[Techtalk] [OT] charging USB device without a PC
Conor Daly
conor.daly at oceanfree.net
Sun Apr 13 00:56:45 EST 2003
On Sat, Apr 12, 2003 at 01:39:59AM +0100 or so it is rumoured hereabouts,
Maria Blackmore thought:
> On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Conor Daly wrote:
>
> > Badly OT I know but...
>
> Well .. it's technical ...
And to drag it slightly on topic, on the box it claims to support "Win2k,
ME, XP, Mac OS >=10.1.2 and Linux >=2.4.0". Just plug in and it's there
as /dev/sda. Very nice to see support quoted on the box.
> > Uses a lithium battery that charges off the USB port.
>
> Presumably, you mean a lithium ion battery?
Yep.
> > I have a 5Vdc charger (from another device) and I'm just wondering if
> > it would be fatal to the USB device to attempt to charge it from that.
> > I can desolder a USB socket from an old mobo and hook that up to the
> > charger which can deliver up to 2.5A.
>
> That's pretty chunky for 5V, the maximum current draw from a USB
> port is 500 mA, so that should be just fine
It's for a big lump of a personal MP3 CD player that lives in the car
(~150 CDs in a 24CD wallet and > 10 hours of music before I need to change
CD). It seems to need most of those amps!
> The failure mode of a lithium ion battery that is being
> improperly charged usually involves scattering red hot metal and chemicals
> around the area, so all lithium ion batteries are "smart".
<ducks...>
> In theory you should be able to use one of the generic variable voltage
> power supplies with its output set to 4.5V, since the minimum acceptable
> voltage on a USB connection is 4.4V. You'll just need to make sure that
> whatever supplies it can source 500 mA at least.
What's the max voltage offhand?
> Have fun :)
OK, did that. USB socket off an old mobo, power socket off an old
receiver. It's now hooked up to the charger with the charging light on.
<runs off to check> Yup, charging complete, battery not even warm... I'll
have to run the battery flat and test properly.
Thanks all for all the info.
Conor
--
Conor Daly <conor.daly at oceanfree.net>
Domestic Sysadmin :-)
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