On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 18:25:42 -0500, Neil Gould wrote:

Have you verified that the charger is delivering even 1 Amp

Nope. All I know is what is printed on the charger.
So, it *could* be simply that the charger isn't sourcing the
rated current.

I plan on sacrificing a USB cable to that I can hook an
ammeter in series to test the actual current flowing.

It is possible that the design of that circuit will not supply
adequate power to other functions when the battery is down to 17%.

I hope not, but I certainly understand what you're saying.
That's why I'm asking here - which is to see if others have similar
issues - or if it's just me.