Navigation and Battery Charging/Discharging Issues.

[LordGreylock]

Ok, so I've had my Lumia 920 since about release date. It's been working great, with very few issues. The battery has been doing very well for me and I generally love the phone.

Now on to my problem. I am posting this to see if anyone else is having similar issues.
I used the 920's navigation many times so far and I encountered an issue.
While using the Navigon app to reach my destination about an hour away, I noticed that when I got there my phone was almost dead, yet I had been charging the phone the whole time, so assuming it was my car power adapter I decided to do some testing at home using USB in a little more controlled environment.

I have used the Nokia Drive and Navigon apps for this test.

With the Navigon app I set a destination and let Navigon route to the destination in demo mode while plugged into USB on my computer, the battery discharges faster than it can recharge and the phone gets extremel hot. Thinking maybe it was just the navigon app, I decided to try the same thing with the Nokia Drive app.

I started the Nokia Drive app and set a destination, although it can't demo the route I let it sit there in the navigation mode. The phone was warm, but not hot this time. The phone gained little to no battery charge, leaving me to believe that in some circumstances the battery could also drain faster than it would charge even using Nokia Drive.

For me this is a huge problem because I typically use my cell phone for GPS since it's a very convenient solution. I also typically drive long distances for work, in which case my 920's battery would die before even reaching my destination.

Again, my battery seems to be fine on a normal day to day basis, the issue seems to be when I'm trying to use GPS. Has anyone else extensively used the GPS on this phone and run into similar issues?

 

[palandri]

This has been posted a couple of times. The solution was to either get a charging only USB cable or making a charging only USB cable by shorting the data wires in the cable. Not using a charging only USB cable would only allow 500mA of power which isn't enough when running the navigation application.

 

[wamsille]

You need to make sure the cables you are using are charging only and if you are using a CLA in the car, make sure it has a high enough amp rating to charge the device while it is being used. Many phones today draw more power than older cables can pull into the device to keep a charge. FYI, I wouldn't skimp on anything that had to do with maintaining the battery / charge of a device.

 

[LordGreylock]

Ah, ok. I'll check out the cables then, I thought maybe it was something else. I didn't see the other posts about this.

Thanks

 

[wamsille]

Ah, ok. I'll check out the cables then, I thought maybe it was something else. I didn't see the other posts about this.

Thanks

Considering every day there is some new thread about how terrible the Lumia 920 is and that it is a travesty of justice that this was released with beta software on it instead of a fully functioning Windows Phone 8, I’m not surprised you couldn’t find a thread on battery usage and discharge that isn’t a strongly worded letter of regret and misfortune.

 

[LordGreylock]

Considering every day there is some new thread about how terrible the Lumia 920 is and that it is a travesty of justice that this was released with beta software on it instead of a fully functioning Windows Phone 8, I’m not surprised you couldn’t find a thread on battery usage and discharge that isn’t a strongly worded letter of regret and misfortune.

I hear ya. I usually search before posting too. I just thought maybe I had a legitimate problem or I was doing something wrong, I even went out and got a new usb adapter for my car thinking that was the issue. Never thought it was the cable itself.

 

[Vishal Prakash]

MisterMhz, please let us know if using a "charging only" cable helped you. For me this issue is big enough to return the phone.
thanks.

 

[Etyrnus]

The charger I have in my car does well at charging the 920 while using Navigon actually. It was just the generic 2 slot USB charger from Walmart.

Also, if you are using an older car charger, even a dedicated one, it may not have the amperage to charge the 920 properly.

 

[Vishal Prakash]

Today I used navigation for around 30 mins drive with the 920 charging + nokia drive with downloaded map and mobile data turned off. The battery was 48% remaining and after the drive it was still at 48% remaining. The charger is Capdase Picoplus. It is a 5V, 2.1 A charger .

 

[Kins69]

Hello, I am new to this board though I have been following it since I got my 920 in November 2012.

I have the same issue in the car while using Nokia Drive. Despite using a 2.1A charger, the battery is drained even after a short drive.
My Lumia 800 does not suffer from this on the same charger.

I also tried several chargers, which did not help.

I do not know what you mean above by a "charge only cable". What else could a Duracell cigarette lighter plug be?

Even the tech guy at the Nokia flagship store in Helsinki was not able to help, and if I don't find a charger soon that will actually charge my phone, I'll have to get rid of it (this + all the other known issues on this phone have made it quite insufferable since almost half a year).

 

[realwarder]

Hello, I am new to this board though I have been following it since I got my 920 in November 2012.

I have the same issue in the car while using Nokia Drive. Despite using a 2.1A charger, the battery is drained even after a short drive.
My Lumia 800 does not suffer from this on the same charger.

I also tried several chargers, which did not help.

I do not know what you mean above by a "charge only cable". What else could a Duracell cigarette lighter plug be?

Even the tech guy at the Nokia flagship store in Helsinki was not able to help, and if I don't find a charger soon that will actually charge my phone, I'll have to get rid of it (this + all the other known issues on this phone have made it quite insufferable since almost half a year).

The USB charger must 'tell' the phone how capable it is at providing a charge current. The charger does this via the data pins on the cable. There are around 10 different ways this is done (typically different voltages on the pins) which makes it kind of stupid because we all look at a charger and think it will just work. There are also standard ways to do this (USB BCS1.2) but that came later than some phones and so the world got into a mess.

Typically an iPad 2.1A charger will not fully work at 2.1A with many phones (other than Apple) and instead the phones will play safe and only charge at the slower 0.5A (500mA) rate. Which makes them look like they work but it's working in a limited manner. Of course iPad chargers are the easiest to find...

Android tablet chargers often short the data pins which is more standard - so if choosing a charger for your phone, an Android charger will be much more likely to run at the full rating.

Of course if Nokia also sell one, that will work too.

 

[sideden]

I have the same problem here. Well, not that similar but I think mine is worst. Last couple of days I cannot charge the 920 even if I charge it at home. I have to restart the phone (while the charger is plugged in), then it will charge normaly. Same thing have to be done when I want to recharge the 920 in my car. Any idea why?

 

[realwarder]

I have the same problem here. Well, not that similar but I think mine is worst. Last couple of days I cannot charge the 920 even if I charge it at home. I have to restart the phone (while the charger is plugged in), then it will charge normaly. Same thing have to be done when I want to recharge the 920 in my car. Any idea why?

Makes no logical sense to me. Contact Nokia Care.

 

[pr0phecy]

Yep, having the exact same issue here. Lumia 920 with Navigon. I use an Arctic 2.1A car charger and it charges my phone superbly when I don't use Navigon! But when I start to use Navigon, the battery starts to discharge! So in my case I don't think it's the cable at all, nor my car charger. So I still don't know what the cause of this is. Is it a phone issue? Or is it a Navigon issue? Strange thing is that it has worked in the past but probably after some update (Nokia or Navigon, you tell me) the battery drain issue started to raise it's ugly head. Anybody else here where the charging did indeed work in the past, like my case? Or did you have the issue on day one? Thanks!

 

[Talderon]

I bought a spare Kindle Fire HD cable as it is charge only and can handle 5a and also several feet long. I then bought a 1000w inverter that just plugs into the charge port that has 1 USB (5a) and one household plug. I have my Laptop mounted on a holder and my phone holder on there as well. I plug the phone into USB and laptop into the plug and never have an issue with charge when using GPS.

I know the phone does not pull the full 5a, but with this setup, having 5a available, it can pull all it wants.