Solar Rechargeable Battery Powered PSP Charger

Step 4 Wire it UP!!!

Time to bust out the solder iron! I wired it according to the attached diagram. If you'd like to forego the solar recharging aspect of it, refer to the attached SPST diagram. Notice the wiring of the DPDT center-off switch is different than a normal DPDT switch. Also, I found wiring the adapter to the cord quite touchy. Take extra care to solder it as clean as possible, and not to use too much solder, as this will make it hard to screw the plastic sheath back over it...

Comments

[pblanscet]

thanks for the wiring. im adapting this to a rechargeable massager in an altoids tin. i will post a link to the ible when its done.

[Tizaro]

damn!
i messed up and bought a SPST center off switch.
is there anyway i can still incorporate the solar panel?

[Delta25]

hey, if the batteries charge with the solar panel there isnt any overload or overvolting protection, isnt it? if not how can we add it?

[eamc317]

As long as the solar panel isn't too large compared the battery (putting out about 10% of the battery's total capacity(a good rule for most rechargable batteries)) then your pretty safe. Its known as trickle charging, and keeps from too much electricty going into the battery. Still, you shouldn't leave it unattended in the sun for long periods of time, like months, since it can still be over charged. You can add protection for it if you wish. There are many articals on Instructables about these. Hope this helps! :)

[greencat1477]

where and how do you put the thing that connects/charges your PSP?

[kusadama]

Where would i put the 5v regulator? would i put it between the wire connecting the switch and the psp?

[kusadama]

if it is a solar charger, then why are there batteries?

[asval]

to store the power generated by the solar charger. you can have a solar charger by itself, but it would only work while in the sun. Which is why any solar system has batteries so you can use it whenever you want.

[466267]

Chuck
=( I tried to make the psp charger that jacob s. made and it didnt work...
i wired everything to his diagram correctly..i tested the usb port with a usb cord that was stripped to the red and black wires and nothing zip nope 0 voltage...
im really disssapointed .. i even have the 4 rechargable energizer batteries...
I think im going to try ur solar power charger and see if that works...
Im just wondering if i have to have the 6 prong switch that goes with the solar chrager? cuz i only have the 3 prong.
Reply bak to me asap

[YoChuck]

Yeah, it sounds like it could be the switch. The switch you're using sounds like it might be a SPDT (?) I'd recommend getting a DPDT switch with center-off, and wiring it up. As long as you have the battery pack going to the USB port, I'd think it would be fine. Just double check all of your connections once you get everything together. If you know for sure that the batteries have plenty of juice, it shouldn't be too hard to trace the problem. Best of luck!

[466267]

The switch im using is the DPDT switch (not center off ) having 3 prongs and just goes on and off.... the middle prong is connected to the (+) of the led and then the (-) going to the (-) wires twisted together ... i just dont know whats wrong.. i did all the connections right but when i flip the switch on and test the voltage from the output of switch... i get nothing. but without the switch and led i get 5v .=/ just pains me to see that my hard work ends in dissapointment...ill keep trying something and hopefully somethnig works.

Thanks for replying to me.. its been very helpful

[69ballsmahoney]

Your going to have to get the exact same switch that he has

[YoChuck]

Still sounds to me like it's an SPDT switch. Even a DPDT switch without center off should have 6 prongs. I might be mistaken. I'd try wiring the positive from the battery pack to the center prong. From one of the side prongs, run both positives for the LED and the USB port with separate wires (making sure to put your resistor in line before the LED). I can't remember if you said you're doing the solar cell, but the positive lead for that can go on the other side prong (with the rectifier in line). Send all negative wires back to the negative battery lead, and I'd think it would be good... Be sure to test everything thoroughly before powering up and connecting though... Best of luck!

[466267]

Hey Yochuck I was wondering.. My solar panel from a garden light only produces like 1-2v max...... Should i even use a solar panel for the charger?

[YoChuck]

The solar panel on this project is pretty much a novelty. It will get the job done, but takes a LONG time to charge the batteries fully. If you're simply planning on using this as an 'on-the-go' portable charger, I'd recommend forgoing the solar panel and using a wall charger to recharge the batteries.

[466267]

Forgot one more thing... Can i just use a dpdt center off switch with the diagram without the panel?... because i dont have a 2 prong slide switch? Sry thanks for the help I hope this project works

[YoChuck]

Absolutely. You can just wire it up according to the diagram with the panel, but just leave that part out. You should also be able to wire jumpers from the tabs on one side to the other, that way it will turn on regardless of which way you switch it. Best of luck!

[466267]

Hey chuck Im also wondering about the output voltage of the battery... When i check the output of the battery pack which has 4 energizer rechargable batteries...it's producing around 6volts alone without being wired to other parts... How is the voltage reduced to 5v and if im wrong plz correct me ty

[YoChuck]

4 AA rechargeables at 1/2v per battery will give you 4.8v total. A normal alkaline AA is rated at 1.5v, so 4 of those would give you 6v. If the setup you're using is running over 5v, you can use a 5v regulator to bring it down to the proper voltage.

[dylanwinn]

The PSP isn't picky, and will charge with anything between 4.5-5.0 volts. The iPhone, on the other hand, will only accept 5.5 volts. (good luck finding a 5.5 volt voltage regulator)

[466267]

Confused about "You should also be able to wire jumpers from the tabs on one side to the other, that way it will turn on regardless of which way you switch it" I have no idea what ur saying on this part..

[YoChuck]

The DPDT center-off switch has three switch positions. The center is off obviously, and then switching it to either side will connect your center soldering tabs to the soldering tabs on that respective side. If you're going to use the DPDT center-off switch because that's what you already have and are going to leave out the solar panel, then you'll technically only need to utilize the connection to one side of that switch. So you have the + and - going from the center switch tabs to the battery pack, and then on one side of the switch you have the + and - from the charging cord/LED wired. With this setup, flipping the switch one way will turn on the charger, and the other way will do nothing. If you were to take 2 wires and connect the top tab on the right and left sides with one, and then the bottom tab on the right and left sides with the other, the charger would turn on regardless of which way you flipped the switch. It's not a necessity, but if you go to charge your PSP and flip it the wrong way, you could end up waiting for a while while it doesn't charge. Just a thought. Best of luck!

[466267]

Lemme put it in my way of saying what u said...so u want me to connect 2 different wires to the tabs without anythin soldered to it which connects to the pos/neg leads by soldering it with the other tabs which are pos/neg correct which is located on the other side...?
In simpler words u want to be link the 2 prongs not soldered and solder it to the prongs parallel? Correct?
Oh yeah i first thought u meant bridge it meaning just connect the tabs with one wire so which i switched it to the bridged (on) side .... the whole thing malfunctioned and started emitting smoke and i was like wth did i do wrong...
So thank you ...
I might do the solar charger cuz idk i really like free power even tho its small
I've bought 2 4.5v solar panels that runs at 200mAH i think. and i got one for about $.30 + shippng($2) so yeah...idk i like free power that is portable too There bigger that the tin itself tho
=) thank you so much chuck
Sry i had a lot to say.. idk i love mini projects but this one just took very long time cause of failure..=(

[YoChuck]

Yes, that's exactly right the way you described it. Sorry, I tried to make it as clear as I could. Another thing you could think about doing if you're interested in having the option for the solar cell would be to wire the side of the switch that the solar cell would go on to a female jack of some sort. Leave the female jack installed in the project box, and then do a separate sort of project for the solar panels. I'd think 4.5v would be fine voltage-wise to recharge the batteries, so you could wire two panels in parallel to add their currents together. Wire the + and - from the solar cell combo to the male counterpart of the female jack you put in the charger project, and voila! Now you can take the charger on the go with just batteries, and keep the solar aspect of it stored away when not in use, or even leave it at home if you're not planning on using it! I'm trying to think of a nice-sized box you could use as a project box for the solar panels... A DVD case maybe...? I don't know, best of luck!

[466267]

Thx....
I think im going to finish this project in the summer...mroe time and less stress with school cuz just 2 more weeks left
=) happy summErs

[466267]

If u have any ideas i can use the solar panels for then feel free to comment me

[466267]

Chuck... I made the charger but it outputs 5.47v .. and i used alligator clips to make all the connections but i soldered so i knew that it worked.... I dont want to fry my psp so how does the charger output 5.0v because i made a usb charger that had output voltage of 5.07v and it messed up the usb and after a couple weeks....my psp started to charge really slow and kept going on and off on the charge light

[YoChuck]

I'm not sure what kind of detrimental affect it has on the PSP to expose it to too much voltage. My guess is that there is a failsafe in place that will disable charging on too much voltage. This still throws a wrench in the spokes for the charger. I just responded to another comment you had and mentioned using a 5v regulator. If the overage is minimal, I'd think that possibly using a resistor might give you the voltage you want. Again I'm not 100% on this either, but I believe the PSP will accept a charging voltage between 3.5-5v, so if you take it below 5v it should be just fine. Best of luck, and I welcome anyone reading this comment that might be a bit more savvy on the matter to confirm or correct me...

[466267]

KK thx because i think the panel would be a waste because the batteries would probably take like 3 days to fully charge to battery in full sunlight Ill stick to the panelless diagram... thanks

[TitanTechRobotics]

Does a zener diode work the same as a rectifying diode? Thank you!

[dylanwinn]

No, but in this case a rectifying diode is unnecessary.

[azndrag0n96]

hey YoChuck. i have a psp charger adapter that i cut off one of my extra chargers cause radioshack doesnt sell PSP power adapter (Radio Shack part #274-1532) anymore. the one that i cut off has positive and negative copper wire obviously so can i use those instead of using a power cord? im not the most handy with electrical stuff but i do know stuff.

[Gabella360]

oh and would it matter if I used a gremine diode

[Gabella360]

hey chuck I wanna know if I tried to use a usb instead of a psp charger would it still work I think it might oh and if I used a rechaging 5v battery would that might work???

[kwiksketch.mb]

does it matter what kind of diode it is?

[Aarnat]

I like the simplicity of this circuit, but does one have to worry about overcharging or over-discharging the batteries? Also, would a LED (with a resistor too) work instead of your solar cell blocking diode? Or would it take too much of the charging current from the solar cell because of the resistor? I think if would be neat seeing instant feedback on the how much sun the solar cell sees.

[k_man93]

the purpose of the diode is to keep the power in the batteries from draining back into the solar panel. it works pretty much the same as a one way valve on an air pump

[halodude]

Hey YoChuck, I'm a beginner with this type of thing and I followed your instructions, as best as i could but what does it mean when your batteries are getting really hot and the LED is not lighting up? Thanks!

[YoChuck]

That probably means there's a problem somewhere. I'd double and triple check all of the wiring, and test all paths and connections with a multimeter. If you don't have one, I'd STRONGLY recommend getting one. You can generally find inexpensive ones, but the frustrastion, heartache, and fried components avoided more than make up for any price. Ok, on to the issue. If your batteries are getting really hot, that could mean you have a short somewhere in your circuit. Check to make sure your positive and negative leads from the battery pack aren't touching each other anywhere. Another thing to check might be your switch. Were you sure to get a DPDT center-off switch? If it's a different type of switch, or has a different connectivity layout for its tabs, that could be the source of your problem. The internet has wiring diagrams for the different types of switches you can purchase. I'd recommend trying to find a diagram for the switch you're using, just to make sure you're wiring everything correctly. Test and retest your connections with the multimeter BEFORE putting your batteries back in. Just think the project through, picture the path the electricity is taking, and you should be able to get it working. Best of luck!

[recordmasta001]

does it matter what voltage the solar cell is?. Because mine is 8v at max