Are all 110v droid chargers OK for RAZR?

[rvander1]

Hi,
I just got a Razr maxx (upgrade from the first Droid made!).
The new 110v charger that came with the Razr has an output of 5.1v 750ma. My old droid 110v charger has an output of 5.1v 850ma.

--I expect the battery on this new phone is expensive and i don't want to wreck it.

Question: can i use both chargers on the new Razr max safely?
Thanks,
Bob

 

[FoxKat]

Hi,
I just got a Razr maxx (upgrade from the first Droid made!).
The new 110v charger that came with the Razr has an output of 5.1v 750ma. My old droid 110v charger has an output of 5.1v 850ma.

--I expect the battery on this new phone is expensive and i don't want to wreck it.

Question: can i use both chargers on the new Razr max safely?
Thanks,
Bob

A loaded question... I would trust that the charger for the Droid was designed to charge Lithium Ion hard pack batteries since that's the battery in that phone. The battery in the Droid RAZR is a Lithium Ion Polymer Pouch Pack battery and has different chemistry, characteristics and charging requirements. Can you use the older charger and have no obvious detrimental effects - yes. Does that mean it isn't doing long-term damage - no. Can you replace the battery in the Droid RAZR as easily and cheaply as you can in the Droid 1 - no. Should you risk it - no.

If you need it in a pinch, I'd say OK, but keep use of the older charger to a minimum. It puts out a higher current which means the battery in the Droid RAZR will charge quicker. This means it will also reach its "end of usable life" sooner as charging slower extends the life of the battery - probably one good reason why the charger that came with the Droid RAZR is a lower current rating.

There are LOTS of threads on here about batteries, chargers, and what damage may/may not occur if using "other" chargers. Safe it to say, you can't go wrong with the one sent with the phone. Anything else and you're taking matters into your own hands...with potentially undesirable consequences.

IMHO YRMV

 

[Trash Can]

To add to what Professor FoxKat said above, here's a few lengthy but good discussions:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr/202046-lg-charger-razr.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr-maxx/203917-droid-razr-max-charger.html

Read for yourself, then decide what you want to do.

EDIT: There is no better time than now to properly calibrate the battery meter on your new Maxx.

1. Power OFF and charge to 100%. A quick press of the power button should show you the level of charge without powering up the phone.
2. Use normally until you get the "low battery" warning at 15%
3. Power OFF and recharge to 100%

Repeat this process every one to two months. Once the full calibration cycle is completed, use and charge as needed. Keep in mind that partial charges of short duration are not harmful. In fact, they may prolong battery life. The battery does not need conditioning -- there is no "break-in" period. Your battery life will not improve after a few charge cycles. Last, never intentionally fully discharge the battery -- doing so may open you up to undesireable consequences.

Enjoy your Maxx!!

 

[FoxKat]

To add to what Professor FoxKat said above, here's a few lengthy but good discussions:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr/202046-lg-charger-razr.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr-maxx/203917-droid-razr-max-charger.html

Read for yourself, then decide what you want to do.

EDIT: There is no better time than now to properly calibrate the battery meter on your new Maxx.

1. Power OFF and charge to 100%. A quick press of the power button should show you the level of charge without powering up the phone.
2. Use normally until you get the "low battery" warning at 15%
3. Power OFF and recharge to 100%

Repeat this process every one to two months. Once the full calibration cycle is completed, use and charge as needed. Keep in mind that partial charges of short duration are not harmful. In fact, they may prolong battery life. The battery does not need conditioning -- there is no "break-in" period. Your battery life will not improve after a few charge cycles. Last, never intentionally fully discharge the battery -- doing so may open you up to undesireable consequences.

Enjoy your Maxx!!

Trained him well!


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk with speech to text translation. Please excuse any minor grammatical/punctuation/spelling errors.

 

[m42duster]

You can use the charger with no ill effects. As long as the voltage is within specs and provides the minimal current draw, your Razr will be happy. Battery chemistry is of no concern. Voltage and current requirements are all that matter. The 5.1 volts going into your battery doesn't know nor care what the battery is made of. I could ge much more technical, but is not needed. The Chicom copies of chargers are to be avoided as they can have questionable output and overcharge protection.

 

[FoxKat]

You can use the charger with no ill effects. As long as the voltage is within specs and provides the minimal current draw, your Razr will be happy. Battery chemistry is of no concern. Voltage and current requirements are all that matter. The 5.1 volts going into your battery doesn't know nor care what the battery is made of. I could ge much more technical, but is not needed. The Chicom copies of chargers are to be avoided as they can have questionable output and overcharge protection.

Chemistry was mentioned not to point to one charger or another due to battery design, but to most efficient charge rates and current draw based on battery design. To say that one Lithium Ion battery is the same as another is like saying milk from one cow is identical to the milk from another. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Lithium Ion Polymer Pouch Pack batteries in these phones is considerably different than the Lithium Ion batteries in the D1/D2. Those batteries are Smart Batteries with their own circuitry designed to assist in charging and monitoring the battery's SoC State of Charge). The ones in the RAZR and MAXX are "dumb" batteries, or better said, raw pouch cells, with no circuitry other than the battery's anode, cathode, Lithium paste dielectric, and the polymer pouch (simplified for this discussion).

True, voltage is far more important than current, but current limiting is also important. The phone's stock charger is specified at 750mAh, whereas other chargers such as those for the OG Droid are 780mAh, and ones for iPhones are at 1,000mAh. Will the extra 30mAh have any significant effect - NO. Can the battery safely charge at 1,000mAh for instance, well, yes. Will it have measurable long-term detrimental effect...YES. Why? Well, charging at a higher current puts greater stress on the battery during the Stage 1 charging, and although it may replenish the battery faster to about 80%, it will then take almost as much longer as the time saved during Stage 1 to finish the Stage 2 charging to Saturate the battery. In other words, there will be little overall gain in charge time to 100% by increasing charging current rate, yet the higher the charge current rate, the shorter the overall life of the battery - the battery's usable life (i.e. the point at which a fully saturated charge only yields about 80% of the original rated capacity when new).

So charging with a higher current will get you a faster boost charge, but you will sacrifice longevity of the battery. You are safest using the charger that came with your phone.

As for overcharge protection, the wall-wart doesn't provide such protection...that's built into the phone's Lithium Ion charging circuitry. All the wall wart supplies is 5.1V +/- 10% at the current rated.

 

[m42duster]

If the battery is so sensitive as you suggest, then you would have warnings not to hook your battery to your computers USB port. How can Motorola ensure voltage and current specs are correct with different PC's? The fact is, the phone will work and charge fine as long as the voltage and amperage is within/close specs. You will find that the phone will draw less than the rated current anyways. The batteries internal IC chip will allow only the specified current draw. Just because a charger has a higher amperage rating doesn't mean all of it will be consumed. As for the Chicom chargers, they tend to have poor voltage regulation. Some chargers, and I believe that OEM chargers, do have an IC chip that senses a full charge and throttles or trickles back to avoid overcharging.

It's just like my 13.8 volt, 60 amp power supply that powers my amateur radios. My main radio wants 12 volts at 22 amps current draw at full power. it only uses 22 amps but my supply can deliver more. The droid X charger will work without issue for the Droid Razr. The Razr is not going to consume additional power just because the wall wart can deliver it.