Multi USB wall charger

[Dingus]

Hi,

I have several PV's (Riva, Joye510, Bloog), and some mods that should be coming in soon.
I hate having a lot of different chargers.

Could I safely use something like this : Super Travel A/C USB Wall Chargers (5 outputs) (for HTC, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod...) ?

I don't know much about electrity, but I think it should work fine?

Thanks!

 

[dormouse]

5.4v output seems too high. The standard is 5v (what a PC USB port puts out). I know having high mA is good and that is the same mA on my US 4-port USB to AC. 2Amps = 2000mA so that is enough for at most 4 fat battery chargers (each usually needs 420mA) and one slim battery charger (needs 150-220mA) (or more slims and less fat battery cables would be fine). But I don't know if 5.4v would be handled properly by the charging cables.

Hopefully someone who knows more above electricity will answer re the 5.4v. I think most cables expect 5v input, not 5.4.


And FYI - the mA are shared so don't use a passthrough on a multiport adapter at the same time as charging batteries, unless the passthrough has a real inline battery that charges as you vape off it. If it's the other kind that vapes directly off power it would keep pulling down the mA available on the other ports.

 

[Roach]

I've got something like that. It puts out 2000mA so each outlet should be at or around 500mA. That will charge your batteries. I use 4 Volt batteries (like bloog) but they don't all fit on the charger at once. The charging plugs are too fat. I can fit three of them on there with one kinda crooked in the slot. Works for me but it's not pretty.

 

[Boodle]

I'd post your question in the "Ask the Veterans" section. I think it's questionable to charge a slim 510 ecig on that unit. I err on the side of caution with electrical stuff.

I use a surge protector with 7 ports on each side with an on-board on/off switch. It sits on a table (aptly named my vaping table) so I don't have to crawl on the floor. The different connectors are plugged into the ports. I turn it off on before putting a PV batt on it and switch it off before leaving home. That's prolly overdoing it but I have a large furry family.

 

[Dingus]

Thanks for all the replies.

Boodle: do you have a link to what you use, or a photo? Thanks!

 

[dormouse]

I already checked Amazon uk for you for what I use but they don't have it. I use Rosewill RUC6180 and the more international version RUC6181 (4 ports, 2000mA, 5v)

The only thing I am concerned with about your link is the 5.4v. I don't know enough about electricity to know if the cable circuitry that reduces 5v to 4.2 for charging would reduce the 5.4v to too much voltage for the batteries (like more than 4.2v). I don't want you to damage your batteries.

 

[Shadow102]

Check the USB chargers that come with your batteries. I know my 808 charger (unit with the light that screws onto the battery) will take an input range of 4.5V-6.5V, just snatched it off the desk to check.

You should be safe using that USB charger, but double check your included chargers to make sure 5.4V is inside the range.

 

[DaveP]

You want a 5v device, although unloaded voltage and loaded voltage will vary according to the capacity of the device and the load from the battery being charged. The USB spec is 4.75vdc to 5.25vdc. You would probably be fine if the unloaded voltage output is 5.4vdc.

There are so many different USB devices imported from other countries that you wonder about standardization. Still, the USB standard has been adopted and used all over the world.

The dongle on an EGO charger drops the voltage from the USB side down to 4.2vdc at the screw connector for the ecig battery. It will take take care of that extra .15vdc input difference. We don't charge the batteries in an ecig to 5vdc any way, they get charged to 3.92vdc and then there's an auto cutoff. When the red light momentarily blinks or flashes green every few seconds during the charging cycle, it is switching from charging to a voltage comparator to check voltage.

 

[Dingus]

Thanks for all the replies. It really helps.

I was doing some more research to alternatives, and found these :
Trust.com - 10 Port USB 2.0 Desktop Hub
Conceptronic.net

I can't find any info on their voltage or ampere, but I do know that they're both powered (they come with an adaptor). Would something like that work? These seem to be easier to find here in Belgium...

 

[DaveP]

I didn't find any actual specs, but there is one indicator that it may not be able to supply 500ma to all devices at once.

Devices connected to the hub work slowly.

Do not transfer files and use a webcam at the same time.
Try to connect bandwidth hungry devices, like webcams, directly to the computer.
Follow the steps in the FAQ below this one.

Bandwidth, in this case, refers to current hungry devices (like your ecig). You will find charge time going up with multiple charging dongles connected. OTOH, if you just want to be able to have the correct one at any time and only charge one or two ecig batts at a time, you will probably be OK.

 

[Dingus]

Are you sure the bandwidth doesn't refer to the data connection?

 

[DaveP]

Are you sure the bandwidth doesn't refer to the data connection?

I'm not sure whether they used the term correctly or not. Fanout is the usual term for power drain on devices. If data is the problem, then it is a little on the weak side. Data is a low current activity compare to supplying power. Pins 1 and 4 provide power to devices. Pins 2 and 3 carry data. Unless the device has a separate power supply, it gets its all its power from the USB plug. Since a webcam has both circuitry and an LCD photosensor array to power, as well as high speed data, it would be a power hungry device. OTOH, a thumbdrive would be on the light side in power draw. Bandwidth generally refers to speed of data throughput, as you said, but that speaks to the speed of the interface and how well it can keep up with data from multiple devices at one time and communicate that data to and from the computer. You are more concerned with supporting high current draw devices, maybe more than one sometimes.

In any event, the USB spec will shut down a port that draws excessive current. Still, sometimes motherboards smoke before shutdown, so you are wise to use an external device for your Ecig.

 

[dormouse]

No - do not buy something that just says hub and does not list the available voltage and mA


That first one you showed would be fine except for the 5.4v. That is higher than normal and the battery charger cables expect 5v input.

If you can find one with 4 or 5 output ports at 5v and 2000mA (2 amps) total output that would be fine. (fine for up to 5 charger cables but not more than 4 fat-battery charger cables since they need 420mA each - your total mA uses cannot exceed 2000mA)

 

[Shadow102]

That first one you showed would be fine except for the 5.4v. That is higher than normal and the battery charger cables expect 5v input.

First one may be fine period. Just need to check the input voltage range of the chargers, its rare for any charger to be specific down to the volt since it has its own overvolt protection in it.