iPod Charger Made from Altoids Tin

There is definitely an Altoids DIY underground. I bumped into an article on how to make an iPod charger from an Altoids Tin yesterday at Chris DiClerico’s website. After doing a little research I see there is a big following for Altoids Tin do-it-yourself projects. So, to service my reader group, herezzz the how to:

It’s a very easy project and a great one for beginners looking to tweak something. The goal is to make a charger from two 9V batteries and two AA batteries which should juice your iPod for another 10 hours. Then house that charger in a clean looking Altoids Tin. Couple things you’ll need:

• Soldering tool & some sort of Dremel to cut tin
• 9V connectors (PP3 snap connectors)
• Altoids Tin
• Firewire connector (socket)
• Batteries & electrical tape
• **all can obtained from RadioShack or similar

Lets take a look at the schematic.

Here you see how the soldiered connections will be made. The idea is to soldier the power of the connector (pin 1) through the battery configuration then ground out to the Firewire port (pin 2). This should give you a nice 11-12 volt output.

Note: You need to soldier the black ground of the two AA battery pack to the red power of the two 9V batteries. Study the diagram and picture (below) again if you’re unsure.

It was suggested to get the “vertical 6 pin Firewire receptacle through-hole type” for that model was more sleek and easier to install into the Altoids Tin.

Chris also mentions the batteries may discharge at an uneven rate which ultimately effects your charge length. SO – it’s a good idea to replace all the batteries at once since they run in parallel – as half charged batteries will quickly drain new batteries.

Chris also made a mini version from an Altoids Gum Tin.

I’ll be doing another post soon on doing this same procedure but using USB, of course.

Source: Thanks Chris!