Got a new 4 way 2.4a USB car charger - Inateck

[reverend]

I've been seeing some strange behaviour lately with my Scosche car cigarette lighter dual port USB charger in that it sometimes doesn't seem to charge my phone when I'm driving. I don't seem to have had any dashcam problems but assume this is because they pull less power than the phone, usually well below 500mA.

I run TomTom on the phone so you need at least 1A to charge the phone as well as use that, and it seems like the Scosche is sometimes failing to do that.

I've now got a 4 way Inateck Premium adaptor which can supply up to 2.4a on all four sockets at once!

It's a nice looking adaptor and you also get a couple of USB to microUSB cables included with velcro cable tidies which is a very nice touch.

I got mine from Amazon UK but it's also available in the USA:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00WDWCW5Yhttps://www.amazon.com/gp/B00WHI9CHA
I noticed they also do a two way one which has a lightning cable built in which may be more convenient for some people.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00WHI993Cie=UTF8&qid=1435498065&sr=8-1&keywords=inateck+premium

I'll keep this thread updated with outcomes but so far so good

 

[kamkar]

I am contemplating getting the 4 channel version of mine, would be nice with 2.4 A on all 4 channels.
But money is tight so it will have to wait.

Look to be the same i have just with another name on it, i have this one but here its only 2.1 A on 2 of the ports
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00IP93LCM

 

[reverend]

Yeah I keep meaning to order that Anker 40w one with loads of high output ports on - even AmazonBasics are getting in the act and do some proper massive ones with up to 10 USB ports I think it was!

 

[dash riposki]

I've never had much luck with the type of adapters/power supplies that are built into the cig lighter plug housing. I'll remind you I use them in a tractor trailer, so you get more vibration and they get used 300 plus days a year. This is kind of like 4-5 x the use you would see in a car. The 'plug' seems to wear out, or at least the springy contact material does.
No, the truck won't rattle your dental fillings loose, but is rough on most electronic stuff.

One additional advantage of me using USB multipliers with a separate Cig lighter plug dangling from a power wire, is, it's easier to fix or switch out the separate cig lighter plug assembly if it starts to loosen up or worse.

 

[sludgeguts]

Worth thinking about. I have A LOT of problems with radio interference from the 12v/5v adapter plugs. Even though I have a 4 port extension socket tucked away in the corner of the dash (opposite corner to radio aerial), there is still static coming over when the radio signal weakens (I believe some of this static also weakens the radio signal anyway)

 

[reverend]

I'll update with info on FM interference tomorrow - the folks car has DAB and that cuts out the second the Scosche adaptor is plugged in so I'm intrigued to see if this does the same.

I've not clocked up any milage though as I got a bit too carried away on an all day session yesterday so that car has been well and truly parked up all day!

 

[reverend]

Actually this is random but I just read that LED lights can cause havoc with DAB radio - I wonder if the cheap LEDs used in dashcams and chargers are causing problems with DAB radio in some cars?

http://conversation.which.co.uk/energy-home/your-view-led-bulb-interference-dab-radios/

The manufacturer ones will be tested thoroughly to not have that problem but I'm guessing the little LEDs in dashcams and stuff are not going through much certification so would be spewing out noise. It could just be switched mode supplies causing it though as well!

 

[sludgeguts]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00V7V8GU2Seems to be the same product but with a different name. This one's also quite a bit cheaper & comes in a range of colours.

Mind you, could be a knockoff version?
(so may cause loads of interference or even melt after a few hours' use?)
Then again, it's got some great reviews & 4.5 stars overall!
And then you get https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00YGJVZ8WFor something just shy of £6 - one review does mention radio interference.

 

[reverend]

Jeez you've got no chance of working out which is the original (other than the listing dates I guess!)

I've still not made it out in the car to test yet - today went tits up at work so fingers crossed I'll make it to the office tomorrow!

 

[sludgeguts]

Jeez you've got no chance of working out which is the original (other than the listing dates I guess!)

I've still not made it out in the car to test yet - today went tits up at work so fingers crossed I'll make it to the office tomorrow!

The thing is, the mid-priced one could be the original and the best, the one you listed could be someone jumping on the bandwagon, it's so hard to tell. A bit like all those jumping on the success of the G1W, I've heard many a tale about how crap they are - then you find out they bought from an obscure seller.
Although £6 isn't a huge amount, it's still a lot to throw away on a single use.

 

[reverend]

Right mate I'm definitely happy with that.

It's covered a lot of miles today and I've proven it goes up to 2.3a when charging my iPad from 33%:

I had it running my Dome G5WA (working perfectly now the Scosche has been taken out the loop), charging my iPad 3 (at 2.3a) and my iPhone 5S (at 1a) and no issues with anything. Add to that after an hours drive it was running cool which is great news to me.

I've been having some weird behaviour for a while now with the Scosche USBC242M so I think it's probably just past it's sell by date as it's almost 18 months old so it's lasted well bearing in mind how many hours it's been running a day.

Silly question now mate - it's rated 12V-18V - what is your bus supplying then as lorries are 24V aren't they?

The Scosche has gone in the bin so the Inateck will be staying in my car

 

[reverend]

Oh and another random update - I just looked up Inateck and they have offices in the USA and Germany.

The latter is always a good sign to me as it's much harder to sell crap to Germans due to the various regulations etc.

Totally OT but I bought a new satellite receiver from Germany last week - I started off with a generic Chinese clone which was cheap but dangerous (the insides are cheap and nasty components which don't last long and the power supply starting bubbling up within two weeks), then moved onto a German model which lasted me a year without skipping a beat and then bought a new one last week (one of the reasons I've been quiet because I've been playing with that).

I took it apart (warranties don't last long on anything here) to add a HDD and the build quality inside was fantastic. It's a German company probably still made in China and is honestly night and day to the first one I had because they're paying for high quality manufacture.

 

[sludgeguts]

The bus runs at 12v. My only problem with these things is that they will be running all day with just a very short break.

 

[sludgeguts]

Just bit the bullet & bought a couple of the innatek chargers. At £16 a go I'm hoping my trust isn't misplaced!

 

[reverend]

Mine is working great mate, I did a few hours driving at the weekend and it was supplying two iPhones and the SG9665GC and it wasn't even getting warm!

I'm definitely happy so far, nothing bad to report

 

[sludgeguts]

sod's law. got home last night to find an email - your parcel is ready to be collected (I opted for delivery to a post office local to my works!). printed off the email & picked up this morning. Had it running for a couple of hours in the minibus I was using (I took a couple to Bletchley park for the day).
The true test will come on Monday when I use my own bus all day! We'll see what 9hrs almost continuous use does.

 

[reverend]

Mine has been fine still so far mate, did a couple of hours yesterday and same again today and nothing to report - fingers crossed yours will be the same too

 

[reverend]

How are you getting on with these mate? I've still not had any issues here to report, got a new phone coming tomorrow so that will push it a bit harder as my current one doesn't use more than 1a when charging.

 

[reverend]

@sludgeguts How are you getting on with these mate?

I've got a strange one at the moment where I've bought a new Android phone and it randomly discharges while driving - I can't work out if it's this charger, the cable or my phone as it seems like it sips power when in the 90% range until the 70s at which point it starts requesting the full 2 something amps and starts charging again before going back into sipping mode.

It works perfectly with my other half's iPhone and charged that fine while also running an SG9665GC but my phone was all over the shop. I'm half wondering if it's something to do with the intelligence in the phone and charger fighting and not working out right?!

Android devices are a whole new learning curve for me and currently looking at buying a QC2.0 charger to try and see if that shows the same problem or not.

 

[sludgeguts]

@sludgeguts How are you getting on with these mate?.

All seems to be going well at the moment. had it running all day (10 hrs) mon-Fri since my earlier post & it hasn't missed a beat.
The interference on the radio seems a little better than it was.
Regarding your problem with the phone, I find I have to buy a new cable every so often as a similar thing happens to mine. I put it down to the regular connect/disconnect of the plug.