Will charging my phone occasionally on my starter battery have a noticeable impact?

[East]

I know there are better options but I'm genuinely curious just how much of an impact this would have on my starting battery.

 

[Almost There]

I know there are better options but I'm genuinely curious just how much of an impact this would have on my starting battery.

Are you driving the car more than 5 minutes a day and are you charging it through an inverter or a 12v charger.

I keep a car charger for my phone because I'm often dashing out the door and then finding that my phone needs to be charged. But a trip to the local mall is 45 minutes so there's no problem doing that.

 

[East]

Are you driving the car more than 5 minutes a day and are you charging it through an inverter or a 12v charger.

I keep a car charger for my phone because I'm often dashing out the door and then finding that my phone needs to be charged. But a trip to the local mall is 45 minutes so there's no problem doing that.

I tend to drive roughly 30 minutes a day. The charging method in question is with a typical 12v USB charger. I do ocassionally use an inverter but only while driving and the vehicle is running, otherwise it's unplugged.

 

[LostlnTransit]

True on the above statement.. it's best to have the cell charging as your driving.. I don't like the idea of leavening electronics in the vehicle and charging when the van isn't running.. But we see people doing this all the time. My issue was more of a fire hazard because most of the vehicles don't have a dedicated power outlet, instead they have the cigarette lighter outlet and these can external hot assuming you maybe using an inferior USB type connector.

 

[East]

True on the above statement.. it's best to have the cell charging as your driving.. I don't like the idea of leavening electronics in the vehicle and charging when the van isn't running.. But we see people doing this all the time. My issue was more of a fire hazard because most of the vehicles don't have a dedicated power outlet, instead they have the cigarette lighter outlet and these can external hot assuming you maybe using an inferior USB type connector.

In this situation I'd be with the vehicle while the phone is on charge, but the vehicle may not be running. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving electronics charging while away either.

Here's a link to the charger I'd be using:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E1UWA4O/

 

[Almost There]

True on the above statement.. it's best to have the cell charging as your driving.. I don't like the idea of leavening electronics in the vehicle and charging when the van isn't running.. But we see people doing this all the time. My issue was more of a fire hazard because most of the vehicles don't have a dedicated power outlet, instead they have the cigarette lighter outlet and these can external hot assuming you maybe using an inferior USB type connector.

I've never left my phone charging while I'm out of the vehicle because where I go, so goes the phone - well except around the house... then it's usually where I used it last...

And yes, there are dedicated 12v chargers available that would cut down the number of connections you're making if you're going from a USB connection to a cigarette lighter outlet adapter.

The car charger that I have is a kit that has multiple tips - it's marketed for families with different phones that would otherwise need multiple chargers. It's handy because when I switched phones I didn't need to reinvest in another charger, just changed the tip! It plugs directly into a cig style outlet.

 

[LostlnTransit]

Ideally the best way to charge anything is by using a direct source outlet or a direct hardwire power outlet. In our case, I want to install an air system with an aux air tank.. What's difficult, is that I have a portal air system now.. but it can or could be hard wired. My other issue is that the Transits battery is tucked under the windshield right by the firewall.. This is hard to gain access to. I'll be exploring options for this when we get to that point.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

To get back to your original question, while you're driving, you're having no impact at all, you're charging your phone off your alternator, not your starting battery.

If you were sitting out in the boondocks for a couple of weeks without moving and charging the phone every day, you might have some impact on the starter battery. 

Other than something like that, I wouldn't worry about it.

Regards
John

 

[SternWake]

My Samsung draws 0.98a at 5 volts, and this current starts tapering at the 85% state of charge range.
So around 5 watts for about an hour.  This is almost insignificant.

How do I know these numbers?

I own one of these:
http://lygte-info.dk/review/USBmeter KCX-017 UK.html

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Comb-Un...sim_pc_17?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DPW7EPKZGKFS650HHWV

How quickly the phone charges ca be affected by the tasks it is performing, and the USB cables used.

I bought a bunch of shorter (1 ft long)higher quality microUSb cables, and while my meter indicates no more amperage flowing through them, the shorter and fatter gauge copper within causes less voltage drop, so the voltage the phone gets is higher, so the overall wattage has to be higher, and shorter durations plugged in seem to return the battery% up higher than with the Samsung provided USB cable.

I find the 1 foot length to be much more ergonomic in my usages too.

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Premium...r=1-1-catcorr&keywords=anker+micro+usb+1+foot

 

[GotSmart]

Just added couple things to my Amazon wish list.

By adding these little things I can get the free shipping, or as I look at it, a free item that I can use because I estimate the shipping as a fixed cost.

 

[LeeRevell]

I very often charge my smartphone via a 12V USB charger plugged into the cig. socket. It doesn't draw enough power to get warm. Nor will it draw the battery down as long as you drive every day or two, as the cell phone just doesn't take much power to be fully charged. Boondocking for a week or more, a different situation. With normal use of your vehicle it should be a non-issue.
My phone nests nicely into my dash mount GPS holder while charging, and the 36" cable is just about right. Or it allows the phone to sit on the right seat. But in the GPS mount I can easily see the charge light, and if something comes over (call, text, E-mail).

 

[ttpadilla]

Following this conversation with interest. Both house batteries were tested and maintained 1 week ago. Starting last night, the batteries are getting low enough that my CO2 sensor's low battery alarm starts beeping. Prior to that, trying to charge my laptop put too much strain on the battery feeding my cigarette lighter. I've had to drive this thing every couple of days, so it's not that it's been sitting for weeks. I only charge phone or tablet for a short time at night.

 

[Almost There]

Following this conversation with interest. Both house batteries were tested and maintained 1 week ago.  Starting last night, the batteries are getting low enough that my CO2 sensor's low battery alarm starts beeping. Prior to that, trying to charge my laptop put too much strain on the battery feeding my cigarette lighter. I've had to drive this thing every couple of days, so it's not that it's been sitting for weeks. I only charge phone or tablet for a short time at night.

 A laptop takes a completely different amount of power than a cell phone does. One source I just looked at had it at 72 times the amount of power.

Tammi are those new house batteries or are they the ones' that were being used when you had the RV parked all that time. And did you have the charging system that would charge them while you're driving checked to make sure it was putting a charge into the batteries. You're in an RV where all kinds of things run off those house batteries. I remember bringing the house battery down in no time flat in the RV because I didn't realize how much was running off of it and how much power they sucked up.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

I charge my cell over night off the car battery all the time with no problems.

 

[ttpadilla]

 A laptop takes a completely different amount of power than a cell phone does. One source I just looked at had it at 72 times the amount of power.

Tammi are those new house batteries or are they the ones' that were being used when you had the RV parked all that time. And did you have the charging system that would charge them while you're driving checked to make sure it was putting a charge into the batteries. You're in an RV where all kinds of things run off those house batteries. I remember bringing the house battery down in no time flat in the RV because I didn't realize how much was running off of it and how much power they sucked up.

They're the ones that were already in it, but they were shut off most of the time at the kill switch. I didn't do a specific "charger" test, but did test charge levels on the batteries. We also tested them with a hydrometer last week, and the two Deep Cycle Marine/RV batteries were 50% "good" (one was 3/4 good but I understand that the less good one will draw the better one down to its level). One ball dropped quickly, another kind of drifted halfway down, while the remaining two floated solidly at the top.

The refrigerator uses a bit of battery for the igniter when run on gas, I use one lamp at a time, and I turn off the water pump when I'm not actually using water. But, I have had the refrigerator shut off since last Monday. What else could be draining them?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Got a propane gas alarm?  Those are always run off the house batteries on RVs.

Regards
John

 

[Almost There]

They're the ones that were already in it, but they were shut off most of the time at the kill switch.  I didn't do a specific "charger" test, but did test charge levels on the batteries. We also tested them with a hydrometer last week, and the two Deep Cycle Marine/RV batteries were 50% "good" (one was 3/4 good but I understand that the less good one will draw the better one down to its level). One ball dropped quickly, another kind of drifted halfway down, while the remaining two floated solidly at the top.  

The refrigerator uses a bit of battery for the igniter when run on gas, I use one lamp at a time, and I turn off the water pump when I'm not actually using water.  But, I have had the refrigerator shut off since last Monday.  What else could be draining them?

Sounds to me like they're not holding a good charge. Having them shut off for an extended period of time is like being bed-ridden, they're not getting any exercise which they need to stay healthy. They may also just be really old!

There may or may not be a way to salvage them...one of the battery experts should be able to help you determine whether or not that's possible.

 

[blars]

On mine, the Carbon Monoxide detector drew down the batteries even if the kill switches were off. Since it was well past it's design lifetime (5-7 years) I pulled it out. Mine also has an electric propane valve triggered by the propane detector, a mid-ninties "safety" feature that didn't catch on.

 

[ttpadilla]

Got a propane gas alarm?  Those are always run off the house batteries on RVs.

Regards
John

Yep, Propane and CO2, both.

 

[LeeRevell]

CO?.........