3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world — and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

Convert a Baby Swing from Batteries to AC (wall) Power

Step 5Prepare Power Supply

Prepare Power Supply
I had an old Motorola cell phone charger with a similar (slightly) higher voltage.

Cut the cell phone connector end off, and strip back about 3/8" of the insulation to expose the copper wire.

Carefully separate the stripped ends and plug the charger into the wall. Using your multimeter, touch the red lead of your meter to one wire, and the black lead of the meter to the other wire. If the meter displays the correct voltage of the power supply (say 5.0 volts), then mark the wire the red probe is touching as the positive wire. I used masking tape to do this. If your meter says (-5.0 volts), then the wire the black lead is touching is the positive lead. Mark it as such.

You will need to figure out how to run the power supply wires through the plastic housing of the swing in order to connect them to the switch. I chose to drill a hole on the bottom of the swing, near the battery box. Drill a hole just large enough to fit the wires through. The tie a simple knot (overhand) in the power supply wiring on the inside of the housing to provide strain relief for the wiring. You DO NOT want the solder joint to be pulled on when someone trips over the wiring, etc.
« Previous StepDownload PDFView All StepsNext Step »
3 comments
Oct 21, 2011. 11:53 AMzlange says:
I had a 5V .5a adapter and it seemed too weak. So I swapped out for a 5V .7a adapter and it seems a bit better. I think that I might spring for a 5V 1.0a adapter, i bet that'll be about right. thanks for posting this DIY!
Mar 28, 2011. 3:40 PMinternethotspot says:
I used 5v 2amp power supply. For switch I purchased one with thread and nut on back to fasten rather then use epoxy. As for wires, I would recommend using longer wires, as it is rather difficult to solder while holding the housing. A couple more inches would have made it easier.

One thing didn't seem to work out for me - it doesn't appear to be rocking. Manually, it freely moves and continues rocking, but for some reason it's not working via the controls.

Lights and music work fine.

Good luck!
Oct 25, 2010. 9:31 PMselina_robyn says:
did you have any problems with the music skipping?

Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

All Steps Viewing
View all steps of an Instructable on the same page when you're a Pro Member.

Upgrade to Pro today!
2
Followers
1
Author:WrenchingPilot