Most phone sellers won’t tell you, but there are two ways to recharge your phone when everything seems lost : broken USB port, too old phone for a wireless charge. Call your inner MacGiver, open some cables, two actually, put the red (or white) cable on the + and the black one on the minus, and that’s it !
There is also another possibility, easier : buying an external charger, a kind of universal charger, looking like the charger of old cameras used to be. This device is an electric conventional plug with a space to fix your battery on, so it can be charged. Thanks to this small device, you will be able to recharge your battery in an easy way.
I bought mine in Portugal, when my mobile stopped charging from the USB port. Then, this wall charger stopped fonctioning too…as it had costed only 8 euros, it was not the end of the world.
The end of the world felt however close when all shops I called as I was back in Switzerland, replied that they didn’t have any charger « of the kind I was describing” (which seemd quite hard to understand as a concept, to charge the battery without a phone). I still wonder why Switzerland is less equiped in slow, cheap and easy solutions to prevent throwing away phones. Oh I remember, the highest income, the more consumption (and pollution indeed).
I had therefore to find alternative emergency solutions. This is when I found this fantastic method (online).
It’s important to note that this technique, as well as the first one in presented, can only work for phones that have a separable battery, those that have an in built battery, such as I phones and Sony Xperia are less flexibles, they are lost sorry or they should be sent to be repaired or fixed with a DIY tutorial on the web. Choosing a telephone with a separable battery has many advantages…
How to make an universal charger with open cables
To make this charger, you will need to common objects :
- A phone charger that you will cut
- Cisors or a tool to open cables
Before sacrifying your working charger, you should look around in your drawers or ask some friends : there must be an old outdated charger or broken one laying around.
After identifying the charger you will use, just cut away the tip of the connecter, the small USB, and keep the electricity plug that goes into the wall.
Open carefully the cables and make with the metal inside part a small ball or a twisted folded in two tip, for the red and the black cable.
Place the open cables on, respectively, red on + and black on – of the battery (you will see a small + et – on the battery), and press the battery in the pone, just as usual. Then, plug in the electric plug.
Beware of not letting the red and the black cable touch, and keep an eye on the installation. Sparkles can happen and you should make sure that nothing sets on fire. Ideally, open cables should be wrapped in an isolating tape (a technical product that can be purchased in some shops).
With use, the cables can break, so you will have to start again a bit lower on the cables.
You should be aware that with this system, there is not limitation of the charge, the charger or the telephone don’t stop the charging when the battery is full. This is another reason not to let the battery charging the whole night or several hours.
It is also possible to turn on your telephone while charging, but it is safer to unplug the charger.
I hope that this technic will help you save your data before getting another phone, ideally a second hand one !
Feel free to share your experience !