Charging

srcrain · Jun 21, 2017

For some reason when I try to charge the battery directly through the Spark it only works when the USB is plugged into a wall adapter. Charging doesn't work from my computer USB or car USB. Anyone else have this problem?

WayneMHK · Jun 21, 2017

I've only charged using an iPad adapter or the charger included in the fly-more package. Wondering if your computer or car USB port supplies enough wattage. That would be my guess. I know I had to by a "beefier" car charger for my iPad.

srcrain · Jun 21, 2017

That would be my guess too, but my iPhone and iPad charge fine. I think the iPhone battery is similar capacity to the Spark battery and iPad is much more (I think). Weird.

Hansd · Jun 21, 2017

Check the Amperage and Wattage on your chargers. Most car chargers are 1000mA, eg. 5 watt. This is not enough. You probably need at least 2,1 A (10-12 Watt) like for modern Iphones and Ipads.

Mike · Jun 21, 2017

I had a funny issue with mine this past weekend. I flew the battery down pretty low, plugged it into my battery bank and an outlet. When I would come back to check on it, it would only have 1 blinking light (not the first light either what would be #4 or the fully charged light was blinking). This went on for well over an hour on both charging devices. I un-plugged the battery from the Spark and plugged it back in, after that it seemed to charge like it normally would.. No big deal, just thought I would share my issue.

WayneMHK · Jun 21, 2017

Mike said:
I had a funny issue with mine this past weekend. I flew the battery down pretty low, plugged it into my battery bank and an outlet. When I would come back to check on it, it would only have 1 blinking light (not the first light either what would be #4 or the fully charged light was blinking). This went on for well over an hour on both charging devices. I un-plugged the battery from the Spark and plugged it back in, after that it seemed to charge like it normally would.. No big deal, just thought I would share my issue.

Is it possible the battery was was warm when you went to charge? Need to let them cool a bit before charging.

jimbug · Jun 21, 2017

Have charged Spark with USB only once from car charger and it charged no problem. I used an old Palm phone 12v car charger with a short length of USB to microUSB cable.

Mike · Jun 21, 2017

WayneMHK said:
Is it possible the battery was was warm when you went to charge? Need to let them cool a bit before charging.

Yes it was warm but not hot, I think it got even warmer sitting there on the charger without it doing anything (which makes sense).

Glad I ordered 2 extra batteries, gives it plenty of time to cool down between.

jimbug · Jun 21, 2017

I've noticed that a battery just being slightly warm is enough to not let it charge. My charger sets a foot away from A/C vent, so placing battery on vent for just a minute will cool it down enough to charge in most cases.

Xanth · Jun 22, 2017

Anyone else notice that USB takes 2x more time than the charger?

Hansd · Jun 22, 2017

Xanth said:
Anyone else notice that USB takes 2x more time than the charger?

It all depends on the Wattage of the charger behind the usb port, not the usb port itself.

Xanth · Jun 22, 2017

Hansd said:
It all depends on the Wattage of the charger behind the usb port, not the usb port itself.

I'm using all top of the line 2.1 - 5 amp QC chargers. An in-line meter shows that the actual draw is just shy of 2 amps.

The user manual says that a full charge with USB takes 1.33 hrs. I've found that the charging hub from the fly-more takes about 20-30 minutes. Definitely the way to go unless you're going to be AC-less for many hours.

FatherXmas · Jun 23, 2017

Hansd said:
It all depends on the Wattage of the charger behind the usb port, not the usb port itself.

Also depends on how heavy duty the cable is from the charger to the device. I've had charging problems on my tablet that switching to a heavier duty cord fixed.