Is it bad to switch to a high amperage charger? Aukey Quick Charge 3.0

[m0k]

I've had my Moto X Play for about a year now and it supports "turbo charge" which is their term for quick charge

however i have been only using a stock 1.5A wall charger that the phone came with

 

i just picked up an Aukey charger that supports Quick Charge 3.0 rated for up to 3.6-6.5V/3A 6.5V-9V/2A 9V-12V/1.5A

https://www.amazon.ca/Upgrade-Charger-Adapter-Compatible-Samsung/dp/B00RJO6AHM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1489510597&sr=1-2&keywords=aukey+quick+charge+2.0

i plugged in my phone for about 10 minutes and noticed the battery/phone was warm - something it never did with other 2.4A or lower chargers

Is this because my phone battery is not conditioned for this

 

 

UPDATE: Motorola Turbo Charger is rated for 
Standard: 5V / 1.67A (8W)
TurboPower: 9V / 1.67A (15W)
TurboPower: 12V / 1.2A (15W)

[m0k]

Should i consider switching down to one that only supports upto QC 2.0 2.4A ?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Well supposedly those high amps only kick in if the device specifically requests it. However, high amperage also causes higher temperatures.

[The Sloth]

Just now, mok said:

Should i consider switching down to one that only supports upto QC 2.0 2.4A ?

that would be better

[Godlygamer23]

It's because it's being fed a fair amount of current. At the very least, I would confirm this does not go beyond Motorola's specifications or you may damage the device, including its battery.

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Well supposedly those high amps only kick in if the device specifically requests it. However, high amperage also causes higher temperatures.

And it causes additional wear-and-tear on the battery.

[paddy-stone]

Shouldn't make any difference, the phone should tell the charger (over-simplification) how many Amps it can take safely... unless the phone isn't designed well.

I actually have the same charger and use it all the time on my nvidia shield k1 tablet and my phone etc, never had a problem and have been using it for well over a year now.

[The Sloth]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

It's because it's being fed a fair amount of current. At the very least, I would confirm this does not go beyond Motorola's specifications or you may damage the device, including its battery.

 

you can't, smartphones are designed with a smart charging circuit so if you charge your device that is rated with  2 amp it will only take 2 amp max, even if you charge it with 3 amp charger. 

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, nerdslayer1 said:

you can't[.]

I'm not convinced of that. There's almost always a way to bypass something.

[The Sloth]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

I'm not convinced of that. There's almost always a way to bypass something.

if the circuit fails, if you look into a charging circuit of a phone it has many failsafe in place for stupid people. 

[manikyath]

higher amperage chargers cant kill your phone, the chargers output a constant 5 volts, wether it is rated for 500mA or for 20A, it's a constant 5 volts, which means that it's entirely up to your device to decide how much power it is going to draw.

 

that said, with the quickcharge stuff, you have to very specificly match supported devices together, preferably with a decent quality lead, because cheaper ones usually have thinner wires, which means more resistance -> more hot.

quickcharge (or similar other technologies) specificly go outside that constant 5 volts usb spec to deliver more power, which i'm guessing is where the myth comes from that higher rated amperage usb chargers can kill devices, because if the quickcharge stuff *for any reason, probably on accident or because cheap chinese trash* tries to quickcharge a device that cant handle it, that's a house fire.

[manikyath]

6 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It's because it's being fed a fair amount of current. At the very least, I would confirm this does not go beyond Motorola's specifications or you may damage the device, including its battery.

you cant "feed" a device current, you can only feed it voltage, and as long as the aftermarket charger stays within spec, it cannot kill a phone, because USB voltage spec is INSANELY tight.

[m0k]

6 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Well supposedly those high amps only kick in if the device specifically requests it. However, high amperage also causes higher temperatures.

 

6 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It's because it's being fed a fair amount of current. At the very least, I would confirm this does not go beyond Motorola's specifications or you may damage the device, including its battery.

 

5 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Shouldn't make any difference, the phone should tell the charger (over-simplification) how many Amps it can take safely... unless the phone isn't designed well.

I actually have the same charger and use it all the time on my nvidia shield k1 tablet and my phone etc, never had a problem and have been using it for well over a year now.

i just checked motorola's own TurboCharger 15 which is rated for"
Standard: 5V / 1.67A (8W)
TurboPower: 9V / 1.67A (15W)
TurboPower: 12V / 1.2A (15W)

 

I think im just going to play it safe and return this charger, even 2.4A seems to be overkill 

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

And it causes additional wear-and-tear on the battery.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090954_does-quick-charging-hurt-battery-life-total-miles-are-more-important

 

If there is additional wear and tear, it's so minimal it doesn't matter. However, the only way it would accelerate wear and tear is that pumping more amps generates more heat, which is a killer in batteries.

[manikyath]

Just now, mok said:

TurboPower: 9V / 1.67A (15W)
TurboPower: 12V / 1.2A (15W)

i just wanna add, stuff like this is what kills your device if it's not handled properly (which it is trough official devices, and potentially isnt in knockoff aftermarket chargers).

 

but as long as your aftermarket charger is rated for 5V DC output, it cannot kill a propperly working device. it would just also not charge faster than what a normal 5V DC brick would. the higher amperage 5V DC bricks are often sold to charge multiple devices simultaniously. (like the 6A charger i have downstairs, it can charge an iPad, and 3 phones at once, but it doesnt charge a single device faster when it's plugged in by itself)

[Godlygamer23]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

you cant "feed" a device current, you can only feed it voltage[.]

Sorry. I don't follow. 

[m0k]

 

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

i just wanna add, stuff like this is what kills your device if it's not handled properly (which it is trough official devices, and potentially isnt in knockoff aftermarket chargers).

 

but as long as your aftermarket charger is rated for 5V DC output, it cannot kill a propperly working device. it would just also not charge faster than what a normal 5V DC brick would. the higher amperage 5V DC bricks are often sold to charge multiple devices simultaniously. (like the 6A charger i have downstairs, it can charge an iPad, and 3 phones at once, but it doesnt charge a single device faster when it's plugged in by itself)

But those Motorola Turbo specs is from their own TurboPower 15W charge, this only has one cable for a single device (same as this aukey one)

are you saying i should be cautious about using even their own Turbo charger?

 

I wouldnt buy a no-name brand, only something with legitimate QC certification from qualcomm etc. (or even the legit apple ipad chargers are solid for 2.1A)

[manikyath]

7 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Sorry. I don't follow. 

quite easy explanation trough ohm's law:

(note: i know this overly simplified, but its close enough to explain how this works)

 

I (current) = U (voltage) / R (resistance)

 

the current is a result of a voltage (power supply) being applied to a resistance (phone)

if the phone circuitry decides that at 5 volts it will only draw *for example* 1A, there is nothing the power supply can do other than upping the voltage to make it draw more than 1A.

 

the reason there's this common thought that a high amperage 5V charger can kill a phone is because some cheap devices have TERRIBLE voltage regulation, especially when under a high load. one of my battery banks tends to jump up past 6 volts when just below the overload cutoff treshold, which in my terrible ohm's law example would result in 1.2A instead of 1A, on top of the much more important thread of putting a higher voltage on components than what they were designed for.

[manikyath]

9 minutes ago, mok said:

 

But those Motorola Turbo specs is from their own TurboPower 15W charge, this only has one cable for a single device (same as this aukey one)

are you saying i should be cautious about using even their own Turbo charger?

 

I wouldnt buy a no-name brand, only something with legitimate QC certification from qualcomm etc. (or even the legit apple ipad chargers are solid for 2.1A)

you have to be cautious in the the form of not buying off-brand fast charging/ turbo charge/ quick charge enabled charger, because it is a very sensitive matter, which is amazing when implemented correctly, but can spell disatser if it's done in a cheap, corner-cut-y way.

[m0k]

It's hard/impossible to determine if this aukey charger is charging my phone at 3A or 2A

So im going to play it safe and downgrade to a QC 2.0 Charger thats rated for a max of 2.4A

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, manikyath said:

quite easy explanation trough ohm's law:

(note: i know this overly simplified, but its close enough to explain how this works)

 

I (current) = U (voltage) / R (resistance)

 

the current is a result of a voltage (power supply) being applied to a resistance (phone)

if the phone circuitry decides that at 5 volts it will only draw *for example* 1A, there is nothing the power supply can do other than upping the voltage to make it draw more than 1A.

 

the reason there's this common thought that a high amperage 5V charger can kill a phone is because some cheap devices have TERRIBLE voltage regulation, especially when under a high load. one of my battery banks tends to jump up past 6 volts when just below the overload cutoff treshold, which in my terrible ohm's law example would result in 1.2A instead of 1A, on top of the much more important thread of putting a higher voltage on components than what they were designed for.

This doesn't really nullify what I said. I didn't need an explanation on electricity - I understand that voltage is a requirement for current, but that doesn't mean you're not feeding it current. Feeding just means you're adding it, and in this case, you are adding charged particles to the battery. The force(voltage) is a requirement to get the charged particles moving.

[manikyath]

39 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

This doesn't really nullify what I said. I didn't need an explanation on electricity - I understand that voltage is a requirement for current, but that doesn't mean you're not feeding it current. Feeding just means you're adding it, and in this case, you are adding charged particles to the battery. The force(voltage) is a requirement to get the charged particles moving.

i'm not really trying to "nullify" what you say, but rather say that the terminology isnt quite correct. "feeding a device current" kind of implies that you can feed it more or less current, while what you'd actually be doing is raise or lower the voltage, which isnt a thing for USB spec. the quickcharge stuff works trough going outside of that spec in a very controlled manner, which is why i very much raise caution to buy a trustworthy charger for these applications. but in a constant 5 volt situation, it is 100% the device that decides what goes on, and the charger side is essentially a constant that can only "listen" for what the device demands, or cut out if the device's demands are higher than what it can provide. a 5V DC power supply cannot provide more than what a device demands. if you would for example have a 5V DC 6A charger, and you plug in a phone that is designed to recharge at 1A, it would just draw 1A, and leave the charger capable of delivering an additional 5A to potential other devices, or at ~17% load.

 

maybe the better way to put this is that you can compare a constant 5V DC usb charger brick to a computer power supply, and the "charger" is built into the phone, designed to run off of a 5 volt input, or higher in the case of quickcharge stuff.

[Godlygamer23]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i'm not really trying to "nullify" what you say, but rather say that the terminology isnt quite correct. "feeding a device current" kind of implies that you can feed it more or less current, while what you'd actually be doing is raise or lower the voltage, which isnt a thing for USB spec.

In accordance with chart below, you would be incorrect. You can change the current, and have the same voltage. 

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power

 

[manikyath]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

In accordance with chart below, you would be incorrect. You can change the current, and have the same voltage. 

  Hide contents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power

 

that's the standards for devices, and is a "maximum" for the host side, the host side cant tell a device to only draw x amount of mA, it's up to the device to decide the amount drawn.

 

it's essentially saying that a host must be capable of providing that current, if a device demands that amount.

[dizmo]

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. I've used chargers that were much higher in amperage than the one that came with the phone and I've never had a problem. Also the difference between 3a and 2.4a really isn't that noticeable.

 

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

And it causes additional wear-and-tear on the battery.

Very minimal, though with older phones it is a bit rougher.

 

2 hours ago, mok said:

 

But those Motorola Turbo specs is from their own TurboPower 15W charge, this only has one cable for a single device (same as this aukey one)

are you saying i should be cautious about using even their own Turbo charger?

 

I wouldnt buy a no-name brand, only something with legitimate QC certification from qualcomm etc. (or even the legit apple ipad chargers are solid for 2.1A)

QuickCharge is a feature. It doesn't mean the charger is safer for phones that don't support it.

With the Turbo specs, you'll notice the voltage is much, much higher. That's why the amperage can be lower.