Air 2 Charging Time

[Mixz1]

I'm enjoying my iPad Air 2 and am very satisfied with the battery life. However I am wondering about the time it takes to reach full charge. From 10% to 100% takes over 8 hours. Reviews that I've read indicate much shorter charging times. Can you share your experience wwith regard to a full recharge?

 

[dcharleyultra]

Which charger are you using?

 

[Mixz1]

Which charger are you using?

The original charger that came in the box.

 

[giradman]

The original charger that came in the box.

So, you're using a 10W or 12W charger, i.e. 5V w/ either 2 A or 2.4 A, like the one shown below - correct?

Charging time will depend on many factors, e.g. do you have your radios on (i.e. cellular, BT, Wi-Fi), are you using the iPad (if so what are you doing - gaming?), et al. From this Web Article, a full charge (from basically 0%) takes about 4 hrs on the iPad Air & iPad Air 2 (see chart below, blue arrows), so 8 hours is prolonged and unexpected, especially if your radios are off the the device is in sleep mode.

A few more questions: 1) Has there been any damage to your iPad (particularly the lightning docking port); 2) Is this a new finding or was charging time lengthy from the start; and 3) Have you tried another similar charger and a different charging cable. Dave

 

[Mixz1]

So, you're using a 10W or 12W charger, i.e. 5V w/ either 2 A or 2.4 A, like the one shown below - correct?

Thank you so much. You pointed me in what I think may be the right direction. We have a central charging station that has 4 chargers plugged in; one each for an iPhone 4S, an iPhone 5, an iPad 4th generation and an iPad Air 2. The 4th Generation charger is a 10 watt unit while the Air 2 is a 12 watt unit. I think we've been using each other's charger, They are now (as of 10 minutes ago) labeled as such and moved to opposite sides of the station. I'll report back after the next charging cycle.

 

[giradman]

Thank you so much. You pointed me in what I think may be the right direction. We have a central charging station that has 4 chargers plugged in; one each for an iPhone 4S, an iPhone 5, an iPad 4th generation and an iPad Air 2. The 4th Generation charger is a 10 watt unit while the Air 2 is a 12 watt unit. I think we've been using each other's charger, They are now (as of 10 minutes ago) labeled as such and moved to opposite sides of the station. I'll report back after the next charging cycle.

OK - thanks for the additional information - please provide specifics on your charging station, i.e. is this providing separate AC outputs (sorry I don't know where you are located so not sure in you are on 110 or 220 V?) to each of your 4 chargers? Also, the 10 W vs. 12 W charger should make little difference, i.e. you should still be getting no more than a few hours charge time on your iPads regardless of the charger wattage being used.

If you are still experiencing a problem, try to put one of those (or even try both separately) on a dedicated AC wall output w/ the problem iPad to determine if your charging station and/or one of your device's chargers may be the issue. Dave

 

[Mixz1]

I live in Cancun, Mexico. Around 130 Volt, 60 Hz wall current. Charging station is basically a platform containing 8 individual outlets on a grounded, circuit protected platform.

After reconfiguring, the Air 2 charged from 18% to 100% in 3.5 hours. I now have to examine the charge time on my wife's 4th generation using the 10W charger. I too question the difference between 10W and 12W charge times.

 

[twerppoet]

Also, the 10 W vs. 12 W charger should make little difference, i.e. you should still be getting no more than a few hours charge time on your iPads regardless of the charger wattage being used.

If that were true, then there would be no reason for Apple to supply the larger chargers in the first place. It all depends on whether the device is capable of using that extra wattage, or more accurately, drawing more current.

If we were talking about an iPad Mini, which comes with a 5W charger, then there would be no difference between the charging rate using a 10W or 12W unit. The Mini can draw only a little more power than the 5W it's supplied with. It would probably charge slightly faster on the larger units, but since it's limit is less than what either can supply, there would be no difference between them.

However, the iPad Air can draw more power. This will have the largest effect when the charge is low, and the iPad is pulling all the current it can (up to it's limit). As the battery charge goes up, the current demand decreases.

So, for the first part of the charge the 12W power supply will be faster. Say (made up figures) from 10% to 40% it might be significantly faster, from 40% to 60% only a little faster, and no difference from 60% to 100%.

This would not be a linear. It would be a steep initial curve, tapering to a gradually to a plato.

The difference will be even larger if the iPad is on, and larger still if in use. .4A is only about 25% more current than 2A, but if some of that, say half, is going to keeping the iPad running then you have 1A vs 1.4A, which is 50% more current available for charging.

Would this result in the dramatic difference Mixz1 is seeing? I don't know. I don't' have real figures to play with. But it would certainly make a bigger difference than the 10W vs 12W (2A vs 2.4A) seems to imply.


As a side note. I thought the 4th generation iPad came with a 12W charger. It was the first to move up from the 10W charger, a response the many complaints about how the iPad 3 (with it's larger battery) took so much longer to charge than the iPad 1 and 2.

 

[giradman]

TP - you are the most respected member on this forum for me, but your response was verbose and of little use to the OP - I completely agree w/ you that the 12 W charger would provide a 'somewhat' quicker charge (I have my wife charge her Mini & iPhone on a 2 A charger) - but the point is that even a 10 W charger should get their devices to 100% in just a few hours and not 8 hours - something else is the problem and the OP will need to provide further comments after testing their setup.

 

[twerppoet]

Perhaps I am wrong. Even likely so. I was reacting to the statement that it would make no difference, and basically started writing down my thoughts on why it does, and why it 'might' even make a big difference.

Normally I re-read my longer posts, realize no one is going to care, and delete them. This time, for whatever reason, I didn't.

And that's as close to an apology as you're going to get.

 

[giradman]

Well, I really was not expecting an apology - I believe that we were not disagreeing but simply looking at the situation somewhat differently, so not really a problem at all. My main concern was to still encourage the OP to test his equipment as suggested initially. Thanks again for all of your great input in this forum! Dave

 

[twerppoet]

I should have put a smiley at the end of that last sentence.

Words like (most respected) make me very uncomfortable. I'm sometimes grouchy, wrong more often than people seem to remember, and prone to pedantry. I can handle being respected, because I respect the people here myself, but let's not get carried away; I'm bad enough without a swollen head.

You're contributions are valuable, as are the many others here. If I contribute often, it's because I've got a lot of free time. If I seem to know more than most about iPads, well, most of it was learned here.