DIY 10 amp Charger for under a tenner

[BareThrills]

I made this a while back but forgot to write it up so ive done a little video how too. will charge most phones without the adapter but iphone 4 and 4s needs it.

Have a butchers




USB Booster here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Step...#ht_4150wt_882

Charging Cable here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Male-5...#ht_1775wt_984


or here from china and cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/new-USB-Ma...item256ed9aef2

Ihustler adapter here

http://dx.com/p/usb-charger-adapter-...s-white-123582

[jacko1066]

Quality quality vid mate!! thanks for sharing, Pm on its way lol
Cheers
Steve

[BareThrills]

Just to clarify a few questions ive had

I got the battery on ebay. I paid £30 for 10 of them. there are none currently listed on ebay but ive got 4 left and im happy to let you have one for £3 plus post (you cover PP fees).

Charging it is via usb cable i linked to. im sure you can get mains chargers to plug the usb lead into but ive not looked. red light turns green when fully charged

ive not had the time to sit and measure how many complete charges im getting but at the last meet i took it too i charged my phone when needed and my ecig constantly and it didnt run out. There will be some loss of capacity due to the boosting of the voltage but it wont be huge

[rik_uk3]

The mains powered USB chargers are cheap enough, we use them at home to charge phones and the kindle.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-3-Pin-A...item35b9f9de54 sort of thing.

Thats a great setup you put together

[BareThrills]

The mains powered USB chargers are cheap enough, we use them at home to charge phones and the kindle.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-3-Pin-A...item35b9f9de54 sort of thing.

Thats a great setup you put together

Cheers Rik. pretty good value and id recommend one as charging one of these from flat takes a long time via USB on the comp. I do mine on the leisure battery at 1amp so not too bad.

Only one battery left lucky peeps below have secured one

Roger-UK
Jacko1066
Mesquite

[roger-uk]

Cheers Rik. pretty good value and id recommend one as charging one of these from flat takes a long time via USB on the comp. I do mine on the leisure battery at 1amp so not too bad.

Only one battery left lucky peeps below have secured one

Roger-UK
Jacko1066
Mesquite

Battery receibed and it looks a nice piece of kit. Just awaiting adpter now and some leads

Tnx

[Chiseller]

May I take the last one pls.

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

[roger-uk]

May I take the last one pls.

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

Bugger I was just going to say if one left I'd have another but no problem.

Were there any spec sheets with it or a circuit diagram by a chance. If so can I have a copy. Have you opened one up

[BareThrills]

Last one to Chiseller.

Ive opened up three to harvest the cells. I then put them in series to make a 30 amp 12v (11.1v nominal) battery that powers the LED strip lights that back light the telly. they have internal boards on either end to control input and output, charging etc but i just cut them off and added balance taps form my rc charger. No circuit diagram im afraid and there is too much going on inside to do a sketch.

[jorn]

@ BareThrills
I've got a few old lipo packs knocking about from my rc-hobby. I wonder if i could put a three cell pack in series, then order a USB-booster, connect the bugger up and go of charging phones? Thanks for this thread by the way!

[BareThrills]

@ BareThrills
I've got a few old lipo packs knocking about from my rc-hobby. I wonder if i could put a three cell pack in series, then order a USB-booster, connect the bugger up and go of charging phones? Thanks for this thread by the way!

it Depends Jorn. If they are single cells then they will be 3.7v but if they are already in packs its likely they will be 7.4 or more. If you put 3 cells in series you will be at 11.1v and you wouldnt want a booster, you would want a step down converter to get to 5V. If you salvage 3 cells and put them in parallel then you would still be at 3.7v and could use the booster to get to 5v and charge away. The only thing you would nee to be careful of is over charging / discharging the cells as they are not likely to have protection if taken from an RC pack.

[cbr6fs]

it Depends Jorn. If they are single cells then they will be 3.7v but if they are already in packs its likely they will be 7.4 or more. If you put 3 cells in series you will be at 11.1v and you wouldnt want a booster, you would want a step down converter to get to 5V. If you salvage 3 cells and put them in parallel then you would still be at 3.7v and could use the booster to get to 5v and charge away. The only thing you would nee to be careful of is over charging / discharging the cells as they are not likely to have protection if taken from an RC pack.

+1

Although LiPo's peak at 4.2v not 3.7v

[BareThrills]

indeed but under load they will be at 3.7

my next mission is to do something with a 10 amp Lifepo4 ive got siting around

For Roger, here is the internals and the raw cell

[roger-uk]

Thanks very much interesting arrangement.

[jorn]

it Depends Jorn. If they are single cells then they will be 3.7v but if they are already in packs its likely they will be 7.4 or more. If you put 3 cells in series you will be at 11.1v and you wouldnt want a booster, you would want a step down converter to get to 5V. If you salvage 3 cells and put them in parallel then you would still be at 3.7v and could use the booster to get to 5v and charge away. The only thing you would nee to be careful of is over charging / discharging the cells as they are not likely to have protection if taken from an RC pack.

Thanks mate!
I did mean parallel (which in Dutch would be called 'parallel', so i can't blame translation ). I've found a 3s 1200mAh pack which i will split, solder in a parallel configuration. I think before splitting the pack up i'll charge and balance the cells, once they're parallel it should be ok for a fair few charges. This wil give me 3600mAh which would be enough for a couple of charges i should think.

[BareThrills]

Cool. They will not need balancing as in parallel they will act as a single cell.

[millie-mail]

Hey Paul, thats a really useful set-up. Can you give me any idea where to get a reasonably priced archos 10amp battery extender from?
Who manufactured yours? Or could you put a link up? Thanks for posting!

Dave.

[dean4442]

Just a quick question,would the cable bit work with a freeloader to charge my kindle?
Colin

[BareThrills]

Just a quick question,would the cable bit work with a freeloader to charge my kindle?
Colin

im not familiar with the freeloader but im guessing it will already output 5v via USB?

[jorn]

My wife's a freeloader, she doesn't put out at all...