draw 2 amps at least. Check the charging demands, the charger may also just be crap, try a different brand.
posted by boilermonster at 12:13 AM on September 19, 2015
posted by boilermonster at 12:13 AM on September 19, 2015
@boilermonster I thought that as well but then the OP states one of the chargers is the official Apple charger for that device so that wouldn't be the case.
posted by postergeist at 4:09 AM on September 19, 2015
posted by postergeist at 4:09 AM on September 19, 2015
Response by poster: Husband just got another charger yesterday, so we'll see how long this one works...
posted by MayNicholas at 2:26 PM on September 19, 2015
posted by MayNicholas at 2:26 PM on September 19, 2015
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posted by Crystalinne at 2:04 PM on September 18, 2015