I just got my new FP4, and am getting settled in with it. I bought the accompanying charging cable with it, and tried charging it through a wall adaptor but that does not work. I tried charging it through the same wall adapter earlier (~ 5 days ago), in the Netherlands, and that worked fine. Trying it in Canada, where I am now, it does not work.
I then tried to plug it into my computer’s USB post, and then it charged fine, although slow. Then came the most surprising part. I plugged it out of the computer and plugged it back in at a later time. This made the computer turn off instantly, leaving me very surprised.
I’m worried there is something wrong with the charging port, or the charging cable. As mentioned, both are entirely new (received ~1.5 weeks ago).
I only just learned that there are different types of chargers. I always thought they were all-purpose conduits, and that as long as you had the right cable the energy would be transformed to the right levels for your phone.
The one I am using is two-fold: a transformer, to switch between Canadian and European plugs, and plugged into that an Apple charger (somewhat old). The latter has a USB2 port, which is where I plug my charger cable into. I’ll need to find its specs. It’s always worked for my FP2, so I had never really looked into it.
On a side note, it doesn’t explain what happened to my computer, because no charger was involved there. Just the cable and the phone.
The important thing is the charger not the cable reg the different line voltage .Its printed on all charger (on the Apple its really really small at the bottom between the 2 Plugs) , and also the old should do 100-240 and 50/60hz. Still the old charger will most likely only charge very slowly and not sure if even slower with 110V. Reg the PC, it might just be a strange coincidence
Modern switching power supplies can usually handle both 120V and 240V. The charger should have information about the voltage range printed onto it. If it has worked in Canada with the FP2, then it should work now and it is unlikely to be the cause - depending on the charging standard it could be slow, though.
Still, the charger could simply be broken by now. Have you tried charging another device with it recently? It also doesn’t hurt to try another cable. Those can also have quality issues or break. Have you checked the phone’s USB port for dirt or anything else that could prevent a good connection?
It could be a number of things. USB can be buggy at times and does strange things. Does the PC and USB port still work or is something broken now? It could be as simple as a USB driver issue or something more serious.
Thanks for the thorough answer. The charger still works fine with my FP2. No dirt or dust in the charger or cables. The problem seems to be that the charger is not able to deliver the right voltage, and thus no charging of the FP4 happens. I will need to go out and get a new charger.
As for the computer: the usb port is still fine, and so is the computer as a whole. Not sure what happened there.
Just to be sure:
Does the charger manage to charge the FP2 in Canada right now? It is unlikely that it delivers the wrong voltage. If the label clearly shows a 120-240V range then the charger should able to output the correct voltage under those circumstances as shown by the FP2 that charges.
But it could still be defective in some way that hinders proper negotiation with the phone under the given circumstances. I have seen all kinds of weird behaviors involving combinations of chargers, cables and phones that should not happen given that they all comply to the same standards and clearly work in other combinations.
Anyway, it would be interesting to learn if a different charger solves your problem.