Standalone battery charger for car?

able_onar · 06-08-06, 06:16 PM

Anyone know of an adaptor or cable to charge X-30 batteries in a car (i.e. without the Axim)?
I use my Ax a lot outside (but not far from my car), I carry spare batteries - but it would be nice if I could charge the ones that have run down while I'm out working.
I have a cigerette-lighter/USB power adaptor to plug the PDA in once I'm back in the car. Is there a USB-to-Battery connector/adaptor?

I saw a post that suggested taking apart an "extra" sync-cradle, but I don't have a spare (and it seems a bit of a waste just to hack out the connector...

spunker88 · 06-08-06, 07:05 PM

There are many products like that out there. Here is one on amazon. It just converts the car battery power to the amount that comes out of a usb port, so you can plug the cradle into it, and it will think its plugged into a real usb port. That part would probly work with anythingnthat charges via usb. (mp3, camera, etc)

able_onar · 06-08-06, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by spunker88

There are many products like that out there...
...you can plug the cradle into it, and it will think its plugged into a real usb port...

spunker88, thanks for the reply!
I guess I neglected to mention that I'd like to do this without the cradle (which sits on my desk at home). So what I'm trying to find is a cable with USB at one end (to plug into your recomended device) and a socket for an X-30 battery (I guess something that looks like the rear port of the cradle) at the other end.
Any ideas?

**Frenchy** · 06-08-06, 08:41 PM

Power Inverters

able_onar · 06-08-06, 09:46 PM

Frenchy, nice looking inverter! Who makes it?

The inverter solution is one that requires my taking the cradle around with me... (what a drag to crawl under my desk to uplug/plug it twice a day, and big and clunky, and...).
Before I order an inverter (and second cradle?), I'm still hoping for a cradle-less battery charging solution. Do you think that's unrealistic?

cbs01 · 06-08-06, 09:48 PM

I too have looked around for a charger for the battery only. Never found one yet, that is why I carry a Boxwave external AA Battery pack.

able_onar · 06-08-06, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by cbs01

I too have looked around for a charger for the battery only. Never found one yet, that is why I carry a Boxwave external AA Battery pack.

Question cbs01: in your experience, can the AA-battery pack provide enough power to allow both active (e.g. bluetooth on/bright screen) PDA use as well as charge the PDA battery? Or is it one or the other?
I recently ordered (but have yet to receive) a battery pack, a bunch of 2500 mAh rechargable AA's and a DC powered (car) AA charger.
But I'm thinking of that set-up as a "last resort" backup, since it'll be hard for me to do what I do with the Axim with it tethered to a battery pack in my pocket.
Maybe I should just buy more 1700 mAh Axim batteries... sigh.

bill_n_opus · 06-08-06, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by able_onar

Question cbs01: in your experience, can the AA-battery pack provide enough power to allow both active (e.g. bluetooth on/bright screen) PDA use as well as charge the PDA battery? Or is it one or the other?
I recently ordered (but have yet to receive) a battery pack, a bunch of 2500 mAh rechargable AA's and a DC powered (car) AA charger.
But I'm thinking of that set-up as a "last resort" backup, since it'll be hard for me to do what I do with the Axim with it tethered to a battery pack in my pocket.
Maybe I should just buy more 1700 mAh Axim batteries... sigh.

I can answer this question.

4xAA NiMh high capacity rechargeables in good condition and good quality - Powerex, Energizer, Sony, Sanyo ... made in japan cells will give you better performance.

It will certainly charge your Ax with BT/full brightness and battery for some time .. until the voltage of your battery extender drops to the point where it will cease to do so.

Try it out. You'll find that when your Ax battery drops below ballpark ~70% or so it will be more difficult to do this unless your batteries are in top shape and topped up. Beware that you won't get the full 2500mAh capacity.

You should check out PocketBrain's tips and tricks thread where I discussed these matters with him. He showed schematics on how to make a 6 cell regulated battery extender that looks like it will do a much better job as a backup system.

If you are willing to invest some money then a 90 dollar Tekkeon mypowerall battery pack from newegg.com is a great choice. I'm thinking I should have done that myself.

Additionally, the situation where your ax will charge the battery only when the pda is off is when you're using the dongle designed for the low current connector ie: the usb dongle. I have a mini-sync dongle that connects to the Ax and then to usb and only charges the Ax when it's off ... but it will charge even when the battery is totally dead. This is because usb ports are usually regulated to 500mAh tops but i'm assuming that voltage dips aren't a problem as it would be with a battery extender.

cbs01 · 06-08-06, 11:45 PM

I agree with Bill. Don't buy the 1800mha batteries as they just don't cut it. I have used regular alkaline batteries and while they won't charge while Axim is in use, they will keep your Axim running for a long time as long as it is above 70% or so to begin with.

bill_n_opus · 06-09-06, 01:46 AM

Oh, keep in mind that not all battery extenders are the same.

I was just looking at the Boxwave product today again and knowing what I know now (as opposed to 4-5 months ago) I can see that the Boxwave product is an extender with a usb connector.

That's much different than many "regular" extenders that have a male pin that fits into a dongle that has the Axim connector.

I'm guessing that 4xAA NiMh in the Boxwave with the usb connector will push out the 500mAh coupled with the low current connector ... so it should be able to fully charge your Ax from zero to full ... probably a couple of times over too. However, that's just speculation so please don't quote me. Boxwave owners can confirm this if they can. Also, with the usb connector i'm pretty sure that you can't operate the Axim and charge at the same time with the Boxwave. I may be wrong on that. I think that Gigi has done a review in the past about the Boxwave.

Additionally, maybe the usb connector somehow is less prone to voltage differences between the extender and the Dell Ax oem battery allowing for full charges?

bill_n_opus · 10-07-06, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by able_onar

Frenchy, nice looking inverter! Who makes it?

The inverter solution is one that requires my taking the cradle around with me... (what a drag to crawl under my desk to uplug/plug it twice a day, and big and clunky, and...).
Before I order an inverter (and second cradle?), I'm still hoping for a cradle-less battery charging solution. Do you think that's unrealistic?

Oh, just to dredge this thread from the past ... that inverter is made my Xantrex.

They make good stuff. In Canada at least, Xantrex rebrands their products with other names like Eliminator (Canadian Tire brand), Noma ... and so forth. You can also find their stuff in the States as well as online like Amazon.com

The one that Frenchy posted is the Canadian Tire "Eliminator" rebrand of the Xantrex one here:

http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/164/p/1/pt/32/product.asp

http://www.canadiantire.ca/registrat...g_entrance.jsp

They frequently go on sale and rotate models. I picked up the cupholder 150w version for like 12 bucks CAD and it's great for cell phones, my Axim if i'm going long distance (charges while the Ax is off) ... and so forth.