F250

I don't know if the problem I experienced on this past weekend's trip is typical or not.

240 miles each way, Droid Turbo 2 plugged into the USB charging cable, showing as charging (indicated by my battery numbers turning blue and the lightning symbol in the icon tray, but while running Waze on the full trip (which I've done for years in other vehicles), the battery dropped from 85% to 2% in three hours. I even turned everything off on the phone, and then turned the phone off, and it was still NOT charging the battery. I got the phone charged at my destination and the phone worked great over the weekend, so I though, "It must be the cable". Replaced the cable with one which had been working on the A/C charging adapter for the ride home, and I experienced the exact same thing... the vehicle seemed to want me to THINK it was charging the phone while it was actually sucking the life out of it.

The phone was set up for the USB to "Charge Only" on the trip down, and I tried setting it up to be capable of "Downloading files" on the trip back.

So, my question is this... is the 2010 Lexus charging port simply a wuss in comparison to the the demands of today's phone batteries, or have none of you ever had this issue? I know it could be the adapter cord as well, so I'll admit I should have investigated that more fully before starting a thread, but I did not. Consequently, I'm asking the question while I'm at work because I can't dig into it any further until after I get home tonight anyway.

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Clutchless

I am not sure it is a charging port as I have a Flash Drive plugged into it to play music on my 2010. It may be time to check the owner's manual.

greeknasty

I think its meant for usb drives for music not for charging. but i could be wrong

F250

If it's not for charging, how, then, are the rest of you guys charging your phones from the driver seat area? SURELY there must be a way to do this! Would it possibly be the old fashioned cigarette lighter adapter that is on the other half of the Lexus adapter cord set?

EDIT... the manual only addresses connecting to a media player, and nothing about charging anything. Other threads I've just found talk about it possibly being a built-in power restriction because the intent was as a media player which requires less voltage than my Turbo 2 requires for charging. If that's the case, I should be able to simply replace the Lexus adapter harness with something that has more OOMPH to it. Regardless, I have about 4 weeks to get this resolved before my wife and I take our 30-year anniversary Long Weekend trip (about 6 hours each way)!

Clutchless

Because the 2010 only has power outlets inside the center arm rest, but in 2011 Lexus wised up and put one in the lower center stack, down where you could place a Kleenex box in the hole between the seat, I added a power outlet there to my car. I will try to take a photo. I used a fuse tap on, I think at fuse 15 which goes to the power outlets. Not sure if a micro or mini fuse. I got a generic power outlet on eBay or Amazon, removed the center trim piece (it pops right out), drilled a hole and installed the power outlet. Ran a ground wire to a bolt on the floor and the power wire up behind the carpet and into the console. There are power outlets that have both your typical lighter type outlet plus a USB port and they all cost about the same. You could add one of those. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Splitter-Dual-USB-Charger-Power-Adapter-Outlet-/111803716136?
hash=item1a08055228:g:v8YAAOSwA4dWKJes

Here is the prior thread about adding this, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...nt-to-add.html
They got an OEM one, which I initially did, but could not obtain the strange OEM Lexus connectors to plug in power wires to it. So I ditched it for a generic one.

F250

Thanks for those details, Clutchless. I'm all in for adding some extra power connections.

Droid13

The power off the USB connector is not going to be high enough to support the demand of a big-screen QHD phone running a GPS app. Running GPS will not only push the CPU and screen, but will also put a regularly demand on the radio for data. When the phone is idling, the power will be enough to indicate a charge, a very slow charge, but when the demand on the phone is high it's not enough to even run the phone, let alone actually have some to spare to charge the battery. I keep an old iPod plugged into mine for music which stays buried deep in the console unless I pull it out to update it and it can stay charged, but it's always idling most of the time.

I charge my phone using the circular power port with an adapter but it's fairly slow charge too. I bought some nifty usb cables that lit up the ends just for appearance but no go, the power would cycle on and off over and over every 3 seconds because it couldn't handle the draw. My phone will "blip" charging, "blip" not charging, "blip" charging, etc. That lasted about 2 minutes. Tried a different usb adaptor and different cable just to see, no difference. Settled for the slow ordinary charge cable. It may have been because I also have my dashcam plugged into the second power port.

I think your best bet is to install your own charge port as already mentioned, and get a high quality adaptor for charging. Your phone has a huge battery (for a phone) and a very rapid fast charge capability, it can draw a lot of power!

F250

Thanks for the confirmation, Andy. What you described is exactly what I experienced. In fact, before I could even realize what had happened when I got to my Mom's place, the phone had gotten so low that even a regular A/C charger would not kick it off. Had to find a local Verizon store, and within 20 minutes they had about 35% charge on it. I took it and ran before they could try to sell me yet ANOTHER charger that I did NOT need. I just ran the GPS occasionally to keep tabs on my ETA to a location with which I was not familiar.

I'll locate and install a nice USB hub center which can be shared by multiple occupants, providing my wife let's me make the modification. It's HER car, after all.

Marqevans

My 2015 was able to charge my iphone 5 on a 60 mile trip using the usb port with the cheapest "give away" cable you can imagine.

F250

I expect that the OEM charging options have greatly improved since my 2010 was designed and produced, as has the demand for higher power charging capabilities.

Having discussed the situation with my best half, there will be no modifications for a more easily accessible USB hub center. Consequently, I have ordered a dual 2.4 amp (each port) smart adapter which will reside under the cavernous center console liner with two high speed cables which will come up and be available for both driver and passenger. That OEM (limited) USB adapter will simply be kept out of the way under the liner so it does not get confused with one of the new true power charging cables.

Smart USB 12v Adapter by Aukey (CC-T7)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

kitlz

Pete, there was a TSB acknowledging power could be intermittent or non-existent due to dirty connections. The solution was a power extension. I didn't have the problem but got it anyway. Maybe ask your dealer for one. I know your issue is with the USB outlet. But I imagine the same might be true. It's buried down near the power outlet. And the console has that fuzzy lining. Good luck getting it working again.

F250

Thanks, Anita. I have the extension cables already, and have unplugged and re-plugged both of the cable extensions just for good measure while I'm waiting for the new components to arrive, but have NOT yet plugged my phone back into either cable to check it. When I meet my wife for lunch on Friday, I'll have a chance to check it out again. (Why wait until Friday??? Yes, the car IS conveniently available every night in my garage when I get home, but I currently have rear axles to pull and rebuild on my son's '99 4Runner to be followed by painting both bumpers on my Excursion so it can be sold to pay off our "new" RXh).

F250

OK. The new chargers arrived and they work beautifully. With Waze running, my Turbo 2 picked up 5% charge within 15 minutes in the Lexus. I also installed one in my F250 where I've not really had a problem, but the existing charger would only almost keep up with Waze running. However, in the truck, with the new charger, the charger not only kept up with Waze, but also completed the charge on my phone from 87% to 100% in a forty minute drive. I'm very pleased.

lexusrus

I have the following ordered from Amazon. Works great and keeps all passengers and driver happy.

http://FICBOX® 3-Socket Cigarette Li..._EBk8xbGK6J92K

http://FICBOX® 3-Socket Cigarette Li..._Kvk8xbP0SCVYS

sargeofny

I have this exact same issue with my 2012 RX 450h. I cannot drive more than 3-3.5 hrs when using Waze and the battery of my Android device goes from 100% to 0 while charging using the USB port. The dealer today, told me that the cigarette lighter is preferred for charging devices as opposed to the USB ports, which only put out 6 amps or 6V (I cannot recall). The lighter puts out a higher amp/V. I had a rental car for 4 weeks, actually two different ones while my car was in the body shop, and in both rental cars, using my charging cables, I did not encounter the issue. My phone charged, and did not lose charge. I mentioned this to my service rep and it seemed to be ignored. How is it that the issue does not exist in a 2018 Range Rover nor in a 2018 Infinity QX60? Those were the two rental cars. My wife just leased a 2019 Acura MDX, and we are going to test this in her car, too.

It should be noted that Android devices apparently require 40-60% more power to charge than an iPhone. My dealer service area supposedly had no employee there with an Android, so all tests were with an iPhone. How can every dealership's service dept not have an iPhone and Android device to use for these tests? Very frustrating. I am going to see, tomorrow, if the issue exists in the loaner RX 350 I am driving.