How to charge a pen without a charger?

As all electronic devices need to charge, these things do too. But somehow, you might lose the charger of your digital pen. What to do then? How to charge a pen without a charger? Let’s stress the following article to seek answers.

One of the noteworthy inventions of this century is undeniably the digital (stylus)/ smartpen. A handy input device that is used to detect a person’s hand strokes. It permutes these analog hand strokes into digital data, thus establishing a ‘pen & paper’ mechanism. This type of pen is known to have several perks. From being used as a graphic tool to finding purpose in tablets, its utilities are way beyond just ‘pen & paper’. It also has some amazing interactive features like pressure sensitivity, and tilt detection, that allow them to be used as various artist tools. 

What benefits do we get if we charge a pen without a charger?

To be specific, quite many. It’s always an advantage if we carry a common power source for all the electronic devices we possess. Imagine your cellular phones, wi-fi, Bluetooth speakers, and pens all charged by one single USB cable. But this should always be counted as an alternative. Charging by the device’s charger is good. But why purchase a new one if the older one gets lost? You are having other options too. 

How to charge a pen without a charger?

Always remember to keep your pen battery fully charged before sitting for work. Consider a situation where you are abroad for work. And while working on tedious projects, your stylus pen runs out of charge. You start finding the charger but realize that you forgot it back home. What to do then? Surely you will at least have your mobile charger with you. Let’s learn how to precisely use a mobile charging port to charge your smartpen. We will put stress on other methods as well.

Method 1: Use a mobile charger

Most smartphone charging cables are compatible with these pens. To set up a proper charging mechanism just;

1. Plugin the charger into the nearby power source.
2. You are expected to find a port on the side or at the top. 
3. Plugin the cable into this. 
4. Turn on the power. 
5. The LED light will start glowing indicating that charging has begun.

The magnets inside the pen will set up an electromagnetic field. This will successfully charge your stylus pen without having its charger. 

Method 2: Using a USB cable

1. Plugin the USB cable into the side port or wherever the charging point is present.
2. Plugin the other end to the desktop or laptop. You might use a wall adapter as well.
3. The glowing LED indicates your smartpen is being recharged.
4. Don’t leave loose ends to avoid a short circuit.

Method 3: with a portable power bank

Power banks are the most convenient way if you seldom need to travel abroad. The most significant advantage that power banks provide is that it does not require you to seek any power outlet. 

1.  Just connect the power bank cable to the stylus pen charging port.
2. Switch on the charging. These days most power banks come with the feature of automatic charge initialization once it is connected.
3. See the LED on the stylus glow.
4. Leave it for an hour until you can use the pen again.

Method 4: Using an external battery charger

This is possible only if your stylus runs on removable batteries. 

1. Look for the battery compartment.
2. Remove the batteries.
3. Put them in a battery charger. Leave it for a few hours.
4. Put the batteries back into the pen.

This method will surely edge your pen’s lifetime by many years. The only thing to keep in mind is that this is not possible in the case of non-removable or non-rechargeable batteries. Just see to it that the battery charger doesn’t overheat. If it is overheating, switch off the power at once. 

Method 5: Using a DIY charger

If you are a physics enthusiast or techy, you will surely want to try this thing. So what’s a DIY charger? In tech terms, DIY is the acronym for ‘Do It Yourself’. A DIY charger is nothing but a charger made by you from scratch. So, let’s have a quick synopsis of how to use a Lithium-ion DIY battery and use it to charge a stylus yourself.

1. 1) DIY is a mini charger. Just provide it with a 9-12 volts DC energy source.
2. 2) In the USB port, connect the cable.
3. 3) Connect the other end to the stylus pen.
4. If the charging starts, then your DIY charger is working successfully. If not, check for loose connections.
5. If the DIY charger becomes too hot, disconnect the charger. Try using low power in that case.

Too powerful batteries might cause the DIY charger setup to burst. Always use the optimum power batteries as instructed.

Method 6: Surface Pro-X Signature Keyboard

For this, you need to get a ‘Firmware update‘ beforehand.

1. Put the pen on the charging surface of the Signature keyboard. The pen might also realign itself under the magnetic influence.
2. Click “Start”.
3. Find “Settings”.
4. Look for “Windows Updates”.
5. Select “Check for Updates”. If any probable updates are found, don’t hesitate to install them.
6. Let the update finish. Keep the pen connected to the surface in the meantime.
7. Restart your PC.

Precautions:

Technical perks never come without precautions. Mishandling small things like a USB cable, a battery or digital pens can land you in trouble. There are some needful precautions you should keep in mind while charging your stylus/ digital pen. Especially when you are not using the pen’s charger and trying other alternatives for the charging aspect. Let’s run over them right away:-

1. Never charge more than one device simultaneously. You might cause an overload in the circuitry. This will damage all the connected devices.
2. Try not to use the pen while charging. You might weaken the battery’s power drawing capacity. Better unplug the charger and use it for a while if it is urgent.
3. Keep in mind the brand factor. If you lose the charger of your stylus, never attempt to use any charger which comes with other brands.
4. Check the time after you are leaving the pen on charge. Long exposure to power might cause the battery to burst. No one would like that for sure.
5. Check for worn-out cables or loose connections. In most cases, this has caused severe circuitry malfunction ending the pen’s lifetime.
6. Don’t touch the pen or the ports with wet hands. You might get a shock. 
7. Check the plug’s polarity. Don’t interchange the polarization or mess with it. The whole experiment might fail.
8. Never disassemble the stylus while charging.
9. Try to use an input supply ranging between 100-200 volts 5 amperes.
10. Use authorized adapters and USB cables. An unauthorized product, if found faulty, might not benefit you. 
11. Keep flammable materials away from the power source. Putting the charging setup on flammable things can cause overheating and fire.

So, this was all about how to charge a pen without a charger. Now, if your pen is not working, its battery might have completely discharged at that point. Even if long hours of charging won’t prove fruitful, try disassembling and resetting it.

Use a soft cloth dipped in mild soap water. Check if the nib of the pen is in position. Or remove your phone or tab’s screen cover and check if it’s working now. If it’s not, see if it’s working on other devices. If none of these are successful, reset it.

1. Navigate your phone to the “Settings” menu.
2. Search for the “S Pen” option.
3. In the “Air Action”’, click the three dots to access the “More” menu.
4. Select “Scan for S Pen”. Let it detect the pen itself. 
5. If unsuccessful, tap “Reset S Pen”. Everything will reset and again a new connection needs to be established. 

Conclusion:

Smart pens/ Stylus pens are tools that play a very important role in our professional lives. Better keep the charger nearby if you are traveling abroad for work. Make sure you keep the pen fully charged at the end of the day. If you are a person who tends to forget things, this article might turn out to you as a lifesaver. Hope this article helps if you want to know how to charge a pen without a charger.

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