Two charger questions - USB car charger & Mophie

[mayamason]

I'm *so* non-electrically inclined. I've read enough on ECF to know that using the wrong charger for the wrong battery is a bad idea. I'd like some help from the vets to find out if either of these are a safe option for charging while on the road.

For both of these, I'd be plugging in a standard Joye USB charger, Input 5V 500mA, Output 4.2V 420mA. Or I'd be using a standard USB pass-through cable.

One: Can I use any ol' 12V-to-USB car charger? I have one from RadioShack (this Enercell one) that I've used for my cell phone and tablet. There aren't any specs listed on the charger itself, the website says "up to 500mAh, and 1 Amp output". (For the record, I don't use it to charge two things at once - tried that one time & blew the fuse inside a similar charger.)

Two: I have a Mophie portable charger that I've also used for my phone. The specs listed on the charger say: Input: 5V -- 0.5A-2.1A, Output: 5V -- 2.1A, Max = 14.8WH. I have read that one of the reasons you can't switch chargers around is if it puts out a higher voltage than is required (for example, a 510 5V charger = bad idea in place of a eGo 4.2V charger). But if the output of the mophie matches the input of the eGo charger, then would this be a safe option?

Thank you!
Jennifer

 

[WillyB]

Don't look at them as 'chargers', consider them power supplies. that will feed your actual chargers.

a standard Joye USB charger, Input 5V 500mA, Output 4.2V 420mA.

That's the actual charger that contains the circuitry that properly 'charges' your battery and decides when it's done.

Or I'd be using a standard USB pass-through cable.

That confuses me, I'll assume you are referring to an eGo (or similar) USB Battery. Once again they contain an in-built charger that needs a power supply.

For the most part any power supply that outputs at least 5V @ 500mA (that's why computer ports can easily be used) should allow the chargers to output 4.2V and 420mA to the batteries. Going with a higher input is not going to change the actual charger's output to the battery.

Both the power supplies you linked to should work fine.