MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

charliearmoryco · 11-26-2007, 10:01 AM

As for the lack of a stand-alone charger, if you have soldering skills you could make a cable and use a universal Li-Po battery charger. The only one I've used is the DuraTrax® IntelliPeak ICE (you can do a Google search). It's a little expensive but it would definitely do the trick if you can build the cable. According to Wikipedia, the battery is a 3.7V, 1530mAh lithium polymer type.

As for a cable to go from a USB port to the adapter's barrel connector the problem is that USB doesn't supply enough current to drive the fast charger attached to that input. According to the USB specification, "dumb" devices can use a maximum of 100mA (the barrel jack would count as a "dumb" device). Smart devices can request up to 500mA, but I still don't think that's enough. You can double check the specifications (probably listed on the adapter) but I expect that the Kindle's barrel jack probably draws about an amp.

This is why the Kindle charges more slowly through the USB port than the barrel jack.

11-26-2007, 10:01 AM	#3
charliearmoryco Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle	As for the lack of a stand-alone charger, if you have soldering skills you could make a cable and use a universal Li-Po battery charger. The only one I've used is the DuraTrax® IntelliPeak ICE (you can do a Google search). It's a little expensive but it would definitely do the trick if you can build the cable. According to Wikipedia, the battery is a 3.7V, 1530mAh lithium polymer type. As for a cable to go from a USB port to the adapter's barrel connector the problem is that USB doesn't supply enough current to drive the fast charger attached to that input. According to the USB specification, "dumb" devices can use a maximum of 100mA (the barrel jack would count as a "dumb" device). Smart devices can request up to 500mA, but I still don't think that's enough. You can double check the specifications (probably listed on the adapter) but I expect that the Kindle's barrel jack probably draws about an amp. This is why the Kindle charges more slowly through the USB port than the barrel jack.