We’ve all heard horror stories about USB car chargers draining car batteries. It’s enough to make you think twice before plugging in your device. But is it really true? Are USB car chargers a hazard to your car’s battery? This article will separate fact from fiction and answer the question – will a USB car charger drain your battery?
Will a USB Car Charger Drain Your Battery?
The answer is no. Plain and simple, a USB car charger will not damage your battery. It’s like plugging any other device into your car’s cigarette lighter port to charge via a wall outlet (e.g., a portable speaker). This isn’t something that plugs directly into your battery.
What Is A USB Car Charger?
A USB car charger is a special type of charger designed to be used in cars. They are designed to plug into a car’s 12V DC socket (cigarette lighter socket) and provide power to USB devices like smartphones, tablets, and USB-powered car speakers. Some USB car chargers are capable of charging more than one device at a time, but others can only charge one device at a time. USB car chargers can be used for more than just charging your device’s battery. Many USB car chargers have additional ports for charging other devices like tablets or laptops. Some USB car chargers even have built-in AC inverters that allow you to plug regular AC devices into your car.
Tips For Using USB Car Chargers Safely
- Don’t keep your car running while you’re using a USB car charger. If you leave your car running while you’re using a USB car charger, the battery could potentially drain faster because of the extra power being drawn from the battery. That could lead to problems with your charging system.
- Don’t leave a USB device plugged into the cigarette lighter without turning it on. If you leave a USB device plugged into the cigarette lighter without turning it on, then it may drain your battery faster than usual. That can lead to some problems with your charging system and could also damage your car’s electrical system if you have an older model car.
- Don’t connect multiple devices to one power point in your vehicle. It’s best to use one power point in your vehicle for all of the devices that are connected to it so that they don’t draw more power than they should be drawing from the battery or electrical system in your vehicle.
- Make sure that you are using a good quality USB cable when charging any type of device in your vehicle
- A good quality cable will have gold connectors and will be firmly connected to both ends of the cable so that it doesn’t come loose and disconnect from the device that you are charging.
- Don’t leave devices plugged in overnight
- Don’t leave your devices plugged in for long periods of time without turning them on or unplugging them every few hours so that your battery doesn’t drain too quickly.
- Don’t charge your devices while you’re driving.
- Don’t leave phone chargers plugged into the cigarette lighter in your car for long periods of time.
- Make sure that you are using a good quality USB cable when charging any type of device in your vehicle
Common Myths About USB Car Chargers
- “A car charger will not drain your battery”A car charger is nothing more than a simple wall wart. It draws power from the vehicle’s battery and converts it to electricity. This electricity must then be converted back into a physical form (current) and fed back into the vehicle’s electrical system. The power draw from a car charger is very small compared to the overall draw of the vehicle’s electrical system.
- “If I use my phone while it’s plugged in, I’ll drain my battery faster”This is not true; in fact, it takes much more energy to keep your phone running from a dead battery than it does when you are plugged in. As soon as your phone starts drawing power from the car charger, its internal circuitry will begin shutting down parts of itself to save energy, which has an effect on how fast your phone runs while plugged in.
- “There are no benefits to using USB over 12V DC because you can’t charge devices at 12V DC with USB.”USB doesn’t really care what voltage you’re using; as long as you’re using at least 5 volts (minimum), it will work just fine with any device that supports USB charging – whether that be laptops, smartphones, tablets, or anything else.
- “I can’t use my car charger with my phone while I’m driving”You can, but it will drain your battery faster and make you less safe on the road because you won’t be able to use your phone for navigation if it’s plugged in and running from the car charger.
- “A car charger will only charge one device at a time.”A car charger is capable of charging more than one device at a time, as long as they are all powered by USB (or another type of charging). This means you can plug in multiple phones, tablets, or even laptops if they’re all powered by USB (or other voltage) and all connected to the same car charger.
- “My phone is not compatible with a USB car charger.”USB devices are designed to be backward compatible; in fact, most modern smartphones even have features that allow them to be charged using older chargers without any issues; just check your specific device’s manual for details. The only real way to know whether or not your device is compatible with a USB car charger is to test it out yourself; there’s no way for anyone else to tell you whether or not it will work.
- “The car charger I want to use has a special cable that only fits my car’s charging port.”This is not true; almost any USB car charger will fit into any vehicle’s charging port, as long as the mating connector is compatible with your device’s charging pinout (the little pins on the end of the cable that plug into your phone or another device). You can get away without buying a special cable if you’re using a power adapter with your phone (which most people do), but it will be much easier to use if you do.
- “I can only charge one device at a time.”Again, this is not true; you can charge multiple devices simultaneously if they’re all powered by USB (or other voltage). There are also power supplies that contain multiple ports so that you can charge more than one device at once. Even so, most devices come with some type of feature which allows them to be charged while they are being used, so unless you’re trying to completely drain your battery (which would be bad), there isn’t much reason to limit yourself to just one device at a time.
- “You have to buy a separate cable for each device that you want to charge. This is not true; you can get a single USB car charger that will charge up to four devices at once. This makes it easier to keep all of your devices charged and ready for use, even if you’re charging them from the same car charger.
- “I should just buy an adapter so that I can use my iPhone’s cable with this USB car charger.”This is actually a good idea if you have an iPhone, iPad, or another device that only charges using a specific type of cable (such as the Apple 30-pin connector). However, most people simply use the same type of cable they would normally use with their phone, so there’s no reason to pay extra for an adapter. Furthermore, most people also have other cables that they can use with their devices; I personally own a handful of different cables
Conclusion
A USB car charger is a special type of charger designed to be used in cars. It is designed to plug into a car’s 12V DC power port and provide power to USB devices like smartphones, tablets, and USB-powered car speakers. Some USB car chargers are capable of charging more than one device at a time, but others are designed to charge one device at a time. When you plug a USB device into your car’s 12V DC power port, the device draws power from the car battery. The car’s charging system regulates how much power the device draws from the battery. When you plug a USB car charger into your 12V DC power port, it draws a steady amount of power from the battery. It then sends it to your USB device via the cables to charge it.