LiPo Rider Pro as replacement for MintyBoost

End-Of-Life Products & Services Tech support before 2012
#1

Hi, I was hoping to create a mintyboost-like device for my iPhone and other devices, and the Rider Pro caught my attention. I’ve got a few questions:

  1. Is there any hope of sourcing or developing a case to snugly fit the Rider Pro and 6Ah LiPo pack? I imagine the JST connectors will have to be modded/removed to get everything to really fit like a glove, but this would be very useful to create a self-contained, self-charging power pack.

  2. Related to the above, what’s the vertical dimension of the Rider Pro? I.e. what vertical clearance do I need to clear the PCB and all mounted components?

  3. Can the Rider Pro charge an iPhone 4/4S at the full 1A rate natively, and without mods? Why are there through-hole solder pads near the USB “output” port for resistors? Are these, like the output resistors on the MintyBoost v3, used to pull up the voltage on the USB data pins to allow faster charging rates in some devices?

  4. This one’s a long shot, but any chance of shrinking down the PCB and creating a “mini LiPo Rider Pro” whose dimensions match your 3Ah LiPo pack? Specifically, 50x40mm rather than 70x50mm.

Thanks!

#2

Hi,thinks for your attention to our product. And i will answer your question.

  1. we are looking for suitable case to fit the Rider Pro and 6Ah LiPo pack, but we don’t have one for the present. and i think your idea about the product is good , i will think about it .
    2)is the vertical dimension means the thickness of the Rider Pro? if that, the thickness is about 6mm
    3)i think it can charge the iphone though i didn’t try. the Rider Pro have more than maximum 1A output. and the usage of the through-hole solder pads on the pcb board is what you said .
    4)yes, it is a good idea.
#3

Thanks for the reply!

  1. I found something but it’s not ideal. search.digikey.com/us/en/product … -ND/439635 is a couple mm too short in the vertical dimension, and a little too big in the largest dimension. More generally, if you had or made a purpose-built case with all the right cutouts for ports and controls, it’d make it a lot easier to turn the parts into a finished device.

  2. Yeah, that’s what I mean. Thanks!

  3. Unfortunately I think it’s a little more complex than that. Even though the device can provide ~1A, an iOS device won’t pull that amount, or might not even charge at all if the data pins are floating. I know that the Rider Pro isn’t marketed as a dedicated iOS device charger, but I wonder if you wouldn’t mind putting some resistors there (in a future rev) for increased compatibility, assuming it doesn’t break compatibility with other devices. The values required for 1A charging, and a general description are available at ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/icharge.html

  4. Any rough ETA on the mini version? E.g. 3 months, 6 months, or is it not on the radar/roadmap yet?

  5. There seems to be a lot of unused real estate on the Rider Pro board. Would it be possible to add some through-hole pads for modders to more easily add switches, batteries, etc. without desoldering the existing components? It will likely help make it easier to integrate into a custom enclosure if separate switches could be more easily integrated with the board. On a related note, was the K2 switch put on the long side for a specific reason? It seems like there’s room for K2 on the same side as the power switch and power out port, and it makes sense thematically and may again help making enclosure integration easier.

Thanks again for your support. I know I’m making a lot of requests. Hopefully they’re reasonable!