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LivingSocial iPhone 5 2m USB lead

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Buzby
Buzby Posts: 8,275 Forumite
Anyone bought one of these? It has the mini iPhone 5 connector and supposedly allows to an extra length to get in to awkward places.

The trouble is mine will not work - at all - and experience shows (with extended iPad 2 leads ) that long leads do not provide the voltage required to permit charging. I had thought, however, TA if they were selling the product, it would a least do what it said on the tin.

Emails are ignored, and I'm about to chargeback under SOGA, but would e interested if anyone got theirs to work - it was on sale 2 weeks ago.
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Comments

  • Rusty!
    Rusty! Posts: 2,076 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Whilst not an iPhone, I have used a three metre USB cable to charge numerous phones without issue. Are you using the genuine charger with it? Just that some cheap ones only supply 500mA (as apposed to 1000+) which may be to little for the longer cable.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Buzby wrote: »
    ...I'm about to chargeback under SOGA, ...
    Chargeback is Visa/Mastercard procedure that has nothing to do with SOGA.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Rusty! wrote: »
    I have used a three metre USB cable to charge numerous phones without issue. Are you using the genuine charger with it? Just that some cheap ones only supply 500mA (as apposed to 1000+) which may be to little for the longer cable.
    The voltage drop depends on the wire cross-section, not only on the length. And the higher the current, the bigger the voltage loss.
  • NFH
    NFH Posts: 4,413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    The problem with USB cables for the iPhone 5, iPad 4 and iPad mini is that they have an authenticity chip inside the connector that goes into the Apple device. The device checks that the chip is present before allowing charging. Apple implemented this as an anti-competitive attempt to prevent third party manufacturers from producing their own cables. However, within a few weeks of the iPhone 5 being on the market, the Chinese managed to copy the chip and produce cheap third party cables. Third party chips are often unreliable though, hence the problems you are experiencing.
  • Silk
    Silk Posts: 4,836 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Buzby wrote: »
    The trouble is mine will not work - at all - and experience shows (with extended iPad 2 leads ) that long leads do not provide the voltage required to permit charging. I had thought, however, TA if they were selling the product, it would a least do what it said on the tin.
    It's not the voltage that reduces over distance as that remains constant.
    What does reduce is amperage which is the power of the current and to have a dramatic affect over a meter or so would probably start at a very low amperage.

    As NFH says the chip theory sounds likely if thats how it works but suppose either way the lead is faulty and needs returning or rejecting
    It's not just about the money
  • Lifeforms
    Lifeforms Posts: 1,486 Forumite
    I think reading about the chips that every time an update is released could potentially stop a 3rd party accessory from working. They released an update in the last few days/week (voda told me to download this one, and not to update on the prior one!)

    So this could be the problem. If you have an older device with the lightning socket on it, ie one not on the same ios version as you, you could try it to see if that works.

    I suspect the chips will always be a constant problem till someone can fix them permanently, if possible.

    If you need a little bit extra length, use the original lead and see if an USB extension lead would work.
  • Buzby
    Buzby Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    grumbler wrote: »
    Chargeback is Visa/Mastercard procedure that has nothing to do with SOGA.

    You are talking about something not mentioned. I intend doing a chargeback under SOGA (perhaps 'involuntary refund' would be more accurate). The difference is in the use of the capitalisation.

    I'm quite aware of the various issues of the verification chip in the plug, my query was prompted wanting to discover whether anyone got these LS leads to do anything useful - if not, then not only is the deal invalid, but the product not fit for the purpose it was supposedly designed for.
  • Rusty!
    Rusty! Posts: 2,076 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Silk wrote: »
    It's not the voltage that reduces over distance as that remains constant.
    What does reduce is amperage which is the power of the current and to have a dramatic affect over a meter or so would probably start at a very low amperage.

    As NFH says the chip theory sounds likely if thats how it works but suppose either way the lead is faulty and needs returning or rejecting

    No, voltage will drop.
  • Silk
    Silk Posts: 4,836 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Rusty! wrote: »
    No, voltage will drop.
    Well strictly speaking I suppose it would but it's miniscule.
    I think 12 volts dc works out about 1.5 volts drop over something like 50 meters or something like that.
    So the 2mtr cable would only drop to 11.94 volts so like I said earlier to have a dramatic effect the amperage would have to be realy low to be noticeable
    It's not just about the money
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 16 February 2013 at 9:50PM
    Silk wrote: »
    I think 12 volts dc works out about 1.5 volts drop over something like 50 meters or something like that.
    What really matters is the current. 12 volts is absolutely irrelevant figure. And again, it depends on the cable, not just the length.
    Silk, have you ever heard of the Ohm's law?:think:
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