Those "springy things" are for mounting the heat sink on a PCB. You mount the LED with the light showing through a hole in the PCB and mount the heat sink so that it's pressing against the rear of the LED, using holes in the PCB which those "springy thing" posts go through. Sometimes you lock them into place with a quarter-turn and sometimes it's automatic.
Your fascination with power banks is... fascinating :P It must've rubbed off on me, as I'm currently fiddling around making a diy version with 18650 holders, and some soldered together charger/usb output modules. Thinking about adding an led display for voltage/amps and a combined step down/up module for a portable variable power supply while I'm at it.
Only thing i don;t like about the little VGA sinks is the fan life, however if you take the fan off to work on them, you can carefully put a drop of a good oil into the sleeve bearing on the fan ( unless you are luck and found cheap ones with ball bearings ) and you can make them last alot longer.
Those springy thingies are meant to be pushed through the PCB and the springs will keep the right pressure on the heat sink... They are not meant to be used like you said in the video.
Hi Julian, You can make just a simple discharger with a couple of resistors and Arduino. It is very simple and it can measure voltage and current per second. So, this would be more usefull power storage meter W*h instead of mA*h. I made it by myself and it is realy usefull for measuring real capacity of Li-ion batteries. If you need I can publish How-To of making such device.
Not like my power-banks I have stepped on and used quite a lot. I have never quite liked the auto-power-off function, so I prefer the "dumb" packs without micro-controller. The fans looks good, but I would find a that small fan with that high speed annoying.
Julian, if those heatsinks are copper, try soldering the back of those 1w leds DIRECTLY to the heatsink. I did this with a soup can lid and it works fantastic. If you need more detail, i could post a video. Also, those spring clips would normally push into a graphics card's pcb, and the springs would provide the tension to hold the heatsink to the chip.
Pardon me for being a bit "old school", but the way I'd measure the real-world capacity of a power bank is by fully charging it, connecting a resistor across the output and seeing how long it takes before it cuts out. I'm sure you don't need this, Julian, but maybe for others... A 5ohm resistor across a 5V supply will draw 1 amp. If it keeps going for 2 hours it has a capacity of 2 amp-hours at 5V. That resistor needs to be rated at at least 5 watts, but a bit of simple multiplication and waiting around longer let's you use almost any resistor you have lying around. I hate your videos, it's your fault that I still haven't done the washing-up because they're addictive! (in case of doubt, that's a big compliment, thanks)
Got one of those 2 cell power banks after watching this video, dang thing failed me yesterday, went dead, well down to one dot, when I tried to charge would not connect. I tore it down and the USB in plug had seperated at the connection to the board. I tried to solder it back on but then it seperated at the plug. Tore the board off and kept the cells. Case may be used in some future project. Not a lot goes to waste here in the Dakota's. Must come from being raised on a farm back in the 50's.
What is the best way to measure the output of a solar panel Julian. Do I just hook up a multimeter and see what it produces or is there a more forensic way of doing this?
B0M0A0K A multimeter can be used to check the voltage or the current. But a more useful measurement is the power in Watts. That's more difficult to measure because the load needs to be optimum. This I learned as a result of all my MPPT experiments.
wonder if there is such a thing as thermally conductive epoxy? if so , would be handy! , as for the cells , i wonder if they really are the proper capacity or if you were to open them up, you might see they contain a smaller cell and the rest filled with sand, or i have heard some are recycled worn out cells from old laptop supplies
At least all their cells are put together with a tab and spot wielded. It's when wires are soldered directly soldered to cells that the device scares me.
Hi, say I watched this a few times because I liked that flashlight head for your power stick. So I found them on Ebay and ordered 3. For some reason they sent me 5 but who's complaining. At any rate, being a curious type fellow myself, I decided to unscrew one and see what type bulb they have, I couldn't believe what I found for .99 cents US. Try yours and see what lies inside!
Julian Ilett Sure is, I didn't pull it out to see what sort of driver they have below it, but I was thinking of replacing the old filiment type bulb into the little maglight that I carried on the PD to make it a bit brighter. Might be more work then it is worth, that is if I can even find the flashlight any more, been 18 years since I work the gear.
Lagm an I will have to buy one soon - I'm liking the Turnigy Accucel 8S - www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__7523__Turnigy_Accucel_8_150W_7A_Balancer_Charger.html
You might also consider the Turnigy Reaktor www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__57969__Turnigy_Reaktor_300W_20A_6S_Balance_Charger_UK_Warehouse_.html It is a copy of the Icharger 206B which is quite good and well documented. It also adds a USB port which is handy to get nice discharge/charge curves on your PC. The only problem is its current unavailability.
If you really need it there is the Icharger 208B hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9005__iCharger_208B_350W_8s_Balance_Charger.html What equipment do you have that uses 8S batteries?
Do you not have one of those Accucell chargers from hobbykings? The Li-po/Li-Ion/Li-Fe Discharge function seems to be exactly what you want! www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_Accessories.html I have found mine to be extremely useful! I recently used it to revive an old netbook battery pack that died on arrival (battery protection kicked in). I now have a 6-cell, 2-cell and a 1-cell 2600mAh balanced battery pack (albeit unprotected) from junk! Can't beat it at under 15 quid! :)
Those "springy things" are for mounting the heat sink on a PCB. You mount the LED with the light showing through a hole in the PCB and mount the heat sink so that it's pressing against the rear of the LED, using holes in the PCB which those "springy thing" posts go through. Sometimes you lock them into place with a quarter-turn and sometimes it's automatic.
I once treated a small burning wound with a similar fan. Just tape the heatsink to the skin with a 9V Battery.
Your fascination with power banks is... fascinating :P It must've rubbed off on me, as I'm currently fiddling around making a diy version with 18650 holders, and some soldered together charger/usb output modules. Thinking about adding an led display for voltage/amps and a combined step down/up module for a portable variable power supply while I'm at it.
Only thing i don;t like about the little VGA sinks is the fan life, however if you take the fan off to work on them, you can carefully put a drop of a good oil into the sleeve bearing on the fan ( unless you are luck and found cheap ones with ball bearings ) and you can make them last alot longer.
Those springy thingies are meant to be pushed through the PCB and the springs will keep the right pressure on the heat sink... They are not meant to be used like you said in the video.
Never mind I got it working! For me I had to double-click to turn on the flashlight and long press to turn it off 👍🏼😊
Hi Julian,
You can make just a simple discharger with a couple of resistors and Arduino. It is very simple and it can measure voltage and current per second. So, this would be more usefull power storage meter W*h instead of mA*h. I made it by myself and it is realy usefull for measuring real capacity of Li-ion batteries. If you need I can publish How-To of making such device.
After four weeks, I'm still waiting for my stuff from China.
The ebay seller has 9 coolers sold in a hour. I like the idea. Bought 3 myself.
For the 10 watt leds.
From experience those fans die in a year. The bearings wear out and they start to wobble.
Not like my power-banks I have stepped on and used quite a lot.
I have never quite liked the auto-power-off function, so I prefer the "dumb" packs without micro-controller.
The fans looks good, but I would find a that small fan with that high speed annoying.
Julian, if those heatsinks are copper, try soldering the back of those 1w leds DIRECTLY to the heatsink. I did this with a soup can lid and it works fantastic. If you need more detail, i could post a video. Also, those spring clips would normally push into a graphics card's pcb, and the springs would provide the tension to hold the heatsink to the chip.
I don't think they are copper, more likely cheap aluminium or steel painted to look like copper.
***** They're not copper - they look like anodised aluminium
Darn.
Pardon me for being a bit "old school", but the way I'd measure the real-world capacity of a power bank is by fully charging it, connecting a resistor across the output and seeing how long it takes before it cuts out. I'm sure you don't need this, Julian, but maybe for others... A 5ohm resistor across a 5V supply will draw 1 amp. If it keeps going for 2 hours it has a capacity of 2 amp-hours at 5V. That resistor needs to be rated at at least 5 watts, but a bit of simple multiplication and waiting around longer let's you use almost any resistor you have lying around. I hate your videos, it's your fault that I still haven't done the washing-up because they're addictive! (in case of doubt, that's a big compliment, thanks)
"oooo look there's me" haha
Got one of those 2 cell power banks after watching this video, dang thing failed me yesterday, went dead, well down to one dot, when I tried to charge would not connect. I tore it down and the USB in plug had seperated at the connection to the board. I tried to solder it back on but then it seperated at the plug. Tore the board off and kept the cells. Case may be used in some future project. Not a lot goes to waste here in the Dakota's. Must come from being raised on a farm back in the 50's.
Jerry Ericsson 90% of the value of that power bank is in the cells, so if they're still ok, you've not lost much :)
No not complaining, the cells now rest in another powerbank with two sister cells more power!
Do you know how long it takes to charge?
+Julian Ilett I just ordered 4 of these for a project I am working on thanks Julian.
I have IPC1 AA/AAA battery charger which can measure the mAh of NiCD and NiMH batteries. I hope such device exist for 3.7 Li batteries too...
are they 18650 cells?
The flashlight on my power bank won't work? Any suggestions?
What is the best way to measure the output of a solar panel Julian. Do I just hook up a multimeter and see what it produces or is there a more forensic way of doing this?
B0M0A0K A multimeter can be used to check the voltage or the current. But a more useful measurement is the power in Watts. That's more difficult to measure because the load needs to be optimum. This I learned as a result of all my MPPT experiments.
How about a video on the DIY camera stand!!! Looks Neat...
Carl Recktenwald Jr. I think I did one some time back
wonder if there is such a thing as thermally conductive epoxy? if so , would be handy!
, as for the cells , i wonder if they really are the proper capacity or if you were to open them up, you might see they contain a smaller cell and the rest filled with sand, or i have heard some are recycled worn out cells from old laptop supplies
there certainly is!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_adhesive
www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm
:)
jusb1066 I expect the cells are reasonably good - Banggood wouldn't have this product in their bestseller list for long if the cells were poor.
At least all their cells are put together with a tab and spot wielded. It's when wires are soldered directly soldered to cells that the device scares me.
Did you ever fully test the mAh storage of the batteries inside of that little charger?
No not yet. I'm waiting for another USB charger doctor to arrive. I'm hoping it has EEprom storage and can retain the mAh data.
Julian Ilett I've seen that you receive your new charger doctor. Any news about the capacity ? Thx
How many watts of thermal capacity would those be able to take; they don't seem to have a lot of surface area?
Peter C With the fan running, I'd have thought these would be able to shift 10W with ease. But I'll test that soon.
,
What's special about the nexus USB cable that allows a higher charge current?
Graham Wilson Either lower conductor resistance, or the data lines seeing the resistor network in the powerbank
Ever wonder what your mail carrier might be wondering with all these international packages ending up at your place?
them cells may be LG as they are the only orange cells i have ever seen
Hi, say I watched this a few times because I liked that flashlight head for your power stick. So I found them on Ebay and ordered 3. For some reason they sent me 5 but who's complaining. At any rate, being a curious type fellow myself, I decided to unscrew one and see what type bulb they have, I couldn't believe what I found for .99 cents US. Try yours and see what lies inside!
Jerry Ericsson Is it a Cree?
Julian Ilett Sure is, I didn't pull it out to see what sort of driver they have below it, but I was thinking of replacing the old filiment type bulb into the little maglight that I carried on the PD to make it a bit brighter. Might be more work then it is worth, that is if I can even find the flashlight any more, been 18 years since I work the gear.
cool
use thermal glue for the cooler
I can't find those Cooler fans. Could you please give me the item number
Links in the description or "about" - I've just tried it and it takes you straight to the item.
tobortine The links wheren't there when I watched the Video. Thanks
Mr0Yoshie Sorry, sometimes I'm a bit slow adding the links to the description
Julian Ilett Haha No problem. Thanks
Why don't you use a cheap hobby charger to measure the real battery capacity? That would be interesting.
Lagm an I will have to buy one soon - I'm liking the Turnigy Accucel 8S - www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__7523__Turnigy_Accucel_8_150W_7A_Balancer_Charger.html
You might also consider the Turnigy Reaktor www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__57969__Turnigy_Reaktor_300W_20A_6S_Balance_Charger_UK_Warehouse_.html
It is a copy of the Icharger 206B which is quite good and well documented. It also adds a USB port which is handy to get nice discharge/charge curves on your PC. The only problem is its current unavailability.
Lagm an That is nice - shame there isn't an 8S version
If you really need it there is the Icharger 208B hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9005__iCharger_208B_350W_8s_Balance_Charger.html
What equipment do you have that uses 8S batteries?
Lagm an The electric bike, when I convert it to LiPo or LiFe
Do you not have one of those Accucell chargers from hobbykings? The Li-po/Li-Ion/Li-Fe Discharge function seems to be exactly what you want!
www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_Accessories.html
I have found mine to be extremely useful! I recently used it to revive an old netbook battery pack that died on arrival (battery protection kicked in). I now have a 6-cell, 2-cell and a 1-cell 2600mAh balanced battery pack (albeit unprotected) from junk!
Can't beat it at under 15 quid! :)
So still no info on the battery then? Pretty useless!
CHEAP ping usb powerbank from china i plugged in my super expensive ipad and it want bang...