charging one battery from another (using a charge controller, natch)

winfieldhill · 2007-03-28T14:11:30+00:00

I'm thinking about the simple scheme of charging a portable device's rechargeable internal battery from an external battery (which shouldhave a little higher voltage, obviously). The portable device should havean internal charge controller to protect its battery and manage thecharging. Find a suitable battery or stack of cells, and plug it in. Simple. Using AA cells in an product like Belkin's iPod charger is anexample. Recharging your cell phone from your car's 12V battery could be an example. Emergency power for a cell phone would be an example. Instances of externally powering the dead device, withoutsignificantly charging its battery, would be interesting as well. I'm looking for specific instances of products, or of people doingthis themselves and making the suggestion to others. One caveat, these instances have to be during the 1990s or before. Sorry! :-) Thatrules out Belkin and their AA-cell holder, since Apple introduced the iPodin 2002 and they brought out their product sometime later.

Mar 28, 2007 41 Replies

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joseph2k 19 years ago

The oldest bag phones i remember had a fuse in the lighter plug, circia

1993, all other electronics was in the "bag". The first cell phones that i remember having anything electronic beyond a fuse / resistor / some diodes was about 1998 Motorola / Nextel car adapters with some widget in the lighter plug.

JosephKK Gegen dummheit kampfen die Gotter Selbst, vergebens. --Schiller

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James Arthur 19 years ago

Here's another lead, someone describing making and using an external battery pack (4xAA alkaline cells) to charge a LiIon battery in a mini-disc player:

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And another example, this one from 4/17/2000:

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Best, James Arthur

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