USB Charger

[n4mwd]

I have always wanted one of these for GPS and Cell Phone charging on the fly. Finally, I built one. Looks a bit crude, but it works.



I thought about installing a cigarette lighter plug, and then put an adapter in that, but I couldn't find a non-destructive place to mount it that was any good.

This charger is wired into the dash light circuit so it wont run the battery down when its just sitting there.

[rojoracing53]

[choneofakind]

I don't think that looks bad at all. That's about how I plan to do it, only waterproof

[n4mwd]

Since its under the windshield and I always keep it in the garage, I'm not too worried about it. It has a fuse so it should blow if the water shorts anything out.

[joshuatrueanderson]

is there a diy thread for wiring something like this?

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by joshuatrueanderson

is there a diy thread for wiring something like this?

No, but its not that difficult to make. I bought a twin 12V USB charger off ebay. Here is another one:



I used Bondo to force the bottom into a flat shape. Basically, I mixed up a small batch and made a blob on a flat piece of aluminum foil. Then I pressed the adapter bottom into the blob. After about an hour, the bondo gets stiff. You can cut it with a box cutter for about another hour. After that, it gets too hard to cut. So I cut it in that window to the right shape.

Then I split the case, painted it black, removed the electrical connectors and replaced them with a single cable. I cut into the illumination power lines (black-yellow is ground) and soldered the lines to the adapter.

Then the adapter with its new flat bottom was glued with contact cement to the existing dash.

Piece of cake.

[S1att3r]

http://www.pashnit.com/product/3br/3...p_usb.html#top

Not homemade or two ports but it is waterproof.

[n4mwd]

Just a little more expensive than the ebay ones ($45 vs $1.49 w/free shipping).

[choneofakind]

I'd rather just buy the waterproof one and splice an SAE connection onto it and plug it into my battery tender leads when the battery isn't plugged in.

[S1att3r]

I have mine wired into my brake light so it doesn't drain the battery.

[n4mwd]

I'm too cheap to buy that one. Whatever one you get, you can't just hook it directly to the battery. The charger continuously draws current so if you did that, the bike battery would go dead after a while. Might be OK for cars or bikes with bigger batteries, but not so much for the Ninja.

[leed]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I'm too cheap to buy that one. Whatever one you get, you can't just hook it directly to the battery. The charger continuously draws current so if you did that, the bike battery would go dead after a while. Might be OK for cars or bikes with bigger batteries, but not so much for the Ninja.

Usually the SAE plugs are in a spot where it's easy to access without tools and can be plugged/unplugged as needed, so that wouldn't be so bad.

Myself, on my Ninja I tapped into one of the dash bulbs and did the same as you [butchered a 12V cigarette plug]. Worked like a charm until it got smashed between my windscreen and the road hahaha. On the SV I went and put a fuse-tap in the fusebox off the horn [or turn signals?] and did another similar one, but I think I routed my wire [speaker wire, it was last minute] to close to the cylinders and it would work sporadically.

One thing you can do is use hot glue or silicone [or epoxy if you want to get fancy] the entire circuit board for some waterproofing. I wouldn't be too concerned about water in the actual plug really [and you can buy rubber usb 'plugs' to fill the gap when it's unused].

Now I just have to get around to doing it again on my WR.. But I want 2 amps!

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by leed

Myself, on my Ninja I tapped into one of the dash bulbs and did the same as you [butchered a 12V cigarette plug]. Worked like a charm until it got smashed between my windscreen and the road hahaha. On the SV I went and put a fuse-tap in the fusebox off the horn [or turn signals?] and did another similar one, but I think I routed my wire [speaker wire, it was last minute] to close to the cylinders and it would work sporadically.

One thing you can do is use hot glue or silicone [or epoxy if you want to get fancy] the entire circuit board for some waterproofing. I wouldn't be too concerned about water in the actual plug really [and you can buy rubber usb 'plugs' to fill the gap when it's unused].

Now I just have to get around to doing it again on my WR.. But I want 2 amps!

I just got back from a Motorcycle camping trip to Highlands Hammock State Park. The USB plugs worked great. We charged our cell phones on the fly. Our bluetooth intercoms usually need charging on the fly, but we didn't need to this time.

The dash light is definitely the way to go. Its just too handy. It would be better if it had dedicated plugs, but it doesn't.

I'm not too woried about the water getting to it. Its under the windshield. I've also seen inside. If it gets wet, it will dry out. Worst case, there is a fuse.

I'm not sure how many amps this one puts out, but its got a 5 amp fuse.

[leed]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I just got back from a Motorcycle camping trip to Highlands Hammock State Park. The USB plugs worked great. We charged our cell phones on the fly. Our bluetooth intercoms usually need charging on the fly, but we didn't need to this time.

The dash light is definitely the way to go. Its just too handy. It would be better if it had dedicated plugs, but it doesn't.

I'm not too woried about the water getting to it. Its under the windshield. I've also seen inside. If it gets wet, it will dry out. Worst case, there is a fuse.

I'm not sure how many amps this one puts out, but its got a 5 amp fuse.

I know what you mean! But agreed, on my 250 I left mine tucked behind the windshield, and rode through a 1 hour downpour [I really wanted to go to the beach -.-] with no issues with the water at all. It was charging my phone the entire time, without any problems!

Most of the cheaper [1 dollar ones] max at 1A, and some of the nicer [say 5-10 dollars off the internet] will usually get up to 2.1A. The problem with these fancy shmancy smart phones, is even though it will only charge at a max of 1A.. If it's charging AND being used [Screen takes a ton of power, and GPS] it will need more than that! Or at least, that has been my understanding. When I had a USB charger hooked up to my SV [when it would work], my phone would slowly drain when I was using the navigation.

On that note, if any of you are wanting to pre-route a map and have turn by turn navigation.. Use OsmAnd on the Android, it works wonderfully for me! [but I couldn't get the voice to work, though I didn't need it since I wear earplugs].

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by leed

I know what you mean! But agreed, on my 250 I left mine tucked behind the windshield, and rode through a 1 hour downpour [I really wanted to go to the beach -.-] with no issues with the water at all. It was charging my phone the entire time, without any problems!

Most of the cheaper [1 dollar ones] max at 1A, and some of the nicer [say 5-10 dollars off the internet] will usually get up to 2.1A. The problem with these fancy shmancy smart phones, is even though it will only charge at a max of 1A.. If it's charging AND being used [Screen takes a ton of power, and GPS] it will need more than that! Or at least, that has been my understanding. When I had a USB charger hooked up to my SV [when it would work], my phone would slowly drain when I was using the navigation.

On that note, if any of you are wanting to pre-route a map and have turn by turn navigation.. Use OsmAnd on the Android, it works wonderfully for me! [but I couldn't get the voice to work, though I didn't need it since I wear earplugs].

I am downloading OsmAnd right now so I will see what its like. The NAV one that comes with the phone is really great but requires a constant data connection. Which means that there are a lot of places it wont work. I had been using NavFree, but its a bit rough. Anyhow, I can compare the two. So far I haven't seen anybody doing offline satellite view navigation - only street maps. Satellite view is handy when you are out in the woods and want to know where you are.

The USB adapter I have has two ports. I'm pretty sure the power is divided between them. So it would make sense that the circuit could supply 2 amps, but for a $1.49 charger, it might not. I'm not sure how to test it. I had GPS running yesterday and it didn't seem to discharge any.