USB ports & device charging

[hybridbear]

Our iPad will not charge when connected to either USB port in the center console. It connects to play music but by the battery symbol the words "not charging" appear. It appears to be an issue either with the car or with the iPad. This exact same cable & USB port work fine to charge either of our iPhones.

 

Does the iPad try to pull too much current? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Thanks!

[Easy Rider]

It may need a different cord, believe it or not.

I don't remember the exact spec's but there are 2 or 3 pins that possibly can be used for the "power" lead and I think Apple has used each of them at different times.

 

An easier solution might be a ~$6 USB power "adapter" for the 12 V socket. I think those power all the possible pins.

 

I will never again have a portable device that does not use a standard input/output cord. NEVER.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Easy Rider

[hybridbear]

It may need a different cord, believe it or not.

I don't remember the exact spec's but there are 2 or 3 pins that possibly can be used for the "power" lead and I think Apple has used each of them at different times.

 

An easier solution might be a ~$6 USB power "adapter" for the 12 V socket. I think those power all the possible pins.

 

I will never again have a portable device that does not use a standard input/output cord. NEVER.

We are using the cable provided by Apple with the iPad. We are primarily connecting the iPad to play music from it. We don't need to charge it but it would be nice to do so at the same time. Your comment doesn't help with the question that was asked.

[murphy]

An iPad charger puts out 2.4 amps. That is far above the 0.5 amp max for a standard USB port.

[SteveB_TX]

An iPad charger puts out 2.4 amps. That is far above the 0.5 amp max for a standard USB port.

Exactly! The iPad draws more juice than phones or MP3 players. You see the same notice on those new home USB power plug replacements. The ones I bought have two ports and a standard plug outlet. Only one of the USB ports supports charging an iPad. :)

Edited July 28, 2014 by SteveB_TX

[Easy Rider]

Your comment doesn't help with the question that was asked.

It was a comment; not a pronouncement.

 

Your car puts out power on pin X; the IPad is looking for it's power on pin Y.......because Apple didn't follow the standard correctly.

A really LOT of people have had that exact problem with a LOT of different model cars.

Hyundai just as an example has special cords to get around the problem in some of their cars.

IIRC, the iPad wouldn't even charge when connected to some USB computer ports.

 

I guess that technically does not "help" but it is one possible explanation for the situation.

 

It is also possible that the ports in the car are not supplying enough current to satisfy the iPad.

[corncobs]

Two correct answers by Murphy and SteveB and another one so far off you would need a telescope to see it in space.

[md13ffhguy]

When plugged into one of the USB ports, my phone barely even takes a charge. Here's another idea for you - try plugging a wall charger into the 110V outlet behind the console. I have no idea if it will work, though...

[SteveB_TX]

When plugged into one of the USB ports, my phone barely even takes a charge. Here's another idea for you - try plugging a wall charger into the 110V outlet behind the console. I have no idea if it will work, though...

 

It works great! That's how I charge my iPad it both the FFH and MKZh. Although, not at the same time. :)

Edited July 29, 2014 by SteveB_TX

[SteveB_TX]

Two correct answers by Murphy and SteveB and another one so far off you would need a telescope to see it in space.

 

What are you talking about? Oh... wait... okay. I have that one answer ignored. ;)

[corncobs]

When plugged into one of the USB ports, my phone barely even takes a charge. Here's another idea for you - try plugging a wall charger into the 110V outlet behind the console. I have no idea if it will work, though...

That works just fine but didn't HB have an issue with his 110V outlet. Maybe I'm thinking about a different problem.

[hybridbear]

I would have plugged it in to the outlet in the back seat if we needed it to charge. My question is: why will the iPhone charge just fine while plugged in to play music but the iPad won't?

 

When I plug the iPad in to the computer it just charges very slowly due to the lower power output of the USB port on our iMac compared to its wall charger. I expected it to charge at the same slow rate when connected to the FFH's USB port and I want to understand why it didn't.

 

But the question still stands: does anyone else find that they can plug an iPhone/iPod into the USB port and it will play music AND charge while an iPad plugged into the same port will only play music and NOT charge?

 

I want to know if this behavior is normal or if I have an issue. The issue isn't the cable because I know that the cable I used works just fine to charge the iPad with the wall adapter or plugged into our iMac USB port. But the issue could be with our iPad or the car or it could be how the car is designed and everything is ok. I just don't know that answer yet. And since our car is going to the dealer tomorrow I'd like to figure this out soon.

 

Thanks everyone!

Edited July 29, 2014 by hybridbear

[md13ffhguy]

I suspect it's as murphy explained above. Playing music and charging are two different things. There's just not enough juice available via the USB port to charge an iPad. I don't have any iStuff, but I'll try to give my Nexus 7 tablet a charge tomorrow, just because I'm curious.

[GrySql]

An iPad has two different 110v power adapters, the early iPads were 10 watts, 2.1A - the rest use a 12w, 2.4A PA's.

Both will charge my two iPad 4's from a wall socket, the 10w model just takes longer to charge them.

The FFH USB port will not supply that kind of power for the iPad.

---> Apple states that the iPad will only charge via the 110v power adapter (charger) or by USB to a computer system.

 

An iPhone will charge fine if using a certified Apple USB cable, although I use the console's power outlet with a 4.2A, 20W rated USB power adapter plug, this will also charge the iPad.

-

I am the one who had a problem charging my iPad from the 110v outlet, it made my car stop. Later, I changed to a different Apple 12W charger and the 110v outlet worked fine.

The power adapter that stopped the car was an older 10w power adapter that had previously overheated and I'd forgotten to recycle it.

Edited July 29, 2014 by GrySql

[corncobs]

Best answer:

An iPad has two different 110v power adapters, the early iPads were 10 watts, 2.1A - the rest use a 12w, 2.4A PA's.

Both will charge my two iPad 4's from a wall socket, the 10w model just takes longer to charge them.

The FFH USB port will not supply that kind of power for the iPad.

---> Apple states that the iPad will only charge via the 110v power adapter (charger) or by USB to a computer system.

 

An iPhone will charge fine if using a certified Apple USB cable, although I use the console's power outlet with a 4.2A, 20W rated USB power adapter plug, this will also charge the iPad.

-

I am the one who had a problem charging my iPad from the 110v outlet, it made my car stop. Later, I changed to a different Apple 12W charger and the 110v outlet worked fine.

The power adapter that stopped the car was an older 10w power adapter that had previously overheated and I'd forgotten to recycle it.

HB to answer your question!

What you are seeing is normal I took my iPad outside this morning and I'm getting the same result it's not charging but music is playing.

 

Sorry about the mixup on the 110 outlet GrySql.

[md13ffhguy]

FYI, my tablet is plugged into a USB port and is NOT charging, so HB, I'm thinking this does not indicate a problem with your car.

[md13ffhguy]

Plugged into 110 and it charged nicely, with no real noticeable draw on the kW Climate/Other gauge.

[hybridbear]

Sounds good. Thanks everyone!

[acdii]

Our iPad will not charge when connected to either USB port in the center console. It connects to play music but by the battery symbol the words "not charging" appear. It appears to be an issue either with the car or with the iPad. This exact same cable & USB port work fine to charge either of our iPhones.

 

Does the iPad try to pull too much current? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Thanks!

Quite normal. The iPad requires a higher amp charger than the iphones. Mine does the same thing in the cars and connected to computers. It still does charge, just at a much slower rate.

[hybridbear]

Quite normal. The iPad requires a higher amp charger than the iphones. Mine does the same thing in the cars and connected to computers. It still does charge, just at a much slower rate.

The iPad doesn't charge at all though, in fact, the top right corner near the battery says "Not charging".

[md13ffhguy]

Quite normal. The iPad requires a higher amp charger than the iphones. Mine does the same thing in the cars and connected to computers. It still does charge, just at a much slower rate.

Your iPad charges when plugged into a USB port in your FFH? Or, are you referring to your iPhone, which may take a charge, but at a slower rate than say, a charger plugged into a 12V power port or 110V outlet? According to the prior comments above, it would seem unusual if your iPad was charging at any rate when connected to a USB. Edited July 31, 2014 by md13ffhguy

[acdii]

No, it does charge. Turn it off for a while and when you turn it back on you will see the percentage has gone up. It is more like a trickle charge than anything else. Basically it will maintain the percentage of the battery when plugged in and being used for something like Pandora, but anything more CPU intensive will not. I see the not charging when connected to my PC, but if I leave it over night it will be fully charged.

[hybridbear]

No, it does charge. Turn it off for a while and when you turn it back on you will see the percentage has gone up. It is more like a trickle charge than anything else. Basically it will maintain the percentage of the battery when plugged in and being used for something like Pandora, but anything more CPU intensive will not. I see the not charging when connected to my PC, but if I leave it over night it will be fully charged.

Our iPad discharged while it was connected to the car. Mostly all we were doing on it was playing music and it discharged. When we did other things like internet, etc it discharged as if it were not plugged in.

[acdii]

Is it a later gen ipad? I have an early version(which most apps no longer work on). Could be later gen's are more sensitive to the charger then.

[corncobs]

Is it a later gen ipad? I have an early version(which most apps no longer work on). Could be later gen's are more sensitive to the charger then.

That's probably why.

I have an iPad 4 with the lightning connector and it showed "not charging".

Maybe even the power draw on the newer once is higher.