External Battery Pack for H100 Series

[Charlie615]

A couple of weeks ago I was reading about the external battery pack that is coming with the overseas version of the H320 and decided to see if I could find anything for the H100 series. On the iriver.com user forum, I found a thread on how to make you own external battery pack. Here is a link to the original thread.

I followed etrabal's instructions on that thread to build my version. Here is what he had to say:

Originally Posted by etrabal on iriver.com/community User Forum

Hello everyone,

I've been following this thread and decided to build my own battery pack. If you're in the US, this is what you need to get from Radioshack:

1. Batteries: I chose the I-C3 batteries by Rayovac. Radioshack sells these too, but are very expensive. You can get the rayovacs at Walmart for relatively cheap. I chose these because they charge in under 15 mins, but the downside is that their voltage is only 1.2 (as is the case with most NiMH batteries, but there are some that are 1.25 but charge at much slower speed).

2. Adaptaplug "H" part number 273-1711

3. A "replacement adaptaplug socket" part number 273-1743. You will plug the adaptaplug into one end, and the wires to the battery pack.

4. Battery holder with wire. Holds 4 AA batteries. Part number 270-409.

That's it. Make sure that when you plug this into your ihp that the green light turns on. If not, then change the polarity of the adaptaplug.

Get some velcro and wrap it around the ihp so that you can have a sturdy package attached to your mp3 player.

My version ended up being a little different. I took apart the battery holder and replaced the wire that was in it with the "replacement adaptaplug socket" wire. This required a little soldering, but I think it looks better than if I'd just connected the wires and covered it with heat shrink or electrical tape. Also, I used Energizer 2300 mAh 1.2V batteries.

With the original battery that came with H140 I was getting around 2 1/2 full charges from it. The cost ended up being somewhere around $10-$15 plus the batteries.

The picture that I saw of the official iriver version for the H320 looked nicer, but the homemade version doesn't look too bad. However, I wish the plug was black so it would match everything else. Also, the case has a little philips head screw to hold the battery cover on. This is kind of a pain to take off when you need to charge the batteries.

If anyone knows of a better holder for 4 AA batteries, or a retail version that is available, please let me know.

Here are a couple of pics:

[crusian]

damn, I think that looks really good! you say you get 2.5 recharges out of it? hmm... more things to take hiking!!

[darkman013]

I agree, that think looks awesome. A question: Does it charge as fast as a wall adapter? Also, can you leave it plugged in and just run around for 2.5 more times? Thx (I don't know much about batteries)

[Charlie615]

Originally Posted by darkman013

I agree, that think looks awesome. A question: Does it charge as fast as a wall adapter? Also, can you leave it plugged in and just run around for 2.5 more times? Thx (I don't know much about batteries)

I believe it charges about the same speed as a wall adapter, but I can't say for sure since I haven't actually timed it. I can tell you that if the player is drained and I plug it in before I go to bed, it was fully charged by the time I woke up. That was probably about 6 hours.

You can leave it plugged in while you are using it, and the charge light stays on just if you had it plugged into the wall. As far as how long it lasts that way, I'm not sure. I think there might have been some info on that in the original thread, but it's been a couple of weeks since I read it, and I can't remember for sure now.

Also, I haven't tried it yet with my new 2100 mAh battery yet. If I come up with any good info regarding how it works with that I'll post it.

[XavierGr]

*whistles in amazement!*

Well, well, well. This is the best battery pack I have seen!
Good work Charlie. Magnificent finish.

Where did you got the battery holder?

[Charlie615]

Originally Posted by XavierGr

*whistles in amazement!*

Well, well, well. This is the best battery pack I have seen!
Good work Charlie. Magnificent finish.

Where did you got the battery holder?

Thanks XavierGr.

The battery holder is from Radio Shack. Part number 270-409.

[jelly]

Wow, as everyone says, amazing, only thing that would be cool would be if you could recharge it without taking the batteries out, with some kind of charging socket...

But seriously, wow, great stuff

[Haku]

Easily done if you have a peak charger capable of charging 4x AA's in one pack, very common in the radio controlled cars/planes world, you'd just need to make a socket adaption for the charger.

[jelly]

Ah thats a good point, as my dad flys helicopters and rc plans, so we might have some of those cool battery packs around somewhere....

hey, how did you get the voltage right, cause the H series need 5 volts...and 4 x 1.5 is 6 volts, or doesn't it make too much difference?

Or am i completely wrong?

Jelly

[Haku]

Rechargables are usually 1.2v - 1.25v, 4 x 1.2 = 4.8 which is certainly good enough

Remember you'll need NiMH batteries that are over 1300mah to actually charge the player, I did a test with 4x 1300mah AA's and it didn't properly charge the internal battery, 4x 1800mah's charged it fine.

[crusian]

Originally Posted by jelly

Ah thats a good point, as my dad flys helicopters and rc plans, so we might have some of those cool battery packs around somewhere....

hey, how did you get the voltage right, cause the H series need 5 volts...and 4 x 1.5 is 6 volts, or doesn't it make too much difference?

Or am i completely wrong?

Jelly

good question, is 6 volts too much?

[Charlie615]

I really like the idea of being able to charge the batteries without taking the cover off since it's screwed on. I'd be willing to give it a try if I knew what parts were needed, and how to wire it in.

While doing some more searching on google I found a thread from the misticriver archive on the same subject:

http://www.misticriver.net/boards/ar...x.php/t-1.html

On that page I found another option. It's an external battery pack and an AA charger that you can plug into the wall. Here's a link.

http://store.yahoo.com/semsons-inc/pocpowban.html

The only bad thing is it looks quite a bit bigger than the one I made.

[crusian]

just finished mine... Gotta give it up to whomever thought of this. Batteries are old Rayovac NIMH 1600 mAh 1.2 volts. Charging as we speak.
I did the same as Charlie, soldered in the wire, but I got a white one, so it looks a little bit better, not much though. I think I will end up coloring it black with a sharpie or something.
pic 1 just the case with the new wire.
pic 2 charging with case off
pic 3 charging with case on... couldnt really see green LED in pic 2, so I got better light.

I am ready for camping!! lol.

[crusian]

can turn it on and charge at the same time too!!

[Haku]

This is the battery pack I whipped up for Mike:



Simple but does what it needs to.

[crusian]

I saw that one too, the one I got looked a bit better, so I got this one. I also wanted it to be a bit durable, hence the camping and hiking references. But hey, whatever works right?

[Charlie615]

Originally Posted by crusian

... I think I will end up coloring it black with a sharpie or something...

Crusian, thanks for sharpie idea. I just marked up my connecter and I think it looks much better now. I'm not sure how well it will stick, but it looks good atm.

I need to look through my old power adapters and see if any of them have a plug that will fit my iriver. Then I could just chop it off and solder it to the battery holder.

[crusian]

the sharpie should last for a while, months/year. they are permanent.
I kinda like the contrast of white on black on mine now, so I might leave it.

I do have a question for you though....

I was charging my 140 with the external pack. unplugged it, saw that it had full bars. Plugged it back in, and it has been charging for about an hour now... has your charge LED turned off when it is done charging or does it just stay on with the external pack??


hmm, now that I look at the tip, it is pretty shiney, sharpie might not stick to it... I was looking at my cord before, that would be easy for a sharpie.

[Charlie615]

Originally Posted by crusian

I was charging my 140 with the external pack. unplugged it, saw that it had full bars. Plugged it back in, and it has been charging for about an hour now... has your charge LED turned off when it is done charging or does it just stay on with the external pack??

From my experience, the light goes out when it's fully charged. Even though the battery indicator is full I don't believe it means the battery is full. From what I've read the indicator bar is more of an approximation of the batteries charge than anything else. So it may say it's full, but I don't think it is until the light goes out.

That's just my impression. If I'm wrong somebody please correct me.

[crusian]

cool, hope so, I will obviously try again when I discharge it enough... thanks!!!

[austonia]

i have the parts to make several of these if anyone needs one and doesn't want to buy the solder gun, take the time, etc.

edit
you can reach me on email austinv@austinv.com

[boomam]

Ive been thinking of building one of these, i have a battery pack like you have there lying around for whatever reason, and my MX700 just broke, and the power connector on it is identical to the one i use on my H140.
Should be easy to build, right?

I have a battery pack that will do 3 batteries. I`ll probably get 3x2300mA rechargeable batterys. So thats 6900mA. Unfortunatelly, where im buying from doesnt list what voltage they have or the mA output/hour.
So getting the calculations exactely right will be a little hard.
I know that my H140 takes 5v/2A from the charger to charge, and i would like my charger unit to actually light up the charging light. So.
As im unsure of the specs of the batteries; will the H140s light, light up when i plug in the battery pack?