Proper usage of the wireless charger

[Dena]

Like others on the site I have had difficulty getting the wireless charger to work with my iPhone. It would charge slow and the phone would get hot. By accident, I discovered it was user error. The proper procedure for using the charger is to place your phone as far forward in the cradle as it will go. Next you need to center it left to right in the cradle the best you can. The antenna small so if the phone isn't centered correctly it will induce current in the case resulting in heating instead of a charge. I found in the three mile drive to work I could boost the charge by about 10% which is probably faster than my plug in charger without heating.
I am thinking about making small spacers for the side to prevent the phone from sliding during spirted driving.

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[HWill]

I don't know about this. I have looked into the charging pad for a while now and pretty much gave up on it. I never had any slow charging issues but did have heat issues that caused me to stop using the charging pad and not put 1 in my wife's Bronco.

It doesn't sound like user error at all but a bad design as many have found out with the Bronco too.

User error would not have the user adding spacers to center the phone on a pad that the phone doesn't need to be centered on.

 

[ArthurJGuy]

There should be a little spacer at the bottom that pushes your phone forward, it might not have been installed in PDF.

 

[ZBOBMAN]

I found that you have a phone case and the plastic/rubber mat, it makes charging difficult. Removing the plastic/rubber mat and leaving the phone case on helps the charging process.

 

[thelostone]

The 12v socket makes it harder to charge my phone because it’s in the way when I put my phone on the wireless charger ..bad design

 

[Zig]

Do MagSafe cases work better/worse?

 

[thelostone]

Do MagSafe cases work better/worse?
[/QUOTE

Do MagSafe cases work better/worse?

Just asked my friend and he said once he started using a MagSafe case it charges better and faster

 

[AlphaQueu]

There should be a little spacer at the bottom that pushes your phone forward, it might not have been installed in PDF.

Can you take a picture for us? My car has no spacer

 

[Eurasianman]

I have an iPhone 14 Pro (read: non-Max) and an Otterbox Slim with a Pop Socket integrated case. It's a hit/miss on the wireless charger pad working. It works better if I remove the case from the phone, but that seems a bit excessive. Also, with wireless charging, case or no case, your phone will get/feel a lot hotter regardless.

 

[Dena]

I have an iPhone 14 Pro (read: non-Max) and an Otterbox Slim with a Pop Socket integrated case. It's a hit/miss on the wireless charger pad working. It works better if I remove the case from the phone, but that seems a bit excessive. Also, with wireless charging, case or no case, your phone will get/feel a lot hotter regardless.

I have an iPhone mini in an otter box that I charged in the case. It is possible for the case to be thicker in a larger phone. I also have only tried it once for a relatively short time. I was reading the specs for a 14 pro (another problem) and it said it could charge at up to 15 watts. That's a lot of juice for something so small. Even 5 watts would be a healthy charge for a phone. I don't mind if it takes a few hours to charge my phone as long as it's getting charged so I do most of my charging with the small factory charger.

 

[5.0ALM]

For maximum efficiency, the device's induction loop (referred to as the "antenna" above) needs to be centrally located above the charger pad's induction loop, and with minimal distance between. (ie; thick cases are bad).

Poor alignment (or increased distance between) means reduced efficiency, which results in heat (wasted energy) and extended charging times.

I do a lot of travel (domestic and international) with work and went through a phase of using a flat Qi charging pad in the hotel room, ultimately the same as what's fitted in vehicles.

Ignore the hazard tape.
This was only to make the charger pad more visible so it wasn't left behind when checking out.
Black things tend to be harder to see when packing your junk up, and easily left behind - ask me how I know.

All of these charging pads are finicky with device placement.
Off by a cm or so (½" for you Merican folks) and it stopped working.

These desktop Qi chargers are great (I have 5 scattered over the place), but aren't suited to a vehicle center console.
(The device becoming a hazard under hard acceleration/braking)

Trial and error placement, or try Googling for a "tear down" of your specific phone model.

In my example, a Samsung Galaxy S23+, we can see the induction coil is horizontally central, but less than half way up vertically. Confirming that some length-ways offset is required on a flat charger pad.

Custom spacers is great idea.

You want to be able to drop your phone into it, and it will stay located, even when driving through twisties.

This might be a good excuse to buy a 3D printer, and fab a custom surround!

 

[timd38]

I have zero issues with the charging pads in any of my vehicles. I just don’t put a case on the phone and I don’t have any problems.

 

[Snakeman]

Like others on the site I have had difficulty getting the wireless charger to work with my iPhone. It would charge slow and the phone would get hot. By accident, I discovered it was user error. The proper procedure for using the charger is to place your phone as far forward in the cradle as it will go. Next you need to center it left to right in the cradle the best you can. The antenna small so if the phone isn't centered correctly it will induce current in the case resulting in heating instead of a charge. I found in the three mile drive to work I could boost the charge by about 10% which is probably faster than my plug in charger without heating.
I am thinking about making small spacers for the side to prevent the phone from sliding during spirted driving.

My Samsung S10 w plain case charges intermittently and gets relatively warm. With my BMW, no issues, fast and barely gets warm. So obviously it's Fords crappie charger.
I will try pushing forward assuming u mean towards the dash. Thanks for the post

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