any soldering ninjas around here??

[bertopl]

Bertopl --

If all you want is the cable, there are much cheaper deals on eBay. There is an auto charger for $12.

Edited to remove picture -- way too big. Here's the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fast-Power-...=Laptop_Adapters_Chargers&hash=item2a2af45118

Regards,
Russ

much appreciated russ!! I'm after a normal charging cable for the connector only. I'll look into ebay for that part, thank you for the link. I want to get that connector soldered to a cable that will connect to my backpack's battery though but your suggestion will definitely bring my cost down.

 

[Russ]

Bertopl --

That should be easy. I occasionally change tips on AC adapters by just cutting the wires and soldering on the tip I want. It's not rocket science.

Regards,
Russ

 

[bertopl]

good news, I contacted voltaic this morning to find out what parts I would need from them and the rep told me that since our first conversation, they had rigged up a few surface cables with the help of some of their customers. they documented the whole process on their blog which can be found here:

Portable Charger for Microsoft Surface | Voltaic Systems ? Solar DIY and Device Charging

I'm going to go ahead and read through this and order up my parts!!

 

[Russ]

Bertopl --

You need to talk to Bjornb. Here's a link to his last post. Just scroll down until you find him. You guys can figure out how to get together:

bjornb -- Third Party Chargers

Meanwhile, I'm just sittin' back takin' notes.

Take care,
Russ

 

[bertopl]

thanks Russ!! I'll definitely look him up. ok, so I bought the cable from voltaic. a whopping 6 bux!! I ended up impulse buying a newer battery and a battery clip for my older backpack for $39 just to make the shipping worthwhile. I also took your advice and picked up an RT charger from ebay. I'm not really willing to wait on the super cheap ones that come from a slow boat from china so I found a US seller and got one for about 16 bux. I swear, I waste so much money because I'm so impatient!! hopefully by the end of the week I'll have all the parts at my door and I already have the instructions from voltaic. now I just have to figure out who I can get to burn all this stuff together for me!! I live in Vegas, so the closer to where I am, the better. I'm not sure where everyone's located. when I get all my stuff, I'll look up bjornb and ask some of the other kind folks who have offered to help. like I said, I'm willing to pay a fair fee for anyone's time that is willing to help a brother out. I really appreciate everyone who's offered to help, I'm stoked!! hope I can get a working cable out of all this!!

 

[Russ]

I swear, I waste so much money because I'm so impatient!! . . . now I just have to figure out who I can get to burn all this stuff together for me!!

Bert --

You sound a lot like me -- when I'm working on some project, I don't like to wait for stuff.

As to the soldering, JP had a good suggestion: Find some kid at Radio Shack who would like to make a couple of bucks. Or, call a local tech school. They always have students who need to make a little money.

Not to sound condescending, but I think you are making way too much of the soldering job. It's five wires. Soldering them is easy; making the end product look neat just takes a little more time and some shrink tubing. The two most important things to know about soldering are: 1 - You need to have a good mechanical connection first (e.g., twisted wires), and, 2 - solder flows to the heat. If you can't find someone locally and want to try it yourself, there are at least a couple of us here who could give you some simple instructions.

You've already done all the hard work, and now you're stuck on the easy part.

Take care,
Russ

 

[bertopl]

russ, apparently you haven't seen one of my soldering jobs!! seriously, I know it's a fairly easy task. I'm capable of a lot of things but I just wasn't blessed with the soldering gene! I'd just rather someone do it that is more practiced than me so I don't ruin and have to re-buy any parts. talked to one of my maintenance guys and he is pretty good at electrical stuff who said he'd be able to do it but he's up at one of our california shops at the moment so I'll have to wait till he flies back here. we'll see how it goes!!

 

[Russ]

russ, apparently you haven't seen one of my soldering jobs!!

Bert --

No, but I'll take your word for it.

Actually, my late Wife taught me how to do it right. I knew how to solder -- or thought I did until she saw some of my work. She had been a "NASA Certified Solderer" back in the Moon Shot days, working in an engineering lab when I met her. The challenge back then was to make an effective solder joint using the least amount of solder possible -- to reduce the accumulated weight of all those solder joints in the vehicle.

If your maintenance guy doesn't come back soon, don't forget about the local tech schools. That should be a good source.

Take care,

Russ

 

[bertopl]

wow, I'm in awe of everyone's expertise around here!! I feel like a pee-on shoulda listened to my dad and stayed in school!!

 

[Russ]

I'm in awe of everyone's expertise around here!! I feel like a pee-on

Bert --

Nah. We're all smart about some things and we're all dumb about some other things. I even thought I knew a little bit about networking -- until Jeff and Rob took me back to school. That is what makes places like this so valuable and so much fun: Everybody brings something to the party.

Take care, and good luck with your project. Don't forget to report when it's done.

Russ

 

[bertopl]

yup russ!! will do. my maintenance guy comes back on friday. probably around the time the parts should get here. with any luck by the end of the weekend I'll be a solar charging fool!!

 

[machistmo]

Voltaic responded to me.

This is not standard for now. Our best option is for you or us to create a custom cable - this is how we did it for another customer - Portable Charger for Microsoft Surface | Voltaic Systems ? Solar DIY and Device Charging

We're testing building this with a knock-off Surface adapter today although the quality on the adapter is pretty poor and I think you'd be better off sticking with Microsoft's original adapter.

Sorry this is so laborious, it seems more and more manufacturers are creating their own proprietary designed adapters which makes it hard to have a universal charger.

Best,
Jeff