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Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:54 am
by xc40nz
Bought one of those "USB Qi receivers" that look like a flattened plastic bag carrying a coil, as my phone doesn't support wireless charging natively. The phone charges now but only intermittently. Is there any way to get it to charge continously?

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:42 pm
by morrishey
I don't use the wireless charger in the Car as I'm always plugged into USB for CarPlay, so only throwing out some suggestions! We have had an iPhone XR sitting on the wireless charger and not noticed any issues with the charging not being constant.

Does it work constantly if you sit it on a normal domestic wireless charge pad? That would at least identify if the USB coil thingy is defective.

Possibly the coils in the USB coil thingy are smaller than those in the phone, so more sensitive to positioning. If the phone slides slightly with the car motion it could be moving off the sweet spot.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:18 am
by xc40nz
morrishey wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:42 pm Does it work constantly if you sit it on a normal domestic wireless charge pad? That would at least identify if the USB coil thingy is defective.
Don't have a normal domestic wireless charge pad.
morrishey wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:42 pmIf the phone slides slightly with the car motion it could be moving off the sweet spot.
Na, the car was stationary the whole time I was testing.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:19 am
by stu22
Is the phone in a case? I've experienced poor charging with some certain cases on inductive chargers.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:49 pm
by xc40nz
I've tried both with & without the case. In both cases (pun not intended), the phone starts charging, followed by a faint sparking noise a few seconds later, at which point the phone stops & starts charging again.

I've ordered a USB wireless charging pad (the 'normal domestic' kind that morrishey mentioned) online, so hoping to have some clarity soon.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:28 am
by morrishey
xc40nz wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:49 pm followed by a faint sparking noise
That doesn’t sound good. Can’t see that here’d be anything between car & charger that could cause an effect like that, it’s all electromagnetic, so I’d be very wary of the connection between charger and phone. You don’t want to be frying hundreds of £$ of phone for the sake of a dodgy charging solution.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 8:15 am
by hdasmith
It sounds like you’re using a standard Qi charger, rather than Volvo’s built in one? If so, have you tried it in the house?

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:24 am
by xc40nz
morrishey wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:28 am
xc40nz wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:49 pm followed by a faint sparking noise
That doesn’t sound good. Can’t see that here’d be anything between car & charger that could cause an effect like that, it’s all electromagnetic, so I’d be very wary of the connection between charger and phone. You don’t want to be frying hundreds of £$ of phone for the sake of a dodgy charging solution.
Good point. I'll wait until I receive my domestic wireless charging pad & try again, this time at home. Btw "£$" (pound-dollar)... interesting currency ;)

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:26 am
by xc40nz
hdasmith wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 8:15 am It sounds like you’re using a standard Qi charger, rather than Volvo’s built in one? If so, have you tried it in the house?
Haven't received the standard Qi charger yet... it's still in transit. I'll update when I receive it.

Re: Wireless Charging Woes

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:52 pm
by Rifleman
xc40nz wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:26 am
hdasmith wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 8:15 am It sounds like you’re using a standard Qi charger, rather than Volvo’s built in one? If so, have you tried it in the house?
Haven't received the standard Qi charger yet... it's still in transit. I'll update when I receive it.
Sounds like your you are spending a lot of time,effort and money on getting a gadget to work that you don’t really need.
I assume the QI USB plastic bag thingy plugs into your phone’s power socket and charges it by induction between the car’s charger pad and the coil in the bag?. If so then any advantage of the “Wireless” charging goes out the window, you still have to plug the gadget into the phone so what’s the point. A lot easier and cheaper to use a short usb cable to connect the phone to the car usb socket....