Replacement wall charger (Glacier)

[michiganjfrog]

ZICK:

Has anyone found another wall charger that will replace the one that comes with the Glacier? After reading about some people having their charger actually go up in smoke on them, I'd rather find a better one.

Yes, I mentioned the Nokia charger I bought in another message (it plugs directly in the wall). I'd suggest getting one of those, it seems to work okay. Its only for NA though, so if you're in the UK, try something like this:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

Also, I want to use this in my truck via a FM transmitter (which I already have).
Is there any kind of charger that will plug into a standard 12v cigarette lighter?

Possibly. I bought an FM Transmitter from 939HK (eBay). I noticed it uses the same USB connection used by my Glacier, but it didn't come with the cigar lighter cable (I got burned on that sale, because the ad said it can be used with one, so I assumed one was included!). The seller first told me I could buy one anywhere (right!), then promised to give me one for $2, but wont respond to my emails any longer.

Anyway! I've seen other fm units on ebay that use this type of usb connection (cant remember which ones now). One end plugs into the 12v lighter, the other is meant to plug into the FM transmitter to power it without batteries. But I don't see why it couldn't plug into and power the Glacier, since it uses the same USB connection.

n.b. A USB to mini-USB won't work. The Glacier is a "mini-mini USB", known as a Hirose USB type. Its not proprietary to the Glacier, its actually standard for a chipod. The wide connection you saw on the cable is normal, tha'ts a standard USB and that end goes into the 12v charger. Its the OTHER end you gotta worry about, and ensure its a Hirose USB. Yes, they do come with some FM transmitters, as I said. (Whether they can be purchased apart, I don't know, but you can get them with the FM trasmitter for as little as $6 or $7 so.....).

If you get a spare batt, make sure its a genuine Nokia.

[razzer001]

Originally Posted by Zick";p=&quot

Where did you find this information at?
If that's the case, why is Uxcell packaging the Glacier w/ the 200-300 mA charger?
I bought mine directly from Uxcell and everything came in one box.

Because i sell lots of these players and know that the glaciers are supposed to be charged with a 500ma charger and not the standard 300ma.

[Zick]

Originally Posted by razzer001";p=&quot

Because i sell lots of these players and know that the glaciers are supposed to be charged with a 500ma charger and not the standard 300ma.

Ok, but then why did my Glacier come w/ the 200-300 mA charger?

[michiganjfrog]

Originally Posted by Zick";p=&quot

Ok, but then why did my Glacier come w/ the 200-300 mA charger?

He's saying the 500mah are *better*, not that it cant be charged at 250-300mah.

[Zick]

Originally Posted by michiganjfrog";p=&quot

He's saying the 500mah are *better*, not that it cant be charged at 250-300mah.

No, but he is saying that using this charger will degrade the life of the battery.
I would just like to see where he is getting these facts from....are there proven tests to conclude using a lower mA charger causes the battery life to degrade?

[sanelson]

I have a Motorola RAZR V3c from Verizon which uses a mini-USB jack to charge with the same as the most of these Chinese MPX players. I've never tried using the Motorola wall charger on my player, but I imagine it would work.

[michiganjfrog]

Originally Posted by Zick";p=&quot

No, but he is saying that using this charger will degrade the life of the battery.
I would just like to see where he is getting these facts from....are there proven tests to conclude using a lower mA charger causes the battery life to degrade?

Yes, and I think many of us who bought a Glacier are unwilling participants in that test. Clearly, there are many units suffering problems due to the battery, and that was so in one of my instances. He sells glacier-type players, and I believe he has said that he witnessed returns when the chargers used were 300mah, and 500mah chargers did not exhibit such problems, plus that the manufacturer of this player recommended the 500mah+. I think empirical evidence does count for something here, it is the basis of much of what we call science. That doesn`t conclude the 500mah is the better charge, but it does offer evidence of such. If someones interested in a test, and/or has some charing /boot problems or concerns about long battery life, they have only to try his 500mah charger! (Its quite cheap, actually, and had I not just bought a charger and known about that at the time, i,d have gotten that).

[Zick]

Originally Posted by michiganjfrog";p=&quot

Yes, and I think many of us who bought a Glacier are unwilling participants in that test. Clearly, there are many units suffering problems due to the battery, and that was so in one of my instances. He sells glacier-type players, and I believe he has said that he witnessed returns when the chargers used were 300mah, and 500mah chargers did not exhibit such problems, plus that the manufacturer of this player recommended the 500mah+. I think empirical evidence does count for something here, it is the basis of much of what we call science. That doesn`t conclude the 500mah is the better charge, but it does offer evidence of such. If someones interested in a test, and/or has some charing /boot problems or concerns about long battery life, they have only to try his 500mah charger! (Its quite cheap, actually, and had I not just bought a charger and known about that at the time, i,d have gotten that).

So who is the manufacturer of the Glacier?

[ctmp3]

Having designed circuits using Lithium-Ion cells and carefully studied the recommendations of their manufacturers (the info can be found on the web) I can say that there is not likely to be any difference between the charging of a device with, say, a, 200 mA charger and a 500 mA charger - other than, perhaps, how long it will take.

What it all boils down to is this: Did the maker of the device (the MP3/4 player, in this case) do what they were supposed to do when they designed it?

It is worth remembering that these devices are intended to be charged from a computer's USB port. The USB specification allows for up to 500 mA to be supplied (at 5.0 volts, nominal) so if it allows you to charge from the computer, it is therefore allowed to charge from a 500 mA wall charger - even if they supplied a wall charger that is less than this.

When you charge a lithium-ion battery, one of the important things to take into account is that the charge current cannot be too high. But, because these devices use a USB port (5 volts) for charging a lithium-ion battery (maximum of 4.2 volts) then they *must* have a chip that regulates voltage and limits current: If they didn't, you would have exploding batteries all over the place (charging a 4.2 lithium ion battery to 5 volts is somewhat lightly to result in gas buildup and cell rupture.) Since no-one has reported this happening (or lived to tell about it...) it is pretty safe to say that the manufacturers have taken this into account.

The Lithium-Ion cell manufacturers *do* allow slower charging than their "maximum" rate - in fact, it may be somewhat beneficial to the cell as it can result it less heat being generated. Also, once a Lithium-Ion cell is "mostly" charged, it stops pulling as much current as it did when charging started, anyway.

So, what harm is there in using a lower-current wall charger than originally supplied? As long as the voltage is the same, there are two things that might happen:
- It may take a bit longer to charge.
- If the charger is "timer" based (some will stop charging after a certain amount of time - even if the charging may have not completed) then it may stop before a full recharge is done. If this is the case, simply disconnect and reconnect. The circuit should prevent overcharge, regardless.

Is there a harm to having a partially-charged battery? None at all, other than your player may not run for as long. In fact, Lithium-Ion cell manufacturers mention that the best longevity for a cell is when it is kept partially discharged as more internal degradation occurs in a fully-charged cell! (This is why cell phone batteries that are charged only when they start to run down last longer than ones that are put back on the charger every day.)

Finally, I noticed that the charger supplied for my Rhodium is a 6 volt charger. Is this a problem? Probably not, since the charging circuit is regulating current and then stopping the charging of the cell when it reaches about 4.2 volts, anyway. Would it be safe to charge all USB-charging players with a 6 volt charger? Maybe, but if it originally came with a 5 volt charger, I'd be cautious if I were to try it with a 6 volt one - although it would *probably* be OK.

ctmp3

[razzer001]

Originally Posted by ctmp3";p=&quot

Having designed circuits using Lithium-Ion cells and carefully studied the recommendations of their manufacturers (the info can be found on the web) I can say that there is not likely to be any difference between the charging of a device with, say, a, 200 mA charger and a 500 mA charger - other than, perhaps, how long it will take.

What it all boils down to is this: Did the maker of the device (the MP3/4 player, in this case) do what they were supposed to do when they designed it?

It is worth remembering that these devices are intended to be charged from a computer's USB port. The USB specification allows for up to 500 mA to be supplied (at 5.0 volts, nominal) so if it allows you to charge from the computer, it is therefore allowed to charge from a 500 mA wall charger - even if they supplied a wall charger that is less than this.

When you charge a lithium-ion battery, one of the important things to take into account is that the charge current cannot be too high. But, because these devices use a USB port (5 volts) for charging a lithium-ion battery (maximum of 4.2 volts) then they *must* have a chip that regulates voltage and limits current: If they didn't, you would have exploding batteries all over the place (charging a 4.2 lithium ion battery to 5 volts is somewhat lightly to result in gas buildup and cell rupture.) Since no-one has reported this happening (or lived to tell about it...) it is pretty safe to say that the manufacturers have taken this into account.

The Lithium-Ion cell manufacturers *do* allow slower charging than their "maximum" rate - in fact, it may be somewhat beneficial to the cell as it can result it less heat being generated. Also, once a Lithium-Ion cell is "mostly" charged, it stops pulling as much current as it did when charging started, anyway.

So, what harm is there in using a lower-current wall charger than originally supplied? As long as the voltage is the same, there are two things that might happen:
- It may take a bit longer to charge.
- If the charger is "timer" based (some will stop charging after a certain amount of time - even if the charging may have not completed) then it may stop before a full recharge is done. If this is the case, simply disconnect and reconnect. The circuit should prevent overcharge, regardless.

Is there a harm to having a partially-charged battery? None at all, other than your player may not run for as long. In fact, Lithium-Ion cell manufacturers mention that the best longevity for a cell is when it is kept partially discharged as more internal degradation occurs in a fully-charged cell! (This is why cell phone batteries that are charged only when they start to run down last longer than ones that are put back on the charger every day.)

Finally, I noticed that the charger supplied for my Rhodium is a 6 volt charger. Is this a problem? Probably not, since the charging circuit is regulating current and then stopping the charging of the cell when it reaches about 4.2 volts, anyway. Would it be safe to charge all USB-charging players with a 6 volt charger? Maybe, but if it originally came with a 5 volt charger, I'd be cautious if I were to try it with a 6 volt one - although it would *probably* be OK.

ctmp3

...maybe uxcell glaciers are just bad....