Jeanne has Skylanders Trap Team for the iPad. It’s a fun game. Precisely why it is always running out of batteries. Even Eneloops don’t last long enough. Fresh AA batteries have a voltage of about 1.7V. Three in series gives about 5.1V. That’s almost about what a USB port is giving. So I figured, why not mod the portal to get its power from a USB port?
Parts and Equipment
For this build, you need the following:
- USB cable (I got mine from an old mouse)
- Soldering iron
- Soldering wire
- Wire snips
- Philips screwdriver
- Hot glue gun
Procedure
- I removed the rubber feet under the portal to unscrew the 6 screws holding the bottom cover.
- Here are the wire from the battery holder leading to the portal’s main board. Snip the wires.
- Here are the wires on the portal’s main board. Strip and tin them.
- Drill a small hole on the side of the portal and run the USB cable through it.
- Cut the black outer cover of the USB cable to expose the inner wires, you’re looking for the red and black wires.
- Strip the tips of the red and black wires and tin them.
- Solder the wires from the USB cable to the wires from the main board together. Red to red, black to black. If you’re using shrink tubing to insulate them, make sure you slip them in before soldering.
- Cover the splice with electrical tape (or shrink tubing, just make sure you slipped them in before soldering).
- Hot glue the USB cable at the hole inside the portal. For additional strength, I also hot glued it to the main board.
- Replace the cover.
- Plug the USB cable to your computer, wall charger, or power bank.