Grimm
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2014
- Messages
- 196
- Reaction score
- 83
- Location
- Chaos Valley, UO
- Country
- United States
- Dash Cam
- Mobius B-Front, Mobius A-Rear
Please note I am not an electrician. I know how to use a multimeter. I've wired 2 chandeliers in my home, wired switches, and wired 3 outlets from my breaker box to places in my basement. Simple stuff.
When I was a kid I took my Uncles cool red light from his car, cut off the wires, attached those wires to a household plug and plugged it in. Yes I was punished. Yes my bottom still hurts.
I also use to "shoot" capacitors around my room and sometimes through walls by heating them up with a train transformer. 1 landed in my brother's arm. Yes he cried. No he didnt tell because I threatened to kill him in his sleep.
What I am trying to say is my understanding of electronics and electricity is very, very small. Almost non-existent.
I do, however, know how to read a digital display and write those numbers down on a scrap of paper.
This post is nothing more then that scrap.
With a lot of **** added on.
As recommend my Dashmellow in another thread I bought a Charger Doctor. It tests USB voltage and amps and is a lot easier then trying to stick in probes from a multimeter. As my multimeter is not digital, the digital display of the Charger Doctor comes in handy. It's range is 3.5v-7.0, 0A-3A. It was less then $7.00 with shipping and I plan to get a few more. I recommend getting one if you wish to play along.
I only received the package a few days ago but right after I opened it I immediately started plugging it into things. One of the things I plugged it into was my car charger to Mobius (surprise!).
First, Tests of the individual chargers:
Most Voltage fluctuated between 5.10-5.16. Computer 4.75-4.80.
The car charger is a dual Anker and can deliver 24W/4.8A total and was tested with various things (iPad2, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Anker E5) and the reading the Charger Doctor gave fell within what was expected of the device.
Wall charger (apple 5.1v/2.3A) my iPhone 4 was pulling .95-.98A, which is what is expected.
Computer- iPhone 4 pulled .95A, again expected.
Anker E5 - External Battery (16000mah 5V / 3A total-2A&1A) dual USB. iPhone 4 .97-.98A. Works.
So, all chargers working well, Charger Doctor giving accurate readings.
Mobius
I have a front B lens Mobius and a rear A lens Mobius, both bought within the last month or so. Both currently still have their original batteries installed. I will be switching to Supercaps in the next month.
I first tested the front & back Mobius with the Anker Car charger and the Charger Doctor.
Both set to turn on and start recording when given power or power button pressed--Both did.
Both gave fluctuating readings of 5.10-5.15 Volts.
Front Mobius -First the Amps started around .02-.04 then rose to .17-and higher but stopped and fluctuated between .35A-.39!
Back Mobius- Same start but "settled" between .42A-.46A!
Well below the 1A "requirement".
What going on? Hmmmm. Maybe the long USB extension cables lowering the Amps? Well cords do, but more then .50A? No way. Still I switched the front Mobius cable with a 3 foot cable. Same results.
Why such low Amps?
I though it somehow was my car, since its haunted so I tried my house (which is not haunted anymore since The Priest). I tested the Mobius on all above chargers that are listed...Not surprisingly similar results.
I then thought that since I am always charging the battery it must be pulling such low Amps because the battery is full! So I drained the battery on the front Mobius buy putting it on (recording) in my refrigerator. When that was discovered by The Wife it was relocated to the bathroom. Discovered again (Yes, The Wife again!), relocated to the cats litter box were it stayed till the battery was depleted. I am currently debating watching the video, erasing the video, or getting a new Wife.
I then tested charging it inside. Video on .43-.46A. Charging only .13-.14A! On a depleted battery? What the hell?
I had not suspected that both Mobius' would be pulling such low Amps but thought I should post about my findings. Now on to the real reason I started testing at all...
Mobius Not Turning On With Car Ignition
Both my front and back Mobius' sometimes do not turn back on when the ignition is started. When this happens it happens to both mobius' simultaneously. Never has this happened to one and not the other. This happens when the Mobius' are already powered through their internal battery. This also happens when the Mobius' are running off the Anker E5 external battery that is plugged into the car lighter (the Anker supports pass through--charge a device while you use it). Why this happens with the Anker I do not know.
I have not yet had a problem with turning the ignition on and the Mobius' not coming on when they are off. But I may just be lucky so far. My typical dashcam day begins with the car starting and the Mobius' going on and when I stop somewhere they are powered by the Anker external. They only get completely turned off when I return home. I suspect that if not for the Anker I would experience problems when first starting the car and Mobius'.
Many restarts later and the 9th restart of my car did it! The Charge Doctor showed NOTHING! No Amps, no Volts, dead screen. Then a few seconds later was at 5.10-5.16V but Amps hovered between .02-.04A and would not raise above that! The only way to fix this was to pull the USB ports and replug them in.
The experiment was duplicated with and without the Anker E5 involved and in both cases when the Mobius did not go back on I got the same .02-.04A result.
Conclusions
Well, I don't have any. I do have questions...
Why are both my Mobius' pulling such low Amps when charged and recording (.35-.46A)?
Why do both pull such low Amps charging (.13-.14A)?
Why is the Mobius getting "stuck" at only pulling .02-.o4A sometimes? Why does pulling the USB and plugging them back in remedy this?
Do I have 2 bad batteries? Am I that lucky?
Or is all of this normal? And if so why the 1A requirement?
Please, if you have a Charger Doctor, play along and post your results.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/271429051607 Random ebay link for Charger Doctor.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451375 Charger Doctor How To
When I was a kid I took my Uncles cool red light from his car, cut off the wires, attached those wires to a household plug and plugged it in. Yes I was punished. Yes my bottom still hurts.
I also use to "shoot" capacitors around my room and sometimes through walls by heating them up with a train transformer. 1 landed in my brother's arm. Yes he cried. No he didnt tell because I threatened to kill him in his sleep.
What I am trying to say is my understanding of electronics and electricity is very, very small. Almost non-existent.
I do, however, know how to read a digital display and write those numbers down on a scrap of paper.
This post is nothing more then that scrap.
With a lot of **** added on.
As recommend my Dashmellow in another thread I bought a Charger Doctor. It tests USB voltage and amps and is a lot easier then trying to stick in probes from a multimeter. As my multimeter is not digital, the digital display of the Charger Doctor comes in handy. It's range is 3.5v-7.0, 0A-3A. It was less then $7.00 with shipping and I plan to get a few more. I recommend getting one if you wish to play along.
I only received the package a few days ago but right after I opened it I immediately started plugging it into things. One of the things I plugged it into was my car charger to Mobius (surprise!).
First, Tests of the individual chargers:
Most Voltage fluctuated between 5.10-5.16. Computer 4.75-4.80.
The car charger is a dual Anker and can deliver 24W/4.8A total and was tested with various things (iPad2, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Anker E5) and the reading the Charger Doctor gave fell within what was expected of the device.
Wall charger (apple 5.1v/2.3A) my iPhone 4 was pulling .95-.98A, which is what is expected.
Computer- iPhone 4 pulled .95A, again expected.
Anker E5 - External Battery (16000mah 5V / 3A total-2A&1A) dual USB. iPhone 4 .97-.98A. Works.
So, all chargers working well, Charger Doctor giving accurate readings.
Mobius
I have a front B lens Mobius and a rear A lens Mobius, both bought within the last month or so. Both currently still have their original batteries installed. I will be switching to Supercaps in the next month.
I first tested the front & back Mobius with the Anker Car charger and the Charger Doctor.
Both set to turn on and start recording when given power or power button pressed--Both did.
Both gave fluctuating readings of 5.10-5.15 Volts.
Front Mobius -First the Amps started around .02-.04 then rose to .17-and higher but stopped and fluctuated between .35A-.39!
Back Mobius- Same start but "settled" between .42A-.46A!
Well below the 1A "requirement".
What going on? Hmmmm. Maybe the long USB extension cables lowering the Amps? Well cords do, but more then .50A? No way. Still I switched the front Mobius cable with a 3 foot cable. Same results.
Why such low Amps?
I though it somehow was my car, since its haunted so I tried my house (which is not haunted anymore since The Priest). I tested the Mobius on all above chargers that are listed...Not surprisingly similar results.
I then thought that since I am always charging the battery it must be pulling such low Amps because the battery is full! So I drained the battery on the front Mobius buy putting it on (recording) in my refrigerator. When that was discovered by The Wife it was relocated to the bathroom. Discovered again (Yes, The Wife again!), relocated to the cats litter box were it stayed till the battery was depleted. I am currently debating watching the video, erasing the video, or getting a new Wife.
I then tested charging it inside. Video on .43-.46A. Charging only .13-.14A! On a depleted battery? What the hell?
I had not suspected that both Mobius' would be pulling such low Amps but thought I should post about my findings. Now on to the real reason I started testing at all...
Mobius Not Turning On With Car Ignition
Both my front and back Mobius' sometimes do not turn back on when the ignition is started. When this happens it happens to both mobius' simultaneously. Never has this happened to one and not the other. This happens when the Mobius' are already powered through their internal battery. This also happens when the Mobius' are running off the Anker E5 external battery that is plugged into the car lighter (the Anker supports pass through--charge a device while you use it). Why this happens with the Anker I do not know.
I have not yet had a problem with turning the ignition on and the Mobius' not coming on when they are off. But I may just be lucky so far. My typical dashcam day begins with the car starting and the Mobius' going on and when I stop somewhere they are powered by the Anker external. They only get completely turned off when I return home. I suspect that if not for the Anker I would experience problems when first starting the car and Mobius'.
Many restarts later and the 9th restart of my car did it! The Charge Doctor showed NOTHING! No Amps, no Volts, dead screen. Then a few seconds later was at 5.10-5.16V but Amps hovered between .02-.04A and would not raise above that! The only way to fix this was to pull the USB ports and replug them in.
The experiment was duplicated with and without the Anker E5 involved and in both cases when the Mobius did not go back on I got the same .02-.04A result.
Conclusions
Well, I don't have any. I do have questions...
Why are both my Mobius' pulling such low Amps when charged and recording (.35-.46A)?
Why do both pull such low Amps charging (.13-.14A)?
Why is the Mobius getting "stuck" at only pulling .02-.o4A sometimes? Why does pulling the USB and plugging them back in remedy this?
Do I have 2 bad batteries? Am I that lucky?
Or is all of this normal? And if so why the 1A requirement?
Please, if you have a Charger Doctor, play along and post your results.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/271429051607 Random ebay link for Charger Doctor.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451375 Charger Doctor How To
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