I have a redgear wireless gamepad. And I don't have any idea how much MAH battery it contains so I charge it with 1.5 amp charger which is suitable for charging phones of around 2000MAH battery. I also have a 2amp charger for charging a phone which contains battery of 4100mah. I want to know can I charge my gamepad with 2amp charger without any risk? In general is there any risk if you charge a low MAH battery with high amp charger?
Can we charge low MAH battery with high AMP charger?
- Thread starter amit.rudy
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- May 18, 2007
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If the battery itself is non-removable and charges internally using a USB cable, then the battery charging current is internally limited by the gamepad's internal charging circuitry. In that case, the gamepad will only draw whatever current it is designed to charge its battery at even if your power supply can supply 100A.
- Sep 7, 2013
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It'll charge it certainly, but generally using a low amp charger (ie below 2A output), will be kinder to the battery as it's a slower charging process - - - this will result in longer useful life for the battery.
- May 18, 2007
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It won't make any difference if the device itself is limiting charging current to something like 500mA as most devices with small cells typically do. For example, my miniature bluetooth keyboard-trackpad only draws 220mA max when charging from my tablet's original 2A/5V AC adapter.
USB "chargers", including USB-PD and QuickCharge, are nothing more than DC power supplies. They provide up to whatever current they are capable of to the device and the device has the responsibility of limiting it in a manner appropriate to its internal cell since the external power supply has no clue about the internal cells' details.
A simple reminder of that is USB voltage vs lithium cell voltage: USB is 5V nominal (up to 20V with USB-PD and QuickCharge), lithium is 4.1-4.25V max depending on specific chemistry, so any device using USB-based charging needs to do something about that extra 0.7-16V or you're effectively shorting a 5-20V source across a low impedance 4V one. Cheap low-power devices may use just a diode to drop the voltage part-way and a resistor to limit current, relying entirely on a DW01-style IC to protect the cell. Better devices will use a linear charge controller for more repeatable charging performance. Higher power devices like phones and tablets typically have their own internal buck regulator to efficiently control charging voltage and current while also powering the device itself.
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