Charging my 3pi

Hi,

has anyone tried using a modified usb cable to charge their 3pi?

basically just snipping the end off an old usb cable and using the red and black cables soldered to a male connector and plug them into the charger port on the 3pi with a suitable program to monitor and been when charged?

Dave

Hello, Dave.

We have not heard of people doing this. In general, charging NiMH batteries is difficult and requires complex chargers. I do not think you will be able to do this with a standard USB cable.

- Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

one of the reasons I posted this is that I’ve seen examples on the web. A couple of examples below.

stefanv.com/electronics/usb_charger.html

and

stufinnis.co.uk/usbcharger.html

i realize these are a little more complicated that what I was suggesting, but only a little.
I just don’t fancy paying loads of money if I can get away with it!
although i don’t want to set my 3pi on fire…

Do you think something like these would do the trick?

Those chargers can only charge two cells at a time. It will probably be much more difficult to charge the 3pi from a USB port since the voltage of four batteries is higher than what USB delivers. If you are looking for a cheap solution for charging the batteries, I suggest getting a stand-alone AA/AAA battery charger and charging the batteries while they are removed from the 3pi.

- Jeremy

OK, I concede :slight_smile:

Thanks Jeremy