Mobile Charging ....

[slparry]

For some reason on different annual trips to Scotland I've had issues charging my 'phones.

This year I took two chargers and cables, both of which I'd tested as good at home. Both of which gave problems again! Even bought a charger locally "just in case" and it made no difference.

Luckily I had the bike set up so there was a charger in the tank bag powered by the bikes socket, which worked a treat, so I had the bike charge it during the days riding.

The USB chargers I had worked perfectly on the BMW comms system in the helmet. But would be flaky charging the 'phone.

One hotel, The Garvault Lodge Hotel in Kinbrace I accepted would probably be problematic as it's listed as the UK mainlands most remote hotel, doesn't have mains water, mains electric, TV's etc. Although you could get internet access from one corner of the hotel Very eccentric place, as me and my mate were the only guests the owners invited us to dine with them, very interesting couple.

Anyway back to the question has anyone else had any charge issues or is it just me

Oh of course once back home the 'phones all charge as per normally

[richtea]

For some reason on different annual trips to Scotland I've had issues charging my 'phones.

This year I took two chargers and cables, both of which I'd tested as good at home. Both of which gave problems again! Even bought a charger locally "just in case" and it made no difference.

Luckily I had the bike set up so there was a charger in the tank bag powered by the bikes socket, which worked a treat, so I had the bike charge it during the days riding.

The USB chargers I had worked perfectly on the BMW comms system in the helmet. But would be flaky charging the 'phone.

One hotel, The Garvault Lodge Hotel in Kinbrace I accepted would probably be problematic as it's listed as the UK mainlands most remote hotel, doesn't have mains water, mains electric, TV's etc. Although you could get internet access from one corner of the hotel Very eccentric place, as me and my mate were the only guests the owners invited us to dine with them, very interesting couple.

Anyway back to the question has anyone else had any charge issues or is it just me

Oh of course once back home the 'phones all charge as per normally

A few questions:
1. 'charger' means what - a mains charger, or a power bank?
1. Was the failure when charging from the bike, or charging from Scottish mains?
2. Same question for the 'back home' bit. (Preumably you're now on mains at home to charge?)
3. If the problem was charging from the bike, are you using just a USB cable from bike -> phone, or do you have something else in there like a 12v -> 5v transformer/thing?
4. What phone make/model were you trying to charge?

[slparry]

Phone (this time) was a Nokia 5 android …. previous was a Blackberry Z10 (and a Z30)

Charger was (are) various mains chargers.

Charging from the bike was faultless, charging from Scottish mains …. nah

Charging at home on the mains "just works"

Charging on the bike uses a 12v > 5V USB eBay thingy … thankfully works

Mate of mine, who used to work for Scottish Power reckons the EU asked Scotland to do something with the voltages. I may have this wrong, summat about 230 volts going down to 200 volts …. to me it sounded like a possible reason.

[sudolea]

...
Mate of mine, who used to work for Scottish Power reckons the EU asked Scotland to do something with the voltages. I may have this wrong, summat about 230 volts going down to 200 volts …. to me it sounded like a possible reason.

We, on the ("other") continent, use 230V...

[richtea]

Most modern chargers have a generous range of 100V - 250V. Your chargers will have the volts, amps and frequency (50-60hz) stamped on it in tiny tiny writing.*

The biggest variation is the current output, with the crummiest giving 0.5A, and the best 3A or more. The crummy ones still work, but it takes ages to charge.

As a phone junkie, I use any branded USB charger and any cable, and have done for years. Today I'm using Sony, Nokia and LG chargers, and they're charging a One Plus, Huawei, Nokia Android, Google Pixel C, & some ancient LG Android. Cables are misc ones but from good sources (the nearest phone packaging/box).

It's pretty rare that a combination doesn't work. Maybe once every 2 years or so I hit a snag, and it's nearly always a faulty USB cable, not the charger itself.
I've had one cable that just didn't fit well - slightly worrying as I thought it might bust the phone. That one went in the bin.

Last thought: if you have a cover on the phone it's worth checking the cover isn't stopping the cable getting right into the phone's socket. That's just annoying, but in your case, unlikely.


*If you use unbranded chargers off eBay / local market stall, all bets are off. As is your house insurance.

[Matt]

A couple on observations from my time as a human:

1. Yeah I've had cheap USB cables refuse to charge a couple of picky devices, such as a Hudl2. And also refuse to let my pc properly recognise phones.

2. Could it be you had sufficient stuff running in the background that whatever amps were being put at it weren't enough to charge it? Perhaps some location-based stuff going on etc. Perhaps check battery drain stats if they go back that far. I've had that a few times over the years.

[sudolea]

I've had power plugs with pins which weren't metal over the full length of the plug pin's length, so only the top of the pins were metal (the rest of it being plastic). In some wall outlets, the power plug's metal part inserted too far into the outlet to still make contact with the outlet's metal. I could solve this by not inserting the plug in the wall outlet till the end.

How about your power plug ? Is it always the same (kind of) power plug giving you these problems ? Did you try by not fully inserting the power plug into the wall outlet ?

[richtea]

Oh, I forgot to say, buy one of these if you really want to check what's going on:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XFZFZX6

It's been very useful for testing various misbehaving USB items - a dodgy Optimate Dual USB charger for plugging into my K, an external hard drive that wouldn't come out to play, etc.

(Rae its a gadget you haven't got. Buy one now!)

[raesewell]

You're right Rich I don't have one but now I know about them it's on my list 

[Swindon Andy]

£0.99 eBay from China. Delivered!

[richtea]

£0.99 eBay from China. Delivered!

Hmm, sounds a little low, but good luck!
It's unlikely to do harm, but test it on your least valuable item first.

The reason I picked the CooWoo device was the positive customer reviews (though you can't strictly even trust them any more - hey ho), and the sellers responses.

[Phmode]

I've not had problems with my iThingies but trying to get my camera batteries charged (from the same USB iCharger) has been a problem. This most definitely turned out to be the cables, which 'may' not have been the original one that came with the camera.

From my vast collection garnered down the years I have some cables that will charge anything and everything and some others that will only work on whatever they came with (which probably stopped working decades ago and went in the bin) but almost every cable and even some chargers have no identification on them.

Of course, it could be the peat-fired power stations oop north 

[raesewell]

Here is a link to a supplier of quality cables in case you need them.
https://www.juicebitz.co.uk/ooh-la-la-series

[slparry]

only "issue" guys is all of my charging kit and process's work perfectly at home (and elsewhere to be fair) …. but fail in Scotland …. so I'd have to "assume" Scottish electric is somehow watered down

Add in that it all works from the bikes charging system and it points to watery Scottish amperage or volts

[Phmode]

My problems manifested themselves in Wales whereas the same set up worked fine at home.

Sometimes I wonder about the quality of the wiring in older hotels and as we know from the bikes, it doesn't take much to get a decent voltage drop.

I never had a problem in modern places like Premier Inns etc but B&B's etc were a right royal unpredictable pain.