[Closed] Phone will only charge from mains

Have you used the same cable each time? We've had some phones that dislike cheap cables.

Yeah, shit cable.

USB charging is weird, there's about a dozen standards.

USB charging is weird, there’s about a dozen standards.

As cyclists we should be used to that!

My phone sometimes fails to charge if it's sharing a 12v car socket with another device i.e a USB plug in socket with 2 ports. Also check the socket isn't corroded with a poor connection.

I've got a related problem...

My phone won't do data transfer any more from the PC or connect to Android Auto head unit. My power bank broke at the same time (component on PCB popped). I'm not sure if the power bank damaged the phone, or I damaged the phone port which shorted the power bank...but I've open the phone (Pixel 3a) and replaced the USB port and it's not fixed 🙁 It will charge from PC and Android Auto just not do data.

My phone sometimes fails to charge if it’s sharing a 12v car socket with another device i.e a USB plug in socket with 2 ports

I get this too. Can't seem to have two devices plugged into my twin usb lighter socket. Worth checking other cables to rule it out.

Could it be the amps the chargers are delivering. What does it day on the mains charged which works 2amp output? What about the 12v one is it only 1amp?

Get a good quality cable.

I forgot my charging cable when going to a car show once and the only ones I could find there were special 'super cables' which the adverts said were amazing and cost about £5 for a 50cm cable.

They are encased within a sort of woven cloth that prevents kinking or tangling and also look distinctive enough to be able to see on a desk full of mixed cables but the most amazing thing is the charging time. i haven't done any accurate timing but when plugged into the mains with the super-cable to phone is fully charged in something like less than half the time of the cheap cable the phone came with.

I thought I was being fleeced with special show prices but now I am trying to find where I can get a couple more from.

Lots of factors. The cable, the charger it's plugged into and current it delivers (and if multiple devices on a charger, does it deliver specified current per socket or divide it up). Various charging "standards" and proprietary ones for fast charging.

A number of phones have special chargers that are able to flip into a higher voltage mode than the 5V standard, else they crawl along.

Also some get confused if they detect data and will drop into drawing 500mA which will be very slow. You can get little dongles to stick on the end of the cable that block the data pins so it will think it's plugged into a mains charger. I use them on my powerbanks and car socket to ensure it charges properly.

My Nokia 7.2 refused to charge from one (10 year old) power bank using the cable that was supplied with it by Nokia. It works fine with newer power banks.

My phone won’t do data transfer any more from the PC or connect to Android Auto head unit. My power bank broke at the same time (component on PCB popped). I’m not sure if the power bank damaged the phone, or I damaged the phone port which shorted the power bank…but I’ve open the phone (Pixel 3a) and replaced the USB port and it’s not fixed 🙁 It will charge from PC and Android Auto just not do data.

Did you get a new cable at the same time as you had the power problem? A lot of Micro USB cables are power only, you need to make sure it's a power AND data cable.

@tthew

Yeh I've tried a range of cables, my wife's phone still works using said cables.

Shame as I was chuffed to get the phone open without breaking the unreinforced screen, got it taped on at the moment as can't bring myself to glue the screen back down incase there is something else I should replace!

So I got a new Anker cable (the sort with the kind of braided outer) and my Nokia does now charge from my Powerbank (and seems to do it quite fast too, although I only had it on long enough to be sure it was working). The cable was getting on for ten quid for 3 ft! But I'm happy enough with that outcome.

👍

I haven't quite bitten the bullet yet but I'm this ➡ ⬅ far from purging every USB-micro cable in the building and replacing them all with quality braided cables.

Earlier tonight I tried to hook my tablet up to the PC in order to transfer some files and it took me four cable attempts to find one which worked.

The only braided usb cable I owned died on me. The connection would fall out of the phone if I went over any kind of bump. Looked pretty though.

They are encased within a sort of woven cloth that prevents kinking or tangling and also look distinctive enough to be able to see on a desk full of mixed cables but the most amazing thing is the charging time. i haven’t done any accurate timing but when plugged into the mains with the super-cable to phone is fully charged in something like less than half the time of the cheap cable the phone came with.

If its a USB-C cable a big problem isn't so much cheap v expensive but its a 'standard' connection thats used for a wide range of data rates and current capabilities. But nothing is stated clearly on any device or cable how much power a charger or lead can deliver or a devise can consume, and similarly nothing shows how fast or slow a device or cable is.

A USB cable can carry anything between 60w and 100w and between 5 gbps and 40gbps (in Thunderbolt guise) but there will be nothing visible to tell you what any of the devises you connect them to actually want to use.

Worst can be a devise can be fast on paper but have a 'slow' usb-c socket so whatever leads you put between things you never actually get the stated speed.

So an 'expensive' cable isn't neccessarily going to improve things if the power supply, accessory or whatever isn't actually doing its part.