Car charger?

[alienkid]

Can people reconmend a charger that works to charge at least as fast as the AC adaptor, but is cheaper then the B&N charger? I've tried various charges, but they were all 1amp which which makes the Nook say "not charging" and it charges very slowly on  them.

[geertm]

The NC/NT charger and cable have 2 extra power pins that are not part of the official USB specification. The cable also contains some electronics to switich the NC/NT to power charging mode

So no regular USB charger will be able to power charge the NC/NT.

As far as I know there is no third party charger that can power charge the NC/NT.  All you get is regular USB charging (as you have found out).

[alienkid]

Are you sure? One of my local BN reps said that if I didn't want to pay that much to buy a charger from BB or Staples and that "all that matters is the amps."

[flyingtoastr Scribe]

For the USB plug it doesn't matter (the part that goes into the car's power port). For the cable it does.

You can use any port plug that goes to a standard USB in conjunction with the charging cable that came with your NOOK to get full charging speed. The reverse is not true.

[alienkid]

That's what I thought. So anyone have reconmendations for non-B&N car chargers that give full speed?

[bobstro]

You'll want a car adapter with output close to what the B&N wall adapter pushes for best results. I recently purchased a high output 12v-5v adapter off Amazon that worked well for charging my Samsung tablet. I have not tried it with my NOOK Color since it doesn't leave the house anymore, but with the B&N cable, it should work well. Lower output adapters will probably work, but take commensurately longer to charge.

The B&N Car Charger kit is described as only for the N1G/NST, but that adapter also pushes 2.1A, so should suffice with your NOOK Tablet cable. That's a pretty beefy adapter for the little NST!

[kamas716]

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bobstro wrote:

The B&N Car Charger kit is described as only for the N1G/NST, but that adapter also pushes 2.1A, so should suffice with your NOOK Tablet cable. That's a pretty beefy adapter for the little NST!

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Hmm?  The B&N Car Charger kit I bought carried cords for both N1E/NST and NC/NT.

[bobstro]

Ah, I mis-read it. It does say it comes with both. I was wondering why it was so beefy for the smaller unit. That one should work just fine, then. Coming with an extra cable adds to the value of the package. Having a 2nd cable would be a good idea, given how fragile they can be.

[Czechboy]

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alienkid wrote:

That's what I thought. So anyone have reconmendations for non-B&N car chargers that give full speed?

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I use this Scosche dual port one.  It works really well.  It has one usb port for 1A and another one for 2.1A (for tablets, iPads, etc.).  Just use it with the charging/usb cable that came with your nook.  I can't really comment on how "quick" it charges because I've never had the opportunity to charge it for more than my 15 minute ride to work, but it seems to be built well.  It actually lists "nook" as one of the devices it's compatible with.

[alienkid]

Czechboy: next time you use it can you tell me if the nookrom says it's charging? Same for you bobstro would you mind testing your Nook and telling me if it says "charging"?

[bobstro]

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alienkid wrote:

[...] Same for you bobstro would you mind testing your Nook and telling me if it says "charging"?

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Where would it say this? I see the little lightning bolt on the battery indicator.

[Omnigeek]

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bobstro wrote:

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alienkid wrote:

[...] Same for you bobstro would you mind testing your Nook and telling me if it says "charging"?

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Where would it say this? I see the little lightning bolt on the battery indicator.

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That's it.  It wouldn't show the lightning bolt if it didn't meet the amperage for "charging".

[alienkid]

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bobstro wrote:

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alienkid wrote:

[...] Same for you bobstro would you mind testing your Nook and telling me if it says "charging"?

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Where would it say this? I see the little lightning bolt on the battery indicator.

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If you tap the battery to bring up the quick settings it should show battery charge and if it's charging, not charging, or discharging. Sounds like it's working though. In which case I may buy that charger then, depending on what czechboy replys.

[bobstro]

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alienkid wrote:

[...] If you tap the battery to bring up the quick settings it should show battery charge and if it's charging, not charging, or discharging. Sounds like it's working though. In which case I may buy that charger then, depending on what czechboy replys.

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Wups, I may have confused things. I meant "I see the lightning bolt on the battery when it's charging", not that I'd tested. I finally had a chance to test this evening with the following:

• 1A 12 VDC - 5 VDC adapter
• 2.1A 12 VDC - 5 VDC adapter
• 1 A 120 VAC - 5 VDC adapter (baseline)
• 2.1 A 120VAC - 5 VDC adapter
• NOOK Color running CM 7.2
• NOOK Tablet running B&N 1.4.3

Results:

• The NC running CM showed the battery-with-lightning bolt" when plugged into either adapter, indicating it's charging. The NOOK cable turned yellow while charging. I routinely charge this save device off a 1 A 120 VAC - 5 VDC adapter using a generic micro-USB cable, so I'm not surprised. It is slow (8 hours for a full charge) but it works.
• The NT running B&N firmware does toggle between "discharging" and "not charging", but never actually shows either "charging" or the lightning bolt with either DC adapter, nor with either AC adapter when using either the B&N or a generic micro-USB cable. The NOOK cable glowed yellow.
• The NT running B&N firmware does NOT charge, or at least, loses battery capacity, when using the NOOK cable on a generic 2.1A adapter during activities such as streaming video.

For whatever reason, the NT with B&N firmware cares and claims not to be charging with a non-B&N adapter. However, if I turn the display off, it does charge. I think this means it'll work, but be slower than a B&N adapter and may not be enough to charge with the screen on or while doing anything intensive.

I assume the B&N car charger does have whatever magic is necessary to make the NT charge at full rate.

[li-kris]

Try amazon, they have great prices and reviews on items.

[alienkid]

I guess I'll wait to see if Czechboy replies again. I wonder what the B&N charger does special, in the AC one the USB port looks like a normal USB port, I know the Nook end of the cable is proprietary.

[geertm]

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alienkid wrote:

I guess I'll wait to see if Czechboy replies again. I wonder what the B&N charger does special, in the AC one the USB port looks like a normal USB port, I know the Nook end of the cable is proprietary.

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See my reply #2.

The B&N charger has 2 extra power pins (not part of the USB standard), to deliver more power than a regular USB port. And the cable has some electronics to switch the Nook to power charging mode.

[alienkid]

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geertm wrote

See my reply #2.

The B&N charger has 2 extra power pins (not part of the USB standard), to deliver more power than a regular USB port. And the cable has some electronics to switch the Nook to power charging mode.

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I looked both the male and female USB-A connectors (nook AC charger and cable) I count 4 pins no more. Where are theses "extra" pins? I see extra pins at the Nook end of the cable, but as long as that cable is used with the right voltage charger it seems like it should work, but as Bobstro has shown it doesn't seem to.

[geertm]

Some interesting info from the XDA forum:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=992158&page=4

[bobstro]

I did more careful testing this evening, and am pleased to report some apparent success:

1. With the PowerGen 12v adapter I linked to in my previous post, I was able to get a NT showing "charging (AC)" while using the 1A plug on the adapter with the B&N cable. Reading the little booklet that comes with it indicates that "some devices" can pull more than 1A off this plug, including the "HP touchpad, Kindle Fire". While charging, I did get the erratic screen issue while plugged in. With the B&N charger, the same cable didn't cause this behavior on the NT. Not sure what that means, but you basically can't use it while it charges with the adapter. The 2A plug, described as "for the iPad" shows "not charging" (but not discharging). Using a generic microUSB cable also yields "not charging". 

2. With the EZOPower 7800 mAh supplemental battery, I was able to get a NT showing "charging (AC)" while using the "S" plug, described as compatible with the Samsung P1000 (Galaxy Tab) with the B&N cable. The "I" (iPad) plug did not work. WHile this is not a pure car solution, the battery itself does charge off any 1A USB source, and will charge external devices as it charges. This means you should be able to let this battery power your NT, while the EZOPower battery charges more slowly from a normal 1A USB 12 VDC or AC adapter. Once the NT is fully charged at full rate, the EZOPower battery will itself charge. There were no screen issues with this combination, and I could use the device as it charged (with the usual cautions about the fragile B&N cable, of course.)

The EZOPower solution is more expensive but does have the bonus of providing backup power away from the car, plus the ability to charge two devices simultaneously. Just keep in mind you'll still need a 1A 12 V adapter.

I am puzzled why my Samsung waller charger for my P3113 Galaxy Tab, a different Samsung 7 inch tablet, does not work. "P1000" seems to be the key.