Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 13:54:34 +0000
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Livin' in the USB fast lane--electrical intrigue
In-Reply-To: <55C8AB5A.3020801@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Right now I am going to take another known good (works, and cool to the
touch while plugged into the house charger) and put it in the camper and
see what happens.
Jim
On Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 8:47 AM Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Do you have another iPhone 6 charger cable? There's no reason why the
> charger and/or the cable should get hot with just the cable, and no
> phone on that cable, plugged in. Unless it has some kind of internal short.
>
> Heat = power = current = discharging battery.
>
> The LEDs on the voltmeter section shouldn't draw for than a dozen or so
> milliamps.
>
> I'd check that cable, there have been plenty of reports of Apple
> Lightning cables failing.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
> On 08/10/2015 05:06 AM, Jim Felder wrote:
> > Well, it's intriguing to me because I know so little about it.
> >
> > I made two changes to my camper on the same weekend. I installed two
> > (actually four, because each of the USB outlets has a 1 amp and a 2.5 amp
> > socket) USB outlets, front and rear, in my vanagon. They have a pilot led
> > in each, plus the rear one has a voltage indicator that has old-school
> LED
> > numbers.
> >
> > I also bought a TDI jetta that weekend and quit driving the camper on a
> > daily basis.
> >
> > I noticed that in two or three days I could not start the car and needed
> a
> > boost. I could see by the LED meter that it was dropping. So, I added
> > Harbor Freight's cheapest trickle charger (which won't charge at all, but
> > it will hold a charge in place up to about 13.1 volts).
> >
> > After a recent overnight camping trip, I left an iPhone 6 charger cable
> > plugged into the 2.5 amp socket. When I went to retrieve it I felt that
> USB
> > end was HOT, almost too hot to touch comfortably. I removed the cable to
> > see if it was the outlet or the cable, and the outlet cooled down.
> >
> > Is this normal? I think the 1 amp outlet is for phones, and the 2.5 amp
> > outlet is for tablets and such. I have often swapped those around
> > unthinkingly in the house with their respective chargers and have never
> > felt a cable get that hot.
> >
> > I am trying to figure out what is going on here. I have no problem
> starting
> > after using lights and sink camping, and my batter is from November 2014
> > and has been taken care of, so while I can't rule out the battery it
> seems
> > OK.
> >
> > I would like to know how much current one of these units draws, with the
> > with out the voltage indicator. I have a spare, I would mail it to anyone
> > who cares to do the test or I could be walked through it by someone who
> > knows what they are doing.
> >
> > Jim
> >
>
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