Is Hubbell the only worthwhile USB wall outlet?

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Electric-Light

Electric-Light

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Originally, USB ports were only designed to carry 0.5A. USB connected devices fall back to 0.5A draw when they can not verify the power source capability. It does not matter how many amps the power source can provide if the device can not confirm it is ok to draw full power.

The outer two pins deliver power and center two are data. There are many methods used to communicate capability and many wall chargers and portable packs do not have the necessary electronics to communicate available amperage to devices and prevent them from being able to utilize all the power. So, iPhone and iPads charge at slow rate with most USB wall outlets and you end up having to use an Apple 120v charger in a USB receptacle to get high speed charge. Hubbell is the only exception I am aware of that can negotiate with Apple devices to charge at full power. But it's $30 for a duplex + 2 USB. :ashamed:
 
dfmischler said:
I have a Leviton T5632-I (on a GFCI circuit) above my kitchen counter for charging. Claims to charge at up to 3.6A. No problems with it. Home Depot has it locally for $22.97.
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infinity said:
I use the Leviton ones also and like them very much.
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It can not communicate with iPhone and iPad to go into fast charge. No doubt the power supply can do 3.6A, but can not get Apple devices to work with it to their full potential
 
Electric-Light said:
It can not communicate with iPhone and iPad to go into fast charge. No doubt the power supply can do 3.6A, but can not get Apple devices to work with it to their full potential
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Can you provide something to back up your statement? I have installed mostly Legrand but also some Leviton and have not received any complaints. Looking at reviews of the devices it doesn't seem to indicate its a common problem.
 
I have a Leviton USB4P installed in the family room and it works great with the iPads, Kindle Fires, and Android/Iphones as well.

Put the Leviton T5632-W on my daughter's desk (wall) and not had any issues, just like dfmischler.
 
Chamuit said:
I have a Leviton USB4P installed in the family room and it works great with the iPads, Kindle Fires, and Android/Iphones as well.

Put the Leviton T5632-W on my daughter's desk (wall) and not had any issues, just like dfmischler.
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I checked reviews and I see multiple consumer comments expressing less than full capabilities with Apple products, and some reporting issues when two Apple products are connected. There is a power supply, then there is a communication module that communicates with the device. It's possible that that the communication portion has changed with newer lot.

Does your iPad charge at the same speed while in use as using the factory adapter? What happens when you have two Apple products connected to it at once?

DKVvazI.jpg
 
So you are picking a few bad reviews to prove the product will not work with Apple devices? How about the other 83% of the 4 & 5 star reviews?
This product like almost every other electronic product suffers from the pressure of competition to be manufactured as cheap as possible. There are going to be defective units sold.
 
curt swartz said:
So you are picking a few bad reviews to prove the product will not work with Apple devices? How about the other 83% of the 4 & 5 star reviews?
This product like almost every other electronic product suffers from the pressure of competition to be manufactured as cheap as possible. There are going to be defective units sold.
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And let us not dismiss this from Leviton to that guy who wrote that review:

Leviton sincerely regrets your experience. To ensure your complete satisfaction, we would like to send you a replacement and request that you return the device you received from Amazon to give us the opportunity to examine it. Please send your shipping address to eBusiness@leviton.com and we will also include a postage pre-paid shipping envelope to return the device you purchased.

David Keller
Leviton
Senior Director, e-Business
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Seems like a pretty good response from a manufacturer making good on its product IMO.
 
FWIW, I would rather have a plug-in charger than one built into an outlet. That way, when it fails I just unplug it and plug in another one.
 
Electric-Light said:
So, iPhone and iPads charge at slow rate with most USB wall outlets and you end up having to use an Apple 120v charger in a USB receptacle to get high speed charge.
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I find this is frequently due to the use of a $3.00 USB cable versus an expensive ' Certified' cable.
 
It would be ideal if they said which charge controller they use in their model or the supported capabilities but they don't.
This tells you a lot more about this: http://apcmag.com/android-usb-charging-secrets.htm Many chargers have the data pins jumpered together or not connected at all. Compatibility issues, especially like the one that one guy mentioned about no longer charging on the wall USB after an iOS update is likely not hardware defect.

A good one would have an actual smart chip that configures it.

http://www.obddiag.net/usb-power.html yeah this kind of issue.


On the eaton one, I see..
ByR. Poffenbergeron June 24, 2013
Color: Black|Style Name: 15-Amp|Verified Purchase
Easy to install. Works great for charging any product that plugs into a USB outlet, iphone, iPod.
However after more use, it does not seem to charge my iPhone 6+ as fast as the big (2.1A) iPad charger. It takes about twice as long using this outlet (6 hours vs 3 hours for the iPad charger to go from 20% to 100%).
 
I have a Leviton installed in my house and use it to charge Apple products. As far as I can tell, performance is comparable to the Apple chargers but I've admittedly never done a scientific test.

And as others have stated, I made the mistake of buying an off-brand charging cable once. It had problems regardless of the charging source.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the link E-L.
Confirmed on my wifes Apple charger the 2.0, 2.7V on data pins.

Very interesting to know.

I recently bought a multiple LED VU meter to diagnose why Pandora streamed audio through my Roku is so much louder than other channels.
It uses a USB port to get its power and the device is very sensitive to ripple on the power supply. I tried 3 different three USB type chargers and the Apple Charger had the least noise :(
 
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ggunn said:
FWIW, I would rather have a plug-in charger than one built into an outlet. That way, when it fails I just unplug it and plug in another one.
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I agree. Cheaper and no installation either. Can't help thinking that this USB thing is a fad. Technology changes so quickly. It can go to a different connector or be eliminated completely in favor of wireless charging. Why would anybody want to permanently install something that probably will be obsolete in a few years? I wonder too, fifty years from now will some young EC post a picture of one here and ask "what's this?"

-Hal
 
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