I was gifted a HyperMac MBP-150 lithium ion battery about 1 year ago (150Wh) with very little information about how to use it. I was never was able to charge using a variety of 12V DC adapters (although it appears to accept standard 12V DC input). Finally I left it in a back room and forgot about it, only to realize today what a really nice battery it is … if I could charge it.
I now suspect that the battery might actually charge using high voltage AC power.
See this FAQ where it says:
Can I charge my HyperJuice external battery with DC charger?
You need to have an inverter to convert 12v DC to 110v AC in order to charge HyperJuice battery.
Can I charge the HyperJuice external battery world wide?
Yes, every single HyperJuice battery comes with AC 110-240v power transformer, which allow you to recharge it in world wide. Plus, we also include the right power adapter in your reside country.
Although this FAQ sounds like promising information, I would like some more confirmation before I clip a spare 12V DC charger and wire it directly to the wall. Since the battery has a CE mark, is there information about charging it available inside some sort of database? The battery simply has a jack labelled "charge" and a jack labelled "dc out", as well as a "usb 5v out". On the back it has a sticker saying "rated 14.5v~18.5v (4.5A max). No info about the charging voltage.
Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just go for it and plug it into the wall? My gut feeling is that it is a stupid thing to do without getting more reliable information first.
EDIT 1: I think the big question here is what is going on in the "magic box" typically supplied with these HyperMac batteries and used to modify the Apple charger. Is the "magic box" really a DC to AC inverter? If this is the case it seems so wasteful. The design logic is what is throwing me off and causing me to second-guess my intuition here.
EDIT 2:
I think now maybe I understand the design logic with these photos. The original 6.5V DC Apple charger is being used for convenience, not efficiency. When the HyperMac battery is being charged, 6.5V DC is converted to AC to charge the battery. The MacBook can still be charged with this original 6.5V DC Apple charger (wall AC to 6.5V DC). The MacBook can also be charged using the HyperMac Battery.
Best Answer
As I understand
is that the battery does NOT work with a 12V adapter. The battery comes with a proper charger. That text says you need an extra module ('inverter') which converts 12V back to 110V... Which can then feed the actual charger included with the original Hyperjuice battery.
That proper charger works from 90V to 240V or so, and is compatible with 'the world', as long as you can plug it in :) The 'world' has many different sockets.