Wireless Charging Woes

Faults and Technical chat for the Volvo XC40
xc40nz
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Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:16 am
Location: New Zealand

Post 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?
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morrishey
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Location: Hampshire, UK

Post 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.
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xc40nz
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Location: New Zealand

Post 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.
Last edited by xc40nz on Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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stu22
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Post by stu22 »

Is the phone in a case? I've experienced poor charging with some certain cases on inductive chargers.
xc40nz
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Location: New Zealand

Post 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.
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morrishey
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Post 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.
XC40 T5 FE, Fusion Red, 20inch wheels.
Ordered 15th March. Delivery, originally June, delivered 26th October.
hdasmith
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Location: UK

Post 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?
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xc40nz
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Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:16 am
Location: New Zealand

Post 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 ;)
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xc40nz
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Location: New Zealand

Post 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.
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Rifleman
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Post 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....
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