The tethering issue, sure. But GPS? The battery shouldn't drain with the phone plugged in while you're GPSing...
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Tethering 3g while plugged into the wall, drains and dies!
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The tethering issue, sure. But GPS? The battery shouldn't drain with the phone plugged in while you're GPSing...
I also had the battery drain once while I was syncing the iPhone. It was in the middle of a very long backup and slowly the battery just drained until it shut off canceling the backup.
so did everyone just choose to ignore the auto heat shut off or was i just imagining it??
I was out of town this weekend and needed to charge the iPhone so I plugged it into my car charger. I went back about an hour later to use it and noticed it was not even half way charged which was not normal. It seemed a little warm but I did not think about it too much. I left it longer and went back again and still not charged. I decided to reboot it and then it started charging fast and did not get hot.
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (16GB, 2.0.2 JB'd): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)
Well, this explains a lot. I was wondering why the battery icon kept changing from fully charged to charging as I used the phone this morning to surf the web a bit - no tethering, just Safari ... Kind of sucks.
Well, this explains a lot. I was wondering why the battery icon kept changing from fully charged to charging as I used the phone this morning to surf the web a bit - no tethering, just Safari ... Kind of sucks.
I've used the GPS for 6+ hours before in the car and the battery didn't drain. It didn't charge either but stayed at the same level it was when I plugged it in. I kept the backlight on the entire time while using it on 3G and had no problems.
I know I had the problem of the GPS location service not shutting down after you exit the program. It would drain my battery really fast and make it very warm. I just shut off the location service and only let it use it when I say so. Were you using the GPS before you plugged it in?
Hmm.. could it be a car charger issue?
Do all car outlets produce the same output of power?
(I don't know too much about voltage and wattage and such...
)
Not only have I expereinced it, I can tell you that it's not just an iPhone thing. I've tethered with Blackberries, The Blackjack and other phones, and I currently use a USB Laptop Connect card. ALL of them will run down faster than available power if you use them long enough.
Even the laptop cards have batteries in them (take apart any of the SierraWireless USB Cards and you'll see a LiIon battery that you have to leave plugged in to charge before use). Of course the Laptop cards don't run down nearly as fast because they don't have a screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, touch sensor, accelerometer and GPS to power as well. But 3G data is a power hog regardless of what device you're using, and a long sustained run of data will draw more current than can often be supplied over USB power, necessitating the use of a battery to supplement.
actually, I haven't seen this with any phone I've ever had - and I've used many of them for navigation. This seriously makes me want to sell my iPhone 3G :-(
Hmm.. could it be a car charger issue?
Do all car outlets produce the same output of power?
(I don't know too much about voltage and wattage and such...
cars put out about 12-14v depending on model, most ouput around 14v. My honda accord puts out about 12.4 volts.
The amperage depends on the draw ( most cars have alternators with about 150amps ) , but most usb type car charges have a 2amp fuse inside them for protection ( both ways)
Unfortunately the spec for the iPhone is that it can only draw a maximum of 5v @ 1amp
but it can potentially use a much higher voltage when using 3g, gps, full brightness screen at the same time
When the draw becomes to high, if the phone is not properly cooled ( or it just overheats) it will stop drawing power until it cools off.
In my experience as long as you keep the back of the phone cool it will continue to draw power, and stay moderately charged at the same level.
does all this make sense ?
Intended use or not, this is a design flaw.
The charging system should allow more amperage than the device can possibly ever draw, and the charger should provide it. It is understandable that a computer USB port has a limited current output, and is a convenient way to charge. And as such, it's acceptable that you could potentially run down the battery by charging it from a computer's USB port, however, the supplied external charging system should have been designed such that it can provide more amperage (read: factor of safety) than the device could possibly draw with all of the radios (that the firmware will allow) on. It seems that the firmware allows the 3g radio and wifi both to be on (or the GPS + radios) or whatever, so, external chargers should be able to provide enough power to AT LEAST maintain the charge while using the phone this way.
Out of curiosity, were you using the exact charger that came with your 3g phone, or were you using an older ipod/iphone charger or a 3rd party charger? It wouldn't surprise me if older version ipod chargers or 3rd party chargers that are technically made for older devices that can't draw as much power as the iphone 3g don't work, but if the supplied charger for the iphone 3g also doesn't work, then it's a design flaw, IMO.
The charging system should allow more amperage than the device can possibly ever draw, and the charger should provide it. It is understandable that a computer USB port has a limited current output, and is a convenient way to charge. And as such, it's acceptable that you could potentially run down the battery by charging it from a computer's USB port, however, the supplied external charging system should have been designed such that it can provide more amperage (read: factor of safety) than the device could possibly draw with all of the radios (that the firmware will allow) on. It seems that the firmware allows the 3g radio and wifi both to be on (or the GPS + radios) or whatever, so, external chargers should be able to provide enough power to AT LEAST maintain the charge while using the phone this way.
Out of curiosity, were you using the exact charger that came with your 3g phone, or were you using an older ipod/iphone charger or a 3rd party charger? It wouldn't surprise me if older version ipod chargers or 3rd party chargers that are technically made for older devices that can't draw as much power as the iphone 3g don't work, but if the supplied charger for the iphone 3g also doesn't work, then it's a design flaw, IMO.
I was using the charger provided to me by apple. It is a 1000mA charger according to the label on it. My setup using the tether is 3G -> WiFi with the screen on the lowest brightness and it never locking. ( if the phone locks it kills the tether ). The phone gets hot and the battery dies in about 2 hours.
I looked at the data sheet for the part inside the iphone that does the USB,Battery,charger switching. It can take up to 2.6 amps if the current limiter is not turned on. This may be a firmware update coming with new chargers in the works. That all depends on if they designed in all the 'tweaks' into configurable pins like the should have.
There is also a forum out there that has someone replacing their car charger with a 5V/2A one and had success playing music with the GPS and screen on. If he is able to do all this and not have it die the current limit on the external charger maybe higher than 1A. If there is anyone that has a current meter in a power supply or the means of reading the current draw on their charging device can you post it here with as many functions as you can get turned on?
I looked at the data sheet for the part inside the iphone that does the USB,Battery,charger switching. It can take up to 2.6 amps if the current limiter is not turned on. This may be a firmware update coming with new chargers in the works. That all depends on if they designed in all the 'tweaks' into configurable pins like the should have.
There is also a forum out there that has someone replacing their car charger with a 5V/2A one and had success playing music with the GPS and screen on. If he is able to do all this and not have it die the current limit on the external charger maybe higher than 1A. If there is anyone that has a current meter in a power supply or the means of reading the current draw on their charging device can you post it here with as many functions as you can get turned on?
FWIW, I've had laptops with similar issues: run them full out and they use more power than the AC adapter can supply. IBM would say to leave the battery in Thinkpads because you wouldn't have max performance plugged in alone.
I find that using 3proxy+MobileTerminal via jailbreak is far less of a battery drain--if you're not doing anything intensive, the battery life climbs back up.
NetShare seems to be in an always-on sort of mode, which would also explain why the unit gets so hot when it's running.
NetShare seems to be in an always-on sort of mode, which would also explain why the unit gets so hot when it's running.
All depends on your USB current.
On my old Ipod Photo the only way I could power it up when was fully dead was with the big square wall charger, no other 120v to USB adapter worked.
I still have that charger and charges my iphone faster that the "new" small one.
Also when you connect the iphone to some accesories and it shows that it will not charge, that's because the mAh current in the accesory is lower than what the phone needs.
I have a Griffin FM adapter that won't charge my iphone but it did charge my Itouch, On my new logitech speakers it will charge the iphone perfeclty.
I have a 10feet USB cable extender from my desktop and when I connect the Apple usb cable to charge my phone it says it can't. but when you connect the apple usb cable directly to the desktop works fine. The longer the cable will cause current drop.
My old USB EVDO modem had the same problem it dropped connection when using a longer USB cable.
On my old Ipod Photo the only way I could power it up when was fully dead was with the big square wall charger, no other 120v to USB adapter worked.
I still have that charger and charges my iphone faster that the "new" small one.
Also when you connect the iphone to some accesories and it shows that it will not charge, that's because the mAh current in the accesory is lower than what the phone needs.
I have a Griffin FM adapter that won't charge my iphone but it did charge my Itouch, On my new logitech speakers it will charge the iphone perfeclty.
I have a 10feet USB cable extender from my desktop and when I connect the Apple usb cable to charge my phone it says it can't. but when you connect the apple usb cable directly to the desktop works fine. The longer the cable will cause current drop.
My old USB EVDO modem had the same problem it dropped connection when using a longer USB cable.
It sounds like for all of these cases, the charger itself is the limiting factor. Which is good - well, better than the device itself.
Potentially, they could release a higher current charger and be good to go. I wonder, though, what the current ratings of the currently fielded dock connector cables are, though? If they are using the same cable that usb cables use, 28awg wire, it's likely that they are already at the limit of the wires with ~1amp. Even that is probably pushing that cable as it is with the bundle. If they were to make a charger that pushes out more current but uses the same form factor (usb to dock connector), this could cause all sorts of havoc when people try to use their old cables (which are rated for less current). The new charger would have to use some form factor other than usb on the non-dock end so people can't try their older cables and burn them up. Using a different standard than usb is fine because the whole reason is to achieve higher current, which usb ports can't put out in the first place. It's just another investment that isn't needed at the moment (in apple's eyes (or any 3rd part it seems)) since, for the most part, the phone is fine as is in most normal situations.
If the phone isn't current limited at the charger circuitry, we may even see a slightly higher amperage charger in the future (targeted at GPS users who are having the problem). In fact, you could realistically make your own to try if no one ever releases one. If turn-by-turn GPS comes out, and ends up draining the battery faster than it can charge, I may just go ahead and fab up something of my own to provide higher current.
But anyway, something logistical like apple wanting people to be able to use the same cables they have to charge the phone (and not have to worry about providing a "charge only" cable/charger) could definitely be the "problem."
Potentially, they could release a higher current charger and be good to go. I wonder, though, what the current ratings of the currently fielded dock connector cables are, though? If they are using the same cable that usb cables use, 28awg wire, it's likely that they are already at the limit of the wires with ~1amp. Even that is probably pushing that cable as it is with the bundle. If they were to make a charger that pushes out more current but uses the same form factor (usb to dock connector), this could cause all sorts of havoc when people try to use their old cables (which are rated for less current). The new charger would have to use some form factor other than usb on the non-dock end so people can't try their older cables and burn them up. Using a different standard than usb is fine because the whole reason is to achieve higher current, which usb ports can't put out in the first place. It's just another investment that isn't needed at the moment (in apple's eyes (or any 3rd part it seems)) since, for the most part, the phone is fine as is in most normal situations.
If the phone isn't current limited at the charger circuitry, we may even see a slightly higher amperage charger in the future (targeted at GPS users who are having the problem). In fact, you could realistically make your own to try if no one ever releases one. If turn-by-turn GPS comes out, and ends up draining the battery faster than it can charge, I may just go ahead and fab up something of my own to provide higher current.
But anyway, something logistical like apple wanting people to be able to use the same cables they have to charge the phone (and not have to worry about providing a "charge only" cable/charger) could definitely be the "problem."
Guys stop posting and read what has been stated already... here are the facts
- USB output = 5v 500mah ( maximum allowed spec)
- AC output = 5v 1000mah ( maximum allowed spec)
- Car chargers 5v 500-2000mah ( maximum allowed specs)
The thing you guys don't seem to realize is that those ARE MAXIMUM allowed specs. I have a Belkin 5v 2000mah car charger that will STOP charging the iPhone if it overheats ( from using 3g, GPS + music all at the same time). When I realized this I was able to keep the back of the iPhone cool and was able to keep the phone charging for the whole trip.
Do I know the exact amperage draw of the phone ? NO, but I do know that it was less than 2000 mah ( otherwise the internal 2 amp fuse, which I verified was still intact) would have blown out.
The maximum draw the iPhone was designed for was 2.6 amps.
The most broad answer then is that when all the radios are turned on we get a amperage draw of between 1000-2.6 amps. Realistically the draw must be below 2000amps
The older apple car chargers will not work if you try to max them out because most of those are spec'd to max out at 1000amps. I bought a cheap Chinese iPhone 2g charger for my iPhone 3g, and the fuse blew out ( it was a 1 amp fuse), so obviously when the all the radios are on, there is a larger than 1amp draw.
- USB output = 5v 500mah ( maximum allowed spec)
- AC output = 5v 1000mah ( maximum allowed spec)
- Car chargers 5v 500-2000mah ( maximum allowed specs)
The thing you guys don't seem to realize is that those ARE MAXIMUM allowed specs. I have a Belkin 5v 2000mah car charger that will STOP charging the iPhone if it overheats ( from using 3g, GPS + music all at the same time). When I realized this I was able to keep the back of the iPhone cool and was able to keep the phone charging for the whole trip.
Do I know the exact amperage draw of the phone ? NO, but I do know that it was less than 2000 mah ( otherwise the internal 2 amp fuse, which I verified was still intact) would have blown out.
The maximum draw the iPhone was designed for was 2.6 amps.
The most broad answer then is that when all the radios are turned on we get a amperage draw of between 1000-2.6 amps. Realistically the draw must be below 2000amps
The older apple car chargers will not work if you try to max them out because most of those are spec'd to max out at 1000amps. I bought a cheap Chinese iPhone 2g charger for my iPhone 3g, and the fuse blew out ( it was a 1 amp fuse), so obviously when the all the radios are on, there is a larger than 1amp draw.