Electric Bikes Conversion Kits EMTBS eRoad/Commuting What's New?

USB charging outlet from ebike 36 volt battery

G

grasshopper

Pedelecer
May 23, 2012
77
0
Geebee said:
I must admit to being surprised that manufacturers aren't fitting them as standard these day's.
I was discussing exactly that with a work mate last week.
Click to expand...
The Smart e-bike has a USB port ... :cool:
 
1

103Alex1

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2012
2,228
67
eHomer said:
Thanks for all the guidance and suggestions on this.

I've now thoroughly searched ebay and ordered the parts needed.

A 3 amp max voltage converter that should handle up to 48v on a board that is just under 2"x2", and a mini twin outlet USB charger plug that fits in a standard 12v cig socket and drops the 12v down to 5v on the usb sockets. (fused).

Amazingly cheap as usual, but deliveries from China seem very slow at the moment, so I may not be assembling it until after Christmas..

I've already got a small Maplin plastic case ( about 3"x2"x1.5" internal) housing my digital electric meter, so it should fit in there, and use the same simple two wire feed from the 36v controller connection.

I'll publish a picture of it on here when completed. :)

View attachment 4583
Click to expand...
Did you get this assembled yet ? Any reports / pics ? :)
 
morphix

morphix

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 24, 2010
2,163
119
Worcestershire
www.cyclecharge.org.uk
eHomer said:
I've tried searching the forum to see if anything like this has come up before and couldn't find anything, but apologies if I've missed it...


Has anyone ever rigged up a USB charging outlet on an ebike ?

Aside from charging a phone, I sometimes use a 7" tablet with GPS mapping, and it would be useful to power it from the bike's main battery, a 36 volt lithium-ion in my case.

Being an incurable miser :) , it strikes me that it must be fairly easy to adapt one of those standard cheapo 12v car cigarette lighter plugs which already have a usb 5v outlet socket. One would presumably just need some sort of zener controlled voltage dropper circuit to lower the 36v down to 12, before the plug's built in circuitry takes it down to 5v.

Has anyone done something like this for an ebike already, or is there a proprietary item already available ? I tried Googling it and found a little bit about a golf cart adapter, but it wasn't too conclusive.

I can't believe that some cheap gadget doesn't already exist to enable a usb power supply outlet from all of the 36 volt bikes and golf carts around the world ! :)
Click to expand...
I think such gadgets do exist on eBay and it's been covered on the forum before with some widgets being posted..

If you're inclined, you can also take a DIY approach and buy very cheap DC-to-DC converter boards on eBay (< £2) which will step down 40V DC to any voltage you need with a trimmer (you'll need a multi-meter of course to set the voltage).. so you could set it to 5.7V DC (USB voltage) and then just fit a suitable connector onto the output leads for charging your phone or whatever.

Just search eBay for "DC to DC converter" and look at Maplin or BitsBox for your cable/connector.. but as I said, I'm sure you can buy USB chargers already although usually they are 12V DC so you might still need to add a DC converter, but using one of those purpose-made charges is considered a safer than just using a cheap DC-to-DC converter directly if you're charging an expensive phone..if the board fails, it will just dump 40V straight out, whereas the 12V USB car chargers usually have voltage overload protection built in.

Another thing to consider is the solar and battery USB chargers which are also on eBay (and available at Maplin) and fairly inexpensive (< £10). These will charge a phone from a solar panel, and have their own lithium-ion cell which you can charge from the mains socket (or the solar panel) and they will keep your phone going from a USB lead in an emergency, or give it a booster charger. That would save you the hassle of messing with DC-to-DC stuff and running off bikes battery.
 
Last edited:
1

103Alex1

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2012
2,228
67
If you have a cigarette-style charger socket, you can just pop one of these in it and away you go ... and remove it if you want to use the regular 12v socket without the USB connector instead :

Special Listing for Add A USB Charger Adapter Connector Boot to Your Purchase | eBay

One connection, 2 socket solutions. Can run off 12v circuit taken from bike battery or its own separate battery supply like a lawnmower or motorbike battery.
 
Last edited:
G

ghost

Pedelecer
Sep 12, 2013
32
0
or go oldschool meets newage... just when you thought the bottle dynamo was dead, ta daaa
Dynamo + USB Set 6w 12v For Raleigh Vintage Bicycle UK seller | eBay
Love the quote from the seller = For smart phone, we try on several model on HTC, it is ok, but have to ride fast, I think is not very idealistic to use on smart phone. So you charge your phone but you cant talk on it because you are too knackered!

And for all the hardcore homebrew crank drive kit owners out there who think they are Dr Emmett Brown :
Bicycle Chain Charger To USB Dynamo 1000mAh Power gadgets on the road | eBay
Chain power!
 
C

cwah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 3, 2011
3,048
179
www.whatonlondon.co.uk
T

Twinkleten

Pedelecer
Apr 18, 2015
40
10
76
Devon EX8
Has anyone managed to get an iPhone running off of the micro USB port on the Bosch intuiva display? A micro USB A to B lead works fine on those phones with the micro USB socket but does not seem to work with the Apple adapter from micro USB to Lightning.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
The iphone cable is special. Normal USB has two wires: 5v and 0v. The iphone one has a third wire. If you go on the iphone forums, they'll tell you how to convert a normal USB lead with a resistor.
 
T

Twinkleten

Pedelecer
Apr 18, 2015
40
10
76
Devon EX8
d8veh said:
The iphone cable is special. Normal USB has two wires: 5v and 0v. The iphone one has a third wire. If you go on the iphone forums, they'll tell you how to convert a normal USB lead with a resistor.
Click to expand...
Thanks d8veh. I'll give it a try. Do you know if the Apple adapters have this built in?
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
I believe that they do. I heard that Apple got in some sort of trouble in Europe for making non-standard cables, so they were forced to provide adaptors that could plug into normal USB. There's lots of adaptors on Amazon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Related Articles

View more

Advertisers

Top Bottom