Emergency phone charger

[Luke E.]

First time I've seen this one.

 

http://off-grid.info/blog/emergency-phone-charger-from-old-cordless-drill/

[peejman]

Any sort of DC motor will work this way, not just a drill.   That said, it'd be pretty darn tedious to spin that thing for an hour or more to charge a phone. 

[Raoul]

I bought a solar powered charger.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Raoul

[Hershmeister]

[quote name="Raoul" post="1113275" timestamp="1392816556"]I bought a solar powered charger.[/quote] Which one and how well does it work?

[kckndrgn]

I have one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Trent-Smartphones-built-flashlight/dp/B0013G8PTS/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

Works ok, can charge pretty much anything that has a USB charge cable.  I re-charge this by plugging it into the 12vdc jack in a vehicle, or off of any USB port on a pc/laptop.   The newtrent battery charger has a laser light (why, I don't know, entertain cats and dogs maybe) and a small LED light.

 

I use it while dry camping to keep my phone and my wifes phones charged.

[Luke E.]

Any sort of DC motor will work this way, not just a drill.   That said, it'd be pretty darn tedious to spin that thing for an hour or more to charge a phone. 

 

 Yes and yes. I can't imagine spinning that thing long enough to charge it!

[kckndrgn]

 I can't imagine spinning that thing long enough to charge it!

Isn't that what kids/grand-kids are for?

 

Here make yourself useful, spin this thing around until my phone is fully charged!

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I want a generator which can be connected to the dawg's tail, which would be the most-uninterruptible power source around this residence.

[thundersnow]

I have a goal zero solar charger. Works great for my iPhone

[tnhawk]

:screwy: If conditions require me to need a cordlees drill to charge my cell phone, I probably will not be able to recharge the cordless drill as easy as I could the cell phone.

[RED333]

If power goes out in a big way, there will be no cell service.

[glowdotGlock]

I have a 10,000 mah battery in my phone so if it is at least half way charged when the power goes out I can conserve and get 2 or 3 more days out of it.

[McGarrett]

These phones will work during a power outage; http://store.colemans.com/cart/german-army-field-phone-2-pack-p-2771.html?zenid=cd2tombfaigspgqv3bgp6evpc0

[Wingshooter]

If power goes out in a big way, there will be no cell service.

Imagine going to the trouble of charging it manually only to find out there is no service, lol. Or the person's phone you are calling is dead.



I guess you could put a water wheel on the drill and set it next to a fast moving creek for some hydro-electric power.

[peejman]

:screwy: If conditions require me to need a cordlees drill to charge my cell phone, I probably will not be able to recharge the cordless drill as easy as I could the cell phone.

 

 

The drill battery is disconnected.  He's spinning the drill motor by hand and using the DC current that's generated to charge the phone.  It's just like the old starter/generators that cars used to have.  Apply current and it starts the engine.  Once the engine is running, it generates current to recharge the battery.

 

That said... a solar charger would be much easier, assuming you have access to sunlight. 

[tnhawk]

The drill battery is disconnected.  He's spinning the drill motor by hand and using the DC current that's generated to charge the phone.  It's just like the old starter/generators that cars used to have.  Apply current and it starts the engine.  Once the engine is running, it generates current to recharge the battery.

 

That said... a solar charger would be much easier, assuming you have access to sunlight. 

 In a power outage the cell towers would likely lose power.

Edited February 21, 2014 by tnhawk

[analog_kidd]

I like this project just for its McGyver-istic cleverness. You may never need to use this, but the knowledge of how things work is fascinating to me.

[Fire/hunting guy]

I bought one of these, the thing is about indestructible.  There is a you tube video of a guy shooting it with a 22LR and it still works.  I do work occasionally in other countries that doesn't always have the most reliable power, it works great in that scenario. 

 

http://solarjoos.com/

 

I think I bought it off Amazon.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

 In a power outage the cell towers would likely lose power.

 

Old dad is an EE and after he retired from his real job he traveled around the country for some years contract work installing cell towers (the electronics, not the towers themselves). He said the towers have backup gennys and can run a day or more in outages. Maybe they quit doing that in new towers, dunno. The system is complicated enough, maybe something other than the towers would go down in an outage, making it a moot point whether or not the towers have power?