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UVO USB Port Charging Amperage

32K views 39 replies 18 participants last post by  Hardware_dude 
#1 ·
Or maybe amperage isn't exactly the right term, but the question is about how fast the USB port up front can charge something. I had my Galaxy Note 4 charging off that port with the screen on and using Google Maps Navigation and bluetooth, and I was actually slowly losing charge... Is the USB port underpowered?

I can answer my own question eventually, by plugging in one of these which I have, so I'll probably do that and post my results in a few weeks when I'm back in town, but in the interim if anyone has any experience with this...
 
#2 · (Edited)
I have same phone and same experience, the built in USB is supposed to be higher 2.0 or 2.1 amp? But it barely keeps the phone going, however navigation with continual bright screen, gps, bluetooth, map rendering is pretty intensive. Sometime I just turn off the screen and listen to the voice only.

Would be interesting to measure what the built in USB is actually delivering.

I was thinking of getting a car version of the adaptive fast charger to see if it's any better, even if the fast part only kicks in when the battery is low.
 
#3 ·
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's no way the built in UVO USB port is putting out 2.x amps, since my 2.1amp car charger actually charges the phone quickly even with everything running. it's probably 0.5a since that's what a lot of those power+data usb ports tend to be rated at. i'm just guessing though... i do intend to test it and post the results but that's gonna be in a couple weeks. it'd be really cool to somehow "upgrade" the power in that UVO port, so that the uvo connection can still be used, but hopefully there will be an update eventually that enables the uvo features (like the parking minder) without usb connection...
 
#5 · (Edited)
I forgot to mention above that my Note4 phone is charging from the 'USB charging port' in the arm rest, not the USB ipod/media port in the cubby in front of the shifter (as I have an old 64GB iPod touch music library connected there). So perhaps for phone navigation use it's better to buy the 12v cigarette lighter fast charger for that location....

I thought I had read in the manual that the USB charger was higher powered (like 2A, vs 0.5 or 1.0) but now I can't find the amps reference in the manual. Perhaps I was thinking of another manufacturer - so I don't know :)
 
#7 ·
So thanks Jeff for pointing us to the handbook. RTFM as they say, right? Despite how the system is designed, it'd be awful nice to have the same port that is used for some of the UVO stuff like the parking minder actually be able to charge your phone.... Because essentially if you wanted to charge your phone on a long drive, then have the parking location stored via that UVO feature, then you'd need to charge on one port during the drive, then unplug and replug your usb cord into the data-only port once you park, then disconnect.... So maybe there's a way to run a powered USB hub which allows a data pass-through. And yes, I see that the manual explicitly warns you AGAINST using a hub on this port but hey, it's our car, right? Maybe something like this [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Anker-AH111-4-Port-Adapter-Chipset/dp/B005QWY3PU?"]Amazon.com: Anker AH111 USB 3.0 4-Port Hub with 12V 2A Power Adapter and 3ft USB 3.0 Cable [VIA VL812 Chipset]: Computers & Accessories[/ame] could be used, since it has a 12v power adapter, so you'd need to throw out the 110AC->12vDC adapter it comes with (keep the connector), and hardwire it to the fuse panel on something with a similar amperage. That Anker device I linked is NOT ideal however, since it's really not meant to charge stuff - I might keep looking for something more appropriate...
 
#10 ·
I can answer my own question eventually, by plugging in one of these which I have, so I'll probably do that and post my results in a few weeks when I'm back in town, but in the interim if anyone has any experience with this...
Finally measured the amperage while charging from the UVO port. Tried a few different usb cables to make sure I was getting the least possible drop. Amperage maxed out just over 0.71A, which is better than I expected. Of course, using a different phone/device and/or different cable could make a difference, but I suspect nobody's going to be seeing a full amp out of that port.
 

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#19 · (Edited)
I wanted to reply with my solution to this problem.

I have a Nexus 6P and while driving with Android Auto & android navigation running, the battery would never charge. It wouldn't necessarily drain but the usage was always equal to the charge. Frustrating for a 4 hour car ride and your phone is never any better off than when you started.

I checked the amperage of the data USB jack and it was a 500mA port max. My phone was registering 300-400mA charging at best. This was part of the problem.
So I ordered this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NIGO4NM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When plugging the power-only plug into a separate 2.4A cigarette charger I would get 1000mA charging and the actual charge would be closer to 1.8A. But when I plugged in the other data-power plug the phone would sense two plugs and would default to the lesser 500mA port. Back to square one.

The solution to this was disable the power pins on the data USB plug so it was a data only plug. Now I have power coming from the 2.4A cigarette charger and the data coming from the car. I get Android Auto and 1.8A charging at the same time.

:)
 
#20 ·
I wanted to reply with my solution to this problem.

I have a Nexus 6P and while driving with Android Auto & android navigation running, the battery would never charge. It wouldn't necessarily drain but the usage was always equal to the charge. Frustrating for a 4 hour car ride and your phone is never any better off than when you started.

I checked the amperage of the data USB jack and it was a 500mA port max. My phone was registering 300-400mA charging at best. This was part of the problem.
So I ordered this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NIGO4NM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When plugging the power-only plug into a separate 2.4A cigarette charger I would get 1000mA charging and the actual charge would be closer to 1.8mA. But when I plugged in the other data-power plug the phone would sense two plugs and would default to the lesser 500mA port. Back to square one.

The solution to this was disable the power pins on the data USB plug so it was a data only plug. Now I have power coming from the 2.4mA cigarette charger and the data coming from the car. I get Android Auto and 1.8mA charging at the same time.

:)
Can you be more specific about how you did that?
Which are the power pins and how do you disable them?
 
#22 ·
So I have the Startech cable and I disabled the pins - I have one of those "seen on TV blacklight glue pens". It has a very thin needle on the end, put the goop on, cured with the blacklight. THAT was a success, when I plugged it in, it did not enable AA until I plugged in the red power cable.

BUT, epic fail. It still discharges, possibly slower. Of course, the quickcharge 2.0 will not enable, as there is no way it can "see" the enhanced (up to 9 or 12 V) power since that power side has no data (can you say CATCH-22). POSSIBLY a power cable with data on both sides (and disable the pins on the car side) would give the QC 2.0

To be fair, this phone would never charge with the screen all the way up until I obtained the QC 2.0 for the car, it would slowly charge at night with the screen turned down. So I may be getting standard 5V 2 AMPS or so, but it is not enough for the Note 4 with the screen turned up.

Have to try my S5, it might work.
 
#23 ·
OK, Samsung S5 will not charge either, HOWEVER, you have given me an idea.
If there is a Y cable with data on both ends, if I disable power on the car side and leave data on the power side, it MIGHT detect the QC 2.0 and in that case it would for sure charge.
 
#26 ·
Close but no cigar. Wired a cable data only on the car side, power and data on the power side. I did get QC 2.0, so I was correct that it requires data to get that.
However the phone was not recognized by the car.

So I am guessing that the data connection to the power over rides the data connection to the car.
This may be an unsolvable problem.
 
#36 · (Edited)
And still meet USB specifications? No.

The UVO port comes from the head unit which is USB 2.0. USB 2.0 specs for power are 5V at 500mA.

Ports that charge only do not have to meet that spec which is why you can get higher current on charging adapters. Plus, unless they are quickcharge adapters, the phone won't see a data connection and assumes it is charging from an AC adapter and doesn't limit charging to 500mA.

Also, most devices that can charge from USB will detect if they have a data connection on the port and charge at 500mA max anyways to meet the USB specification.
 
#40 ·
Just my five cents.... If you are not aware yes as mentioned above and many times the USB spec 2.0 does limit power on the power lines to 0.5A (this is a source thing). So with iPhones AND some Samsung to get around this apple incorporate a resistor network in their chargers (yes that little AC adapter with the green dot on it - hopefully!) so that when the phone is plugged in it detects this voltage and is able to use more power because the charging system (read loudly and slowly) IN THE PHONE can do that, Samsung do something similar with different resistor network (remember this is to their own chargers - not most car systems). In order to do this they need to use the data lines (D+ and D-) to sense the voltage divider network, which means... yes you guessed it, you cannot detect those resistors/voltage if your streaming music or anything other than purely charging as you might be with a typical AC adapter charger. I also see a lot of comments that imply that current (amps) is pushed, it is not, current is pulled. For instance a dead short across a supply will draw maximum current the supply can give. If a supply capable of giving 100A has a load that only requires 0.5A then only 0.5A will flow - the proviso is of course assuming there are no other faults etc. So (getting back to it) if you connect to a UVO or AVN head the USB part is controlled by an ISP1583 integrated circuit internally (standard USB 'hub' type device - this is in an AVN from a Rio 2016 and I assume most other models contain a similar if not the same device) which will limit the power drawn to max 0.5A, on a PC or laptop you can get a warning if you try to exceed this current and the port will shut down to protect itself hopefully) - on the RIO the USB connection on the lower center console is connected directly to the AVN head rear panel. Actually the power drawn when you plug something to the USB hub is detected by the hub (ISP1853) and this tells the system (Windows CE in Rio case or your favorite operating system) that something needs attention - so hence you get a message on the AVN head indicating that media is plugged in. Part of the reason they cannot bootstrap a regulated 5V supply from the main 12V direct to the USB interface connector (no USB plugged in detection) - same system for laptops and PC's and MAC's. Now the newer USB 3 interface and (the lightning connector on iPhone) use a different system, but i suspect that if you want to 'fast charge' your iPhone and play at the same time you would need a proper Apple or approved apple USB adapter/spliter as the lighting connector interface detects what type and manufacturer it is being plugged into and so may (if not approved) or may not allow the higher charging currents - this means beware of 'most' of the really cheap adapters, the good quality ones may be detected correctly and allow the high power charging. And of course this 'adapter' would need to be plugged into a power socket (old style cigarette lighter socket) which does not contain any inherent current limiting except a fuse. Sorry, I went a little (maybe a lot) into ramble mode and started to bore myself :) - ignore if you choose.
 
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