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spectre51

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 25, 2008
311
3
I bought a USB 2.0 extension for my iPad to use the wall charger instead of buying the longer one from Apple. After some testing it seems that when using the USB extension cable I am not getting the full power from the wall outlet as my power will continue to drain when using apps even while plugged in. It drains slower yes but still will go down. Also takes much much longer to charge when. Not using the iPad going through the USB extension than without

Anyone else noticed this or can test it out as well. Using just the cable and wall charger that came with the iPad it charges from a complete drain in less tha. 4 hours it seems yet with the USB extension that number grows to 6-8 hours.
 

chickenteeth

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2010
13
0
Phoenix
I also got a USB 2.0 extension cable and noticed the same thing. I got it because I didn't want to be limited to the edge of my bed in hotels, but it looks like I may just need to bring a power strip with me.
 

Richard F

macrumors newbie
Aug 4, 2010
2
0
I have exactly the same problem and cable measures good

I am having the same issue with my new iPad. The charge/synch cable that came with it was way too short for my use, so I bought a white 10 foot USB extension cable. I figured it should work. It doesn't. The icon shows that the iPad is charging and it makes the beep indicating that is charging too. The icon changes to a lightning bolt. So when I plugged this all together, I thought it was working fine. What happens is the iPad never gets charged more than about 55 to 60 percent and that takes hours and hours. Yesterday, I plugged it all in with the charge level set at around 30 % in the late evening and this afternoon the charge got to around 50 %. That didn't seem right so I eliminated the extension and it started to charge very quickly.

So I thought that maybe there was something wrong with the USB extension cable. I got out my digital ohmmeter and buzzed our the cable. All four wires are connected as they should be. The pins seem to be in the same place on both ends of the cable. None of the pins are shorted to the shield or each other. And finally, the resistance as best as I could measure it was very low; on the order of an ohm or less on every connection. So I think I ruled out obvious defects, but I surely cannot explain why this isn't working. I wonder if the charger makes some kind of other measurement or if it somehow knows that this is not an Apple cable.

If anyone out there knows more about why this is happening, I sure would love to know.

Thanks all.

Rich
 

lokerd

macrumors 6502a
May 2, 2010
595
4
Beaumont
I just had a similar experience...but no usb ext cable. I do plug the white usb adapter brick into a standard computer power cord (two prong) but this shouldn't be any different than any other power connection.

However, last night, I went to sleep at midnight, with the ipad at 21...and woke up wtih it only at 32%...7 hours later. NOT cool!!

I am testing different things right now to see if the brick has died!
 

Richard F

macrumors newbie
Aug 4, 2010
2
0
To jokerd

Try rebooting the iPad. I noticed when it charged really slowly once before that after I rebooted the thing, it came up to charge speed quickly. The problem with the cable, however, is something else.
 

tmarks11

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
509
32
You definitely can't use a USB extension cord on it.

Have you tried plugging a longer cord on the ac side? The wallwort snaps apart and you can use a standard two prong appliance cord in it. If you look at Apple's power adaptor, you can see their version of an appliance cord.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC359LL/A
 

peetah

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2009
82
0
The Apple Keyboard extension cable works just fine. It gets me a few extra feet but that's more than enough for me.
 

JulianL

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2010
1,656
653
London, UK
I've used a USB extension cord ever since I got my iPad on UK launch day, it's 1m long, and my iPad has charged perfectly to a full 100% charge every night.

- Julian
 

lokerd

macrumors 6502a
May 2, 2010
595
4
Beaumont
Richard F said:
Try rebooting the iPad. I noticed when it charged really slowly once before that after I rebooted the thing, it came up to charge speed quickly. The problem with the cable, however, is something else.

Thanks Richard. It crashed, hard, and I had to reboot...but it had started to charge also, a little, slower than I think it should take. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight.
 

SiMBa37

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2010
235
0
New York
I just used one of these from an old external hard drive that is dead:

2prongfigure8.jpg


I plugged it in like this:

mac-cord-tip-sm.jpg


Instant 5 foot extension cable for me, works perfectly. Best of all, no money spent.
 

iDisk

macrumors 6502a
Jan 2, 2010
825
0
Menlo Park, CA
The reason so many people who posted are having "issues" is because you decided to not buy the APPLE SOLUTION which is there 6ft cord for $29. Let this be a lesson for straying from the Apple EcoSystem
 

pdhahn

macrumors member
Jul 2, 2010
59
0
Poconos, PA
I just used one of these from an old external hard drive that is dead:

2prongfigure8.jpg


I plugged it in like this:

mac-cord-tip-sm.jpg


Instant 5 foot extension cable for me, works perfectly. Best of all, no money spent.

I'm completely amazed that worked. I have a ton of those laying around at work. That would be perfect.
 

CrioPT

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
4
0
Proper solution

I am Radio Television Engineer and Media technician. As we have these problems on stage quite often I developed and manufacture a charging cable. I got 5 meters and 10 meters. The cable is a heavy duty one for professional use and is only for charging. It does not provide any data functionality, but charging over 10m while the ipad is running works like a charme. Also instead of the original charger you can use any other stabilized charging device with 5V and at least 2A. Feel free to PM me for details.
 

CrioPT

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
4
0
Seems like the 5.1 watt iPad brick isn't strong enough support the iPad itself. Lengthening the cord shouldn't have such a huge effect on the performance of the charge.. I guess the brick isn't a smart brick after all. If you got the Plugbug, maybe it would help?

Lengthening the cable does not have a direct effect on charging, apart from the fact that you loose several hundred millivolts each meter so if you get under the critical level of the supply voltage ipad wont charge. If you want to extend length thats limited to about 3m with standard solution. More powerful power supply does not help at all there but of course 5.1W is not intended to be used with ipad.
 

Commy1

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2013
728
73
Lengthening the cable does not have a direct effect on charging, apart from the fact that you loose several hundred millivolts each meter so if you get under the critical level of the supply voltage ipad wont charge. If you want to extend length thats limited to about 3m with standard solution. More powerful power supply does not help at all there but of course 5.1W is not intended to be used with ipad.

The 5.1 watt charger is the charger sent in the box with every iPad...
 

TJ61

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2011
811
3
The 5.1 watt charger is the charger sent in the box with every iPad...

That's true for the mini (which I can confirm), but I recall folks commenting on how it was definitely lower wattage than the "usual" for an iPad (which I can't confirm, but I'm pretty sure). Isn't the charging standard for a full sized iPad 2A? The 5.1W is standard for iPhones (since at least the 4S).

Regards,
Tom
 

CrioPT

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
4
0
That's true for the mini (which I can confirm), but I recall folks commenting on how it was definitely lower wattage than the "usual" for an iPad (which I can't confirm, but I'm pretty sure). Isn't the charging standard for a full sized iPad 2A? The 5.1W is standard for iPhones (since at least the 4S).

Regards,
Tom

Thats it. The "old" ipad charger is 10W which is 2A at 5V and the one for the Retina Displays is 12W Which is 2.4A at 5V. Then again, try to deliver a Low Voltage at a "high" ampere over a long distance. Without some tricks thats not possible without loosing too much mV on the distance. Here you see my extensions: http://youtu.be/E1NnJiNUl54 See how thick are the cables? And it also contains an electronic circuit to compensate length. In the Video the ipad4 is running a videostream over wifi with full brightness and full volume. Its still charging although using 10m usb extension.
 

caracol

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2013
1
0
Cable

I am Radio Television Engineer and Media technician. As we have these problems on stage quite often I developed and manufacture a charging cable. I got 5 meters and 10 meters. The cable is a heavy duty one for professional use and is only for charging. It does not provide any data functionality, but charging over 10m while the ipad is running works like a charme. Also instead of the original charger you can use any other stabilized charging device with 5V and at least 2A. Feel free to PM me for details.

I'm interested in your solution. Is your cable a USB extension or does it have Lightning at one end?
 

CrioPT

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
4
0
I'm interested in your solution. Is your cable a USB extension or does it have Lightning at one end?

Hi! I really do not want to go against the rules of this forum, though I also think this is a problem solving aid here.The cable looks like a standard USB extension but heavy duty. So on top of the 5m or 10m extension you got the length of your USB ->lightning cable. Usually it is used in media installation environment, where you have no space to put a power supply and you need to extend distance between ipad and charger. Second challenge then is to be able to charge it although it is switched on and plays back media all the time. This works with ipad1-4 + mini and their compatible chargers 5W/10W/12W as well as with third party power supplies. You do not need the original apple power supply. Any stabilised power supply with 5V from 2A upwards will work now.
 
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