Zune Battery Pack

[2ASquared]

Hey guys, I wasn't exactly sure where I should post this, but I suppose it would be appropriate here. The idea of portable usb chargers has been around a long time, and there are plans everywhere on how to make one. I thought I'd whip out a fairly simple one before I headed out on a long trip to Florida tomorrow, and I also thought I would share it with you in case anyone else wanted to make one as well. I KNOW that you can BUY an external battery pack, but where is the fun in that? Plus they are ridiculously expensive, and you can make this one for as cheap as $10! Sorry that I don't have any pics of the actual process, but I can definitely show you the finished results!

Just a note: As of right now, my Zune does not display the same charging battery icon when plugged into the battery pack that it does when it is plugged into the computer, but it does seem to be receiving a charge from it.



And now for the instructions!

DISCLAIMER: I have hardly any experience in electronics, and although this worked for me, it may not work for you. I'm not liable for any damage you may cause to your device by following these instructions. Please understand any risks before trying this yourself.

Things you'll need:
5v Regulator (Radioshack #: 276-1770)
9v Battery Snap Connector (Radioshack #: 270-325)
USB Extension Cable or Hub (Anything with a USB Female Connector)
PC Board
Soldering Gun & Solder
9v Battery
Optional: Case or Enclosure

(If any of this is confusing, please refer to the pictures at the end of the tutorial for reference)

Before you start soldering anything, you'll need to strip some wires (obviously) Go ahead and strip the ends of the red and black wires of the 9v snap connector. Also strip the usb cable so that the four wires (more than likely they will be green, white, black, and red) are showing, and strip the ends of those wires. You can also twist together the ends of the black, green, and white wires on the usb cable. Now to the soldering.
You'll first start out by bending the pins on the 5v regulator at 90 degree angles so that the silver part of the regulator can sit on the PC Board while the three pins are still in three of the holes in the PC Board. Go ahead and solder the three pins to the board for to keep it in place. The first wire you will solder will be the red wire to the input pin of the regulator (Check the back of the box, but it usually is the leftmost pin). Next, solder the black, green, and white wires of the usb cable to the middle (ground) pin AS WELL AS the black wire from the 9v snap connector. Finally, solder the remaining red wire from the usb cable to the right (output) pin of the regulator.

That's it! Snap in your 9v battery and you're done! But DO NOT IMMEDIATELY PLUG YOUR ZUNE INTO IT. You still need to make sure everything is wired correctly, you wouldn't want to fry your zune, would you? Use a volt meter to determine how much power your usb female plug is giving out. If it reads around 5v, you're good. If you don't have a volt meter, borrow one! Or I suppose you could test it on an old device that charges off of usb that you don't care about.

Once you make sure everything is working properly, enjoy your new usb battery pack. If you like, you can hide the electronics in some sort of case (I used an old altoids sour tin). You may also want to wrap electrical tape around the exposed wires for safety reasons.

Hope this was helpful or at least somewhat educational. If you have any questions, please post here or PM me. I'll be gone for about a week starting tomorrow, but after that I'll be happy to help anyone.

And now for some pictures!







You may also want to check out this site. I got the original concept from here, and also it contains some helpful pics: http://www.jeffmcfadden.com/tech/shuffleCharger