If you own a Kindle, Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD, you probably already realize that it does not come with an adapter plug for the wall. When purchased brand new from the manufacturer it only gets shipped to you with the USB cable to charge it by connecting it to a USB port on your PC. 
REMEMBER – You cannot efficiently use your Kindle Tablet while charging via USB because it’s using more power than you are supplying to it. If charging your Kindle by USB is not charging fast enough, then you will have to purchase a separate power adapter. You may try using your Smartphone charger and see if that works. There is no risk of overcharging it as an iPhones charger wattage or amp rating is always lower than tablets. However you can purchase a genuine Kindle Charger (it will charge a Kindle Fire HD in under 4 hours while charging from a PC can take up to 12 hours) and you will be able to use it with any Kindle device.
There is no charging light indicator on the Kindle Fire HD because of all the issues that the kindle fire had. Amazon decided to not include it in the new Kindle Fire HD because of this issue. You can still check and make sure the battery is charging by looking at the battery indicator at the top right.
Buy a “Kindle Approved Charger” and make sure the specs are AT LEAST 5V / 1.8Amps. This would be known as an “Accelerated Boost Charger“. So make sure the charger is 1.8 amps or higher.
Another suggestion would be to buy a “USB Power Outlet” at Home Depot or Lowes and use that with your supplied USB cable.
Remember if your Kindle is older and you use it all the time, then that could indicate a faulty battery that needs to be replaced.
Be’onssa,
If the USB plug going to your Kindle is only charging if you hold it a certain way, either the USB cord is damaged, or the USB input on the Kindle is damaged or may have something stuck in it. Check the USB cord for damage and try another USB cord. See if the USB input on the Kindle has anything that may be inside of it making the USB cord not connect properly. Use a toothpick to remove lint, etc… If nothing is jammed in there, you probably have a damaged USB input on the Kindle itself and you will have to either fix it, use the USB charging cord a certain way, or replace your Kindle.
-RR
My kindle has battery app but it charges only if u hold the plug a certain way then it will cut off randomly
Hi Carina,
Are you plugging it into the same outlet as always? Are you plugging into the wall outlet or a computer USB outlet? It may be that the outlet you are plugging into has low amps. You can try plugging the Kindle into a different outlet and see if that may make a difference. Also, there are SOME reports of the battery indicator not always reading correctly. We suggest to use it as normal for a few days and observe the battery levels. It may just be a one time issue.
-RR
I have the Kindle “fast charger” and I use it all the time. I have the Kindle Fire HD. It was at 4% the other day and then I charged it overnight. It was at 79%. It was charging for at least 11 hours. Why won’t my Kindle Fire HD charge very fast even on the Kindle Approved Charger? Please help, thank you!
Emily,
There are many different battery apps you can download that will help you diagnose your Kindle to see if the battery is the issue. Run the app and if it tells you the battery is not sufficient then it would be wise to go to amazon and order a new battery.
-RR
Well I have a number of problems with my HD….. for one…. sometimes it won’t even turn on… the only way I can use my kindle is if it is on the charger…. and then my second problem is that sometimes I’ll be on a game like mine craft or something and my screen will go black….and not turn back on till I shut it down and plug it in… this happens when I have a full battery so I know its not just a low battery…. this is like my 3rd kindle and i don’t want to go back to best buy to replace it again please help….
Hello Bill,
There could be a number of things wrong. In some cases when using a Tablet computer running Google’s Android OS, certain apps can take up the majority of the CPU resources and slow your Kindle down. You can identify which apps are causing this and using too much memory by going into the Task Manager. You can also use an app like “Task Killer”, and Force Stop an app that is taking up too much of your system resources. If the app continues to not work properly, you should uninstall it. If YouTube is running slow then make sure no other apps are using up your system resources before you try and watch videos on YT.
-RR
I have two kindles and they are running very slow on some apps and YouTube and other web pages sometimes the song on YouTube won’t even play can you help me out?