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I've seen a few "device charger box" and other similar Instructables over the years and have been a bit puzzled over the hoopla. I use a similar method to hide the wires behind my 2 computers, so I know the result is amazing, but for charging battery-op devices we can do even better!
The basic idea behind these "charger boxes/stations" is to connect multiple power supplies and put them in a box, then route the connectors to a panel. The basic ones use a power strip stuffed in the box with an external power switch. The nicer ones might actually splice the AC power line and use individual switches to turn the power on/off. They might even run the power to a nice wall-mounted stand of some sort. This means you only need to use one plug for all your chargers and that all the wires are hidden away.
But I wonder to myself "why?" I hope to provide some basic knowledge of electronics and to dispel some common myths without making too many errors. Because with a little knowledge and know-how you can go the next step. Instead of hiding the wires in a box, you can throw the majority of your chargers into the garbage (or repurpose them).
The basic idea behind these "charger boxes/stations" is to connect multiple power supplies and put them in a box, then route the connectors to a panel. The basic ones use a power strip stuffed in the box with an external power switch. The nicer ones might actually splice the AC power line and use individual switches to turn the power on/off. They might even run the power to a nice wall-mounted stand of some sort. This means you only need to use one plug for all your chargers and that all the wires are hidden away.
But I wonder to myself "why?" I hope to provide some basic knowledge of electronics and to dispel some common myths without making too many errors. Because with a little knowledge and know-how you can go the next step. Instead of hiding the wires in a box, you can throw the majority of your chargers into the garbage (or repurpose them).
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Signing UpStep 1So what the heck are you talking about? And this better be good.
To boil this down to a sentence, you can theoretically make one adjustable charger that can recharge all of your battery powered devices.
So the caveat here is that you can only charge one (or multiple devices with the same voltage requirement) at a time. Also, you'll need to hack the charging plug for each device so that it can plug into your universal charger.
Now before the lithium ion batteries became commonplace, this idea might not have been so practical. Using NiCd or NiMh batteries, we were all pretty much forced to have our devices on the charger constantly when not being used, or they would quickly lose their charge and they would be useless when we needed them. On top of that, it was commonplace for chargers to have some sort of circuitry in them (typically a couple of lousy diodes, and if lucky a comparator for temperature sensing). Not so with lithium ion batteries. Once charged, we can leave these devices on standby for months or even years without an appreciable loss of charge. And as for the circuitry, it is nearly always inside of the device, itself. The "charger" is this case is really just a source of DC electricity, and nothing more. So unless you need to charge all of your devices daily, it becomes a simple matter to have one (or maybe 2) universal chargers and let your devices take turns at the feeding trough.
So the caveat here is that you can only charge one (or multiple devices with the same voltage requirement) at a time. Also, you'll need to hack the charging plug for each device so that it can plug into your universal charger.
Now before the lithium ion batteries became commonplace, this idea might not have been so practical. Using NiCd or NiMh batteries, we were all pretty much forced to have our devices on the charger constantly when not being used, or they would quickly lose their charge and they would be useless when we needed them. On top of that, it was commonplace for chargers to have some sort of circuitry in them (typically a couple of lousy diodes, and if lucky a comparator for temperature sensing). Not so with lithium ion batteries. Once charged, we can leave these devices on standby for months or even years without an appreciable loss of charge. And as for the circuitry, it is nearly always inside of the device, itself. The "charger" is this case is really just a source of DC electricity, and nothing more. So unless you need to charge all of your devices daily, it becomes a simple matter to have one (or maybe 2) universal chargers and let your devices take turns at the feeding trough.
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http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/klee27x/powersupplyschematic.jpg
Here's an Instructable that has more documentation. I didn't use this for my idea, and I found it just now while looking at the links at the bottom of my Instructable. He does it differently. He wires up the DIP switch as individually controlled resistors, rather than a like I did, which is more like a bussed resistor. His allows jumps to specific voltages. Mine goes by 1.25V jumps with the potentiometer to allow infinite adjustment.
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Radioshack%2c-Adjustable%2c-Breadboard-Power-Suppl/
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/klee27x/powersupplyschematic-1.jpg
It should be noted that you could adjust the resistors to provide 1V steps, if you so desired. I actually made the ladder not to be able to switch to predetermined levels. I did it mainly to make my potentiometer more precise. My first adjustable powersupply relied on just a cheap potentiometer across it's entire range, and I more than once found out the voltage I set it at had changed considerably by itself. So I bought some precision pots and made the ladder to amplify their precision even more.
There was an amazinf invention called...*drumroll* ,*bom**pom**bom**pom**bom**pom*....A MIRROR!
its funny though