USB plug not charging the cell phone?

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fetv

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 31, 2015
Messages
114
The USB socket/plug under the dash in my 2015 Leaf can connect as media device, however it does not charge the battery. I don't have the problem at my other cars with the same set of USB cable and cell phone. Does anyone here have the same problem? I suspect the voltage is not high enough.
 
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power. It is the same way in my 2013, so it's not just you. I don't understand why they didn't wire it up for power, but you can purchase some cross connectors that use the 12 volt socket to power up the 5v USB port part of it and wire those together without causing any damage to it.
 
did not know this, is it stated in the users guide? I understand it may want to limit the amount of current, but I don't mind it would take longer to charge, as long as it charges.
knightmb said:
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power. It is the same way in my 2013, so it's not just you. I don't understand why they didn't wire it up for power, but you can purchase some cross connectors that use the 12 volt socket to power up the 5v USB port part of it and wire those together without causing any damage to it.
 
This has been discussed many times here. The USB port can only supply 0.5A on the Leaf, and many newer devices refuse to charge at this low rate. I have 2 Sony Android phones, one charges albeit slowly the other one doesn't. I did try to use a USB charging cable which basically has the data pins shorted which tells the device it can draw as much power as it needs, but this overloads the port and triggers overcurrent protection after some time shutting the voltage off on the USB port completely until the car is restarted. Basically if your phone cannot charge from the USB port on the Leaf you need to get one of those cigarette lighter USB charging adapters.
 
fetv said:
did not know this, is it stated in the users guide? I understand it may want to limit the amount of current, but I don't mind it would take longer to charge, as long as it charges.
knightmb said:
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power. It is the same way in my 2013, so it's not just you. I don't understand why they didn't wire it up for power, but you can purchase some cross connectors that use the 12 volt socket to power up the 5v USB port part of it and wire those together without causing any damage to it.
I stand corrected, it does work in the 2013 SV I have, but not in my 2013 S ?

I bought my 2013 S first and when the USB port couldn't charge or power anything, I assumed it was just data only because I could still use it to play music. I figured the same was true for the 2013 SV, but I just tested it outside; low and behold it charges my phone just fine.

So is your 2015 and S or SV/SL model?
 
mine is 2015 S. The dealer never mentioned to me usb port does not charge cell phone.

knightmb said:
fetv said:
did not know this, is it stated in the users guide? I understand it may want to limit the amount of current, but I don't mind it would take longer to charge, as long as it charges.
knightmb said:
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power. It is the same way in my 2013, so it's not just you. I don't understand why they didn't wire it up for power, but you can purchase some cross connectors that use the 12 volt socket to power up the 5v USB port part of it and wire those together without causing any damage to it.
I stand corrected, it does work in the 2013 SV I have, but not in my 2013 S ?

I bought my 2013 S first and when the USB port couldn't charge or power anything, I assumed it was just data only because I could still use it to play music. I figured the same was true for the 2013 SV, but I just tested it outside; low and behold it charges my phone just fine.

So is your 2015 and S or SV/SL model?
 
Surely, the S trim doesn't have a limp USB power vs. the other SV/SL trim that seem to work fine? Anyone else got a S trim and the USB can power up for charging?
 
knightmb said:
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power.
Then how does my iPod Classic (with a nearly dead battery) work from the USB port in my 2015 LEAF S? :evil: Don't post incorrect information.

The truth is the USB port delivers the standard 500ma (1/2 amp) that USB was originally designed for. Many devices with larger batteries (e.g., Android devices and iPads) charge very slowly or not at all from a "low-power" USB port. iPhones and iPods, which are generally more energy efficient than Android devices, can charge at 500ma.

Both my iPod Classic 80GB and my iPhone 5S have no problems charging from the built-in USB port. I also have a lighter plug that can charge at a faster rate or charge my iPad. I usually use this for my phone because I leave my iPod Classic attached all the time to the built-in USB port.
 
Valdemar said:
This has been discussed many times here. The USB port can only supply 0.5A on the Leaf, and many newer devices refuse to charge at this low rate. I have 2 Sony Android phones, one charges albeit slowly the other one doesn't. I did try to use a USB charging cable which basically has the data pins shorted which tells the device it can draw as much power as it needs, but this overloads the port and triggers overcurrent protection after some time shutting the voltage off on the USB port completely until the car is restarted. Basically if your phone cannot charge from the USB port on the Leaf you need to get one of those cigarette lighter USB charging adapters.

+1

Keep in mind it's all relative. If the phone draws 500ma while using GPS/google maps/etc plugging it in to the leaf 500ma port will be a wash. If the phone draws 700ma at that point it'll be losing charge just not as fast. Take that same phone that was wasting 700ma and turn it off and it'll be charging 2.5 times faster than it was wasting power.

If the slow charge isn't enough, use an adapter that does 1a. I personally avoid the 2a or higher adapters in the car. My current adapter is a dual 700ma unit which is slower than a 1a but faster than the built in 500ma port. If for some reason it ever dies I'll get a dual 1a adapter or worst case a 2.xa / 1a dual port adapter so I can use the 1a port.
 
dhanson865 said:
Valdemar said:
This has been discussed many times here. The USB port can only supply 0.5A on the Leaf, and many newer devices refuse to charge at this low rate. I have 2 Sony Android phones, one charges albeit slowly the other one doesn't. I did try to use a USB charging cable which basically has the data pins shorted which tells the device it can draw as much power as it needs, but this overloads the port and triggers overcurrent protection after some time shutting the voltage off on the USB port completely until the car is restarted. Basically if your phone cannot charge from the USB port on the Leaf you need to get one of those cigarette lighter USB charging adapters.

+1

Keep in mind it's all relative. If the phone draws 500ma while using GPS/google maps/etc plugging it in to the leaf 500ma port will be a wash. If the phone draws 700ma at that point it'll be losing charge just not as fast. Take that same phone that was wasting 700ma and turn it off and it'll be charging 2.5 times faster than it was wasting power.

Some charge is better than none, unfortunately some devices simply refuse to take 500mA, not sure why, probably it helps to simplify charging circuits and lower manufacturing costs.
 
aarond12 said:
knightmb said:
It is a data only connection, it does not supply power.
Then how does my iPod Classic (with a nearly dead battery) work from the USB port in my 2015 LEAF S? :evil: Don't post incorrect information.

The truth is the USB port delivers the standard 500ma (1/2 amp) that USB was originally designed for. Many devices with larger batteries (e.g., Android devices and iPads) charge very slowly or not at all from a "low-power" USB port. iPhones and iPods, which are generally more energy efficient than Android devices, can charge at 500ma.

Both my iPod Classic 80GB and my iPhone 5S have no problems charging from the built-in USB port. I also have a lighter plug that can charge at a faster rate or charge my iPad. I usually use this for my phone because I leave my iPod Classic attached all the time to the built-in USB port.
Did you to read the entire thread before posting? :?

I have an 2013 S and so does the topic creator has a 2015 S that the power does NOT work. But my 2013 SV sitting next to it does work. The issue seems to be either something with the S trim (which doesn't make any sense?) or something else (maybe there is a hidden fuse for the +5 power that both of ours has blown). You don't need the +5V pin for USB to work as a data only connection, so it's very possible for your iPod, iPhone, Android to work just fine as a data connection and absent charging.

I'm glad you have the S trim and working power for the USB because now I suspect there is something going on with the 5V pins in ours that is preventing it from working as a low power charger.
 
knightmb said:
Did you to read the entire thread before posting? :?
Yes.
knightmb said:
I have an 2013 S and so does the topic creator has a 2015 S that the power does NOT work.
But my 2015 LEAF S DOES work!
knightmb said:
The issue seems to be either something with the S trim (which doesn't make any sense?) or something else (maybe there is a hidden fuse for the +5 power that both of ours has blown). You don't need the +5V pin for USB to work as a data only connection, so it's very possible for your iPod, iPhone, Android to work just fine as a data connection and absent charging.
My iPod has a bad battery. It works for about 1 minute on battery power. It definitely is getting power from the USB port. I have also built custom USB cables so I understand the pinouts of the connector. I understand many (most?) on this forum don't have this knowledge.
 
I think we are all in agreement, something is wrong with ours. :lol:

USB must be providing *some* power because I can plug a USB flash drive in mine and play music from it. I know that tiny flash drive doesn't have any power inside, so something must be working. But, the USB port can't start even basic 500mA on any of my devices (phones, tablets, USB LED Light socket) but it can in the SV (same year) sitting right next to it. Everything works in the USB port when the vehicle is powered up in this other vehicle.

So the next logical question would be, is there something that can fault on the USB port (is it coming from the Stereo?) so that data connection still works, *some* power must be going through, but for some reason, the port can't even provide the basic 500mA that most devices would be able to charge from?
 
ok, thank you for all the replies, I should take it to the dealer while it is still under warranty. I think today I tried a shorter cable, it probably charged a few minutes but then it stopped.
 
fetv said:
ok, thank you for all the replies, I should take it to the dealer while it is still under warranty. I think today I tried a shorter cable, it probably charged a few minutes but then it stopped.
Good choice, I just tested mine (the one that won't charge, yet can power flash drives) and the port is limited to 100 mA of current for some reason, it won't switch to or try to achieve 500 mA which I think most devices (phones, tablets, etc.) need at least this much to actually charge. So the port does have power (100 mA) but not enough to start charging any device.

The root of the issue (although it appears to happen a lot with the S trim) might be the type of radio system installed. The S trim models don't have the NAV system, so it might be a different radio set with the USB power issue. That is only difference between my two vehicles, one has the basic radio system, the other have the NAV + radio system.

That would be another good question to help narrow this down, anyone with a S trim Leaf + having USB power issues, why type of radio system do you have?
 
knightmb said:
That would be another good question to help narrow this down, anyone with a S trim Leaf + having USB power issues, why type of radio system do you have?
All the LEAF S models only has the non-navi radio. They should be the same radio. That's not to say Nissan (or Clarion?) didn't make any minor changes from year to year, such as the amount of current the USB port can provide.

My 2015 is delivering enough current to run my iPod Classic. This model has the hard drive inside, so it takes a bit more current than the flash-based iPods. I'll look into measuring the current my USB port can provide.
 
A quick search on the subject reveals that to get full 500mA the device needs to request it from the host. There is a protocol of sorts to do this. If this negotiation process doesn't follow through the current is limited to 100mA. As I mentioned I have 2 phones, one happily pulls 500mA the other doesn't charge at all on a 2011 SL. I suspect some phones simply don't fully implement the part of the USB spec that allows them to request 500mA, and they refuse to charge at 100mA. Or it could be some Leafs have issues with their USB circuitry. A quick test would be to try to connect your offending phone to a standard (not charging) port on a PC and see if it can successfully charge there, if it doesn't it is your device that doesn't follow the USB power spec completely. If it does charge and you can confirm it happens at 500mA then the issue is likely on the Leaf side.
 
Valdemar said:
A quick test would be to try to connect your offending phone to a standard (not charging) port on a PC and see if it can successfully charge there, if it doesn't it is your device that doesn't follow the USB power spec completely. If it does charge and you can confirm it happens at 500mA then the issue is likely on the Leaf side.
Good point, the only USB port that will not charge is the one on the Leaf, my PC only does 500mA charging but has no problems with any phone or tablet device to start a charging session. I used a reverse USB cable to plug my laptop into the port to get a reading from the command line output to see what current max it negotiates but the laptop got no signal for 500mA or any power actually, it registered no reading, so as mentioned earlier, that might be why the devices are not starting a charge. Perhaps the port can provide the power to reach 500mA with the proper load but I don't have any way to test it at the moment without resorting to just a simple short circuit to load down the +5v. Don't want to make things any worse for the USB port if I don't have to. :shock:
 
I can charge my iPhone 5 in our 2014 Leaf S just fine. However, I use the lighter plug anyway because the damn Leaf radio takes control of the phone every time it's plugged in to the USB and tries to run my phone's playlist when I really just want the local FM station. Lighter plug solves two problems: low charge rate and that stupid phone control. Unfortunately, it seems that almost all of the OEM and after-market radio/USB devices do just the same.
 
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