[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Wartickler:
This one IS interesting. My car doesn't do that. Never has, never will...I hope! Nothing is powered without the key being in and turned to the on position. The only things that are powered (off the top of my head) without the key are the headlights, taillights, break lights, and light bulbs inside the various compartments when their hatches are ajar: trunk, hood, glove box, and doors. NOT cigarette lighters or any fans in the engine compartment...no matter how hot it gets here in Florida.

That...or this. Or whatever it is the kids are saying these days...

Verizon's charger that also has a USB port on top to add another cable for dual action. I pulled the charger out of the lighter port and plugged my phone back into the car charger and the little red LED turned on indicating that the charger was energized. I tried it on my wife's car charger (which came with her RAZR) for good measure and my phone also energized the little red LED on hers while unplugged from the vehicle.

Since I can't find my stinking multimeter in the nuclear holocaust that is my garage right now (it's the year we break out the trainsets) it's not possible to check the actual voltages. It's got to be around here somewhere...

A diode is a one-way valve of sorts that one would expect to find inside many electronics. However, one wouldn't expect to find it in a car charger or between the cigarette lighter port and *some* part of the electrical system in an older car. One would reasonably expect that the systems you plug into this very primitive power supply would/should be regulated. I would imagine the use cases in 1999 didn't include a shorted micro-USB pin in a charging jack for a tiny computer with a hearty battery. I'm not entirely certain that it actually isn't 5.5 volts but I can't imagine it's very much more as I would expect the inline fuse to pop in the charger.

That said, you most certainly can energize a fan at ~5 volts with a 2100 mAh battery and have that sucker spin. The fact that my battery went from 35%-10% in a matter of two minutes was enough of an indicator to me. Coupled with Sparky's report that his USB port let the smoke out of his toro and more troubleshooting makes me satisfied that there is a short somewhere very near the USB port on my phone. It probably doesn't help that I try to force the USB charger into the port upside down in the dark from time to time...I don't think I'm going to be able to fit multimeter probes in there either. I AM interested in measuring at that big pin on the car charger though...

I'm glad I did though...

Nah it's a little shirt pocket-sized thing I picked up from The Shack on an impulse buy. I like the thing though...it can do a lot for its size (O;

(try to restrain yourself)

Ha! I wish. '99 Mitsubishi Galant

KE4JHK Tech ... been dormant for a long time though ):

:D

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Other interesting things about my situation:

* my battery icon shows charging all the time, even when not plugged in.

* my lock screen shows charging at all times.

* the Settings->Battery screen shows the battery as discharging when not plugged in and charging when plugged in.

* my phone charges when it is plugged into a charger.

* it discharges when it is not. (Shocking, I know, but I was hopeful for the briefest of moments that I had a secret Tesla version of the toro...or at least that someone had switched my regular toro with new Tasters Choice induction charging toro to see if I would notice...)

* my screen would not turn off no matter how many times I turned it off manually. I finally realized this was because I had the setting in Developer Options for screen stays awake during charging. Turning that off let's my phone go to sleep. This also indicates that the phone is not just statically in a charging state but believes it is being plugged in and out very rapidly. Normally, when the phone is charging and the stay awake setting is on you can manually turn the screen off and it stays off...unless you unplug it. Then it turns on. Once turned off you can plug it in and the screen turns on automatically and stays on until you manually turn it off.

* Costco's staff were dumbfounded but told me to call *611.

* Verizon's CSR staff were dumbfounded but rushed me to a tech support supervisor.

* the tech support supervisor was dumbfounded but wanted me to bring my phone to a Verizon store and show a store manager what's happening with the car charger. She also is sending me a new phone chassis.

* tech support didn't seem to care that I had rooted my phone and brought it back to stock.

* USB port issues almost seemed like a dime a dozen issue for tech support. Watch your phones ya'll. Hide yo kids. Hide yo wives.