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Car Charger for Sonos Move?


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Has anybody had success with any particular model of car charger for the Sonos Move? I bought one that matched the specs on the Move technical support page and it didn’t seem to work so looking for a brand or model that does.

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Best answer by skinbeats 15 August 2020, 00:23

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35 replies

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for reaching out and welcome to the community.

I would like to know the model of the car charger so I can check out the specifications as well. 

I would like to know what happened when you plugged in the Move to the car with the car charger.

What light did it show? It should flash amber then off on the LED light indicator on the top. 

The type C port on the Move requires a 45 watt - 20V/2.25A or 12V/3A output or a 36 watt - at least 12V/3A or 14V/2.4A output.

Update us with your findings.

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Thanks for the reply.  I got NO lights on the Move when I plugged it into this or any other car charger so far. with this charger, I plugged the Move in USB-C to USB-C with the cable provided with the charger.

I did test the USB-C port by charging with my Macbook Pro charger which worked just fine… blinked Amber and charged the speaker to 100% So I know USB-C charging does work.

the model of charger I bought is Nekteck USB Type C Car Charger with 45W Power Delivery and 12W USB

Specifications:

Input: DC 12-18V (Max)

Output: USB Type-C Power Delivery: 5V/9V/12V/15V-3A, 20V-2.25A (Max)

 

Here’s the Amazon link to the charger:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075WQQG7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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If this one doesn’t work, can you recommend one that does?

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update.

The specifications of the charger are correct for the Move.

I would now like to test the type-C port of the Move. Plug it in with a working type-C charger that is also within the specifications.

Take a diagnostic in the Sonos app while the Move is connected to your home network. Settings > Help & Tips > Submit Diagnostic and post the confirmation.

The diagnostic should show us that the move is charging with the type-C charger.

 

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ok submitted diagnostics… the move is charging via my Macbook Pro charger at the moment

 

confirmation number: 354611557

I can keep the Move in my network and try charging via the car charger in the driveway too if that helps.

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update

I checked the diagnostic, the Move isn’t charging with the Macbook pro charger. What are the specifications of the charger?

Yes, we can test the car charger directly and check the diagnostic as long as the Move is connected to the home network.

Take a diagnostic with the Move charging with the car charger.

Even though we couldn’t recommend 3rd-party chargers. Here’s a community thread where users discussing what works for their Moves.

What are people using for USB C charger for Sonos Move 

You can give the thread a read through on what other users use for the Type C port.

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it’s VERY weird that the diagnostic dd not show the Move being charged by the Macbook Pro charger because I let the Move drain a bit, then plugged it in again… the Move was at 83% when I plugged it in and has already climbed to 90% in a few minutes… so it’s actually charging. So here’s a new diagnostic with the Macbook Pro charger plugged in: 54634612

I read that other thread before posting here… no one has mentioned a car charger at all in any of the posts I could find so this is apparently a new topic.

plugging the Move into the car charger now to test it… will post a new diagnostic on the next reply so as not to confuse them.

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the car charger is plugged in and definitely getting juice… I tested with my phone and got charge immediately. I created a new diagnostic with the car charger plugged in: 1456481897

Note that it’s likely that the voltage/ amperage required to charger the phone will be substantially lower than the amount required to charge the much larger battery in the Move. 

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Note that it’s likely that the voltage required to charger the phone is likely to be substantially lower than the amount required to charge the much larger battery in the Move. 

True, but Sonos confirmed that the model I’m using meets the specs for a Move charger--see above. So according to Move, this charger should work.

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also full discloser, the Mac USB-C charger is the Apple 61W USB-C version that comes with a 13” Macbook.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MRW22LL/A/61w-usb-c-power-adapter

Userlevel 6
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Note that it’s likely that the voltage required to charger the phone is likely to be substantially lower than the amount required to charge the much larger battery in the Move. 

True, but Sonos confirmed that the model I’m using meets the specs for a Move charger--see above. So according to Move, this charger should work.

All kinds of chargers that should work based on Sonos published specs inexplicably don't work with the move ((see previous threads). Unfortunately it's a guessing game if the cord and adapter combo will work. 

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Yeah I got that from the previous thread… just haven’t seen any car chargers attempted so… I guess I’m the guinea pig for this… and if it’s going to be such a pain to be able to charge when on the go, maybe Sonos should actually SELL a charger that works instead of making us guess… eh customer service? anybody listening? I suppose I can bring an inverter with me camping and use the AC charger but really, should we have to do that for a PORTABLE devide?

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update… after testing the Nekteck USB Type C Car Charger with 45W Power Delivery and 12W USB for an hour or so using the same Apple USB-C cable that worked with the Apple charger, the Nekteck does NOT charge the Sonos Move. the charge has dropped from 91% to 86% even though the charger is plugged in… So Sonos, even though this charger meets your specs, it does not charge the device… Anyone have a brand of car charger that DOES charge a MOVE?

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update.

I checked both diagnostic, Move is still not charging. 

I will now recommend calling our Phone support as this might be a hardware failure.

The charger meets the criteria and is working on other devices but not the Move.

It should work as per the requirements for the Type C charging.

The phone support also has more options to address the issue.

If you have other concerns, feel free to reach out.

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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update.

I checked both diagnostic, Move is still not charging. 

I will now recommend calling our Phone support as this might be a hardware failure.

The charger meets the criteria and is working on other devices but not the Move.

It should work as per the requirements for the Type C charging.

The phone support also has more options to address the issue.

If you have other concerns, feel free to reach out.

Phone support sent me here, but I’ll try them again I guess… the Move certainly DID charge using the Apple wall charger so the diagnostic seems to just not be accurate. 

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update.

The phone agent probably sent you here in the community for chargers that work with other Sonos user’s Moves.

I would like to confirm when using the Mac charger, the battery icon in the Sonos app under the System tab(Once named rooms) with a thunderbolt? or the move blink red?

If not, this is a possible hardware failure on the USB Type - C port.

When contacting our Phone support, mention the model of the charger so the agent can check the specifications.

It’s within the requirements and should work.

If you have other concerns, feel free to reach out. 

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The battery icon does change to the thunderbolt (though the difference between those icons is so subtle I didn’t even notice it until you mentioned it) when using the mac charger and the amber light does flow on and off so the USB-C port does seem to be working just fine. When I plug in the car charger, the amber light flows on and off as if charging but the indicator doesn’t  change to the thunderbolt.

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FYI I spoke to phone support about this charger… the issue is it doesn’t specify that the port is a PD Port so they recommended I find a model that does. I found 2 options that I’m considering:

https://www.amazon.com/BatPower-Charger-MacBook-Surface-Latitude/dp/B07KDXLQ3B/ref=asc_df_B07KDXLQ3B/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416723174073&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3441301467817257857&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030966&hvtargid=pla-661137774132&ref=&adgrpid=100759323984&th=1

 

and

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071WYF9HP/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A294P4X9EWVXLJ&psc=1

 

any thoughts before testing out one of these?

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I’m waiting for the other chargers to arrive to test them, but in the meantime, I got this doozy of a reply from Sonos support:

“while it seems to meet our expectations from what we can see, we wouldn't expect a car charger to work on this case since they are mainly intended for laptops and cellphones.”

um WHAT? Are you KIDDING? ALL the chargers that use the USB-C port are intended for laptops and cellphones, what do you think they do normally? I have to say I’m pretty disappointed in SONOS for this whole portable charger situation for the Move… it’s pretty stupid.

Userlevel 6
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Thanks for the update. Totally not surprised at the response from Sonos 🤦‍♂️

I'm interested to hear if you find one that works 🤞

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Update #1:  Anker charger that was suggested by Sonos phone support does not work, Don’t even get an orange light or anything on the Move.

Avoid this one too for Move Charging:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071WYF9HP/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A294P4X9EWVXLJ&psc=1

The other charger arrives tomorrow. that one is more powerful so we’ll see.

Userlevel 4
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Hi @skinbeats, thank you for the update and sorry for the late response.

Thank you for taking the time to troubleshoot car chargers for the Sonos Move.

We understand the sentiments of it not working as intended when the first charger was on the required specifications.

I checked the Anker charger and the 20V=1.5A is not enough amps and 5V=3A is not enough volts.

The BatPower charger however looks promising. Output 90w max at 12V 3A or 20V 4.5A.

We apologize for the inconvenience and the time lost. Update us with your findings of the BatPower charger.

If you have other concerns, feel free to reach out.

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I’ll test the BatPower today… funny, it was Sonos phone support that suggested II try the Anker so I didn’t look too closely at the specs… if the BatPower doesn’t work, I found 2 more to try… do u see these as possibly viable?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082ZY5GXX/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1C0P08RHIUS5I&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JJJ911R/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1RPX9K4BD5W4O&psc=1

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WE HAVE A WINNER! 

The BatPower charger works. charged the Move right away. no issues. of course this was the most expensive charger I tried but appears to be worth the money. here’s the link on Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.com/BatPower-Charger-MacBook-Surface-Latitude/dp/B07KDXLQ3B/ref=asc_df_B07KDXLQ3B/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416723174073&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3441301467817257857&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030966&hvtargid=pla-661137774132&ref=&adgrpid=100759323984&th=1