GSB 15 - weak iPad charging

Nathan Miller

Nathan Miller

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nathan
As part of my latest round of avionics upgrades, I put in a Garmin GSB 15 - a dual 2.1 amp USB charging port. I run a 10.2" WiFi iPad and I'm having the hardest time adding anything to the battery. I've taken only a handful of flights and while the iPad shows a charge, the battery percentage doesn't budge. It doesn't go backwards, so it's getting some juice. 2.1 amps should be sufficient to move the battery percentage in the right direction, yes?
 
Sexy. Might be worth the cost of doing business, even if I only use it once :) (Unless someone in the DC area has it or something similar)
 
arent garmin rated for 3 amps?

Edit : yeah looks like its also Qualcomm certified too.... i would check the wire
 
Well, I did put it in. I got a good crimp on the power and ground. I had to redo my first attempt after my IA showed me the correct crimpers to use :confused: The blue halo light is also incredibly dim. I'm wondering if it's a defective unit.
 
Are you certain it is 2.1 amps per port or is it 2.1 amps total? Truth in advertising is not a strong feature with makers of USB power devices. Also, 10.2" of LED screen is a lot of real estate to light up, especially if at full intensity. It may be taking every bit of those 2.1 amps just to keep it lit...
 
Wannafly is right. 3a at 5v - 18w per port.

And you're right. There is another side of the equation. Is 18w enough to light the screen and and power to the battery? (iPad noob here)
 
2.5-3.0 A should be sufficient to charge most running tablets. Under 2.0 A might be more sporty for a hard-working tablet cpu. I've got a Stratus 2.5A per port unit and it will charge both a current hungry USB-C tablet and phone EFB in flight.

Do you have a charging monitor app installed so you can evaluate charging rate? On the Android side Ampere will tell you how fast your battery is charging or discharging.
 
Try a different USB to iPad wire. The quality of those can be highly variable.
 
Nathan Miller said:
Wannafly is right. 3a at 5v - 18w per port.

And you're right. There is another side of the equation. Is 18w enough to light the screen and and power to the battery? (iPad noob here)
Click to expand...

my 9.7 inch pro is running at full brightness and the USB (Appareo) is able to keep up with it. Check if you are getting the fast charge while connected to wall outlet. if so, its probably the unit
 
@chemgeek , I just ran a charging app on the iPad after taking it down to 63% and using the wall wart and cable that came with the iPad (At least I think it's the one that came with it - either that or my AirPods :) I'll look around. It's only a 12w charger. Didn't it come with an 18w home charger? If so, I'll check the plane. Pre-GSB 15, I threw a home charger in the glove box (Figuring we can charge it up on lunch hops) and that's probably where it ended up.

Charging app is reporting 3.91 charging watts. That seems low! Even with a 12w charger.

The saga continues. Maybe the GSB is functioning correctly.
 
iPads in use in the cockpit, using them the way we usually do, use a lot of power. I don't really expect to charge mine in flight - the best I hope for is to be able to maintain the level of charge, even with a high-power USB outlet (or separate battery pack).

Think of everything an app like Foreflight is doing while in flight.
- Screen is on full bright usually
- Redrawing the screen continually as you move
- Transmitting on wifi/bluetooth to your ADS-B device (and I likely forget to turn the other method off)
- Updating the traffic display continually
- Updating weather
- Updating location

There's a lot going on, but most of it is the screen brightness.
 
Click for full size- ipad.jpg Top figure is most recent.

Starting from the bottom - 3.91w is what I got using my apple supplied wall wart and lightning cable (surprised it's so low, but maybe there's other factors at play and surmise it is only calculating how much juice is going to the battery, vs., say powering the screen, CPU, ram, etc.

2nd from bottom (2.11w) is from the GSB 15 that was installed in April.

I reached out to Garmin to complain and file a warranty claim. They came back with some troubleshooting steps, which I thought were more of a fishing expedition, but I'm willing to follow their request. Garmin requested I have my IA re-crimp new connectors. So, we went a step further and ran new wires and crimped on new connectors. 3rd from bottom (2.28w) is the result.

Reached out to Garmin and they said - "Yep, bad unit. Contact whoever you bought it from" So, I emailed Sarasota Avionics and they UPS'd a new one the same day (gawd, I love those guys). They included RMA instructions for the old unit. I get the new one put in today and you can see the top figure - 4.56W. Better than the Apple supplied wall wart :D

So, Problem solved. Thanks for everyone's input.
 
The apple supplied wall charger is a piece of crap. You gotto spend a bunch to get a fast charger. I just use the one from Anker
 
What kind of shape is your cable in?
 
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