Forum Discussion

towpro's avatar
towpro
Explorer
Jun 19, 2016

please recommend USB outlet that works Boondocking

I charge my phone at night. one of the new Androids that uses the Turbo charging system 2X.

My Wolf Creek has a USB charger built into it, but it don't even work when the shore power is plugged in.
There is also a 12V outlet present.

But when I am boon docking, I don't have 120V and the 200W solar only boost the voltage during the day time but I need to charge at night.
I have Two 90Ah 12v AGM batteries,so surely I can afford to charge a phone.

can any body recommend USB charger that meets the following:
1) will run off 12V. standard 12V car type plug, OR replace my 12V USB adapter that is in panel mount.
2) Will run off 12V, meaning batteries are not being charged by solar or AC power, so it will not be 13.X volts, it will be 12.4v-12.7V that you see with a battery that has a little load on it.

all the car chargers seem to be designed to be used when the car is running, which means they see 13.X volts
  • Beware, not all USB chargers are the same. There are LOTS of devices that don't work with various chargers, especially, but not limited to Apple.

    THIS Is a dual port charger @ 2.1A each. I have yet to find anything that isn't happy with it, including pads.
  • smkettner wrote:
    Make sure it is 2+ amps for every USB outlet



    x2

    I don't even bother using the factory usb outlet that NW gives you. It's a pain to get to and it's only 1A. I tapped into the 12V supply and installed dual 12V sockets. Can plug anything in now including 2 4.8A each Anker usb plugs or straight 12V plugs. Much better than choosing one or the other. Eventually , I'll install some more around the camper
  • I had an el cheapo 12V adapter for USB charging in the vehicle, but it was only charging the phone 1/4 of the time; usually the phone would say 'invalid charging device' or some such. This week I ordered (on Amazon) and received a new one by Anker. They say they include 'smart' electronics that senses the device being charged and tailors the output to that device's need. It seems to be working perfectly... no more 'invalid' messages from the phone.

    While I was at it, I also bought one of the Anker Astro E5 portable charging units with 16 amp-hour battery, for about $30. It seems useful for those times when I have set up camp and I don't go anywhere for several days; it can recharge my phone a half dozen times if necessary. I looked at some charge units that have a little solar panel built in, but reviewers all say the panels are useless (too small to accomplish anything significant), so I passed on those.

    edit: Mine is an iPhone 3GS.
  • thanks.I found one on amazon, plugs into 12v outlet, and had 2 outlets.
    one outlet is Charge 2 for my Android and the other outlet is standard USB for her apple. hopefully this will work as we become less dependent on shore power and more dependent on solar.

    I did monitor today as I lifted the camper from low level up to 40" to load it on my truck, all done without AC hooked up, when I was done I went in and Bogart still said 100% charged. this tells me that all 4 jacks running was supported 100% by my 200w solar system :)
  • Naio's avatar
    Naio
    Explorer II
    What Jim said.

    I use a standard 99 cent usb car charger, off my house battery.

    Or, if I want to be extra inefficient, I use the usb socket on my 120v power strip that is plugged into the inverter ;). I figure it doesn't matter much, for the amount of juice a phone uses.