[Windows Central Question]

It took 4 hours to charge it from 20% to 100% Is this normal

[neo158]

Yeah, that would have something to do with it. You should always use the supplied charger.

[N_LaRUE]

Why aren't you using the supplied charger?

The time it takes to charge a phone is based on the current of the charger. A lower current charger will take longer to charge your phone.

Saying that, you should use the supplied charger as it's designed for that phone.

[Ebuka Allison]

You identify the problem in your question.

[RumoredNow]

The 2500 mAh battery in the 640 is a very respectable size. If I know Lumia, you probably should have a 1.3 amp output on the charger... If you are using a 500 mA (or 0.5 amp) charger it will take some time.

The OEM charger you should have received would most likely be this: Nokia 1.3A Micro USB Wall Charger AC-50U - Smartphone Chargers & Cables

If you have to save $$$ and use a 3rd party charger. look for a higher output than what you have currently. Pun intended.

[yogi01]

The problem is not only the nominal output of the charger you use.
The original charger has a nominal output of 700mA. But Lumia detects "original accessories" and charges much slower if the charger is identified as non-original. I have not measured the current, but with my 1500mA (nominal) charger it takes about twice the time. I think the identification is made by checking the data pins, like Samsung did (does?). I suspect that a shortcut between the data pins will do, but I am not shure yet.

[neo158]

The problem is not only the nominal output of the charger you use.
The original charger has a nominal output of 700mA. But Lumia detects "original accessories" and charges much slower if the charger is identified as non-original. I have not measured the current, but with my 1500mA (nominal) charger it takes about twice the time. I think the identification is made by checking the data pins, like Samsung did (does?). I suspect that a shortcut between the data pins will do, but I am not shure yet.

So you're suggesting that instead of using the charger the OP got with the phone they should short out the data pins and potentially damage the phone?

[Wam1q]

The problem is not only the nominal output of the charger you use.
The original charger has a nominal output of 700mA. But Lumia detects "original accessories" and charges much slower if the charger is identified as non-original. I have not measured the current, but with my 1500mA (nominal) charger it takes about twice the time. I think the identification is made by checking the data pins, like Samsung did (does?). I suspect that a shortcut between the data pins will do, but I am not shure yet.

My Lumia charges faster with high-output Samsung chargers, and it displays "Phone charging slowly..." message when I use a slower-than-original charger.

[N_LaRUE]

So you're suggesting that instead of using the charger the OP got with the phone they should short out the data pins and potentially damage the phone?

I think you read that wrong. I think they were suggesting how the phone might recognise that the charger is a Nokia charger.

Shorting data pins is one possibility. What this does is send a loop back signal to the phone indicating that the charger is Nokia. It's a rather simplistic way of doing it but I'd be surprised if that's even true. I'd want to see proof if they had a parity check to ensure their charger being used.

[N_LaRUE]

My Lumia charges faster with high-output Samsung chargers, and it displays "Phone charging slowly..." message when I use a slower-than-original charger.

What Samsung charger do you have?

You should only use the original charger...

[Wam1q]

What Samsung charger do you have?

You should only use the original charger...

Umm... Note 4 fast (or quick?) charger and Lumia 535

[yogi01]

So you're suggesting that instead of using the charger the OP got with the phone they should short out the data pins and potentially damage the phone?

No, I do not suggest that.
What I have found out so far:
I have an old Samsung Omnia 2 (i8000) and some chargers (230V and 12V types).
The Omnia recognises some of them and charges, while with others it powers on, but does not charge.
The Omnia charges with the original Microsoft charger of Lumia 640.
The Lumia shows the "slow charging" message on all chargers that do not work with the Omnia. It does not show the message on all chargers that do work with the Omnia.
USB specs for detecting a charger demand a resistor smaller than 200Ohms between D+ and D-.

[Nam3d]

Just a quick question not really familiar with the topic, but sometimes I use my old lumia 800 cable with an car adapter. Charging more slowly is not really an issue, but could it be harmful to the battery lifetime or would the damage be neglectable?

[N_LaRUE]

Just a quick question not really familiar with the topic, but sometimes I use my old lumia 800 cable with an car adapter. Charging more slowly is not really an issue, but could it be harmful to the battery lifetime or would the damage be neglectable?

Cable doesn't matter. Using a car adapter is fine.

Things that effect lifetime of a battery are temperature and number of charging cycles.

There's little that effect a battery really.

[Nam3d]

Thank you for the quick and clear reply.

[xandros9]

My Lumia charges faster with high-output Samsung chargers, and it displays "Phone charging slowly..." message when I use a slower-than-original charger.

Faster the charger, the faster the phone charges until the phone reaches the fastest rate at which it can change. Yup.

What Samsung charger do you have?

You should only use the original charger...

Not necessarily, power is power.
As long as the charger puts out enough power and isn't of shoddy construction, it'll work fine.

[N_LaRUE]

Not necessarily, power is power.
As long as the charger puts out enough power and isn't of shoddy construction, it'll work fine.

I'm well aware that power is power being in the electrical industry for over 20 years...

I recommended the original charger because that's good practice. Also it stops these thread of, 'my phone is charging slowly when I use X charger'.... If you want faster charging use a 1.5A charger. If you want really fast, get a newer phone that can use the fast chargers.

I'm still not convinced on how the battery handles fast charges though. I have enough knowledge about batteries but not to the full chemical level that what effects them when being charged at a rapid rate. I've read a few articles and investigated other bits but it's sometimes a bit of a mind field with regards to people's perspective on technology.

[xandros9]

I'm well aware that power is power being in the electrical industry for over 20 years...

I recommended the original charger because that's good practice. Also it stops these thread of, 'my phone is charging slowly when I use X charger'.... If you want faster charging use a 1.5A charger. If you want really fast, get a newer phone that can use the fast chargers.

I'm still not convinced on how the battery handles fast charges though. I have enough knowledge about batteries but not to the full chemical level that what effects them when being charged at a rapid rate. I've read a few articles and investigated other bits but it's sometimes a bit of a mind filed with regards to people's perspective on technology.

Fair enough!

[PretzelLogix]

My old WP7 phone used to have the oddest problems charging, too. Like most other people in here have said, you should use the power adapter that comes with your phone, but in general, it'll be fine to use a 1 or 2A charger. (Sometimes listed as 1000mA or 2000mA)

Recently, I stumbled across some portable LED USB Multimeter things and found that they were really good for diagnosing phone charging problems. Specifically, I found that my one Windows phone would occasionally get into some strange state where it would take a charge, but very slowly. The solution was the shut down the phone, pop the battery out, wait 5 sec, pop it back in and restart. Then it would charge fine.



(Google "portable led usb multimeter" if you're interested in my write-up...)

[N_LaRUE]

My old WP7 phone used to have the oddest problems charging, too. Like most other people in here have said, you should use the power adapter that comes with your phone, but in general, it'll be fine to use a 1 or 2A charger. (Sometimes listed as 1000mA or 2000mA)

Recently, I stumbled across some portable LED USB Multimeter things and found that they were really good for diagnosing phone charging problems. Specifically, I found that my one Windows phone would occasionally get into some strange state where it would take a charge, but very slowly. The solution was the shut down the phone, pop the battery out, wait 5 sec, pop it back in and restart. Then it would charge fine.



(Google "portable led usb multimeter" if you're interested in my write-up...)

That can only mean two things.

Either the connection with the battery was poor or the software had a glitch in it.

[PretzelLogix]

I think it was a firmware glitch with the charger circuit. It would usually happen if I had suddenly connected, disconnected, and then reconnected the phone to power.

[neo158]

I think you read that wrong. I think they were suggesting how the phone might recognise that the charger is a Nokia charger.

Shorting data pins is one possibility. What this does is send a loop back signal to the phone indicating that the charger is Nokia. It's a rather simplistic way of doing it but I'd be surprised if that's even true. I'd want to see proof if they had a parity check to ensure their charger being used.

What I don't understand is why someone would suggest shorting the pins when OP obviously has the charger supplied with the 640!!!

[N_LaRUE]

What I don't understand is why someone would suggest shorting the pins when OP obviously has the charger supplied with the 640!!!

I wouldn't try shorting the pins and I'm not bad with a soldering iron. :P

I don't think they were necessarily suggesting the OP short the pins. I mark it down to English not being their native language (from what I can tell).

I think they were just expressing how it could be achieved.

[Dietrich Cleijne]

My L1520 charges the battery within 1,5 hour when i use the Original adaptor, when i use the adaptor from my wife's 520 it takes at least 3 hours.

[gpobernardo]

I have doubts about the data-pin shorting "trick". I think its all about the output rating of the charger being used, whether it is the charger supplied with the phone or not.

Using both the original chargers supplied with the phone, the L535 (1905mAh battery) charges a lot longer than the L1020 (2000mAh battery) even if the L1020 has a higher capacity battery (though only slightly higher). This is because the L535 charger has an output of 550mA while the L1020 charger has an output of 1.5A.

Based on what I've tried before, using a charger with a lower current output results in longer charging time, but it also seems that the battery life is also longer* with the same usage, while using a charger with the same output rating as the original charger results in the same charging time (compared with the original). This is the same reason why it takes so long to charge a phone through the USB port (1.0 and 2.0) of a PC.

*- To complement N_LaRUE's post in post #17 about the chemistry of how batteries respond to high charging rates, energy is released from the battery when the Li-ions move from the anode to the cathode. These anodes and cathodes are made up of a material that is capable of holding or storing the ions, and movement is through ionic diffusion. Now, the media into which the Li ion diffuses through (usually a carbon material) can handle a back-diffusion rate up to a certain maximum before the material starts to "warp" and distort... faster charging (and discharging) rates means more warping and distortion. This is the reason why batteries bulge over time. Using a lower output-rated charger isn't as harmful, after all hence, to the battery as it is to the passage of time.