I have a galaxy 4s, my wife has an apple 6 and my daughter has an apple 4,.....none of them will charge from the 12v power outlets. They will get power, like if the phone is dead, it will turn on and stay on, till you unplug it and even if you've been driving for 3 hours in between, it won't charge. Any help?

 

Wild guess. Problem in the connector plug on the wire harness you're using. Provides power on one of the circuits but the one that goes to charge the phone is bent or broken. That circuit would have to be traced not only from the phone to the console connector, but from that point back to the power source.

Borrow or buy another cable connector and try that.

 

try another cable/connector. Typically the prongs get bent after multiple use and make poor contact points. I had that problem on my old E320s.

 

I would consider "checking" the cig adapter/plugin you are using - I prefer the ones that have a confirming "on" LED light - on the same hand with the phones you have - some of the non-name cheapies do not generate enough current/flow - they generate the correct voltage - but don't have the "umph" to fast charge... do a search on Amazon for a cig-adapter/plug-in that has correct amps/current - and I prefer LED light + "low profile" meaning I can pull the cable and close the ashtray..

 

probably repeating myself but...

Okay, the O.P. states this is a NO charge situation and not a slow charge situation. Just wanted to point out that the overall life of any battery is increased, all other things being equal, by slower, "gentler" charging. Or to put it another way, overall battery life is reduced by fast, "aggressive" charging. This applies to tool batteries, car batteries, phone batteries etc. etc.

Obviously the device and situation dictate the true need at the time. Slow charging a battery is often not acceptable. That said, when it's possible, and the charging equipment accommodates it, slower charging (less current) is the preferred method for any battery.

Everything is a compromise. If you see some charger that claims to provide super-fast charging for whatever battery it's not by any means necessarily "superior" to another charger. It's simply faster by allowing more current flow (and sometimes a bit more dangerous).

 

I am assuming that since you have tried three different phones, with at least two different cables or charging cords, that should rule out the cord, connector problems on the phone - charger side. If I am wrong, you might try the same charger, cord combinations in another vehicle and make sure that is the case.

You say the outlet(s) have power but don't charge. Have you tried measuring the voltage to make sure the sockets have the correct voltage? Voltmeters are pretty cheap these days. Also, Amazon has DC chargers with a couple of USB or 12 volt outlets and a built-in voltmeter and ammeter. They can be had for less than $15. I have one for 12 volt and one for usb and they come in pretty handy for checking charging circuits in cars, boats and other vehicles.

If you have no voltage at one or more outlets, it's probably a fuse or fuses. I had a bum charging cord once that blew fuses in whatever outlet it was plugged into. I ended up changing two fuses and getting a new charging cord.

If you do have voltage but low or no current, it gets a little more complicated. Your Mercedes has a circuit that shuts off the power outlets when the key is removed or shut off. It can also shut them down if the battery voltage gets low. Not sure whether its a relay or a solid state switch. If it's a bad solid state switch, it could allow you to see the proper voltage at the outlets, but limit current. For that, you'd probably need to go to a dealer or good independent shop. I believe there was at least one post a while back where someone had the same type of charging problem and the dealer sorted it out.

Good luck.

 

I am under the impression that the USB outlets in the MB are only supplying 500ma (.5 amp) of power and most newer Smartphones/tablets require 2000ma of power. Is your power adapter rated at 2000ma (2 amp)?


Try getting an USB adapter which is rated at 2000ma or 2100ma (2 or 2.1 amps) and then see if your device charges correctly from the power outlets.


No hope for using the USB outlet in the MB at this time for charging, unless the latest MY have upgraded the built-in USB adapters to 2000ma.

 

Your impression is faulty. The outlet in the GLK's is sufficient to charge phones. That has never been a problem in my case.

 

Well per the Command PDF for GLK, the USB outlet is only good for 500ma. I had to go and look it up since my impression was determine to be faulty (NOT ).
http://www.mbusa.com/vcm/MB/DigitalA...GLK-COMAND.pdf Page 191
"The USB port is located in the stowage compartment in the center console. Electrical consumption at this connection must not exceed a continuous current of500 mA. If the electrical consumption is higher, use a separate source to provide power for the USB device (e.g.12 V power supply)."


Now the power outlets, sure they can power up to 15 AMP's but again the charging adapter used for the USB cable still have to be able to deliver more than 500ma. which is what I stated. Be sure to be using a power outlet adapter rated for 2000ma or what your smartphone device requires for proper charging.

 

My apologies.

 

NP, I just needed to be sure that others understand that the USB socket, jack in most of the past MB only are rated for 500ma.

What you stated per say is correct, the lighter/power socket is rated at a much higher amperage (15amps), it still depends on the USB power adapter one uses in those power sockets. They have to be 2000ma or so to charge newer Smart phones/tables.

Now I do get away with a 1500ma in house AC charger, but then I am not really using Cellular, GPS, Sound and multiple applications at the same time, so the power draw on my Smartphone is lower and will charge at a slower rate then if I used a 2000ma adapter.

In the car I tend to have more applications and brighter screens and I even seen with a 2100ma adapter, the charge is a lot slower than what I normally would expect. But again the device is using a lot more power with so many features and applications open and running.

 

I decided to do some research on this and hooked up my usb voltmeter to the MB outlet in my console with my Galaxy S4 phone as a load. The phone was at about 50% charge and was drawing 1.1 amps (1100 MA) @ 5.06 V from the wall charger for reference.

The MB USB outlet only gave me 4.95V and 330 MA into the phone. So not even 500 MA output.

Just for grins, I checked two of the many 12 volt charging cords I had laying around with the same meter.

One output 660 ma at 5.02 Volts, the other 890 ma at 5.1 volts. As you can see there is some variance in output in the 12 volt charging adapters. Neither had the charging specs printed on the plug.

As LSkrabut pointed out, most newer phones and tablets with large batteries come with 2000 ma wall chargers and require at least 1500 to 2000 ma to charge them in an acceptable amount of time. Slower charges at lower current won't hurt anything, but will take longer to reach full charge. If you want a fast charge, get a high current (1500 - 2000 ma) 12 volt charging adapter.

The USB outlet in the MB console doesn't meet any charging spec that I have ever heard of. Computers with USB 1 or 2 spec ports will supply 500 ma. USB 3 pushes that to 900 ma, but the port in the console is only USB 2. Maybe MB have a substandard module that converts 12 volts down to the 5 volt usb port and limits the output current. The voltage was slightly lower than 5 volts on that port, but not enough to account for the low current output.

I'm going in for service tomorrow and will ask the dealer why the usb port doesn't source enough current. It does work fine to charge my bluetooth headphones in about an hour.

At this time, looks like the only solution is to get a high current 12 volt adapter to charge your devices.

 

Overall - the original post is straightforward - and after the round-robin discussion - the correct answer is now appearing.

1) The USB ports provided by MB are designed for data - and are NOT designed or expressed for high-current-charging - and per original pec provide low current only under 500ma - and in line with that that original spec "higher current" charger/adapter/pug-in's chargers were 1 amp. There isn't any method to increase the 500ma USB trckler current to the higher 1 amp or 2 amp current.

2) As covered by previous posts - some of the most common newer model electronics - incl but not limited to - the newer iPhone and Galaxy phones and tablets - are equipped with "fast charge" capability which by their design requires 2 amp charger or above. Again, this is determined by the device design - and over recent 1-2yrs this higher current requirement has been "raised" from 1 amp to 2 amp+.

3) There are new design cigarette lighter charge/adapters/plug in's for the 12v cigarette lighter/receptacle that that do provide 2amp current and above current - and there are many still sold that only provide about 1amp - you can cruise amazon or ebay for wide selection - some adapter designs are "low profile" or shorter plug-in's - and some are original/old style longer/taller - the height/size of the plug-in adapter does not determine the "current" - it's what the electronics are inside the adapter - and the output/current they are designed to provide that is the most important consideration in this discussion.

4) To "charge" newer devices - you need a correct spec 2amp+ charger/adapter/plug-in into the cigarette-lighter/12V socket - and run the charging cable to your device.

Keep the beat !

 

I would check this one more time at the same M-B outlet but with the phone fully discharged. I would think then you'll see very close to 500ma charging current. If not, then it would agree there is something "funky" going on.

 

If the Phone is getting 1100 ma from the wall charger at 5.06 volts at 50% charge, it should get 1076 ma from the console at 4.95 volts at the same % of charge. Since that's not happening, there has to be current limiting involved. We know that's the case because the specs say it's limited to 500 ma.

If the phone where closer to fully discharged, it wouldn't pull any more current from the console, since it is being limited, but it would pull more current from my wall charger, which is rated at 2000 ma. The phone battery internal resistance is the same for the % of charge and the voltages are effectively the same. It's pretty much Ohms law taking into account the limits of the source.

I added an aftermarket USB charging socket to my truck from Blue Sea Systems. This has two sockets and a total current of 2100 ma. I plugged my 50% discharged phone into that socket and pulled 1150 ma at 5.3 volts.

The issue is that the current isn't going above 330 ma, which is below specs. For all intents and purposes, there isn't much difference in charge times between 500 ma and 330 ma. I talked to the dealer and they will check it next week to see is they can find a problem, but I'm not expecting much. I'll go with a high output charging cord until the warrantee is up then add a high output socket like I did on my truck.

 

Thought I would pass along a solution for those looking for a 2+ amp USB charger solution that will work in the GLK.

I recently found a USB charger that fits flush inside the lighter receptacle in the console. It has 2 - 2.4 amp rated ports and will charge tablets or phones capable of taking that amount of current. The one I'm using is an (Upgraded) AUKEY 4.8A Dual Port USB Car Charger, available on Amazon for $14.99. Note: be sure you get the one labeled (Upgraded) as the non-upgraded model is a couple bucks cheaper, but appears to have more issues.

As a test, I hooked up both my Galaxy S4 phone and Galaxy Tab S tablet to see if I could charge them both at the same time. Phone was at 47% and tablet was 38% charged. The tablet was charging at 2000 ma and the phone at 1200 ma. That seems reasonable given their state of charge and relative battery capacities.

Several of the Amazon reviews talked about interference on the AM radio or audio system, but I did not hear any in the GLK. The other negative concern was that the device was too short to fit in the lighter socket of certain cars. I can confirm that this device is long enough to fit in both the console and the rear lighter sockets of the 2013 GLK.

I can't speak to reliability of the device since I have only had it for three weeks, but so far it has worked fine. I am planning on getting another for the rear lighter socket. Since the car shuts down the accessory sockets when the ignition is off, I plan to leave them in the sockets permanently.

I noticed several other manufacturer's devices on Amazon that claimed to fit flush in lighters, but the reviews scared me away. So far these appear to be decent quality and not have any major negative issues.

The only negative I could find was sometimes the charger would back out of the lighter socket when removing the USB cord from one of it's ports. A couple wraps of electrical tape around the charger has solved that problem. A better long term solution might be thin strip of teflon wrapped around the charger. Then again, the problem may go away after the USB ports get used a few more times.

 

just some readings

 

I thought I would update my last post with some further information and another alternative for phone charging.

The AUKEY 4.8A Dual Port USB Car Charger has worked flawlessly to keep my phones and tablets charged and hasn't had any issues. It fits well under the rollup console cover when not in use. So far, I have used it for over 2 years without any issues.

Lately, I have upgraded my phone to an LG V20. This phone supports Fast Charging with the right adapter and cable. The Aukey charger I have been using doesn't support the Fast charge spec, so I looked around for a flush mount charger that would.

For about the same price I paid for the Aukey charger, I found the CHGeek Mini USB-C Car Charger on Amazon. It support Qualcomm 3.0 Quick Charge and Power Delivery for the iPhone. I bought one and tested it with the V20 and it showed that it was charging at Fast Charge rates. It stays cool even when pushing maximum charge rates and seems to be made well. Thankfully, it fits a little tighter in the socket than the Aukey charger. I have had it about a week and it's been working well, so this is going to be my goto charger for the GLK. Since the GLK shuts down the 12 volt sockets when the car goes to sleep, I will leave it in the lighter socket just as I did the Aukey charger.

Either one of these chargers will work well to get around the measly current from the built-in USB port. If your phone supports fast charge or Power Delivery, the CHGeek charger will give you that capability. If you just need a charger with good charging current the Aukey has woked fine for amost two years.

Note that for some reason, Amazon won't let me or anyone else post a review for this item. When I first bought it, it had numerous positive reviews, but when I went to post another positive review the Amazon system told me it wouldn't accept my review. I looked and now it doesn't have any reviews. Maybe their review bot has flagged reviews for this item. The item is still for sale, so I'm guessing the issue has to do with reviews, not the quality of the item.