Ipod Charger

[papa smurf]

I recently went into radio shack and was looking to just get an LED i need for a project. when i noticed that the rechargeable Ipod external batteries were on sale for $10 for 1800 Mah. but i am having trouble understanding which ipod pin is power and i'm guessing that the outer casing is ground. So i can solder a female usb. does any body know which of the thirty pins is +5v? Any help is Appreciated!

[adafruit_support_rick]

See if this helps:
http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Apple_iPod,_iPad_and_iPhone_dock

[papa smurf]

um yeah, that kinda helped but the pin 23 that is +5v usb, is not present. im posting some pics so u can see what im up against.
do ipods use multiple pins to do the same job? or could somebody with a ipod usb cord do an continuity check on their cord and see which pin
on the ipod receives the +5v on the USB end.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oh865roqk9gu1 ... .39.32.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cnsus4gf2h3bc ... .40.12.jpg

anybody's help is need, thanks
Papa Smurf

[adafruit_support_rick]

In the first picture, pin 30 is clearly labeled, and I can't quite see if pin 2 is labeled
The second picture is a little fuzzy, but it looks like pins 1 and 15 are labeled

So, it looks to me like you've got odd numbered pins on one side and even numbered pins on the other.
Looking at the even-numbered side, counting from the left, you've got pins 2,4,6,8,10, no 12, a dark square at 14, no 16, and then pin 18.
On the odd-numbered side, counting from the right, looks like you've got pins 1, 11, and 15.

So, no, you ain't got +5V on pin 23. What you've got is +3.3V on pin 18. The pinout URL says this:

18 3.3V 3.3V Power (+)
Stepped up to provide +5 VDC to USB on iPod Camera Connector.
If iPod is put to sleep while Camera Connector is present, +5 VDC at this pin slowly drains back to 0 VDC.

[papa smurf]

i solder the red USB wire to pin 18 and black to ground? or is the voltage on pin 18 stepped up inside the ipod somehow, or is that done on the board on the battery?
Thanks Again

[adafruit_support_rick]

Wait a minute - what exactly are you trying to do? Why are you soldering USB wires to this thing? It already plugs into an iPod, right? What is the USB cable for?

[papa smurf]

i want to be able to charge a usb device instead of an ipod. i just need to know which pin is what so i can solder a positive and ground to the USB cable.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Well, if the thing is charged, you ought to be able to use a multimeter to verify pin 18 as +3.3V. You ought to be able to use any of the ground pins identified on the pinout page.

Whether or not you can charge some other USB gizmo by giving it 3.3V vs. 5V is something I don't know.
I also don't know whether or not trying this could damage anything.