QI Charging Pad

[RWaggers]

Does anyone else have problems with their QI wireless charger?

I have a Galaxy S9 in, I must say, in a pretty thick case.  The phone will charge happily on my indoor Samsung wireless charger and I have also fitted a QI - enabled universal dashboard charger to another car and the phone is also happy with that.

However, when I attempt to use the Prius' built-in charger, the phone will charge for about 30 seconds and then stop with three flashes on the charger's led.  Taking the cover off the phone clears the problem so I'm guessing that the case is too thick for the Prius.

I don't know a lot about the inner workings of wireless charging, but it appears that the car's charger doesn't give as much 'omph' as any of the other chargers I use.

Would anyone know if there's any adjustments that can be made to the charger?

[PeteB]

My Galaxy S7 works fine on the Prius charger.  It's in a Samsung case made for that phone, which is not particularly thick, but good enough to protect the phone.  I like the way the phone goes to sleep when I close the case and wakes up immediately when I open it.

I've never seen anything in the car's manuals about any sort of adjustment, but I do notice when I turn on the charging base, or place the phone on it when it's already on, there is a feint whirring sound for a second or so as if something inside is moving.

I don't have access to any other wireless charger so can't compare, I use a wired charger on my bedside table overnight.

[thecaretaker]

I found that some cases work better with the Prius than others. I bought a black solid plastic wrap around case that is very thin and it works perfectly. I have used more chunky cases, rubberised cases and transparent cases and had similar issues. What you need is a thin flat case with no patterns embossed on it.

I did have issues with a very old Samsung phone due to its small size it would roll about in the Prius QI charger and it would loose connection, but my S7 Edge fits perfectly.

It will be a matter of trial and error with the cases. I bought several before I found the right type.

The Prius QI is considerably weaker than some of the chargers I have at home. 

This is the type that works in mine...

[PeteB]

On another tack, I would prefer if the charging pad area had some sort of strong elastic strap or some other means of holding the phone in place, as a safeguard in the event of a collision.

My phone's case is quite grippy, and it doesn't move on the pad even under heavy braking, but in a collision anything not tied down can become a missile.

When my Gen 1 Prius was involved in a 40 mph collision in 2002, I had a Pocket PC inside a SatNav jacket which was on a suction mount on the windscreen.  My phone was in a flexible mount attached to a seat anchorage, with powerful rubberised jaws that clamped around the phone quite securely.

The Pocket PC, Jacket and mount were found in different parts of the car, and I never found the PC's stylus.  The phone was ripped out of the jaws of the holder and bounced around the car, damaging it beyond economic repair.  A bag of small change that had been in a little forward facing hatch on the front of the centre armrest/cubby was ejected into the car and the contents spread across the whole front of the car.

I was told by a professional accident investigator, some years ago, of a driver who should have been barely injured in a collision but was killed by an object that had been on the shelf under the rear window striking his head - ironically, it was a First Aid Kit!