Electroids: the curiously strong USB charger…
Posted by Katsushiro in Dork!, Everyday Entry, Nifty Ideas, Technolust, t3h S3xySo, I’ve always wanted to be more of a DIY sorta guy, but working with power tools and such never quite appealed to me. I never really felt the lure of the power tool section at Sears. But I always wanted to be able to have something in my hands and be able to say: “Look! I made this!” It’s a wonder I never turned to electronics before.
Recently, Dethroner dedicated a week to the wonders of electronics, specifically the DIY kind, and they invited Aaron Dunlap, of Electroids fame, to co-host the week. The whole thing inspired me to actually get around to ordering one of the $10 9V USB Charger kits from his site, and the parts arrived not too long ago. Of course, the kit only includes the basic stuff: the battery snap, the USB connector, an LED light, a resistor, a 9V-to-5V IC, and that’s about it. You supply your own solder, soldering iron, electrical tape, battery, and, of course, Altoids tin. So, for those of you thinking of taking this on as your first electronics project, and telling yourself it’s worth it ’cause it’s so cheap: you’re going to end up going to Radio Shack and spending ~$100 on additional parts, including the solder, hookup cable, soldering iron (stay away from those ColdHeat irons, they suck), electrical tape, and, if you’re like me, a little Dremel tool for poking holes in the Altoids tin. However, look on the bright side: by the time you’re done buying all that extra stuff, you’re well-equiped to handle other electronics projects, and I can assure you that once you finish your first one, and get the ‘OMG, I made something that works!’ high, you’ll definitely want to make more.
So, over the past couple of days, I’ve been cursing my lack of soldering skills, and slowly trying to avoid burning myself (or frying the components) while soldering wires and resistors and stuff… but it has been worth it:
Behold! My very own Electroids charger, fully working, and charging up Glitch. It’s a thing of beauty! And I can say with pride: I made this.
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Cool! I just made mine today. Except for hot gluing the switch to be permanently on, it works fine!
Rock on, I actually managed to make mine using no superglue (though there’s about 10 layers of electrical tape in there to keep the exposed metal bits from touching each other), and the switch works just dandy.
I think I’ll be googling for ‘neat electronics projects’ soon, to take advantage of all the extra solder and wire and such that I have now. Plus, that Dremel was expensive, I gotta find more things to do with it to justify spending the cash. 
Altoids… the curiously strong USB charger.
I saw the gizmo in person, it’s very cool.
Great job! I never saw you as a DIY kinda guy, I am impressed.
I just finished mine, but it doesn’t charge my ipod! It just turns it off when I plug it in! I’ve been trouble shooting and now I’m wondering if my polarity is switched. When I tested the voltage i get 5V, but if I were to switch the + – on the USB socket I’d get -5V. I’m too afraid to try it and fry my device. Do you guys get -5V or just 5V on your multimeter?
Help!