iPod + Firewire Charger?

[chriskate]

Hey guys, quick question...

A few years back when I got my first iPod, 3rd Gen I believe, they came with an Apple AC Adapter that you hooked up a FireWire Cable to and then to the iPod and could charge your iPod from a wall socket without a computer. Since then, I have been charging all my new iPods in my room with it (since the computer is a floor down) and have used it for my mini and nano. However, now I have my iPod Touch. I know the USB cable is a different size and I have possibly heard the power voltage stuff is different then previous iPods. I was wondering if was safe to use this old FireWire AC Adapter charger with my new iPod Touch. I did plug in it briefly to see if it would work, and it did, but then I unplugged it because if it was the wrong voltage I didn't wanna mess it up. Is this OK to use? Or should I only charge it by the computer with its own USB cable?

I appreciate it

 

[aethelbert]

You can charge via firewire. But you can only sync via USB.

 

[agentkow]

I'm in the same boat: I've got all the goodies that Apple used to pack in with the iPod back in the good old days, and I love having the ability to sync my iPod at home and bring it to work and use the dock plugged into the wall to keep it topped up.

Does anyone know, besides the ability to charge from your computer, if firewire through an AC adaptor will damage the Touch?

 

[Cloudane]

I know what you mean... it's a pity it's not really suitable for the nice chunky dock they used to come with (3G), as they only provide a tiny bit of plastic (a "stand") nowadays. It fits, but I don't enjoy the idea of putting its whole weight on the connector with nothing else to support it (because it's so thin compared to the 3G), seems like begging for the connector to eventually become damaged.

Anyway... can't confirm either way but I find it highly unlikely that they'd let you do damage so easily. In all likelihood if firewire charging isn't supported, they'll have simply taken those pins off the dock connector socket.

You can also get mains-to-USB adaptors, except of course as it is with Apple these days, they're not kind enough to supply one for free

Why they abandoned Firewire is beyond me. For one thing you can charge from Firewire whilst the computer is asleep, which you (usually) can't do with USB.

 

[agentkow]

I know what you mean... it's a pity it's not really suitable for the nice chunky dock they used to come with (3G), as they only provide a tiny bit of plastic (a "stand") nowadays. It fits, but I don't enjoy the idea of putting its whole weight on the connector with nothing else to support it (because it's so thin compared to the 3G), seems like begging for the connector to eventually become damaged.

There must be some way to modify it by adding padding in the back, or even a simple back brace like a bent paperclip or something? Providing, or course, that it doesn't scratch the precious back, which is ironic because they've made all this progress with the materials used on iPods and now the back is exactly the same as the 3G my Touch will be replacing.

 

[Cloudane]

Yeah, I guess a bit of folded paper and blu tack haha. Not very elegant, though. I suppose they're just trying to help sell Bose docks!

The back of my 3G iPod is scratched to buggerie, no doubt this will be soon - it certainly enhances the market for protective *back* covers (ironic that the screen doesn't need one!)

It does appear to be safe to use the Firewire charger:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/360669/

Funny enough, it's "better" for it in a way as the firewire dock connector is one of those you can squeeze instead of wrenching the poor thing in and out like the newer ones.

 

[mkrishnan]

Does anyone know, besides the ability to charge from your computer, if firewire through an AC adaptor will damage the Touch?

No, it should be fine... basically, FW provides 12VDC on one pin in the dock connector, from what I understand, and USB provides 5VDC on a different pin. Apple's motivated to maintain the 12VDC compatibility because it's much more amenable to car and airplane chargers (does not need a transformer) than 5VDC is. Even if they ever did do away with the 12VDC connection, they would not re-use the pin, because that pin has been "hot" (current carrying) in the spec, and there's too much chance someone would brick an iPod this way.

 

[Barnard]

The charger supplied with a 3G iPod works perfectly.

I've been using it on mine since last friday, it seems to give the iPod a good solid charge rather than the flaky USB charging.