Post by Devil Soundwave on Aug 16, 2006 19:34:21 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Alright chaps. Anyone off to any festivals this year? Well I am, Reading, and I know how bloody long the queue can be to charge your phone at one of those tents in the arena, so have cobbled together my own portable charger! For those who care and know how to do very basic soldering, here's how:
Equipment list:
Two 6 volt batteries (the big ones the size of a fist, currently available in most pound shops for, well, a pound each.)
One cheap car charger for your phone (get them at markets or dudes at stalls in the street for about a fiver).
One simple single throw rocker switch (pennies at Maplin) *OPTIONAL*
About 3 foot of equipment wire (about a quid at Maplin)
Project box to make it all nice and pretty if you are fussed (£7 at Maplin - obviosuly, make sure it is big enough to hold a car plug thing and two big batteries!) *OPTIONAL*
Soldering iron and solder.
Directions:
1) Take the two batteries, and run them in series (to essentially make one big battery), i.e. a piece of wire between the negative (-) on one battery has to go to the positive (+) of the other battery, leaving us with one neg and one pos unused.
2) Unscrew the car end of the car charger and gently open it up. You'll just have to muddle through this bit as every one has a slightly different design, but on most the end piece unscrews.
3) Inside, you will have (careful not to lose anything):
A fuse on the end of a spring (this goes to the pokey bit in the middle of the end of the car charger - this is the positive)
Two springy side-clip bits either side which are the bits that hold the car charger into the lighter slot - this is the negative).
4) Solder a piece of wire about six inches long directly to the spring that the fuse sits in - this is your plus.
5) Now the two side clips, only one of these will be visibly attached to the circuit inside the charger - this is the bit we want. If it is not obvious to you from looking at it which one this is, give up and go watch telly. Anyway, proceed to solder another six inch wire directly to this pice of metal. You knows it.
6) Now you connect the wire coming from the central pole (spring) of the charger directly to the remaining postive on the battery setup.
7) Now you connect the wire coming from the side clip directly to the remaining negative on the battery setup.
8) Dance and rejoice cos you have made a working phone charger!
Looks a bit crap though right? Wouldn't a nice case and a switch to turn it on and off be smashing? Well here we go:
9) Cut a hole in the project box you purchased, that's the right size for the switch, and drill a hole for the phone charger wire to come out. Can't help you on hole cutting here, you either mess it up or you don't. It's better to make the switch hole too small and file it out if you are not confident. Once done, fit your switch and bung all the other junk in the box.
10) Next, add the switch to the circuit. Arguably, this can go anywhere so long as it breaks the power loop, but I prefered to put it between the two batterys on the wire we add in step 1. Basicaly, just snip that baby (the wire) right in half, solder one of the new loose ends to one terminal on the switch and the other new loose end to the other terminal and bobs your proverbial uncle, and apparently, so I'm told, fanny is your aunty (although I'd ask for proof first as this sounds just all too convenient if you ask me).
11) Whack some random crap into the box to hold everything in place. My crap of choice was the chopped up casing of a dead dreamcast controller to wedge everything to stop it moving, but that might just be me. Just make sure whatever you use is not electrically conductive. Cut-offs of wood would be suitable.
12) Screw it all together, attach your phone, flick the switch and your laughing mate. You can even charge your hapless festival chums a beer for each charge of their phone.
BUT IT DOESN'T WORK DS!
Really? Well numb-nuts, there are four possible reasons:
1) Loose connection. Make sure all wires are connected as they should be.
2) Dead batteries. Buy new ones.
3) You managed to connect the plus to the minus and vice versa on between the charger part and the batteries. Hang your head in shame, then swap them round when no-one is looking.
4) You surely haven't attached plus to plus or negative to negative when putting the batteries in series have you?! Good grief.
Anyways, I reckon the charge in these batteries will last a good 4 festivals worth of phone charging (remember and switch it off!).
Well, I had no idea that would take so long to type, hope one of you finds it remotely useful...
I'll pop back with more non-TF related handy nonsense including a diagram for my Arcade Supergun when i can be bothered.
DS
[/glow]
Equipment list:
Two 6 volt batteries (the big ones the size of a fist, currently available in most pound shops for, well, a pound each.)
One cheap car charger for your phone (get them at markets or dudes at stalls in the street for about a fiver).
One simple single throw rocker switch (pennies at Maplin) *OPTIONAL*
About 3 foot of equipment wire (about a quid at Maplin)
Project box to make it all nice and pretty if you are fussed (£7 at Maplin - obviosuly, make sure it is big enough to hold a car plug thing and two big batteries!) *OPTIONAL*
Soldering iron and solder.
Directions:
1) Take the two batteries, and run them in series (to essentially make one big battery), i.e. a piece of wire between the negative (-) on one battery has to go to the positive (+) of the other battery, leaving us with one neg and one pos unused.
2) Unscrew the car end of the car charger and gently open it up. You'll just have to muddle through this bit as every one has a slightly different design, but on most the end piece unscrews.
3) Inside, you will have (careful not to lose anything):
A fuse on the end of a spring (this goes to the pokey bit in the middle of the end of the car charger - this is the positive)
Two springy side-clip bits either side which are the bits that hold the car charger into the lighter slot - this is the negative).
4) Solder a piece of wire about six inches long directly to the spring that the fuse sits in - this is your plus.
5) Now the two side clips, only one of these will be visibly attached to the circuit inside the charger - this is the bit we want. If it is not obvious to you from looking at it which one this is, give up and go watch telly. Anyway, proceed to solder another six inch wire directly to this pice of metal. You knows it.
6) Now you connect the wire coming from the central pole (spring) of the charger directly to the remaining postive on the battery setup.
7) Now you connect the wire coming from the side clip directly to the remaining negative on the battery setup.
8) Dance and rejoice cos you have made a working phone charger!
Looks a bit crap though right? Wouldn't a nice case and a switch to turn it on and off be smashing? Well here we go:
9) Cut a hole in the project box you purchased, that's the right size for the switch, and drill a hole for the phone charger wire to come out. Can't help you on hole cutting here, you either mess it up or you don't. It's better to make the switch hole too small and file it out if you are not confident. Once done, fit your switch and bung all the other junk in the box.
10) Next, add the switch to the circuit. Arguably, this can go anywhere so long as it breaks the power loop, but I prefered to put it between the two batterys on the wire we add in step 1. Basicaly, just snip that baby (the wire) right in half, solder one of the new loose ends to one terminal on the switch and the other new loose end to the other terminal and bobs your proverbial uncle, and apparently, so I'm told, fanny is your aunty (although I'd ask for proof first as this sounds just all too convenient if you ask me).
11) Whack some random crap into the box to hold everything in place. My crap of choice was the chopped up casing of a dead dreamcast controller to wedge everything to stop it moving, but that might just be me. Just make sure whatever you use is not electrically conductive. Cut-offs of wood would be suitable.
12) Screw it all together, attach your phone, flick the switch and your laughing mate. You can even charge your hapless festival chums a beer for each charge of their phone.
BUT IT DOESN'T WORK DS!
Really? Well numb-nuts, there are four possible reasons:
1) Loose connection. Make sure all wires are connected as they should be.
2) Dead batteries. Buy new ones.
3) You managed to connect the plus to the minus and vice versa on between the charger part and the batteries. Hang your head in shame, then swap them round when no-one is looking.
4) You surely haven't attached plus to plus or negative to negative when putting the batteries in series have you?! Good grief.
Anyways, I reckon the charge in these batteries will last a good 4 festivals worth of phone charging (remember and switch it off!).
Well, I had no idea that would take so long to type, hope one of you finds it remotely useful...
I'll pop back with more non-TF related handy nonsense including a diagram for my Arcade Supergun when i can be bothered.
DS
[/glow]
