1. firstorbit84's Avatar
    First the finished product:


    OK, So the reason I did this was because my sister-in-law is visiting for a couple weeks and she forgot her charger to her new 8900. I said that's fine 'cause my wife and I have an 8320, and an 8120, thinking that all Blackberry's used mini-USB.... that's when she showed me the side of her phone with a MICRO-USB port!!

    Well, not wanting to spend $20+ on another charger, I immediately thought of the two contacts on the back for a charging pod, and quickly looked online for any DIY charging pod how-to's, but didn't find any.....

    So, I decided to make one of my own...

    1. Find old USB cable (or 5v, <1A cell phone charger) that you're not using anymore and cut off the end that went to whatever device it went to... (USB cables will be a little easier because the wires inside are already color coded for + and - whereas with an AC charger you might need to use a multimeter to figure out which side is +)

    2. Strip about a centimeter off of the positive and negative wires within the cable and cut back any extra wires like the shielding and data wires. Tape them off with electrical tape so that none of the metal touches anything else. (I found it easier to carefully use a sharp exacto to strip the strands of the usb.)

    3. Find a suitable plastic base to cut up. I used the bottom half of a travel soap case.

    4. Place the phone in the center and trace where you will need to cut.

    5. Cut out the center of the container. (I used a dremel, which made it very easy. If you don't have a dremel then you may just want to drill a bunch of holes around the tracing and then punch it out.) Depending on the type of plastic you choose, a knife may just crack it.

    6. Test fit the phone in the cutout and trim any edges if necessary. You don't want it to be too tight where it hits against the buttons, or too loose where there's too much wiggle room. You basically want the phone to be able to just fit nicely in the cutout and drop straight down. I also sanded the edges a bit with some 120 grit sandpaper to make them smoother and prevent scratching the phone...

    7. Find a medium-sized binder clip like this:

    Mine was about an inch across. Take the two metal prongs out of each side by squeezing them together.

    8. Using tin snips, wire cutters or your dremel, cut off the 90 degree kinked ends of the metal prongs (the part at the top of the center clip in the pic above). Careful if you use snips cause they may fly.

    9. Holding your Blackberry up to the plastic base, mark exactly where the metal contacts on the phone line up with the back side of the cutout. Then mark four points: two immediately near the edge where you marked the contacts (about 2mm back), and two about 8-10mm behind that. Using a small drill bit, make holes where you just marked the points.

    10. Now drill another hole near the bottom of the plastic for the cord to come through. This may vary in size depending on your cord, but mine was 7/32" for a USB cable.

    11. Next push one of the metal prongs though each set of two holes, so that they are perpendicular to the cutout for the phone.

    12. Now push the stripped end of the USB cable through the hole at the bottom of the plastic, and wrap the bare wires around each of the metal prongs. (They are tiny, so you might need the help of tweezers or needle-nose pliers.) Positive to the one on the left, and negative to the one on the right.

    13. Then I soldered the wires to the prongs to make sure they had a good connection, but if you don't have a soldering iron, then I'd recommend just using electrical tape.

    14. You then need to secure the prongs sticking out the top and cable sticking out the back. I used a dab of hot glue on each of them, but you could just as easily use more electrical tape.

    15. Then tape the tops of the prongs that are sticking out with electrical tape, so they don't scratch the phone and you don't short anything out or shock yourself.

    16. Finally, you'll need something to support the phone at the right height, so that the round part of the prongs will line up with the contacts on the back of the phone. For this, I used a small piece of neoprene rubber taped underneath the plastic case to act like a hammock for the phone, but you could just as easily use something like a matchbox to support it from underneath.

    17. Lastly plug it in and enjoy your new charger!





    I'll post more pics of the innards once its done charging if anyone is interested.. Enjoy!
    Last edited by firstorbit84; 02-08-10 at 10:34 PM.
    02-08-10 10:22 PM
  2. sniper27's Avatar
    can you make one that will work with a case? lol
    02-08-10 10:35 PM
  3. firstorbit84's Avatar
    can you make one that will work with a case? lol
    Not sure what you mean? But ya if the case has holes cut for the metal contacts and you make the cutout in the plastic a little larger...
    02-08-10 10:40 PM
  4. firstorbit84's Avatar
    here's the best pics i could get of the contacts inside without taking it apart:

    02-08-10 11:01 PM
  5. eve6er69's Avatar
    Looks a bit spongebob like but good work.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    02-08-10 11:16 PM
  6. firstorbit84's Avatar
    Looks a bit spongebob like but good work.
    Thanks, the color is actually darker in person but got washed out with the flash on my Pearl
    02-08-10 11:52 PM
  7. prozart's Avatar
    Very cool! I love doing project like this, I may have to try it out! Thanks for the how-to, well done. [=
    02-08-10 11:52 PM
  8. jlb21's Avatar
    Methinks this would have been easier:



    02-09-10 07:33 AM
  9. firstorbit84's Avatar
    Methinks this would have been easier:

    Agreed, but what LOCAL store sells them for cheap? None that I know... I didn't spend any money on my charger cause I had all the materials laying around the house, and it only took me a couple hours.. Faster and cheaper than ordering an adapter.. Plus, once my sister-in-law leaves, I can use it with my 8120 and 8320...
    02-09-10 08:16 AM
  10. jlb21's Avatar
    Oh I know. I was just trying to be funny.

    In fact, I may order one or two of the adapters just to leave in the house and my work/computer bag. Never know when it might come in handy.....
    02-09-10 11:44 AM
  11. boondocker's Avatar
    good idea..but that is such a risk have live contacts to your phone without a ground..if u get hit by lightening that phone will com bust.
    02-09-10 12:19 PM
  12. firstorbit84's Avatar
    good idea..but that is such a risk have live contacts to your phone without a ground..if u get hit by lightening that phone will com bust.
    Uhhh...I'm gonna go with a "NO" on that...

    First of all: What do you think the normal charging pod does?
    Second: The negative contact in a DC is usually ground.
    Third: It's connected to an AC powered USB hub that's built into my monitor, which has a 3-prong power cord, hence it IS grounded.
    Fourth: The monitor is then plugged into a surge protector, which should protect it from lightning strikes.
    Fifth: If a lightning strike does take out my Berry, I really don't think it will just burst into flames... Plus, I think I'll have some more expensive problems to worry about from equipment on the same circuit.

    Nice try buddy.
    02-09-10 01:01 PM
  13. tony bag o donuts's Avatar
    Uhhh...I'm gonna go with a "NO" on that...
    Did you see the Memo regarding the TPS reports?
    02-09-10 01:17 PM
  14. boondocker's Avatar
    Did you see the Memo regarding the TPS reports?
    obviously note. well either way looks like crap.
    02-09-10 01:22 PM
  15. firstorbit84's Avatar
    well either way looks like crap.
    If you don't like it then please don't post here. I actually thought it came out pretty nice. Let's see you do better.
    02-09-10 02:25 PM
  16. boondocker's Avatar
    im just kidding man its actualy a good idea, id love to have something like this at my cottage, so if i leave it there im in no fear leaving at 45$ pod there.
    02-10-10 09:23 AM
  17. tishtosh's Avatar
    That is so awesome! And what a great way to recycle a travel soap case.. If I were still in high school, I would so steal the idea for a science project.
    02-10-10 11:10 AM
  18. bushako's Avatar
    nice! I was thinking of doing one myself but only different material like wood for my bold. Now im not entirely sure but would it matter on which side the positive wire fixed?
    02-22-10 05:23 PM
  19. steve666666's Avatar

    12. Now push the stripped end of the USB cable through the hole at the bottom of the plastic, and wrap the bare wires around each of the metal prongs. (They are tiny, so you might need the help of tweezers or needle-nose pliers.) Positive to the one on the left, and negative to the one on the right.
    can someone clarify if thats looking at the back of the blackberry or if you were holding it in your hand.(clarify which lead is for positive and which is negative)

    thanks
    07-11-10 01:43 PM
  20. smroark's Avatar
    Thats amazing!
    Should do another one with Step By Step pics included, I'd try and make my own with more pics of Step by Step because i suck with stuff like this...
    07-11-10 04:41 PM
  21. Slick's Avatar
    thats good work
    07-12-10 06:14 AM
  22. triplecaution's Avatar
    This thread is great thanks, i've got an issue atm with a dead usb port on my Bold 9000... for thos that asked, negative on the left, potitive on the right worked for me...

    My crude solution
    07-17-10 04:48 AM
  23. finittz's Avatar
    Do you have to consider over-charging the phone...like will anything bad happen if power is still being supplied after the battery is full? Or does it have internal shut-down stuff built in?
    11-24-10 10:21 PM
  24. klintoncloud's Avatar
    +1 Good job man.
    11-25-10 04:47 AM
  25. d-signer's Avatar
    can someone clarify if thats looking at the back of the blackberry or if you were holding it in your hand.(clarify which lead is for positive and which is negative)

    thanks
    To clarify, if you look at the back of the Blackberry device the red lead from the usb wire goes to the right side, and the black lead to the left. (Doing it the other way round will cook your wire, and start a fire I found )

    I had to improvise a charging dock immediately out of a cardboard box when my phone usb port broke & had low battery power. So many thanks to the author!

    Less effort, no rotary tool (e.g. Dremmel ) needed in this method....

    1 Simply cut the box ( a packing box like you get from Amazon for a book has good solid cardboard) to fit the phone snuggly (i.e. you have to wedge the phone in tightly).
    2 Poke a couple of screws through the box wall to line up with the charger points on the phone. (In hindsight I'd use a round head screw and make the screw head touch the phone charging point - less chance of scratching the phone!)
    3 Connect the wires.
    4 Connect to power and sport a smug grin at your success.
    04-12-11 06:38 PM
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