Tutorial On the bank power box/charger
Right i have seen loads of ppl selling these and loads of ppl asking how to make them so here is the basics of building one of these box's, its nothing new as i have been building them for my self for a long time now, there are loads of different looking box's out there that have been made with loads of different components but underneath it all thy all do the same job , the one im showing you how to build is a simple box but at the same time its a powerful bit of kit that will last you anything up to 5-6 days just charging your phone from it, its the perfect session box, not to heavy and will do the job in hand, if you need more power to charge cam battery's or lights for a week as well as charging phones/tablets all you will need to do is change the ah of the battery to a higher ah or double up the battery's by running 2x7ah battery's instead of 1, you can all so add led's to the side of the box or add more ports its all down to user preference, i shall begin.
NEEDED
12v switch
12v usb ports
12v lighter socket port
12v volt meter
right size box
12v 7ah battery
12v 7ah charger
(links for all the above will be at the bottom of this page)
solder/male flat conecters
soldering iron
12v 5amp wire
wire cutters
glue sticks
Here are all the ports and the switch in one, from ebay for 8 pounds but can be got from china cheaper if you can wait for it to arrive.
12v 7ah battery from qvs electrics £14.99 inculding vat,
again if you can find it cheaper then it will be better
again if you can find it cheaper then it will be better
This is the box im using but the link will take you to the project box'x that everyone else seems to use, any box will work, i have made them in bait box's and tackle box's, as long as it will all fit in then it can be used
THE PROCESS STEP BY STEP
For the box im using i split all the ports out of there base and will be using them singly as this means i can put them in where i have the space rather than trying to get an elephant in a matchbox
Next i put the battery in and worked out where i had the space for the ports to fit, i then marked out where the holes needed to be
Now to cut the holes, this can be a tricky job if your not lucky enough to have a dremel so please mind your finger and eyes and please ware the right safety gear.
Once you have got the holes cut where you want them its a good idea to make shore that everything fits ok, once you are happy fit all the components and tighten them up.
At this point i like to double check that everything is going to fit nice and snug, i have covered the top of my box but again this is user preference and will depend on what box you are using.
THE WIRING
I always start with negative wires on the switch, looking at the back of the switch you will notice that there is 1 copper looking connector, this is the negative for the led in side the switch, there is 2 wires that run from this connector, i dont like crimp connectors even tho thy are supplied with the block of ports, i like to solder every connector, 1 wire runs back to the (-) on the battery the other runs to the negative of each of the port, make shore you are connecting them to the right connector, on the back of every port there is (+) and a (-).
You link from one port to the next an till all the negative connectors has a wire connected to it, leaving the one long wire out to be connected to the (-) on the battery, the switch has to be the 1st one in line from the battery.
Next is the positive wires, 1st start with the one that runs to the (+) on the battery, again looking at the back of the switch this will be the centre connector, this runs the power to the centre of the switch so when it is toggled from off to on it then runs the power in to the output of the switch witch is coming up next
On the rear of the switch there should only be one connector left, this is the one that runs along every other positive on each of the ports, so just like you did with the negative run the positive to every port making shore its on the right connector of each one.
Now to see if you done it right lol, put the battery in and cut the (+) and (-) wires down to size making shore thay arnt to short and solder them on, at this point you can flick the switch and see what happens, if you followed this step by step you will have power and all ports will be usable.
Next re open the box as its time to set the battery in place and tidy up the wires a bit, i use glue gun sticks melted with a wind proof lighter but at this stage you can use heavy duty double sided tap or heavy duty sticky back Velcro or even epoxy glue, fix the battery down in the way you deside, i also used the glue sticks to hold the wires to the inside of the box so thy are all nice and tidy.
There you go, 1 finished session box all set up to keep your stuff powered on the bank, but we cant finish there as you have no way of charging this little beast, so here you go the last step you need to do, take the 12v male lighter connector and strip it apart, now get your positive and negative thats coming off the battery charger and solder them in to the lighter connector, the middle is positive and the outer is negative, then put it all back together
To charge your box all you need to do is plug the charger in to the wall then plug the lighter plug in to the lighter socket on the box and turn the box on, make shore its on at the wall and you will see your volts meter going up as the battery charges, most smart chargers will go in to trickle charge once the battery is full so no need to worry about it over charging, you can leave it charging 24/7 if you realy want to
AND WE ARE FINISHED
All of the following links are what i have or would use but you can pick them up cheaper all over the internet and allot of them are on ebay from china for half the price, but its on your head be it if you use any of the cheaper products, also this tutorial is for info only and i do not take any blame for anything that could happen using this product or if you deside to build this your self then its all on you, now i have to say this to cover my own butt and im shore you understand in this day and age why i had to state all the above, all i can say is i have never had any problems with this box apart from battery or chargers giving up on me but that is just what happens thru charge/discharge process, Tight lines
