Introduction: 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.
Step 2: Breadboard It.
So this is really pretty simple, send 12v in to both of the regulators.
But where you need to pay attention, the 5v regulator powers the USB.
The 12v regulator powers the firewire.
Do not mess that up, or you'll blow up the ishuffle.
One more time, don't forget 12v=firewire 5v=usb.
So if you are looking at the USB connector, pin 1 is positive and pin 4 is negative which in WWIV BBS ascii art looks like:
+ | | - .
On the Firewire cable If you are looking at it with the pointy part down, pin 1 is positive and the pin across from it, pin 2 is negative in bad ascii art it looks like this:
+ -
| |
| |
Step 3: Hook It Up
When you move to the circuit board, just be sure the jacks are close enough to the edge to allow the firewire cable to go in.
There are a lot of ways to power this, I put on a dc jack, so I could use an old wall wart or plug in in to my car to charge. Do what you want... Another slick idea would be to use a firewire plug and use the apple ipod charger wall wart to power it.
I also put one of these inside the simple ipod amp project I did, so I can charge the ipod while listening to musc.
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39 Comments
12 years ago on Step 2
hey man nice project but where r the schematics?
14 years ago on Introduction
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?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Do you have an iTouch or iPhone?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
no, its an ipod classic.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
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.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
would this work for motorola cellphones?
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
definitely yes
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
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
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
ok I got it...
13 years ago on Step 1
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
15 years ago on Introduction
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.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
you could replace the reg with a 12V zener then...it will work from 12V to infinite volts
15 years ago on Introduction
i liked this alot, and im making one alot like it but with capacitors
15 years ago on Introduction
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
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
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.
15 years ago on Introduction
would 2.2k resistors work?
16 years ago
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?
Reply 16 years ago
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
Reply 16 years ago
I thought the ipod batteries were around the 3v ish range
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
somewhere around the box or the manual it came with it lists the voltage range