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USB adaptor not working in cigarette lighter socket

RHT45

RHT45

PCGB Member
Member
Can someone help the ultimate non-techie please? I've just bought a "DC/DC converter with USB outlet" from Maplins thinking that it would allow me to charge my Motorola mobile in the car from the cigarette lighter socket. The phone can be charged from the mains or via a USB cable from the laptop. I'm fed up with using the power inverter which plugs into the lighter socket and takes a 13A mains plug. It's a great heavy lump hanging off the socket, which can't be doing it any good.

Anyway I've plugged the USB converter into the lighter socket and connected the phone to it with the USB cable, but nothing happens. (Yes, I did turn the ignition key to power up the socket!) For some reason it's not charging the phone. According to the info with the converter it has an ouput voltage of 5Vdc and a current of 1000mA. It says it is "ideal for plugging your iPod or MP3 player into your car for music on the move". So why won't it charge the phone?

The mains charger has an output of 5V and 550mA which sounds pretty similar! Any suggestions before I take it back and try for a refund?
 
If I use a cigarette lighter plug in the socket in our 924S,I normally have to hold it in place for it to make proper contact,same in the 964 but OK in the BMW;-normally a portable compressor when topping up tyres.
 
From your post, the current specified of 550mA is half the current supplied of 1000mA, so most probably there is a safety cut out to avoid burning out, or to force consumer to use a manufacturer specific charger......
As a rule of thumb, 12v USB adaptors are quite finicky....
 
ORIGINAL: PGAdamopoulos

From your post, the current specified of 550mA is half the current supplied of 1000mA, so most probably there is a safety cut out to avoid burning out, or to force consumer to use a manufacturer specific charger......
As a rule of thumb, 12v USB adaptors are quite finicky....
Click to expand...

The blurb says that it "incorporates safety features such as short-circuit protection and automatic overload cut off". So that's probably the answer. Might have to sell the adapter, or get an MP3 player......... Do they draw more current than my mobile?
 
Amperage will not affect the operation of a device so long as the phone is lower than the charger and not the other way round.

Do you have an Ipod you can plug in to test your new device?
 
Well, I finally got hold of an MP3 player to test the adapter and it worked perfectly! So it should work with the phone but, as some have suggested, Motorola seems to have designed the phone to refuse to talk to non-OEM kit. [:mad:][:mad:][:mad:] Back to using the big,lumpy 240V charger with the 12V inverter.

My sister lent me the MP3 player so she now has a free 12V adapter! Thanks for the inputs.
 
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