[mycophiles]

I work at an electronics store that sells a lot of chargers for all types of electronics. People come in and say " will this work for ** ".

Here's the rundown of what you need to know if your going to get another charger etc:

The charger that comes with the phone is DC Power 5volts and 1Amp.
Those are our guidelines when we are looking at in a new charger.
Note: If you can't find a charger that is exactly 5 volts here's what you need to know. Most manufacturers don't even test out thier products. (case in point it's general knowledge that the boards of phones run on 6volts) But, like I was saying a lot of manufacturers won't even test the variable Voltages that the phone can run on. Sometimes with electronics a device that is rated to run/charge on 5 volts will work anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 volts. So if you find a charger that is 4.5 volts or 5.5 volts it will probobly work. (disclaimer: When your looking at volts and amps the thing that will "burn your board" is the volts. You can't put 12volts to a 5volt device. It will burn your board. I'm just talking about rating here. It's best to get a 5volt device because that's what the manufacturer says. It's ok to go under (might not work) but go over at your own risk.)

Ok, so you have a 5volt device. What about Amps. Will 800milliamps work or what about 1200milliamps (1.2amps)? Lets look at what Amperage is first. Amperage is the amount of Potential electricity that is available. (to explain we'd get into some physics so just take it at that) Your phone draws 1amp of electricity. So back to the question will a 5v 1200milliamp power supply (power converter, transformer) work? Yes. The phone will only draw the 1amp (1000 milliamps) of power from the converter. So will a 800milliamp (.8 amp) converter work. The answer is maybe maybe not. You can try. It's not going to burn your phone up (as long as the converter is 5v) but it might not turn on.

Ok, so what's this about "good power converters" and "bad power converters". When were talking about phones or computers this isn't a concern. (some sound recording people need very good power converters but not you guys) People say, "get a good power supply" and what they technically mean is get a power supply with a lot of Amperage. When you have a device that pulls a lot of amps (what this does) is it allows you to attatch more devices (in series) to the converter because it allows more amps through it. If your just powering your phone a regular old power supply will work.


OK, So what about charging your phone in your car? Well, the battery in your car is putting out DC power. So all you need to do is have a plug to plug into your cigerette lighter (continue reading). Be aware though that this is still 12volts coming out of that adapter. You need to bring that 12volts down to 5volts. There are adapters out there that do this directly from the cigerette lighter. Your best bet is finding one online but you can also shop around and you might find one at an electronics store. Many people, because of convienence use a DC to AC adapter and then plug in thier charger into that adapter. Of course this works but its a bit unnecessary. Your going from DC to AC then back to DC again. I wouldn't do this as a long term fix.

OK, one more thing. What about the plug. "I found a 5v 1amp dc adapter but the plug on the end doesn't fit." Can you fix this? This is kinda a grey area for me because I've never personally seen an adapter like we have on our power cables that is solderable. Most power adapters have a positive and ground on them and if you get the right kind you can solder them on and it looks brand new. I'll have to look into this. EDIT: There are power supply's that have transferable tips. They are more expensive but they usually come with variable volt options so you can use them on more than one device.