Modding the charger cable for a Powerbook G4 to USB-C

[zero cool]

So, shortly after I got my 12" Powerbook G4, I felt the need for more battery life, to make it portable for longer. So the obvious solution was to go USB-C PD to run it off a powerbank. This was a bit of a gamble, because the original charger is 24V, and USB PD is only 20V in my case. The charger cable is really thin and quite long though, so my thinking was that Apple designed it to tolerate some voltage drop, since the bigger Powerbooks use the same charger. Said and done I dug up an old USB-C adapter that outputs 20V when plugged in. Seemingly these items were quite blurry at the time of taking the picture, hrm.

IMG_3194.JPG (126 KiB) Viewed 39026 times

I then chopped the cable off, stripped it back and twisted the wires together for a quick test to see if it would even work. And it turns out, it did!

IMG_3199.JPG (195.98 KiB) Viewed 39026 times

IMG_3196.JPG (219.18 KiB) Viewed 39026 times

Cool stuff! It being a little fall-y-apart-y and delicate, I sat down on the floor (obviously) and pulled out the tiny soldering iron because I was lazy, soldered it all up and added some heat shrink.

IMG_3200.JPG (221.61 KiB) Viewed 39026 times

[oracle]

STEVE!!! HE DID IT AGAIN!

[zero cool]

*laughs in rotten apple*

[zero cool]

82mhz here on the forum got me inspired to improve this mod a bit, because quite frankly I'm not super satisfied with how it looks. And it requires a male-male cable to make it work, so it's not that greagt. but I did it with things I had on hand. But now that I know it works, I can improve on it!

So I started searching around for a neater solution, and I did stumble across these USB-C plugs with casing, that contain a PD trigger board, So I ordered a white 20V one to solder directly to the charging cable, to make it a true USB-C to Powerbook/iBook cable.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005835212219.html
Now to wait for it to arrive. More to come!

[82mhz]

Oh these look very nice, with the case you can create a cable that looks professional, unlike my janky heatshrink-wrapped solution

[zero cool]

Yeah it will make for a very neat looking cable! I was originally going to find a board similar to yours but with a male plug instead of a jack to make a very chonky big connector. But then I just happened to find these instead!
I guess there is nothing actually wrong with my mod, but that USB-C end and the heatshrink makes a very long pretty stiff piece on the end of a very soft thin cable, and that just annoys the hell out of me, haha!

[zero cool]

I'm finally home again from the work trips of the past three weeks, and the USB-C plugs have arrived!
So I just went right away and redid my cable mod, and it turned out pretty sweet to be honest! My slight OCD even approves of it (mostly)

IMG_3407.jpeg (437.39 KiB) Viewed 38724 times

IMG_3413.jpeg (428.34 KiB) Viewed 38724 times

The scan-rate of the powerbank display is conflicting with the camera, hence why it looks wonky.

[mavica]

fuck i gotta do this with my ibooks!!

the chargers work fine _for now_ but they overheat so much every time i use them i get worried i'll set something on fire

[zero cool]

Go for it!it turned out to be a pretty slick mod. I noticed the old chsrge I've got also runs really warm. I'm sure it's a combination of age and tired and just old design.
Plus this mod enables a lot more battery runtime!

[claudiom]

Very nice hacks, folks! Makes me want to start on something similar!