Was it the cable or the charger that was advertised as being super fast?

 

Especially the cable, but the charger too:

 

"Delivers the fastest charge."

"Fast Charging Technology: PowerIQ and VoltageBoost combine to provide the fastest possible charge up to 4.8 amps or 2.4 amps per port."

 

And the cable:

 

"The World's Fastest, Most Durable Lightning Cable"

"Unbeatable charging and data-transfer performance

"Thanks to wide diameter wires and reduced cord resistance, PowerLine enables the fastest possible charge speed via any USB charger."

if you have a look here https://www.anker.com/poweriq/

 

it says its super fast but only super fast compared to a computer USB whch is only 500mA. (when charging a 5S)

 

So its a bit of a pointless claim to be honest.

 

What rating is your iphone 6 charger?

 

iPhone 6 charger is 5W 1A...

Edited 27 January, 201610 yr by jon15

Sainsbury's own brand one. Seems to fit nicely in any car, and they're about the only one that's lasted me more than a year. Because VAG 12v outlets run full time rather than ignition switched, the regulators in the cheap ones always seem to burn out.

Is there a way to make these 12V outlets run only when the ignition is switched?

I'm thinking there must be a fuse where you could move it further up/down (don't know how it looks like) to prevent the current from staying ON all the time? Or is it not so simple?

Edited 28 January, 201610 yr by jon15

Especially the cable, but the charger too:

"Delivers the fastest charge."

"Fast Charging Technology: PowerIQ and VoltageBoost combine to provide the fastest possible charge up to 4.8 amps or 2.4 amps per port."

And the cable:

"The World's Fastest, Most Durable Lightning Cable"

"Unbeatable charging and data-transfer performance

"Thanks to wide diameter wires and reduced cord resistance, PowerLine enables the fastest possible charge speed via any USB charger."

Sounds like horse-puckey to me. Ask them for proof of their claim. But don't hold your breath...or expect a shatteringly huge gap between this device and the next best, (assuming there is such a performance gap).

Edited 28 January, 201610 yr by alltorque

I unplug my charger - I think having a charger left plugged in is an invitation to thieves that there might be something left in the car worth stealing.

 

I fail to understand how a cable can effect data transfer assuming it is properly constructed. The data consists of 0 and 1s and either they go up the cable or they don't. I suspect that there is advertisers puff being employed there.

I unplug my charger - I think having a charger left plugged in is an invitation to thieves that there might be something left in the car worth stealing.

 

I fail to understand how a cable can effect data transfer assuming it is properly constructed. The data consists of 0 and 1s and either they go up the cable or they don't. I suspect that there is advertisers puff being employed there.

Your sort of right but a bad cable can make the 1's and 0's take longer which can cause poor quality pictures and breaking up if your trying to stream things as you get a lower bit rate which some people tend to forget sometimes

 

Buts its irrelevant in this case because charging isn't digital.

 

I wouldn't of been convinced by their claims to be honest. I bigger cable can pass more current down it yes, but if the phone only needs 1 or 2 amps to charge i'm sure a normal USB charging lead will suffice

UPDATE: today I charged in the upper port of the charger and this one charged noticeably faster: at about 1% per minute, which is even faster than charging from the wall socket. Now this is more like their claims!

 

After complaining about it to Anker Support they were surprised that one port should charge faster than the other, so I'll be getting a replacement charger!

 

While at it, I asked the customer service representative if keeping the charger plugged in 24/7 would have any detrimental effect on the charger in the long run (since it's basically constantly on) and also if there was any danger of draining my car battery. She said she was pretty sure it would take a long time before it could drain the battery but that she'd still ask their engineers and get back to me.

UPDATE: today I charged in the upper port of the charger and this one charged noticeably faster: at about 1% per minute, which is even faster than charging from the wall socket. Now this is more like their claims!

 

After complaining about it to Anker Support they were surprised that one port should charge faster than the other, so I'll be getting a replacement charger!

 

While at it, I asked the customer service representative if keeping the charger plugged in 24/7 would have any detrimental effect on the charger in the long run (since it's basically constantly on) and also if there was any danger of draining my car battery. She said she was pretty sure it would take a long time before it could drain the battery but that she'd still ask their engineers and get back to me.

Glad you have got to the bottom of your issue, i'm not sure what could be causing that issue as both ports should be common to each other, unless one has a dry solder joint or bad connection.

 

It would be interesting to know how much current the charger draws when not in use, I can find out for you if your set on leaving it plugged in all the time

I think having a charger left plugged in is an invitation to thieves that there might be something left in the car worth stealing.

 

Agreed. It glows pretty strong in the dark so I think I might put a small patch of black duct tape over the charger's blue indicator light.

 

 

Glad you have got to the bottom of your issue, i'm not sure what could be causing that issue as both ports should be common to each other, unless one has a dry solder joint or bad connection.

 

It would be interesting to know how much current the charger draws when not in use, I can find out for you if your set on leaving it plugged in all the time

 

Thanks! I do hope the replacement will work as advertised.

 

Indeed it would be interesting to know how much current the charger draws when not in use! I'd really appreciate it if you could obtain that information.

I'll take mine into work tomorrow and put it in series with a multimeter and see what the outcome is. As I said already i have left mine in for a few days before with no problems but I don't leave my car long enough to see if it doesn't drain the battery after a week

Charger draws 8.76mA @ ~12v. So basically the answer is yes, you can leave it plugged in for you so wish.

Charger draws 8.76mA @ ~12v. So basically the answer is yes, you can leave it plugged in for you so wish.

 

Much appreciated, thanks!

 

Out of curiosity, how would that compare to the entire car battery? For example, Fabia III's battery is 59 Ah (I believe), and on this page (http://tinyurl.com/jejrhxl) someone says: "A load of 5 mA will take 200 hours or about 8 days to drain 1 Ah from the battery."

 

So if I'm getting this right, this charger would supposedly drain 1 Ah in a bit less than 5 days, which means it would take more than 9 months to drain the entire car battery.

Edited 31 January, 201610 yr by jon15

Call it 9 mA. That's 0.009Amps x 336 hours (2weeks) = 3.024 Amp hours. So leaving it for two weeks would leave more than enough power in the battery to start it.

Although if your going on holiday or leaving it for 2 weeks or more it doesn't make sense to leave it plugged in anyway

Edited 31 January, 201610 yr by SuperbTWM

Your sort of right but a bad cable can make the 1's and 0's take longer which can cause poor quality pictures and breaking up if your trying to stream things as you get a lower bit rate which some people tend to forget sometimes

 

Buts its irrelevant in this case because charging isn't digital.

 

I wouldn't of been convinced by their claims to be honest. I bigger cable can pass more current down it yes, but if the phone only needs 1 or 2 amps to charge i'm sure a normal USB charging lead will suffice

 

I am struggling with this - assuming the cable is properly constructed and the joints are good, the 0 and 1 are transmitted by electrical energy which means electrons doesn't it. I thought electrons travelled at about the speed of light. So assuming the cable is properly constructed and the joints are good, over the length of a typical cable (even one as long as 1m) the time an electron takes to travel up a cable is as near 0 as makes no difference. Different cables make no difference to the practical speed of data transmission. I accept "a bad cable" might make a difference but "a bad cable" can only be one where the joints are bad. The type of metal makes no difference nor can the geometry of cable. If the cable is effecting the speed of data transmission there must be something wrong with the cable.

 

So long as the cable is of a size where it can safely allow the current the device being charged draws and the joints are good, the cable of itself cannot affect the time the the device takes to charge - that will be governed by the capacity of the battery to be charged and the current that the charger provides. If the cable is not properly constructed or the joints are not good the cable is not fit for purpose.  I cannot see that a cable (if it is of sound construction) affects the charging time.

I am struggling with this - assuming the cable is properly constructed and the joints are good, the 0 and 1 are transmitted by electrical energy which means electrons doesn't it. I thought electrons travelled at about the speed of light. So assuming the cable is properly constructed and the joints are good, over the length of a typical cable (even one as long as 1m) the time an electron takes to travel up a cable is as near 0 as makes no difference. Different cables make no difference to the practical speed of data transmission. I accept "a bad cable" might make a difference but "a bad cable" can only be one where the joints are bad. The type of metal makes no difference nor can the geometry of cable. If the cable is effecting the speed of data transmission there must be something wrong with the cable.

 

So long as the cable is of a size where it can safely allow the current the device being charged draws and the joints are good, the cable of itself cannot affect the time the the device takes to charge - that will be governed by the capacity of the battery to be charged and the current that the charger provides. If the cable is not properly constructed or the joints are not good the cable is not fit for purpose.  I cannot see that a cable (if it is of sound construction) affects the charging time.

First of all stop thinking about it as 1s and 0's and the speed of light. Imagine a train delivering coal, the speed of the train is the potential difference (voltage) and the amount of coal on the train is the current (amps). If you increase the speed of the train or the amount of coal on it you can deliver more coal which symbolises more power (watts)

So making a charging cable bigger is like making the train bigger, it can deliver more power and charge the battery faster in theory HOWEVER

The only way a bigger cable will speed the charging up is if the cable is a bottleneck but I truly believe that the phone won't allow such fast charging as to warrant a bigger or better quality or larger cable

Apple designed a cable and a charger to charge the phone at 1Amp to provide a decent charge rate and battery longevity. If however you plug your iPhone into an iPad charger it does seem to charge a little bit faster so there is a small improvement to be made by using a larger capacity charger. I think ultimately the limiting factor is the charging circuitry in the phone and the battery.

So yes you are sort of right about the cable but I don't think you know why

I'd give up on asking questions about data speed down a cable, too many things to consider.

First of all stop thinking about it as 1s and 0's and the speed of light. Imagine a train delivering coal, the speed of the train is the potential difference (voltage) and the amount of coal on the train is the current (amps). If you increase the speed of the train or the amount of coal on it you can deliver more coal which symbolises more power (watts)

So making a charging cable bigger is like making the train bigger, it can deliver more power and charge the battery faster in theory HOWEVER

The only way a bigger cable will speed the charging up is if the cable is a bottleneck but I truly believe that the phone won't allow such fast charging as to warrant a bigger or better quality or larger cable

Apple designed a cable and a charger to charge the phone at 1Amp to provide a decent charge rate and battery longevity. If however you plug your iPhone into an iPad charger it does seem to charge a little bit faster so there is a small improvement to be made by using a larger capacity charger. I think ultimately the limiting factor is the charging circuitry in the phone and the battery.

So yes you are sort of right about the cable but I don't think you know why

 

Being sort of right is good enough for my brain to manage. I don't want to prolong the discussion. But it seems to me that if the charger can only produce a given current, if the cable is capable of carrying that current safely, then it is the current the charger produces which is the limiting factor?

I use one of these : Tom Tom Universal High speed multi-charger plus a dedicated charging USB cable (can't remember which). It seams to work.

Edited 31 January, 201610 yr by Jim H

I have one of them, really just to allow the use of a second/third device powering/charging while "on the go".  Only one of its USB charging points is rated at the higher charging rate.

 

I'm sure that it has been said already, but a 20Amp charger will only offer out its 20Amps to a load that is capable of taking that charging current. Most if not all modern rechargeable battery powered devices will have charge and charge rate management built into them and/or internal temperature/charge/etc built into the battery - otherwise a flat battery would "invite" the full 20Amp or even 1000Amp in - and that would not be very good very it!