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Looks good with a lot of good reviews. Maybe better than the Onn? More flexibility is better. And a good price.
But I do have my other "regular charger" in the arm rest if I need it with USB-A. The only other device I charge in my car is a small old TAB A which I need to replace because it is a dog.. And it takes a micro-USB. So my cable was USB-A to Micro USB. I may have to change the cable or get another Tablet. I have it for sale on craigslist.
The Onn charger has a bit of weight to it. It weighs twice as much as my others. Not sure if that makes it any better .. maybe better for heat dissipation. I have tried a few that didn't work. Maybe it was my cable or maybe the device itself, I don't know. I see lots of those on Amazon that claim all sorts of horsepower and some say "it doesn't work" or "it got too hot and failed after a week". So I put off buying another one online because of returns and shipping and all that hassle. And I have not seen any posts on AZ that shows a working device on a 3GTL so I didn't know for sure if it would even work - although the power rating says 120W on the Power socket Cover so I thought "It Should Work". That's why I like Walmart - Easy and convenient returns with no waiting. And that is also why I posted this, to show it tested and working.
Power:
Some phones will only take just so much current. Even if you can put 200watts on it, the phone would still only draw 3 amps or so. Still, 3a x 12v = 36watts. And that is more than the 20w coming out of the ONN... So in that case, the Anker would be better. But is the math that simple?? I mean, it iS a 12v system.. and 3 amps IS fast charging.. And it says charging rapidly.. So, is it really charging rapidly at 36watts?
So just out of curiousity, and to verify EVERYTHING "logically" to make sure it "should work" with my OLD CAR.. I looked in the HELM book at the power circuit for this socket, and I see a 15 amp fuse powers BOTH the front accessory and the one in the arm rest.. So the current is divided between both because they are in parrelled with each other. 1 socket robs from the other. And of course it is a 12v system. Ohms law says that is 180W,not 120w like the cover says (12v x 15a=180w). MAYBE Acura was estimating 120W for the front socket and 60w for the Arm rest socket? Not sure why because both have the same size wires in the oem harness. So you could just as easily say the front one is 60w and the rear is 120w... So I have no idea why it only says 120w on the front cover. Because the supply is 180w.
REALITY...
I have a Google Pixel 3A XL. The OEM wall charger has the input and output rating written on it. Input is 120-240v : Output is 5v@3a or 9v@2a The output current is variable based on the phone and voltage. But the output ranges from 15w to 18w using Ohms law.. And this Wall charger is a FAST Charger. Every time I plug in my phone to this wall charger it says charging rapidly. So really, to charge rapidly, You do not need more than 18w...
So, Now I wonder Is my car charger faster than my WALL Charger..? If my car charger is faster than my wall charger, then 20watts is an abundance.
So, this is what I did. I cannot see how fast the current is moving but my phone gives me an estimate TIME to FULL Charge.
This is the result. It indicates that the Onn car charger is equal to, OR faster than the wall charger so that agrees with the power rating that is stamped on the Wall charger (18w max) and the car charger (20w)
Final Analysis:
The Onn charger is equally as fast as the Wall Charger. Plus it will "fast charge" 2 devices. And I would be willing to bet if I put a 30w charger on it, it would not charge any faster.
You should check your Manufacturer specs to see the maximum rate your phone will Receive Power. Possible newer and larger phones will take power faster than 18w. Although mine is an XL phone
Or check the wall charger that came with your phone. And compare current ratings of your device..
MORE Supply isn't always better or faster. and it doesnt mean your phone will charge faster.
Also, those Big highly powered chargers on amazon, that have more than 3 or 4 or 5 ports, I doubt they can run at full speed very long without overheating. Seen it! They burn up if you put 3 or more devices on 1 plug.
Thanksfully, the Old 3G TL has 2 sockets. So if you have several devices then you can plug in safely.
You are way over thinking this. However, I enjoy the deep analysis you did here.
You didn’t know how to check for sure how much power is being drawn by the device through the charger? https://a.co/d/3kT9XVl
You need one of these. They come in handy when toying with different cables, chargers, and devices. I use this all the time to confirm if the cables I have will allow for true fast charging of my laptops. A phone, that is easy since “most” phones don’t pull more than 20W. But iPads and Laptops all have the ability to pull more, assuming your charger and cables are compatible.
I know for me, I wanted more than 20W to handle my laptop on long road trips. I tend to work from the car while the wife drives and the existing 15W adapter I have isn’t enough to keep my laptop alive for long. A 30W usually is enough to keep it going as long as it is not running at 100% CPU. I actually have been using an A/C inverter and plugging in a 45W USB-C power brick. Just seems highly inefficient for me.
No matter, lots of options and prices have come down quite a bit lately. To your point on shopping Wally World, easy, simple returns, etc…same reason I use Amazon and stick with Anker. Usually Anker stuff just works compared to the rest of the crazy cheapo brands. I have multiple different versions/generations of these Anker chargers. I just keep upgrading to higher wattage ones as the prices come down, especially as my need for USB-C has increased.
I like that tester.. I may buy one.. BUT I do have an AMP meter (with a clamp) for measuring current through a connected wire.. It is made for thick wire too. I never tried it on a USB cable. haha
But as you said, I did enough in that post above.. I aint pulling out my ammeter to measure the current .. I can read the battery screen and see it is charging just as fast. =)
Actually.. All I really wanted was it to say "Charging Rapidly". That's all I wanted. I knew in advance this phone would only pull it just so fast anyway. As long as it says Charging rapidly, then I am there. Beautiful! Im not worried about 5 more horsepower. It is hard to say what it really is anyway.. because of variations in phones and cables and chargers and quality of chargers..
It seems like there are 3 increments before PD came along. (USB charging output specs)
Slow charge = 1a ?? 2.5w? (Horrible)
Normal charge = 2.1a 4.5w?? (acceptible)
Fast charge 3a+ 15w (sweetness)
PD = 100w.. (Even the PD is not enough for my big laptop to "maintain it" but will greatly slow down the drain while in use but my laptop does not have USB charging)
My old Charger for $5 at Microcenter.. When conencted to 2.1 it says "Charging".. and when connected to 1amp says "Charging slowly"
But Anyway, I have 2 laptops. 1 charges 90w and the other at 130w. 30 or 60 watts wont keep up. And they dont charge on USB ports anyway. Only newer laptops charge on USB. And usually only the low powered ones dont require much power. That said, even on my older laptop or others, if you let it sit there while plugged in while OFF, it should charge even on 20 or 30w... but if you turn it on and run it, it wont keep up, but a under wattage charger can slow down the power drain on the battery. It just depends on the difference between what your laptop requires and how much charge you supply it with... the difference will determine either charge, or maintain, or slow drain.. example If I put a 90w charger on my Dell laptop which likes 120 or 130 to maintain and CHARGE, then it will still work, but it will drain the battery but only drain it at a slower rate than if I had no charger connected at all. So all this just depends on how you use your laptop or how LONG you use your laptop at 1 time. Yes a 30w or 60w may charge a laptop, but it wont maintain it very long. All it does is mitigate the drain.
Agreed...If I only needed 45watts, and if my laptop charged using the USB port, then I would not use the power inverter either. Lots of cables! too many!
But I dont normally use a laptop remotely. If I do, it is quick enough to get something done and I shut it down. So charging is not a issue. But over the past few years, there were a few times when I needed my laptop to stay up several hours because I was working out of my car. And I needed that 130w BRICK. haha And the only way to do that is Power Inverter
PS: you may be able to set up 2 different POWER PLAN's in Windows.. So you can switch back and forth. Yes they have a power plan for plugged in, and on battery... But they dont have a plan for plugged in while on low power source like a 30w car charger... which is technically "plugged in" but thats why you would need to setup another power plan.
These days, Cell Phones are more powerful, you can email resumes, and even do light editing of Docs and send them on email so there is much less need for laptops in a car.. (Unless you are working out of your car.. then it is nice to have a big screen) But if you are working long enough, I suggest a power inverter because you stay online too long
But whatever! Whatever works for you... Im only charging 1 device for now. 1 Cell phone. If I ever find a PD charger at Wally World, then I might pick it up and test it.. haha and see if it works.
Last edited by Chad05TL; Dec 18, 2024 at 05:06 PM.
I forgot.. I have a newer charger. It's been so long since I used it, I forgot I have 2 stuck on my rear door panels. haha
So, Instead of THIS (same as above)
I use this below. Which is Much less cabling and it says it is a 100w charger. I have not used it in a long time, but with all the included tips it will work on both of my laptops (HP & Dell) which use the Round style plug, like for an AC brick, but it also has a USB-C adapter too, I think.
Most every charger I've tried does it's rated watts immediately out of the box. So you need to find the protocol (QC vs PD) of your device, find the max watts it can draw, and buy a charger that is rated higher than that the device's max wattage in capacity, but lower than what the socket is rated at. If the charger exceeds the rating of the power socket you'll blow the fuse when a higher draw device is drawing full power, won't notice a thing if your device can't draw more than the socket's rating.
I've found physical beefiness of the charger has no correlation to how good it is. They pretty much all work per their advertised rating out of the box, there are firmware standards in USB where chargers publish to the device what it's supposed to max out at, and further error correcting standards to auto-drop the charge strength if the charging stability starts to falter (eg: worn out charger, worn out cord, etc). The cheaper brands start to fail sooner than the more expensive ones (noticed by device charging speed slowing down), but that seems totally independent of how the chargers physically appear upon purchase.
how do you know it was actually putting out the rated watage right out of the box? Did you measure the voltage and current and then calculate the wattage?
And I see plenty reviews of expensive chargers that have an "uncomfortable amount" of bad reviews on amazon, So I would not just automatically say the expensive ones are better. Plus if you have a problem with a walmart item, you take it back. Easy peazy. Try returning something to China on amazon. haha
But to your point, the ONN charger puts my phone into "fast charging mode", and 40w is less than rating on the car port.
And my 100w charger works great on my laptop. You know we have 2 ports on the 3G TL. Even if I ran both chargers simultaneously, that would be 140w on the circuit. And that is still below the 12v x 15amp fuse = 180w capacity of the circuit. (repeating from above)
So I think I am done.. haha next project please. (I need to touch up the paint on my wheels)
However, I enjoy the deep analysis you did here.
