Alternative Chargers for the H100's

[GEoMaNTiK]

Hi Guys,

This is my 1st post to MR and comes before I've even got my H120 in my hot little hands. It's been ordered from ebay through emilyandlily and from what I've read already, I'll be A. Happy if it actually arives and B. Surprised if it's NEW and not refurbished as some have complained.

Anyway I'm living in Australia and will end up with either a Europe or USA model, I've already spoken to the company here in Australia who deal with Official Aussie chargers for the H120. Is it safe to use a genuine iriver Australian charger with an iriver device from another country???

Cheers,
Travis

[Dunno]

Originally Posted by GEoMaNTiK

Is it safe to use a genuine iriver Australian charger with an iriver device from another country???

Cheers,
Travis

Yes it is safe to use a charger from another country, for the same player, on your player, as long as the power supply/chargers are multi voltage units, if not, the wall voltage must be suitable for the charger, irivers chargers are multi voltage so that's not an issue, the issue might be that you will have to find a plug adaptor for your charger, it will most probably come with the neccessary adaptors anyway.

The BIG no-no is plugging any old charger into your player, If you are unsure as to the polarity of the chargers dc output and the voltage don't plug it into your player, ever.

[bigcat39]

The H1XX players emilyandlilly are shipping right now come with the UK charger and an elcheapo adaptor to US mains....

[Antioch]

This shouldn't be a surprise for anyone who knows a bit about electronics or has been to Japan before, but I just thought I'd let you know:

The stock iHP-1xx charger works in Japan and doesn't burn the player out. I've been using my US-version player here for almost a year and it works fine.

The AC electricity (wall-plug electricity) is 100volts and 50hz in Japan as opposed to 120v/60hz in the US (Or maybe thats backwards, I forget right now). But if you read the charger you'll notice that it works within these specs. Actually, most US electric equipment should work in Japan and most of their power-supplies will function properly. The only thing you need to really worry about are clocks. They won't work because frequency is different and the time will be wrong. Anyways, now I'm getting off topic here.

Have fun and keep the music going!

[udovdh]

Hello,

I have this USB car charger model MK319 that is rated like:

Input:12-24Vdc
Output: 5.4Vdc, 1000mA

Will this work with the H120?
I.e.: The .4 extra volts will not harm the device and there is enough current to charge the battery of the H120 properly?

[shadesbass]

What's the polarity? Check the first post in this thread for how to determine which polarity it is.

1000mA will be fine for charging the player. It will charge on half that amount. However, it may not charge the battery while the hard drive is being accessed.

5.4V should be ok (I think someone else has done it successfully), but I personally wouldn't want to risk breaking my iRiver over 0.4V. Post your results if you try it though.

[udovdh]

Originally Posted by coneybug

My HP120 is a pile of parts sitting in a plastic bucket because i fried it. Tried to save money by using a charger that i had that was 'close' and was that a mistake. ( Use the one that comes with it or buy a OEM.

How close?

[Chef Piggy]

I live in Australia and I'm after a car power adaptor for my H140. The US iriver site is out of stock. Does anyone else know where I can get one cheap?

[baristabrian]

I've noticed that the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) has the same power requirements as my h-120. So any PSP charging device could become a suitable charger. Of course, Sony uses a propriatery plug, but a 3.5 mm plug (Radio Shack part # 274-1571) can be soldered on to any of the myriad of accessories available. I just converted a PSP power/data cable this way; enabling the h-120 to charge from the USB port while swapping files. Just remember to ENSURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT POLARITY AT THE PLUG!! A ten dollar voltmeter will save you a two hundred dollar headache.

[shadesbass]

Check out the Boxwave mini-sync cable, which I think is the same idea you just had.

[Mike]

The Boxwave cable is wonderful--iRiver should have come out with it ...

[larrymarr_ni]

Originally Posted by Haku

I discovered the PSU that comes with the Archos AV500 works perfectly on the H1xx, as does the H1xx PSU work perfectly on the Archos AV500.

[this bit will be updated with a picture of the Archos PSU later]

first post to MisticRiver (although I have been lurking for sometime!)

Just to back Haku up by saying the Archos AV500 PSU works perfectly with my H140. My original iRiver PSU stopped working a few weeks ago and after realising that including P&P a replacement would be over £30 (most of that on postage to N.Ireland) I decided to try the Archos PSU.

I bought the Archos Universal Power supply from Tesco.com for £9.99 but unfortunately the electrical site is now offline, but Amazon have the PSU for £18.69 - http://www.amazon.co.uk:80/gp/produc...lance&n=560798

If anything, the Power supply is actually better than the iRiver original as it doesn't fall out when plugged through the hole in the iSkin.

[tine]

This is great news. I have recently been thinking about this, as after 2 1/2 years together, my adapter is showing signs of old age. When charging, I have to 'position' the cord, until the green light flashes up, and then back away slowly, so as not to disturb the set up.

Thanks for this update Larry and of course the great Haku for sourcing it in the first place. Away tine goes to ye olde amazon

[bmjelde]

A few comments to the general discussion:
Voltage isn't crucial. I power both my H120 with 6V regulated PSU's. If anyone had taken the job of measuring their "original" (cheap) iRiver switching chargers, they would see that the voltage is 5.3 - 5.4V instead of the 5.0 stated on the charger. So using 5.4VDC as one poster above suggested should not be a problem. If using lower voltage (such as 4.5VDC) is good I don't know. Maybe for running the player itself but probably not for charging. Obviously you wouldn't connect a 12VDC source. Mind you my usage of the H120s is not typical for this group; I use them for recording in an ultra low-noise environment where the noise produced from switching chargers actually disturb the audio source.
Polarity: Yes of course, always use correct polarity. BUT: If you accidentally switch polarity, your iRiver should cope with it since it appears to have a protective circuit built-in (many high-quality dc boxes do). At least that is the case with my H120s since I've been down that road myself. Accidentally of course; I wouldn't dream of "testing" this and neither should anyone else.

[MoAv]

Was looking after getting one of those Boxwave miniSync, as my original adapter got bent at the tip. Does it supply the same current to the player as the regular charger ? I mean if it takes longer to charge it over the USB port .

[mdomb529]

Originally Posted by larrymarr_ni

Just to back Haku up by saying the Archos AV500 PSU works perfectly with my H140.

For what it's worth, I checked out the Igo tip that's supposed to be compatible with the Archos AV500 (B07), and it is too big for my h110. It might work with some serious forcing, but I've managed to have this MP3 player for over 3 years now, and I'm not going to break it by being stupid now. I'm betting that the Igo tip is a little bigger than the original Archos AV500 plug, which is apparently already a tight fit for the h1xx.

Matt

[snoopy88]

i have a question: i just got the RCA MM55 car power adapter and plugs into the 12V car socket. i know that my hp-140 takes 5v, positive tip. my Q is about the adapter having a 1A max and it says not to use it on anything that requires more than 1000mA of current. what does that mean? am i able to use this with my player? thanks in advance!

[chencui5671]

i bought a RCA MM55 Universal Car Charger
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...rt&tab=summary

It has an output selection of 5v @1000mA and the polarity is correct (you can change it based on the orientation of the tip). The voltage can only be changed with an included key or a small flathead screw driver.....so i think that eliminates the problem of accidentally changing the voltage

so from what I've read, it sounds like 1000mA will still charge a H120? the manual says "Do not use with any device that requires more than 1000mA of current" so is that a problem?

edit: sorry, i didnt even realize that the previous post asked the same exact thing

[Mike]

I know I responded to/answered this somewhere else here today . . . .

[shadesbass]

Originally Posted by Mike

I know I responded to/answered this somewhere else here today . . . .

HERE .

[dhutch]

I want a usb->iRiver charge lead.
- One lead that will charge and transfer files to my hp140 off a usb socket, and not a retractable one.
- Anyone knnow what i can get that in the uk, and cant find anywhrre, not even ebay has it.



Daniel

[shadesbass]

Boxwave do something called a DirectSync cable, which I think is what you're after.