Travel Usb Cable

Can I interchange a cell charger with a USB connector with my GPS charger with a USB connector? Volts vs. Amps

I have a cell phone charger that produces output of 5volts – 3 amps. I have a GPS charger that produces output of 5v – 0.5 amps. Can I interchange the chargers? Basically – what happens if the amps are too high? or too low? Will I damage the devices? Can I go one direction but not the other?

Both use standard USB cables to charge from my laptop. Does anyone know what volt and amps are produced by standard USB cables for charging?

Basically – each as a wall charger and a car charger. Since I travel a lot – I would like to carry one set of chargers – and not go buy a universal charger kit.

Thanks
Thx – but I am a little confused … can I use the lower amp charger with both? or the higher amp charger with both?

To answer your question, the chargers are voltage sources capable of delivering x number of amps… if the device doesn’t draw the amps, then the charger isn’t fully loaded, no problem…. if the device draws more amps than the charger then it will overload the charger – that’s not good.

The problem with interchanging chargers isn’t that they wouldn’t work, its that the device may reject it (some phones have to be charged with the proprietary chargers).

Some of them may have relatively sophisticated circuits inside to maximize charging speed, but only for the device they were designed for.

[edit] Perhaps an analogy will help. When you consider the amp rating of the charger… think of it as how much weight it can bench press. When you think about the item to be charged, think of that as the item to be pressed. If you have a kid that can bench press 50 lbs, and you drop 300 lbs on his chest, what happens?

Don’t connect a 3 amp load to a 1/2 amp charger.