Repurpose Old Cell Phone Chargers with DIY USB Ports

Chances are, you have some old mobile phone chargers lying around the house with non-USB pins. Instead of junking it, Martin Melchior shows us how to attach USB ports and give those chargers a new life.P

• ·Soldering iron and tinP
• ·Multimeter (to find + and -)P
• ·An old charger (5V output and rated for at least 500mA/0.5A)P
• ·USB socketP
• ·Hot glueP
• ·Heat shrinkP

The process isn't too hard. Snip off the charger's cable, find the positive and negative wires using the multimeter, and then solder them appropriately in the USB socket. Glue the socket onto the charger so there's no mess of cables. You can check Martin's blog for detailed step-by-step photos. P

It's important that the charger be 500mA but I'd reckon a 1A would serve you better if you're looking at charging a battery over 2000mAh. And you should note that these old chargers probably won't juice up your tablet as tablets usually need 5A chargers.P

Give your old phone chargers a second life | Martin Melchior via Hack A DayP