500mA Charging

[T4ll1f3r]

Fitbit recommend charging from your computer or from a low power wall charger.

This is because you should be charging from a 500mA source.

Be careful as only the standard USB is 500mA.

From wikipedia:

• 0.5 A (USB 2.0)
• 0.9 A (USB 3.0 & 3.1)
• 1.5 A (USB BC 1.2)
• 3 A (USB Type-C)
• Up to 5 A (USB-PD)

Phone brick chargers tend to be rated at 1 or 2 A however there are a couple on Amazon rated at 500mA.

When I contacted Fitbit support wia the web chat the contact thought that my S4mini charger operated at 500mA. It doesn't it is an orignal and operates at 2A.

I have now ordered a 500mA charger from Amazon to use when my Laptop is not available.

HTH

[Rich_Laue]

5 below has low powered usb chargers for $5

[SunsetRunner]

Yes but a usb socket won't pump out more than the device plugged in draws. So if the Blaze only draws .5A the usb socket will only give .5A

[SteveH]

It depends on which fitbit help file you look at:

There's:

We recommend plugging your charging cable into a USB port on your computer or other low-energy

device. If necessary, you can use a UL-certified USB wall charger. Don't use a USB hub or battery pack to charge, and only use the charging cable that came with your tracker.

Taken from http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-do-I-charge-my-tracker/

Or there's:

"For charging purposes, your charging cable or your base station can be plugged into any USB power source, including but not limited to:

• A computer
• A wall A/C to USB adapter, commonly found with smartphones
• A DC to USB adapter (vehicle power port)"

Taken from: http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/I-m-going-on-a-trip-What-should-I-know-about-trav...

I've used all sorts of chargers of varying ratings and have yet to have an issue.

[RealSting]

EVERY Advertised 500mAh USB charger I could see on Amazon.co.uk WAS NOT 500mAh. All the photos showed the same 5W, 1000mAh wall charger, and all of those DID NOT have the UL certification mark on them. So only God knows how were are supposed to safely charge our IONICS without lugging around a LapTop!

Oh.. actually, thinking about it.. No.. I don't think God knows either!

[Rich_Laue]

A 1000 MaH should be fine. A device will only use what it needs. 

Considering that your in Amazon UL test products for the USA it would be hit or miss looking for that UL mark. 

So what does that UL mark mean? 

That the device does what it says it does. 

Under normal usage it should not hurt the user or burn the place down. 

In short it is safe to use. 

I would look at the reviews. 

[lamoille]

Where did you find a 500mA wall charger on Amazon - what model?

[Rich_Laue]

I don't worry about it .500 nah is the minimum required .You can use anything higher with no problem, the tracker like any other electric device will only accept as much current as it can .

[UACats10 · Accepted solution]

Lostlogik was 100% right, you can use any 5v A/C USB power adapter, regardless if it is 2A, 1A, etc.

The Fitbit Blaze’s internal battery controller will know exactly how much energy to drain from the charger, and when. It will know when the battery is almost charged, or if the battery is overheating, and consume less.

The “amperes” rating written on the charger is only the *maximum* current that the charger will provide.

For example, a device can charge at 1A, but the charger can provide up to 2A. The device will only draw 1A from the charger. There will be no charging time difference if it were a 1A charger.

[Rich_Laue]

Correct @UACats10 .

Let's look at it another way .Your circuit breakers in the house will let 10 amps through and can easily handle a 1500 watt hair dryer. Ie 12 amps. Yet a 0.5 watt night light which only uses 1/20th of an amp is happy.