Crap! The only reason I've been wanting to do this was for my iphone. Well for my riding ipod (shuffle) too. But does anyone else know how to get this to charge the iphone as well? Or has anyone else been successful in this mod for the iphone USB charge? Please enlighten the thread. Thanks.

 

Should charge the shuffle just fine. Check your leads, make sure you're getting +5v out of it.

I'll look into adding an "upgrade." Really, what you COULD do, is just take a good car charger that you know works with the iPhone, gut it for the charging board inside, clip the male USB off the end and solder on the female.

 

That sounds pretty intense. I dont know if I'm that savvy. The only car charger I have plugs directly from the bottom of the iphone to the 9v plug. Its the wall charger ($45 to replace) that accepts USB into the jack that plugs to the wall. Ahhh!!! Any other way to get more juice to charge the iphone? I cant believe that getting direct power from the battery to the USB wont do the job. I mean how do laptop's kick out more power than a 12v battery? I guess if I was an Electrical Engineer and not a Mechanical Engineer I'd know these answers. Any help would be great.

PS. obviously I've yet to try perform this mod, but when I do, I'm looking to get power to the USB at all times. Even when the key isn't turned. Will hard wireing directly from the battery allow this? (common sense says yes). What do you guys say?

 

9v? Do you mean 12v? There's no 9v plug in a car. If you're referring to the cigarette lighter, it's 12v.

. . .how do you plug a wall charger into your car? Do you have an inverter with 120v outlets in it? AND FOURTY-FIVE DOLLARS?! Is it hand-carved from poached ivory? I bought a NICE one for my palm on eBay for $14 shipped.

Amperage. Even laptops vary on this, and you'll find that some older ones won't charge your phone, and some modern ones won't do it unless your're on AC power (to save the internal battery) This is a great place to note that leaving the phone plugged into your bike while it's not running for more than an hour or so (depending on the phone) WILL KILL YOUR BIKE'S BATTERY. It's identical to leaving the tiny little dome light on in your car overnight, and coming out in the morning to find the car won't start.

Yes. MAKE SURE YOU USE AN INLINE FUSE on the positive terminal, lest you short your battery out and wind up stranded somewhere. Be aware that this IS a significant drain on your battery (I know it seems weird) and if you're bike is not charging (engine RPMs need to be above ~2700 to charge the battery), then this is reducing your battery's current capacity.


I mean no offense by this, and offer it up only out of concern for the continued functionality of your bike, but: honestly, if "scavenge the charging board from a car charger and use that" sounds too complicated for you, then I suspect that this entire mod may be a bit over your head, and you may want to do some research into why all of this works, and how, before you dive into it. I will never tell anyone not to try something, as I personally have learned how things work by first breaking them, and then being stuck figuring out how to fix them myself because I was broke. Just be aware that this is something that can fry all sorts of electronics in the bike if done incorrectly.

 

Don't forget you can fry the device that you plug into it also if you hook it up incorrectly also.

 

Just noticed this thread is STICKY!!! Thanks admins!!

 

i will be installing one on wednesday, and im gonna use the extra one to install this in my car as well. Im gonna make sure it charges my blackberry before i gut any holes though.

 

A Car Battery has a ton more power than a laptop battery. power is wattage= voltage x amps. my laptop is 90 watts= 19.5volt at 4.62 Amps. while a car battery has 12 volts and like 600 cold cranking amps. that a ton more power. so its definitely not the batteries ability to charge an iphone. just get a beefier voltage regulator that is within the safe specs for the iphone. Texas Instruments www.ti.com has a lot of options.

Also a linear voltage regulator never turns off and constantly drains the battery even when its not being used.

 

Belkin Part # F8Z445

Use it in my car and on my bike

 

i did it today it went flawlessly once i got all the soldering done.... charges my blackberry just fine

thanks a bunch johnny