USB Based Phone Charger

I spend a lot of time working / browsing internet on my laptop and my PC.
With a phone like Nokia 5800 XM, the problem of battery drain is ever present as with any other smartphone.
Having a USB based charger for my Nokia 5800 would make charging a little bit easier, as I can then just plug in the charger to the USB port of my PC/Laptop and keep working and simultaneously charging the phone.

One option was to buy a USB based charger, but then the DIYer in me started to push me in right direction of making one.
Here is a USB Phone charger for phones which do not support USB charging.

I had this old non-working USB drive.

Remove All ICs or other electronic components, even SMCs (Surface Mounted Components)… we don’t need them.

With all the components removed and Polarity marked, this USB stick is ready to become a phone charger. You will notice that I have removed/cut tracks on the PCB just to make sure there is no short-circuit. Just trying to be cautious.

Area in Red marked on PCB will be cut to accommodate wire.

We need the PCB as it gives strength to the USB connector , so I removed only very small area, just enough to accomodate the wire.

I had this in-car phone charger, again not in working condition. (In-car phone charger.... courtesy one of my friend)

Disassemble the in-car phone charger and solder Red wire of wire to Positive terminal (+) of USB and White wire to Negative terminal (-)

Soldered the wire to USB connector….

Black electrical tape on PCB... just in case :)

Reassemble Everything….

This is how it looks in the end.

Test time for this contraption….With one end plugged into USB port of my PC and other into the phone…. LED starts to glow…. And the phone starts charging…..

Success !!!