Need advice on adding a USB power port to tablet

donclark · Nov 18, 2013

I bought my mom a 10" Auraslate tablet a while back. Unfortunately, she had been carrying it around with the power plug in the port on the tablet. This caused the port to malfunction, and the tablet not to charge. From what I understand, that is the only port that will charge the tablet. I was thinking that I could add a usb port that would charge the battery. Any advice/knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
Battery is Lithium Ion 6000 mAh. Power adapter is 12v 2.0A.

Harald Kapp · Nov 19, 2013

Chances are the power port's receptacle was pried loose. If you're going to open the zablet anyway, start by re-soldering the original power port or find an equivalent new port.

donclark · Nov 19, 2013

I have opened the tablet, and disassembled it. It was pretty easy. The problem is that the port is damaged internally. It has not come loose from the motherboard. I took it to 3 different repair shops, and nobody wanted to take the PEPSI challenge. I even mentioned the idea of adding the extra port. Their response was that they cannot/do not where to order the specific part. I can provide photos if that will help us along.

Harald Kapp · Nov 20, 2013

Give it a try. Look in the usual suspect's stores. I doubt they have created a custom connector for the tablet. Chnaces are good to find a replacement somewehre.

donclark · Nov 20, 2013

I will try to find the part. However, since the part is tiny - and my moms eyes arent what they used to be, I would still like to try to put a usb charging port in the tablet. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

BobK · Nov 20, 2013

Did you find room inside? The tablets I have looked at do not have much in the way of empty space. If you can find space, it is just a matter of hooking up the wires. I presume the old port is a micro USB connector (very thin and about 1/4 in across?)

Bob

donclark · Nov 20, 2013

Plenty of room inside. The old port is not usb. You can see in the photo that it is a tiny plug. So what are the specifics of hooking up the usb port to ? auraslate images:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...732460.1073741831.532422459&type=3&permPage=1

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...2035971427460_1779401930_n.jpg&size=1151,2048

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...732460.1073741831.532422459&type=3&permPage=1

BobK · Nov 20, 2013

If the current charger plug is just two wires carrying 5V then, using a usb socket, you would just connect the two wires to power and ground.

Bob

donclark · Nov 20, 2013

Thats what I want to do, but I was concerned that the charger is 12v 2.0A. So can I just attach the power and ground on the motherboard? And if so, where specifically is that? (and thanks for the help/motivation!)

davenn · Nov 20, 2013

donclark said:

Thats what I want to do, but I was concerned that the charger is 12v 2.0A. So can I just attach the power and ground on the motherboard? And if so, where specifically is that? (and thanks for the help/motivation!)
Click to expand...

You do understand that the standard for USB ports is 5V ?

if you are wanting to take 12V into the tablet, you should be using an appropriate power connector and staying well away from any USB connections.
You also need to figure out where the charging circuitry for the is in relation to the damaged charging port ....
Why are you just not replacing the faulty power connector with either the same type or something similar ??

Dave

donclark · Nov 21, 2013

@davenn - I dont want to replace the power connector because it is tiny, hard to use (for my mom with poor vision), and since it was already damaged once, I thought using a better - more durable charge port would be a better solution.

What do you think about this USB 5V to 12V Step up as a solution?
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/5v-to-12v-step-up

BobK · Nov 21, 2013

You will not get to 12V 2A from a 5V USB charger. They max out at 1 to 2A which is 10W at most, your 12V 2A charger is putting out 24W.

You could probably get away with using a USB connector on the 12V 2A supply, but it would be misleading, encouraging someone to plug a 5V charger into it, which will do who knows what?

I would just replace the "tiny" connector with a larger barrel type DC plug and replace the jack on the 12V 2A charger. Then all you need to do is wire the two wires from the jack to the same place the two wires from the old jack were wired.

Bob

davenn · Nov 21, 2013

agree totally with Bob

you will end with heartache if you make misleading use of USB connectors

PLUS ... that step up convertyer you linked to is taking 5V FROM a USB port and stepping it up
obviously not what you need.

Dave

donclark · Nov 21, 2013

Thanks for everyones advice - and pointing me in the right direction. I appreciate it greatly!

gcb · Nov 24, 2013

to solve the problem, get a female power plug (or even a 3mm audio jack) and solder on the pins for the power (assuming the charger is two wires... or just use a 3 wire one... in any case, be sure to use the inner most portion of the pin for what is in the inner pin of the charger)... then replace the plug in the charger for the matching plug you just installed. and pronto. now your mom will have an ugly short power cord sticking out of the tablet, but much easier to use.

also, try to hold the cable on the case, so it is not the solder holding it. hot glue is probably fine.

Need advice on adding a USB power port to tablet

donclark

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