QI charger doesn't activate - not recognized by charging pla

[skybolt]

Hi - I just received my Qi charger, for my iPhone 5s.

I've tried to get it to work with a Koolance Koolpad QI plate, two Panasonic QE-TM101, an Energizer 2-position and a handful of no-name ones I got from Amazon.

None of the pads react to the qi charging pad, except the Panasonic (which still doesn't charge, but the Panasonic has a motorized thing that centers itself around the right spot on the Qi coil. It centers itself near the center of the charging case, then starts beeping like it's seeking for the charging coil)

Do you think it might be related to the metal backing on the case? That seems a bit odd for an inductive charging case. Check your test one and see if it has the metal plate backing the case. Maybe it's left over from manufacturing? It seems to be stainless steel, not magnetic.

I really want to get this case to work, it'll be the 4th different iPhone qi charger (and the sixth if you count the powermat stuff I have), and this design is by far the best design -- the headphone port isn't blocked (no adapter required), and the easy access to the lightning port is terrific, no more pulling out the iQi wire and waiting for it to break, and no more having to choose between micro-USB and lightning.

Also, you have products with two letter names (pi, qi) but the forums prohibit searches of less than 3 letters --- maybe add a whitelist for pi and qi and any others?

[adafruit_support_mike]

The backing plate shouldn't cause any problems. Stainless steel is magnetically transparent.

The problem could be as simple as a bad connection in the JST connector. Plug a couple pieces of wire into that and check the voltage with a multimeter to see if there's any output when the charger is placed on a plate.

BTW - your point about two-character searches is a good one. I'll mention that to the folks who keep the servers fed and watered.

[skybolt]

I will check with a multimeter, I have the necessary teeny tiny leads to do so -- but it's not going to register any current because none of the pads activate with the adafruit collector in place. (all of the pads either beep, light up or some combination of both when a collector is put in place). I can upload a short video showing another Qi collector that works, and the adafruit collector on the same pad.

That said, JST? Is that the lightning connector (if so I'll update my personal glossary), or is that output leads from the Qi collector before the lightning connector?

[skybolt]

More analysis: I now know what a JST connector is, I assume I'll have to pull up the steel backing plate a little. I'll wait for you to confirm before I do that.

I put pressure on the case, to see if it was too far away from the charging pad, and suddenly the charging pad indicated a connection. (No phone in it). I put the phone in the case, put it back on the pad, and the pad no longer recognized the collector. Now it gets strange:

I then unplugged the lighting connector from the phone, with the phone still mounted in the collector case, and still sitting on top of the charging pad. The charging pad indicated it was sending power to the collector. WITHOUT MOVING THE COLLECTOR or the phone I gently re-plugged the lightning connector into the phone, and the charging pad stopped. Plugged the lighting connector back in, and it went out. By moving the connected phone and case around the pad I was able to get the pad to indicate a charge, but the phone never registered a charge, even after sitting on the activated pad for several minutes.

[adafruit_support_mike]

The JST connector is the one on the end of the red and black wires from the receiver module:

1901-02.jpg (28.34 KiB) Viewed 450 times

[skybolt]

Thanks --- see attached pic. I verified a maximum of .408 volts across the two terminals marked +5 and GND (see pic).

image1.JPG (92.14 KiB) Viewed 450 times

Typically I'd get less voltage.

No JST connector, just some not-very-well soldered terminals. Oddly, when I got the second probe within about 1mm of the terminal, the charging pad would act as if I'd removed the collector from the pad. Also oddly, I could get positive voltage if I put the positive probe on the negative pin, but left the negative probe connected to nothing.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Looks like I might have been looking at the wrong product. Which of these do you have?

https://www.adafruit.com/products/1901 - Qi receiver module
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1926 - Qi charger sleeve

[skybolt]

The sleeve. $29.95

[adafruit_support_mike]

Okay.. that one is specifically designed to work with the iPhone and there isn't much in the way of servicable parts in them.

The iPhone has some logic connected to its charge pins, and I'd guess it's rejecting the charging sleeve for some reason. That would disable the charging and cause the 'not found' issues you're seeing.

Send a note to [email protected] with a link to this thread and the folks there will get you a replacement.

[skybolt]

Talked to support, they're happy to replace it which is terrific! Unfortunately the sleeves are out of stock. Fortunately they might be fixing a design issue!