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Expedition iPod Power Supply

Bookmark and Share            By Lou
Backcountry battery cases are where you find em, and so is hot chocolate for backcountry skiing.
It just so happens that a 30 oz Nesquik package makes the perfect case for two 6v lantern batteries — the stuff makes good hot chocolate as well!

About time we had a mod post, yes?

Our son is headed down to the Mexican backcountry for two weeks on a school trip (doing service work for Mexico Medical Missions). You know kids and their iPods — gotta have it.

But what do you do when the iPod battery dies and you’re away from walls and electricity — or you’re on a Mexican bus for ever? Sure, you can bring an expensive auxiliary battery pack, but how about hacking an expedition battery pack together for less money, one that probably has more juice than commercial offerings and connects to the Ipod with standard “firewire” connectors?

Ipod expedition power supply completed.
Completed iPod expedition power supply fits two 6 volt lantern batteries in a case made from a Nesquik container, and connects with firewire to charge Ipod.

What we did was wire two 6 volt “lantern” batteries in series and connect a 6 pin female firewire connector to the batteries. The firewire connector is on a pigtail that connects to the batteries with a cheap 2-wire trailer connector, since the batteries are disposable but we want to re-use the firewire pigtail. We only used the power leads of the firewire connector (which happen to be pin 1 & 2). Turns out the iPod will charge with anywhere from about 8 to 30 volts, and will not charge with a 6 volt source, so using two 6 volt batteries in series yields 12 volts — perfect.

Batteries wired in series, ready to insert in case.
Batteries wired in series, ready to insert in case. This amount of juice would probably run an iPod for a month.

The tricky part was making a pigtail with a female 6 pin firewire connector. We salvaged a firewire connector from a device we had laying around. Soldering leads to the connector was tough. A better way would be to simply buy a firewire extension cable (can be had for $15.00 or less), chop, and wire the correct wires to your battery setup (see resource links below).

I’d recommend using a volt/ohm meter every step of the way with this project, to check both voltage and polarity (positive/negative), and also to figure out which wires connect to pins one and two of the firewire extension cable.

Resources:

Firewire pinouts (Be sure to get your positive and negative correct, it’s easy to get confused and reverse them, which could damage your Ipod).

Example of firewire extension cable (buyer beware, we have not shopped this website).

Good article about iPod battery issues and hacks.

Recommended source for Firewire extension cable (good price for cable, but beware high shipping and handling costs on small orders): use link below for E-Cost and search for part #3061502

Computer Specials!

             

Backcountry skiing workshop in the kitchen.
For some unknown reason the workshop ended up on our kitchen counter instead of in the garage. Perhaps so we had nearby hot water for our Nesquik cocoa? The bigger the mess the better the project, correct?

Warning: We have not extensivly tested this power supply, and it may not work with older generation iPods. Build and use at your own risk.

Posted by Lou on March 13, 2006 | Filed Under Gear Mods 

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Comments

4 Responses to “Expedition iPod Power Supply”

  1. IpodLESS March 13th, 2006 7:31 am

    well, tried this about a year ago for a grand canyon trip. Actually used an altoids container to make a back-up. This is a tricky party, Gotta actually get the m.amps correct with the voltage you need for the ipod. consistant voltage to m-amps is tricky, Your amperage drops your ipod will eventually start knocking or worse. Melt the battery!

  2. dave downing March 13th, 2006 11:24 am

    Best post ever. can i get one of those in green?

  3. Cory Scheffel March 14th, 2006 10:22 am

    Check this out! A solar charger for the ipod. Lighter weight means you can still enjoy your tunes on a hut trip or a big wall. http://store.sundancesolar.com/soposochfori.html
    -Cory

  4. dave March 14th, 2006 2:27 pm

    I agree, solar is the way to go. You can get a foldable cell you can just set up on your backpack. Light, relatively cheap, and no toxic batteries to throw away. I’ve had good luck with mine.

Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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