Dual Ipod Charger

I have both an iPod and an iShuffle, I don't want to have to bring a laptop along on a trip to just to charge them. This will charge an iShuffle or an iPod with firewire connector.

Step 1 Parts

Parts:
Radioshack 7805 5v Regulator
Radioshack 7812 12v Regulator
2 x 1k resistors
2 x LEDs
USB female socket
Firewire female socket
breadboard.

Comments

[elinventor21]

hey man nice project but where r the schematics?

[stackemtotheheavens1]

I built this, and when I add power to it, the ipod turns on but it does not show that it is charging. I checked the battery, and its full 9v. any sugggestions?

[Gjdj3]

Do you have an iTouch or iPhone?

[stackemtotheheavens1]

no, its an ipod classic.

[Sitnalta]

You have to build a small circuit of resistors to fool the iPod into charging. I'm actually going to publish a small instructible that details this. However I will try to explain as best I can without a visual aide. Ok, you will need 4 resistors. Two of them at 49.7KΩ (we'll call these R1), one at 43KΩ (R2), and one at 74.9KΩ (R3). These are ideal values and so it's ok if they're not exact (for instance, I used a 47KΩ for the first two resistors) you can also connect resistors in series to get the right values. Ok, here we go. Step 1) Connect R2 and R3 end-to-end. Connect the 5V+ line inbetween them. Making a "T." Step 2) Connect the two R1's to the free ends of R2 and R3. Extending the top of the "T" in both directions. Then connect the free ends of both R1's to ground (-). Step 3) There are two data lines in the center of the USB port. They are called D+ and D-. Look online for a schematic for which pin is which. Connect D+ in between R3 and R1. Connect D- in between R2 and R1. Now test. You should be getting around 2.5V out of D+ and around 3.3V out of D-. This may seem scary high, but trust me, this is in the USB spec. This is how the iPod knows it's OK to draw the power it needs to charge.

[agis68]

Ipods need 4 cables to charge from the USB and of course a hole circuit with divider and other things...I will give you a diagam when i found it in my huge collection

[agis68]

ok I got it...

[Andruha1123]

would this work for motorola cellphones?

[agis68]

definitely yes

[Jon316]

can i use any bread board or the one you showed cause i found one on radioshack online it called Modular IC Breadboard Socket can i use this one

[Da_Fudge]

OK... 2 things I saw that I can't work out. In step 2, it says feed 12V into both regulators. That won't work. for a normal 7812 regulator to work, you need something like 14V MINIMUM for them to work. even a low-dropout 12V reg needs ~ 12.5 minimum to work. Also, in step 3 picture 1, you have the 12V regulator on the USB side and the 5V reg on the firewire side.

[Derin]

you could replace the reg with a 12V zener then...it will work from 12V to infinite volts

[Yerboogieman]

i liked this alot, and im making one alot like it but with capacitors

[mollygear]

i think, if you have an apple USB wall brick charger, you could plug a USB hub into it, and charge as many iPods as you like on it

[jongscx]

not necessarily, some cheap hubs only split the signal and not the voltage... they assume the devices are self-powered, like printers and scanners, and usb blenders.

[Yerboogieman]

would 2.2k resistors work?

[Dark]

Very nice. Did you consider putting it inside a case, such as an altoids or such. Also, could the USB be powered by a 9v battery?

[KdoggFunkstah]

should be able to, however the firewire port will not have sufficient voltage coming out of the regulator. Don't know how long that'll last you and how much battery it will recharge on the other end. What a battery would probably do is just transfer its own electrons in its battery into the ipod's battery. correct me if i'm wrong, but if an ipod's battery capacity is larger than a 9V (which i think it is), then I don't think you'll be able to fully charge your ipod w/ an external battery :-p

[radiorental]

I thought the ipod batteries were around the 3v ish range

[blindskull13]

somewhere around the box or the manual it came with it lists the voltage range

[Dark]

Could you wire two 9v batteries together and power the firewire port? Because I have a third gen pod, which only charges via firewire as well.

[timc]

Can anyone help me _ I have tried to replace screen on 30gb video ipod but one of the orange wires has come adrift and I need a circuit diagram to know where and how to reconnect it. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Tim

[APOCALYPTiC ONi]

you cant. i looked into it with mine. even if you could figure out where it went, the connections are so small thast they have to be done by very delicate machines. the human hand just isnt steady enough.

[gjenny]

from spec of ipod, it can support USB2.0 to be used for ipod charging. it is said for charging ipod by USB port, it needs 5v 500ma(usb 1.0) or 5V 100ma(usb 2.0). I am not sure that, does anybody has experience with 100ma USB charger?

[gojukebox]

Could someone please draw a quick (labeled) wiring diagram for the less intelligent?

[hjjhjhgjjh]

I love it. I have a lot of ipods and I usually have like 3 chargers around now I can do it all in one. Good Job. Keep up the good work my man.

[hjjhjhgjjh]

I love it. I have a lot of ipods and I usually have like 3 chargers around now I can do it all in one. Good Job. Keep up the good work my man.

[rsz]

It seems you can use either USB or FW to charge the 4G or 5G docking iPods, as well as the mini. The shuffle only charges with USB, and 3G and earlier iPods charge only with FW. This site was helpful:
http://ipodbatteryfaq.com/ipodbatteryandpower.html

RSZ

[ollie]

thanks rsz, really helpful. i should have looked at this link first before i assembled my own 7805+9V USB charger only to find out my 3G ipod will only charge via FW. :-(

[syko82]

I built a very similar 5V charger for my Nano. You are forgetting some caps before and after the regulator to even out the voltage from spikes. The only problem is that it doesn't seem to charge the iPod while playing, it only keeps it from using battery power. I have yet to hook up an amp-meter to see what exactly I'm supplying / pulling. I don't think charging and playing is possible with 5V. Maybe I'll have to make it charge on the 12V lines so it works better. Cool design to do both though.

[mart100]

syko, i have also built a 5v USB charger for my nano. to make it charge though, you have to fool the ipod into thinking it's connected to a computer. to do this, connect a 1K resistor across pins 2 and 3 (centre two) on the USB connector. the pod takes about 15 seconds after connecting to decide there is no computer on the other end and to start charging anyway. alternatively, just turn the pod off after connecting and charging will start immediately.

[mart100]

syko, i have also built a 5v USB charger for my nano. to make it charge though, you have to fool the ipod into thinking it's connected to a computer. to do this, connect a 1K resistor across pins 2 and 3 (centre two) on the USB connector. the pod takes about 15 seconds after connecting to decide there is no computer on the other end and to start charging anyway. alternatively, just turn the pod off after connecting and charging will start immediately.

[ranex]

usb is only 5volt though so the ipod nano is only designed for that- id be carfull you might break you ipod there

[heiko]

As any iPod contains a Li-Ion battery, all charge control has to be included into the device. Same with your cellphone: The power adaptor is just a voltage regulator that feeds the internal charging electronics. The reason's quite simple: If you bought a 3rd party chinese battery charger that didn't keep track of your battery's decaying process and overloaded it by 1/100th of a Volt, your battery would explode. Furthermore, charging your iPod via your computer's USB port doesn't do anything else: It just delivers 5V at up to (!) 250mA, and it's the iPods (or any device's) task to load the battery at the right current and voltage. OTOH, you could easily get 5V out of your computer through an USB jack and use it for any electronic device you just built up. However, there are maximum ratings for the current that may not be exceeded, and your USB device would have to ask your computer before drawing about any current.

[syko82]

Actually the ipod's pull up to 500mA. You need a high powered USB port to even charge the iPod. Otherwise, your iPod will just slowly die on the connector. (trust me, I've seen it happen and baffle the common user)

[radiorental]

also, 3rd gen ipods dont charge via usb

[KdoggFunkstah]

I have a question... I've researched a little bit on designing battery chargers, and most often there are ic's that detect that a battery is done being charged. This design seems to be lacking this, or does the ipods have these internally? i would be bummed to make my ipod's battery less efficient - although i would totally make this if someone can verify that there is a overcurrent protection within the ipod :)

[radiorental]

Thats taken care internally, think of this as just a 'dock' supplying the power to the internal battery managment.

[radiorental]

Joe, could you do a circuit diagram - cheers, pauric