Ultimate Ipod Charger Tutorial Options

[dannaswolcott]

Why is it the ultimate? it holds your iPod (first to do this), it charges it, all the cells can be charged at the same time (havent seen that yet have you?), and it uses an iPod serial plug! now, here comes some heavy stuff... yes you can mess up your iPod doing this, although it would be incredibly difficult. please ask lots of questions, if you dont understand something, DONT DO IT. do not hesitate to ask, im easy to talk to. First, im going to talk about making a basic charger, the rechargable aspect of it will come in the second part, dont stress that yet.
Supplies: Soldering iron and solder, iTips iPod connector from radio shack (i havent looked for it elsewhere, there is probably a better price out there), two (2) 3 cell AAA holders, one (1) two cell AAA holder (my charger makes 9.6 volts, if you want to make 12 volts, buy TWO of these 2 cell holders), double stick tape, spare packing foam, container to put it all in, heat shrink tubing/electrical tape.
For containers, you could use a beta tape a normal VHS container, a random box or case... be creative! now, i made mine to fit and protect my iPod, if you dont want to do this, get a smaller container (just big enough for the batteries) and dont worry about getting foam.

This is just about the simplest wiring you will ever do, but requires some modification to the iTips plug, and some soldering. if you are worried about your abilities, i would recommend asking for help.

Take your battery holders, and wire them in series. this means, take the positive (+) from one, and attach it to the negative (-) of the next. put them in a chain like this, so you are left with a positive on one end, and a negative on the other. this combines the voltage of all the batteries we have together, 8 rechargable AAAs, each with 1.2 volts, making 9.6 volts. if you opt to use the second 2 cell holder, 10 AAAs, that is 12 volts. dont worry, the iPod can take anywhere up to 16 volts VERY safely, so dont worry about that. make sure to cover these attaching points with something! i used heat shrink tubing because its nice and neat, but electrical tape works fine too. here is a paint pic of the holders wired together in series. you can see that they are going to the iTips plug, i will explain that part in much greater detail, just understand the BASIC concept!

Quote [Originally Posted by SXN]