To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
@@sonycrack1 There's a decent video microscope on Aliexpress. I'm nearsighted so for me sight is not the problem, it's shaky hands for the tiny stuff (and liquid adhesion, hard to make small parts stick to the board and not the iron tip). Normally robots do the surface mount stuff. I just hope I never have to repair my phone, had a looksy inside that and the resistors/caps need a needle tip soldering iron if they ever need replacing. Potential nightmare.
I showed my loving wife your lab. My goal was to put my old IBM mainframe Scope into our shared home office. Her response was. ‘Your SillyScope stays in the garage. Do you want to stay there too!’ I do use it at times. Merry Christmas
Nifty little keep-alive board :) BTW: Always check the USB wires against the USB pinout...I have had some Chinesium cables that had the wire colors reversed...make sure of your polarity!
@@petersack5074 - Chinesium is usually a reference to a metal of unknown composition with unspecified characteristics that don't meet any known standards. So, for a Chinesium Phone Cable, the conductors would not be copper but rather some super-cheap alloy of aluminium, steel and/or whatever other stuff is swept off the floor of the surrounding factories.
@@johncoops6897 I think Peter was insulted by the word "Chinesium". Peter, rest assured that this element is embraced by North Americans because of its low cost. If it doesn't work, we make it work. If we can't make it work, we write it off. After all (in the USA) we have Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. We are willing to take the gamble. Info about Chinesium Polarity is just a polite heads up to all that embrace this inexpensive, mysterious element that sometimes is very awesome and workable. I have sent at least one thousand US dollars to China. "Chinesium" is a way of life.
@@jlucasound - I'm in Australia and we also embrace the Chinesium-based products. Interestingly, Australia's main exports are raw minerals like Iron Ore, Copper and Bauxite (for Aluminium) to China at prices that are lower significantly than are available to our own foundries, and in some cases under our real production cost. That's how it must be because Chinesium is so damn cheap! Our Australian facilities have downsized or closed, and the prices of locally made steel, aluminium, copper, etc is so high that it makes local manufacture of almost everything non-viable. We also export our recycled matals to China for processing.... I think we might even pay them to take it, because that's cheaper than doing it for ourselves. Just 50 years ago we were self-sufficient and manufactured everything we needed using our own labour force. Now days our factories have closed and we hardly manufacture anything, while prices of remaining Australian products are so high they're out of the reach of normal people! Since we export our high quality raw materials and recycled metals at under cost, we are a poor country that must import everything we need. We cannot even afford to make things for ourselves :-( So we are grateful that the Chinese have saved us! Without their low priced Chinesium based products, we Aussies couldn't afford to live here, so we would have needed to close our country down and move overseas.
I did the same circuit according to your schematic, but instead of draining current from the output using resistor, resulting a waste of power, I replace the transistor and resistor on the output of 555 timer with an optocoupler. It will drive the optocoupler IR LED and the output of the opto connected parallel with the power button. Every time the 555 timer lights up the IR LED, the optocoupler output will switch or shorted and also shunt the power button terminal as well. So, it is "pressing the power button" every few seconds (in my case 10s).
I have a few USB to TTL Serial adapters around. Thing about them is that the USB plug itself is pretty big because there's a circuit board actually in the plug casing that does the serial port stuff. I might sacrifice one of those and replace the board inside with your "keep-alive" circuit and make it into a charging cable.
My power bank has quick charge feature. I have built a circuit based on your schematics to keep my powerbank alive. With original component value, powerbank still powering off about 30 seconds after connecting the circuit. After many trials, these values able to keep my powerbank alive : I replace R 3.3M with 470k, add 100nF capacitor between pin 5 IC to GND (not mandatory), replace R 51 ohm with 3x100 ohm / 0.5w parallel. Thank you Mr. Carlson for your idea and schematics... Oh, and I must change the transistor, to handle higher current on collector.
I love how seamlessly you can switch from valve circuitry to SMD ... and never any real preference shown for either, just dealing with the technology which is before you at any given time.. 😎👍☘️🍺
You are the MAN! I too was frustrated by the power-bank cut-out when trying to run low power draw IoT type devices. I figured some kind of "keep alive" pinging thing would trick the battery in to remaining on. I'm so building this circuit using through-hole components in a project box in my first drafts. I'm excited to eventually build this in surface mount style like you did in the video. Thank you for sharing your solution!
If you use a PNP transistor to switch the positive rail on the load and you swap the 220k resistor with the 3.3M resistor you would reduce the quiescent current during the 25s of "delay", with the configuration that you actually used during the 25s you have the discharge pin to ground, pulling current from the capacitor but also from the 220k resistor. Nice video as always!
Frustration drove you to solve the problem. Whereas when I had the same problem I just swore loudly and gave up!!!! I will be building this solution and thanking you every step of the way! And hot glue light pipe!!! Two genius moments in one video. You spoil us!!!!!
I got a brand new load pulser recently, very happy with the performance! I divorced the old worn out one that stopped working and had frequent short circuits! , 😜😜
Finally, something else than tuning your 50's radio coils... So this thing pulses some current every now and then, to keep the powerbank alive. Good knowledge: use the 7555, not the 555.
I'm using a variation of this circuit with an ATTiny85 to control the timing. Way overkill, but it's what I had on hand. It's funny how the timing is so accurate because most of these powerbanks use the same chip, I tried playing with it but 1 second pulses are too short, 5 seconds unnecessarily long, 2.5 seconds works out great. Thanks for the video!
Mr. Carlson, a while back, I wrote you here, saying your videos had inspired me (slightly wonky eyesight notwithstanding) to take up electronics. I may even have mentioned a project I had in mind, which was THIS VERY ONE. I had seen some other person's vlog and solution, but it proved a bit beyond me, but I fully intend to try to make this little gadget of yours. I agree, power bank behavior is very frustrating. My problem was actually slightly different, but your device would solve it also: Namely, I have a pair of USB audio speakers I use with my laptop but no spare USB slot, so I use a powerbank to power them. But they draw so little current the powerbank shuts off after 30-60 seconds. I have to put some other load on it in some way in order to be able to listen to my speakers uninterrupted. This would solve that problem, as well as the un-topped-off phone. Thank you very much. I am very enthused to try this.
Nice work as always!!! But maybe there is still some margin for improvement: you can reduce the quiescent current by 25uA (so 25% in this case) if you use pin 3 to drive the top pin of the 220k resistor.
@@xonx209 during "off time" the 10uF capacitor is discharging through the 3,3M resistor and the voltage on pin 7 is kept low by the IC. So the 220k resistor is effectively between +5V and ground. If you connect the high side of this resistor to the pin 3 instead of 5V you will save about 25uA because during off time the voltage on pin 3 is low so there would be no current through the resistor. Then during "on time" the voltage on pin 3 will be high so that the charging current can flow through the 220k resistor like normal.
I've had the battery bank shut-down problem with an Arduino-based project I'm building, and fixed it by using your switched load resistor idea, but built the circuit into the rest of the project, and used the Arduino to do the timing and control instead of a 555. Works well, thanks for the idea.
@@johncoops6897 Why? The ICM7555 costs $2.74 and does one thing. An ATTINY10 costs 33 cents and will give you longer battery life, the ability to change timing without desoldering parts, and eliminate the possibility of a shorted transistor overheating the load resistor and igniting the LiPo cells. Not to mention it will give you skills you can use to get a job
@@alakani - a 555 is all that is *_required_* for simple tasks like this. The advantage is that is a simple circuit that can be used WITHOUT PROGRAMMING. You don't need to use a microprocessor for simple timing tasks like this "keep awake", which is simply a flasher (astable), so the technical term is an "overkill". I'm not sure where you get your crazy price comparisons, however any difference in price is instantly negated by the fact that no programming is required for the 555-based circuit.
@@johncoops6897 Prices are from Digikey. That's a special version of the 555, ordering it would take days. Programming a standard micro that's already in stock takes 10 seconds to write a line to assign a timer to a pin and 2 seconds to program. I'm sure Paul used that chip because he already had it in stock. Hey, without looking at the video, or looking it up, tell me what value resistor and capacitor to use in the 555 RC circuit to get 25s off / 2.5s on ? Would you calculate it from the datasheet or use one of those online calculators? The 555 is more obscure to program than a micro and you would probably just copy Paul's values or use trial and error. It's faster to copy and paste a line of timer code if you don't know how to code, than to wait days for a special expensive single purpose chip
@@alakani - the *_particular_* chip that Paul used is just one of many brands (and part numbers) of CMOS 555's. Your inexperience is demonstrated when you think that they are rare and/or expensive chips. All circuits require construction and supporting components, however in your zealous obsession with Micros you completely miss the point that the programming is an additional step that *IS NOT REQUIRED* with other solutions. In engineering, the best solution is the least complex method that achieves the desired result. The ATtiny is a fabulous device that simplifies many situations, however there is no need (or advantage) to use a programmable device for a simple function like this.
A great idea. I use my power bank to run a low current device and out of the many power banks I have, only one seems to stay on. I run several data loggers that require 3 volts, the batteries for it do not last very long and expensive. I've made a 5v to 3v converter, but with your circuit I will be able to use the bigger power banks, giving a much longer time scale. Thanks for this little circuit, don't know why I didn't think of it.
Good invention Mr. C. It looks like the duty cycle of your timer is directly proportional to the ratio of the two resistors. 220k/ 3300k ~ 10% duty cycle. As your circuit amply demonstrates. (2.5s/25s) That keeps things simple if an adjustable duty cycle generator was desired or required in a circuit.
Nice video as always! Maybe the same goal can be reached using only 3 components: a MC33164-5(or similar) a PNP transistor and the 51ohm resistor.... (the schematic is obvious :) ) in this way the circuit produces the pulse exactly when needed! maybe it's worth a try....
I've been experimenting with the "HW-0516 Dual-MOS Trigger Cycle" board to keep my power bank running. It has a low current mode, but goes off after 3hrs. Check the usual suppliers. The HW-0516 Might be handy for some people, as you can then play around with the timing ON/OFF & resistor values quite easily. Plus it will run at various voltages. And is useful and inexpensive. Down side, is it's kinda big.
hello Mr Carlson's I watch your videos very happy to see them I send you all my best regards from Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean France, thank you thank you very much
Mr. Carlton's subscribers are truly international. Eifa I scene your island on maps but never had looked at its history. I was surprised at its involvement in the two world wars, it must of been rough on the population especially during the fascist occupation.
Perfect. I wanted to power a tiny 5v LED string off of one of these battery packs but when it displayed certain patterns on the string that didn't use much current it would turn off. This will solve that, thank you.
I learned so much from this. I make model kit dioramas and want to use small USB power banks as a convenient long-lasting battery to power my builds. Will definitely need to make myself a batch of these. I'd like to make mine as a simple USB pass-through unit, male on one end, female on the other, that extends a cable and then plugs into the power bank. Thanks for sharing this!
Hello, I am new to the site. I've only been watching for a few weeks. I'll say your videos are a God send to me. Thank you so much for sharing them with the public. Thumbs up!
thats what i needed!!i every time i plug my speakers it turns off!!. its really frustrating that creators of power banks didnt put button for constant voltage flow. Thank You
Mr Carlson I just came up with a great idea and I immediately thought of you 😁. I was wondering if there was a reliable place to find information on how to fix complex electrical problems in modern automobiles, and I thought "hey that would be a good video idea for Mr Carlson!" I've been a big fan for a long time, you are the guru! I hope you consider this idea! 😅
Paul, the power banks turn themselves off because the are preventing their own battery from discharging. They are powered by lithium cells that only output 3.6 volts, but the USB ports require 5.1 volts. The use a switching boost converter to provide that voltage. That boost converter has a quiescent current even when the USB load is zero. If it didn't shut off, it would drain its own battery. Your solution is clever. Nice job.
Thanks for this. Yep, when I had my "power bank" charger the automatic shutoff was at times annoying. On certain devices I would plug into it, it would cut off too soon. This circuit solves that problem nicely.
Another thing that makes a dandy light pipe: "natural" (untinted) PLA 3D printer filament. I don't use Acrylic filament to print, but I imagine that would work, too, considering many light pipes are made from Acrylic.
Ooh neato, I'm finally about to get my dual extruder working, was just going to use it for panel labels but built in light pipes sounds pretty cool too
This is brilliant! I recently bought a clamp-on illuminated magnifying lamp from Amazon (USB-powered). When using the included wall-wart, or any other wall-wart (including a genuine Samsung phone charger) the LEDs stayed illuminated dimly when the lamp was turned off. In an abundance of caution, I assumed there was some sort of capacitive coupling or whatnot, and also was a little concerned that the metalwork _might_ be referenced to mains, so I decided to (try) to use a USB power bank to run the lamp. Well, none of my power banks will stay on with the lamp plugged into them, even at full brightness. As soon as I read the title I thought this clever little circuit would be a great solution, and reading Mr. Carlson's comment below confirming as much, I'm definitely going to look into building this. The irony here, is that I need the magnifying lamp to build the circuit to make the power bank operate the lamp. HAHA
You don't need it for that usage... the soldering iron staying on will keep the powerbank alive. If the soldering iron times out, the powerbank will switch off.... when you re-enable your soldering iron, the powerbank will come back "on" automatically.
@@johncoops6897 Normally, yes, I agree. Unfortunately, I have a naughty USB iron that automatically times out, and then my powerbank shuts off too when there's no power draw. It's a pain in the neck. But this circuit will help.
@@alpcns - Yeah, I just checked my original 5V iron that has the silver touch button and 3.5mm audio jack for 5V input. Yes, this circuit acts strangely, I think that's because of the way that it needs input voltage to re-trigger (via a 555 timer!). The easy solution is to open up the soldering iron and bypass the timer circuit - in other words, wire the USB cable direct to the heating element. I have another 5V USB iron that uses the same element and a simple switch on the barrel. That works much better than the silly timer method, of course it adds the risk of leaving it switched on.
That's a nice solution! When space is not a problem, the 51 Ohm load and LED may be replaced by a small 6V filament bulb (or 2 off 3V cheap flashlight bulbs in series).
Thanks for the circuit. I sometimes use the power bank to power little projects, and the darn power bank would cut out on me. I built the Carlson "Stay Awake" then read some more comments that said the Anker has the feature builtin!. So, did I just waste a couple of hours? No, it appears that I have the smallest Powercore 10000 which does NOT have the stay awake feature builtin.
Perhaps an always active powerbank might be more dangerous if you like forget it turned on in a purse or something. I mean they can be dodgy enough as it is. Anyway I love how you can span from super old to super modern devices in your channel
@@MrCarlsonsLab That is awesome!@ now i can run my esp8266 projects from my power bank without it shutting off! I'm gonna build it with a DIP-8 555 though and just have a cable with this circuit on it for powering microcontroller projects. Thanks, Mr. Carlson!
@@mikehensley78 Or just program the ESP8266 to wake up more often. Or even better, just use some LiFePO4 cells, literally all you need is a basic BMS to connect it to the ESP8266.
It's good to see someone else using a USB power bank to power a single board computer. My SC126 runs for about 100 hours on a 10,000 maH battery. I have several of them, all the same brand and model, but only two of them will stay awake with my computer running. This little gadget will get the others working. Thanks, Mr. Carlson!
@@NiHaoMike64 its not that its asleep even... the esp even with neopixels just does not draw enough to keep my powerbank on. the powerbank is one that i made from a broken one and 2015macbook cells.
This really is going to come in useful. Last time I had this problem I was when I made an arduino flea trap with some rgb lights. I had to run it/them only near power sockets because my power bank turned off after a few minutes.
I have a perfect application for that Circuit you designed I think it’s gonna be quite useful for a birdhouse that I have I’ve made into a solar phone charger. And power bank it has the same issue One day I was trying to power a radio of mine and the power bank kept on shutting off If I turn the volume up on the radio rather high the power bank Circuit board would stay on. I have an idea could you Maybe put a male USB on one side and and a female one To make it easier I think it would make it easier on my application because that Solar bird house already has enough wires in it there’s a few videos of it on my CZcams channel . By the way I have autism so I don’t say much in my videos normally or anything at all in my videos. I enjoy your videos they give me ideas now as for the birdhouse idea I was bored one night
Tis Gift to Be Simple. A simple solution to overcome a complex situation. Great video. Of course all your videos are good. But a short one every once in awhile that is concise is exactly what one needs. Thank you. What or whom inspired you to get into electronics?
On some powerbanks, you can simply change the current sense resistor on the board to keep it awake @ 50ma or less. It depends on the circuit design of the particular powerbank.
This looks wonderful. I use an external battery pack to run my Xbox controller and VR headset and the self shutoff feature is wonderful as long as it doesn't exist. I had resorted to modding a cable with an old LED just to maintain a load at all times. This method looks much better.
Thank you for your video. I have found an easier way is, using a Y split USB cable. Connect a 6 volt 0.1A mini lamp to one socket so that the power bank glows the lamp and will not shut off. It works for me.
Genius Mr C - I have had no end of frustration trying to power my startracking mount from a USB battery pack, The mount draws very little current and so the pack switches off - I am building this today! Thanks for sharing and thanks for your videos this year, hope you have a great festive season and look forward to seeing your New Year videos.
Nice. I have a small USB audio amplifier and when testing tonight, found that even with it on the stupid powerbank turns off after its 30sec period. (only tested at a reasonable/low volume). As part of the amplifier project I'm also going to build a little light blinker with some LEDs (strictly decorative) that'll go inside the case...not sure even the minimal current from that will keep the powerbank awake LOL If not, I'm gonna try your little circuit here...but using standard parts on perf-board(basically just add it to the "lights board"). I can't do that fancy/tiny SMD stuff.......
That's handy. I use power banks to power single board computers. Was never a problem, until now I've got the most power efficient SBC ever, the RockPiS. The thing consumes -0.1A in idle and my power banks shut down because it's that low. I always plug in a USB3 memory stick so it stays on. But it then consumes 4 x as much. And I thought I was the only person editing and rendering videos on power banks :) I edit and render my videos when traveling with SBCs. Power banks are charged with solar panels. I love my gear. Greetings.
I think there should be an 'always on' option by default, especially as power banks are great for portable electronic projects, but many such projects don't draw enough current to override the auto shut off feature.
I've run into the opposite problem, the boost converter in these things doesn't have the surge capacity to start an inductive load (blower that draws about 1 amp running). I could have built a soft start circuit, but decided to keep it simple with a 1 ohm resistor across the power switch to keep the start current around 2-3 amps. Plug it in, let it spool up on "low" and then snap the switch on.
Just built the circuit, It works perfectly. I changed the timing resistor from 3.3M to 1.0M as my power bank had a 10S auto switch off for some reason.
Nice simple standalone solution that can be modded into existing products or used as a module for project. Another great job for the 555! Those USB power banks surely are quite pesky. I had to do similar solution for one of my projects by using a spare MCU pin to do the pulsing. Then I added a small switch labeled "Crappy power bank mode on/off".
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 Being alone in the bed is a bit difficult to get used to but additional blankets is a reasonable workaround plus there are no shocking cold feet against your body.
@@victorvaida4272And who told you that? You don't have to believe them you know. The sadistic losers are the ones having kids while worrying about how bleak the future for them is. I never had kids and never will and I don't care what others think of that. 8B people when the planet can only comfortably sustain maybe 1B (2B in maybe a few centuries when environmental tech improves during that time). I'd rather be labeled a "loser" and not give 2 shits about what others think than contribute to the overpopulation problem. Ideally 80% wouldn't be allowed to have kids worldwide (enforced by requiring a licence to reproduce in all 200 countries with an annual quota of licenses to hand out and strict requirements to get one) until the numbers dropped to 1B and held at that, but that's too much to wish for in my lifetime since shit hasn't really hit the fan hard enough yet (maybe when real life starts to mimic the movie 2067, but then again frogs tend not to jump if the heat increases to a boil slowly enough, apparently that applies to humans as well).
@@mackfisher4487 Yeah it did take a few years to get used to it. A decade and a half later and now it would feel weird having someone else in the bed with me.
I added a 12V fan to the back of my locker at work because when it rains I want a bit of fresh air circulating so my cloths dry a bit, the fan draws too little current and so the power bank shuts off... simple solution: resistor parallel to the fan to add 20mA of current. Maybe some day I will add a little pulser for more efficiency!
This is great! I actually tried to make this exact same thing last year, but it didn't work. Looks like mine discharged too quickly, didn't stay on long enough, I think only for about half a second. I would have messed around more, but the pack I was building it for died, and I ended up getting a new one that DOES stay on when I leave stuff plugged in (they exist! I think they need to support some kind of quick charge standard to do it, though)
Cool idea! I use these power banks for driving Arduino type ESP8266 sensors, but they don’t draw enough power to keep power brick alive - solved! Can use a pin on the Arduino to drive the switching transistor rather than a separate 555 timer.
Love the little project :) Personally I had an issue (in the past) That if you charge a power bank and use its output it works just fine, but if you remove its power input and want to run your gadget from battery power (in my case an MMDVM) it would shut off the power for a split second... That resets the load (and my raspberry pi does not like that..) (Maybe you have a better/simpler solution?) My personal solution: Build your own power bank, With a charge circuit and a separate boost converter to get 5.1 volts Inter grated that all to my MMDVM and it works beautifully (Side note, I have since bought a repeater. So I don’t really need a hotspot anymore) Keep up the good work! 73. PD0HOF
To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
When do you plan on updating your Patreon page with details about this project?
@@guldentops It's there.
@@MrCarlsonsLab So many 0402 parts 🧐👀, I need to get an AmScope sooner than later.
heyeee paul
@@sonycrack1 There's a decent video microscope on Aliexpress. I'm nearsighted so for me sight is not the problem, it's shaky hands for the tiny stuff (and liquid adhesion, hard to make small parts stick to the board and not the iron tip). Normally robots do the surface mount stuff. I just hope I never have to repair my phone, had a looksy inside that and the resistors/caps need a needle tip soldering iron if they ever need replacing. Potential nightmare.
You sir are amazing. I've been cursing about this problem maybe an hour ago. I come back, sit in front of my laptop, and I see this video.
A great little hack, and using hot glue as a light pipe is genius!
That worked better than I would have expected! Like, Factory! I'll just drop that in my "toolbox"! Thanks again, Paul!
I showed my loving wife your lab. My goal was to put my old IBM mainframe Scope into our shared home office. Her response was. ‘Your SillyScope stays in the garage. Do you want to stay there too!’ I do use it at times.
Merry Christmas
shes a tyrant !
Nifty little keep-alive board :)
BTW: Always check the USB wires against the USB pinout...I have had some Chinesium cables that had the wire colors reversed...make sure of your polarity!
Good advice Gregory, I too have seen this.
? chinesium....must be a new type of 'plastic' disquised as quality from ? china, perhaps...
@@petersack5074 - Chinesium is usually a reference to a metal of unknown composition with unspecified characteristics that don't meet any known standards. So, for a Chinesium Phone Cable, the conductors would not be copper but rather some super-cheap alloy of aluminium, steel and/or whatever other stuff is swept off the floor of the surrounding factories.
@@johncoops6897 I think Peter was insulted by the word "Chinesium". Peter, rest assured that this element is embraced by North Americans because of its low cost. If it doesn't work, we make it work. If we can't make it work, we write it off. After all (in the USA) we have Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. We are willing to take the gamble. Info about Chinesium Polarity is just a polite heads up to all that embrace this inexpensive, mysterious element that sometimes is very awesome and workable. I have sent at least one thousand US dollars to China. "Chinesium" is a way of life.
@@jlucasound - I'm in Australia and we also embrace the Chinesium-based products. Interestingly, Australia's main exports are raw minerals like Iron Ore, Copper and Bauxite (for Aluminium) to China at prices that are lower significantly than are available to our own foundries, and in some cases under our real production cost. That's how it must be because Chinesium is so damn cheap!
Our Australian facilities have downsized or closed, and the prices of locally made steel, aluminium, copper, etc is so high that it makes local manufacture of almost everything non-viable. We also export our recycled matals to China for processing.... I think we might even pay them to take it, because that's cheaper than doing it for ourselves.
Just 50 years ago we were self-sufficient and manufactured everything we needed using our own labour force. Now days our factories have closed and we hardly manufacture anything, while prices of remaining Australian products are so high they're out of the reach of normal people!
Since we export our high quality raw materials and recycled metals at under cost, we are a poor country that must import everything we need. We cannot even afford to make things for ourselves :-(
So we are grateful that the Chinese have saved us! Without their low priced Chinesium based products, we Aussies couldn't afford to live here, so we would have needed to close our country down and move overseas.
I did the same circuit according to your schematic, but instead of draining current from the output using resistor, resulting a waste of power, I replace the transistor and resistor on the output of 555 timer with an optocoupler. It will drive the optocoupler IR LED and the output of the opto connected parallel with the power button. Every time the 555 timer lights up the IR LED, the optocoupler output will switch or shorted and also shunt the power button terminal as well. So, it is "pressing the power button" every few seconds (in my case 10s).
I have a few USB to TTL Serial adapters around. Thing about them is that the USB plug itself is pretty big because there's a circuit board actually in the plug casing that does the serial port stuff. I might sacrifice one of those and replace the board inside with your "keep-alive" circuit and make it into a charging cable.
I built one of these and it works great! My battery bank kills itself after 10 seconds for any load
My power bank has quick charge feature. I have built a circuit based on your schematics to keep my powerbank alive. With original component value, powerbank still powering off about 30 seconds after connecting the circuit. After many trials, these values able to keep my powerbank alive : I replace R 3.3M with 470k, add 100nF capacitor between pin 5 IC to GND (not mandatory), replace R 51 ohm with 3x100 ohm / 0.5w parallel. Thank you Mr. Carlson for your idea and schematics...
Oh, and I must change the transistor, to handle higher current on collector.
I love how seamlessly you can switch from valve circuitry to SMD ... and never any real preference shown for either, just dealing with the technology which is before you at any given time..
😎👍☘️🍺
You are the MAN! I too was frustrated by the power-bank cut-out when trying to run low power draw IoT type devices. I figured some kind of "keep alive" pinging thing would trick the battery in to remaining on. I'm so building this circuit using through-hole components in a project box in my first drafts. I'm excited to eventually build this in surface mount style like you did in the video. Thank you for sharing your solution!
You are welcome!
If you use a PNP transistor to switch the positive rail on the load and you swap the 220k resistor with the 3.3M resistor you would reduce the quiescent current during the 25s of "delay", with the configuration that you actually used during the 25s you have the discharge pin to ground, pulling current from the capacitor but also from the 220k resistor.
Nice video as always!
Haha awesome Mr Carlson I was just trying to figure out how to do this thanks
Glad to help
Frustration drove you to solve the problem. Whereas when I had the same problem I just swore loudly and gave up!!!! I will be building this solution and thanking you every step of the way!
And hot glue light pipe!!! Two genius moments in one video. You spoil us!!!!!
I got a brand new load pulser recently, very happy with the performance! I divorced the old worn out one that stopped working and had frequent short circuits!
, 😜😜
Finally, something else than tuning your 50's radio coils...
So this thing pulses some current every now and then, to keep the powerbank alive.
Good knowledge: use the 7555, not the 555.
Excellent. In addition to the projects you post, there are always tidbits in your videos that are useful... hot glue as light pipe!
I'm using a variation of this circuit with an ATTiny85 to control the timing. Way overkill, but it's what I had on hand. It's funny how the timing is so accurate because most of these powerbanks use the same chip, I tried playing with it but 1 second pulses are too short, 5 seconds unnecessarily long, 2.5 seconds works out great. Thanks for the video!
Thanks Mr. Carlson. As a long distance motorcyclist I've encountered this issue on my adventures.
Mr. Carlson, a while back, I wrote you here, saying your videos had inspired me (slightly wonky eyesight notwithstanding) to take up electronics. I may even have mentioned a project I had in mind, which was THIS VERY ONE. I had seen some other person's vlog and solution, but it proved a bit beyond me, but I fully intend to try to make this little gadget of yours. I agree, power bank behavior is very frustrating. My problem was actually slightly different, but your device would solve it also: Namely, I have a pair of USB audio speakers I use with my laptop but no spare USB slot, so I use a powerbank to power them. But they draw so little current the powerbank shuts off after 30-60 seconds. I have to put some other load on it in some way in order to be able to listen to my speakers uninterrupted. This would solve that problem, as well as the un-topped-off phone. Thank you very much. I am very enthused to try this.
That is one smart idea. I recently bought one of those power banks and this is timely as I was having that exact shutoff problem.
Nice work as always!!! But maybe there is still some margin for improvement: you can reduce the quiescent current by 25uA (so 25% in this case) if you use pin 3 to drive the top pin of the 220k resistor.
Please explain how this works
@@xonx209 during "off time" the 10uF capacitor is discharging through the 3,3M resistor and the voltage on pin 7 is kept low by the IC. So the 220k resistor is effectively between +5V and ground. If you connect the high side of this resistor to the pin 3 instead of 5V you will save about 25uA because during off time the voltage on pin 3 is low so there would be no current through the resistor.
Then during "on time" the voltage on pin 3 will be high so that the charging current can flow through the 220k resistor like normal.
I've had the battery bank shut-down problem with an Arduino-based project I'm building, and fixed it by using your switched load resistor idea, but built the circuit into the rest of the project, and used the Arduino to do the timing and control instead of a 555. Works well, thanks for the idea.
Thank very much for sharing your circuit, it just works and stops me pulling my hair out. Cheers Bob
The 555 is like the vice grips of electronics. All purpose, fits anything, works fine.
It is super annoying when people advise to use an Arduino to flash an LED, or to do simple timing like this application.
@@johncoops6897 Why? The ICM7555 costs $2.74 and does one thing. An ATTINY10 costs 33 cents and will give you longer battery life, the ability to change timing without desoldering parts, and eliminate the possibility of a shorted transistor overheating the load resistor and igniting the LiPo cells. Not to mention it will give you skills you can use to get a job
@@alakani - a 555 is all that is *_required_* for simple tasks like this. The advantage is that is a simple circuit that can be used WITHOUT PROGRAMMING. You don't need to use a microprocessor for simple timing tasks like this "keep awake", which is simply a flasher (astable), so the technical term is an "overkill".
I'm not sure where you get your crazy price comparisons, however any difference in price is instantly negated by the fact that no programming is required for the 555-based circuit.
@@johncoops6897 Prices are from Digikey. That's a special version of the 555, ordering it would take days. Programming a standard micro that's already in stock takes 10 seconds to write a line to assign a timer to a pin and 2 seconds to program. I'm sure Paul used that chip because he already had it in stock. Hey, without looking at the video, or looking it up, tell me what value resistor and capacitor to use in the 555 RC circuit to get 25s off / 2.5s on ? Would you calculate it from the datasheet or use one of those online calculators? The 555 is more obscure to program than a micro and you would probably just copy Paul's values or use trial and error. It's faster to copy and paste a line of timer code if you don't know how to code, than to wait days for a special expensive single purpose chip
@@alakani - the *_particular_* chip that Paul used is just one of many brands (and part numbers) of CMOS 555's. Your inexperience is demonstrated when you think that they are rare and/or expensive chips.
All circuits require construction and supporting components, however in your zealous obsession with Micros you completely miss the point that the programming is an additional step that *IS NOT REQUIRED* with other solutions.
In engineering, the best solution is the least complex method that achieves the desired result. The ATtiny is a fabulous device that simplifies many situations, however there is no need (or advantage) to use a programmable device for a simple function like this.
You can teach an old tech new tricks. Thanks Mr Carlson I have learned a lot from you.
A great idea. I use my power bank to run a low current device and out of the many power banks I have, only one seems to stay on. I run several data loggers that require 3 volts, the batteries for it do not last very long and expensive. I've made a 5v to 3v converter, but with your circuit I will be able to use the bigger power banks, giving a much longer time scale. Thanks for this little circuit, don't know why I didn't think of it.
Good invention Mr. C. It looks like the duty cycle of your timer is directly proportional to the ratio of the two resistors. 220k/ 3300k ~ 10% duty cycle. As your circuit amply demonstrates. (2.5s/25s) That keeps things simple if an adjustable duty cycle generator was desired or required in a circuit.
Thanks, Paul. I never knew about that problem since I don't leave anything hooked to my power brick very long. I'll have to keep this in mind.
Nice video as always! Maybe the same goal can be reached using only 3 components: a MC33164-5(or similar) a PNP transistor and the 51ohm resistor.... (the schematic is obvious :) ) in this way the circuit produces the pulse exactly when needed! maybe it's worth a try....
Oooh, I’m going to try this!
Does any know if it’ll work?
@@JonnyLOFI Don't think so. The Undervoltage Sensing Circuit would send the pulse when the voltage drops below 5V = powerbank shuts down = too late.
Another example of the genius at work!
What great circuit, The original 555 timer came out in 1972 !
I've been experimenting with the "HW-0516 Dual-MOS Trigger Cycle" board to keep my power bank running. It has a low current mode, but goes off after 3hrs. Check the usual suppliers.
The HW-0516 Might be handy for some people, as you can then play around with the timing ON/OFF & resistor values quite easily. Plus it will run at various voltages. And is useful and inexpensive. Down side, is it's kinda big.
This is a very neat circuit! I already made 3, dead bug style, even with my very basic notion of electronics.
Glad you enjoyed Sergio!
hello Mr Carlson's I watch your videos very happy to see them I send you all my best regards from Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean France, thank you thank you very much
Thank you very much!
Mr. Carlton's subscribers are truly international. Eifa I scene your island on maps but never had looked at its history. I was surprised at its involvement in the two world wars, it must of been rough on the population especially during the fascist occupation.
Thanks so much Mr C. I see you have had enough of crazy town !
Perfect. I wanted to power a tiny 5v LED string off of one of these battery packs but when it displayed certain patterns on the string that didn't use much current it would turn off. This will solve that, thank you.
I learned so much from this. I make model kit dioramas and want to use small USB power banks as a convenient long-lasting battery to power my builds. Will definitely need to make myself a batch of these. I'd like to make mine as a simple USB pass-through unit, male on one end, female on the other, that extends a cable and then plugs into the power bank. Thanks for sharing this!
Hello, I am new to the site. I've only been watching for a few weeks. I'll say your videos are a God send to me. Thank you so much for sharing them with the public. Thumbs up!
Welcome Andrew!
Of course you would make a light pipe... and now I will be using that trick because as usual I was over thinking it.
awesome design. you have a lot of talent Mr Carlson
thats what i needed!!i every time i plug my speakers it turns off!!. its really frustrating that creators of power banks didnt put button for constant voltage flow. Thank You
Glad I could help.
Been caught out with that very problem. Great video will be building one.! Thanks
Got my son a 3d printer last year and have been building power packs for friends using old laptop 18650's... Works great and I'm recycling too :-)
Mr Carlson I just came up with a great idea and I immediately thought of you 😁. I was wondering if there was a reliable place to find information on how to fix complex electrical problems in modern automobiles, and I thought "hey that would be a good video idea for Mr Carlson!"
I've been a big fan for a long time, you are the guru! I hope you consider this idea! 😅
Thank you very much for this very useful contribution! This will be imitated immediately. Stay Healthy.
I need this one now!
Thank you
Paul, the power banks turn themselves off because the are preventing their own battery from discharging. They are powered by lithium cells that only output 3.6 volts, but the USB ports require 5.1 volts. The use a switching boost converter to provide that voltage. That boost converter has a quiescent current even when the USB load is zero. If it didn't shut off, it would drain its own battery.
Your solution is clever. Nice job.
Very useful I will make one. I use power banks a lot for running projects. It's always annoying when they suddenly cut out.
Thanks for this. Yep, when I had my "power bank" charger the automatic shutoff was at times annoying. On certain devices I would plug into it, it would cut off too soon. This circuit solves that problem nicely.
Another thing that makes a dandy light pipe: "natural" (untinted) PLA 3D printer filament. I don't use Acrylic filament to print, but I imagine that would work, too, considering many light pipes are made from Acrylic.
Ooh neato, I'm finally about to get my dual extruder working, was just going to use it for panel labels but built in light pipes sounds pretty cool too
This is brilliant!
I recently bought a clamp-on illuminated magnifying lamp from Amazon (USB-powered). When using the included wall-wart, or any other wall-wart (including a genuine Samsung phone charger) the LEDs stayed illuminated dimly when the lamp was turned off. In an abundance of caution, I assumed there was some sort of capacitive coupling or whatnot, and also was a little concerned that the metalwork _might_ be referenced to mains, so I decided to (try) to use a USB power bank to run the lamp.
Well, none of my power banks will stay on with the lamp plugged into them, even at full brightness. As soon as I read the title I thought this clever little circuit would be a great solution, and reading Mr. Carlson's comment below confirming as much, I'm definitely going to look into building this.
The irony here, is that I need the magnifying lamp to build the circuit to make the power bank operate the lamp. HAHA
Thanx Paul for the idea. I think I can get it to work with a few less parts. Don't hold your breath though. Love your chan. :)
Thinking outside the box, thank you Mr. Carlson for another great video.
This is ideal for my little USB soldering iron, for "outdoor soldering adventures". Great circuit!
You don't need it for that usage... the soldering iron staying on will keep the powerbank alive. If the soldering iron times out, the powerbank will switch off.... when you re-enable your soldering iron, the powerbank will come back "on" automatically.
@@johncoops6897 Normally, yes, I agree. Unfortunately, I have a naughty USB iron that automatically times out, and then my powerbank shuts off too when there's no power draw. It's a pain in the neck. But this circuit will help.
@@alpcns - Yeah, I just checked my original 5V iron that has the silver touch button and 3.5mm audio jack for 5V input. Yes, this circuit acts strangely, I think that's because of the way that it needs input voltage to re-trigger (via a 555 timer!).
The easy solution is to open up the soldering iron and bypass the timer circuit - in other words, wire the USB cable direct to the heating element. I have another 5V USB iron that uses the same element and a simple switch on the barrel. That works much better than the silly timer method, of course it adds the risk of leaving it switched on.
@@johncoops6897 Thanks for the tip!
That's a nice solution! When space is not a problem, the 51 Ohm load and LED may be replaced by a small 6V filament bulb (or 2 off 3V cheap flashlight bulbs in series).
Thanks for the circuit. I sometimes use the power bank to power little projects, and the darn power bank would cut out on me. I built the Carlson "Stay Awake" then read some more comments that said the Anker has the feature builtin!. So, did I just waste a couple of hours? No, it appears that I have the smallest Powercore 10000 which does NOT have the stay awake feature builtin.
Glad it helped!
Perhaps an always active powerbank might be more dangerous if you like forget it turned on in a purse or something. I mean they can be dodgy enough as it is.
Anyway I love how you can span from super old to super modern devices in your channel
Protection should cut it off before anything bad happens, same as when you charge something that has more capacity than charge in the bank.
USB batteries shutting off due to devices that draw very low amperage is also a problem that this circuit would fix, right?
Yes.
@@MrCarlsonsLab That is awesome!@ now i can run my esp8266 projects from my power bank without it shutting off! I'm gonna build it with a DIP-8 555 though and just have a cable with this circuit on it for powering microcontroller projects. Thanks, Mr. Carlson!
@@mikehensley78 Or just program the ESP8266 to wake up more often. Or even better, just use some LiFePO4 cells, literally all you need is a basic BMS to connect it to the ESP8266.
It's good to see someone else using a USB power bank to power a single board computer. My SC126 runs for about 100 hours on a 10,000 maH battery. I have several of them, all the same brand and model, but only two of them will stay awake with my computer running. This little gadget will get the others working. Thanks, Mr. Carlson!
@@NiHaoMike64 its not that its asleep even... the esp even with neopixels just does not draw enough to keep my powerbank on. the powerbank is one that i made from a broken one and 2015macbook cells.
This really is going to come in useful. Last time I had this problem I was when I made an arduino flea trap with some rgb lights. I had to run it/them only near power sockets because my power bank turned off after a few minutes.
I have a perfect application for that Circuit you designed I think it’s gonna be quite useful for a birdhouse that I have I’ve made into a solar phone charger. And power bank it has the same issue One day I was trying to power a radio of mine and the power bank kept on shutting off If I turn the volume up on the radio rather high the power bank Circuit board would stay on. I have an idea could you Maybe put a male USB on one side and and a female one To make it easier I think it would make it easier on my application because that Solar bird house already has enough wires in it there’s a few videos of it on my CZcams channel . By the way I have autism so I don’t say much in my videos normally or anything at all in my videos. I enjoy your videos they give me ideas now as for the birdhouse idea I was bored one night
Congratulations 👏
Thank you my friend!
Tis Gift to Be Simple. A simple solution to overcome a complex situation. Great video. Of course all your videos are good. But a short one every once in awhile that is concise is exactly what one needs. Thank you. What or whom inspired you to get into electronics?
On some powerbanks, you can simply change the current sense resistor on the board to keep it awake @ 50ma or less.
It depends on the circuit design of the particular powerbank.
You’re a gem, totally!
This looks wonderful. I use an external battery pack to run my Xbox controller and VR headset and the self shutoff feature is wonderful as long as it doesn't exist. I had resorted to modding a cable with an old LED just to maintain a load at all times. This method looks much better.
Looks like lots of fun to make :-) Thank you for this video!
Thank you for your video.
I have found an easier way is, using a Y split USB cable. Connect a 6 volt 0.1A mini lamp to one socket so that the power bank glows the lamp and will not shut off. It works for me.
Hi Paul. That may work, but you will be drawing a continuous 100mA from your power bank, causing the battery to deplete much faster.
Thank you Paul!!! This is so useful!!
My pleasure!
This is good for when the device being powered needs or could be left unattended at times.
Genius Mr C - I have had no end of frustration trying to power my startracking mount from a USB battery pack, The mount draws very little current and so the pack switches off - I am building this today!
Thanks for sharing and thanks for your videos this year, hope you have a great festive season and look forward to seeing your New Year videos.
Exactly the reason I am here too :)
Cool stocking stuffer idea!
Nice.
I have a small USB audio amplifier and when testing tonight, found that even with it on the stupid powerbank turns off after its 30sec period. (only tested at a reasonable/low volume).
As part of the amplifier project I'm also going to build a little light blinker with some LEDs (strictly decorative) that'll go inside the case...not sure even the minimal current from that will keep the powerbank awake LOL
If not, I'm gonna try your little circuit here...but using standard parts on perf-board(basically just add it to the "lights board"). I can't do that fancy/tiny SMD stuff.......
That's handy. I use power banks to power single board computers. Was never a problem, until now I've got the most power efficient SBC ever, the RockPiS. The thing consumes -0.1A in idle and my power banks shut down because it's that low. I always plug in a USB3 memory stick so it stays on. But it then consumes 4 x as much.
And I thought I was the only person editing and rendering videos on power banks :) I edit and render my videos when traveling with SBCs. Power banks are charged with solar panels. I love my gear. Greetings.
love that mic
This is great, I was just dealing with this problem and wondering if there was an easy solution. Thanks!
Great little circuit! Thanks for sharing.
You bet!
You should sell the whole circuit, Please let me know if you sell it
Your genius never ceases to amaze me!
I have a slight vibration that comes and goes in my left speaker. Mr Carlson's deep voice always reminds me that its there.
Love the light pipe idea!
I think there should be an 'always on' option by default, especially as power banks are great for portable electronic projects, but many such projects don't draw enough current to override the auto shut off feature.
I've run into the opposite problem, the boost converter in these things doesn't have the surge capacity to start an inductive load (blower that draws about 1 amp running). I could have built a soft start circuit, but decided to keep it simple with a 1 ohm resistor across the power switch to keep the start current around 2-3 amps. Plug it in, let it spool up on "low" and then snap the switch on.
Just built the circuit, It works perfectly. I changed the timing resistor from 3.3M to 1.0M as my power bank had a 10S auto switch off for some reason.
Do you offer to build them and sell? I like to purchase a few. I try to look up the parts but they only sell in bulk.
This circuit beats out the SOTABeams USB Load. This circuit will be great for keeping my WSPR transmitter going. 73 de w8tam
Nice simple standalone solution that can be modded into existing products or used as a module for project. Another great job for the 555!
Those USB power banks surely are quite pesky. I had to do similar solution for one of my projects by using a spare MCU pin to do the pulsing. Then I added a small switch labeled "Crappy power bank mode on/off".
Paul - thank you.
The hot glue light pipe alone is a great tip.
A good simple starter circuit for anyone. Thanks 👍🏻
Excellent idea, thank you. Enjoyed the video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is great! Thank you Mr. Carlson.
The secret of a good life, keep the other half happy
The secret to a good life: staying single to where there is no other half to worry about. That's worked fine for me for 15+ years.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 Being alone in the bed is a bit difficult to get used to but additional blankets is a reasonable workaround plus there are no shocking cold feet against your body.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718 you need to have kids, otherwise you are a total loser lmao
@@victorvaida4272And who told you that? You don't have to believe them you know. The sadistic losers are the ones having kids while worrying about how bleak the future for them is. I never had kids and never will and I don't care what others think of that. 8B people when the planet can only comfortably sustain maybe 1B (2B in maybe a few centuries when environmental tech improves during that time). I'd rather be labeled a "loser" and not give 2 shits about what others think than contribute to the overpopulation problem. Ideally 80% wouldn't be allowed to have kids worldwide (enforced by requiring a licence to reproduce in all 200 countries with an annual quota of licenses to hand out and strict requirements to get one) until the numbers dropped to 1B and held at that, but that's too much to wish for in my lifetime since shit hasn't really hit the fan hard enough yet (maybe when real life starts to mimic the movie 2067, but then again frogs tend not to jump if the heat increases to a boil slowly enough, apparently that applies to humans as well).
@@mackfisher4487 Yeah it did take a few years to get used to it. A decade and a half later and now it would feel weird having someone else in the bed with me.
I added a 12V fan to the back of my locker at work because when it rains I want a bit of fresh air circulating so my cloths dry a bit, the fan draws too little current and so the power bank shuts off... simple solution: resistor parallel to the fan to add 20mA of current.
Maybe some day I will add a little pulser for more efficiency!
This is great! I actually tried to make this exact same thing last year, but it didn't work. Looks like mine discharged too quickly, didn't stay on long enough, I think only for about half a second.
I would have messed around more, but the pack I was building it for died, and I ended up getting a new one that DOES stay on when I leave stuff plugged in (they exist! I think they need to support some kind of quick charge standard to do it, though)
Cool idea! I use these power banks for driving Arduino type ESP8266 sensors, but they don’t draw enough power to keep power brick alive - solved! Can use a pin on the Arduino to drive the switching transistor rather than a separate 555 timer.
Great work.
Always enjoying the ask to check it oat.
Love the little project :)
Personally I had an issue (in the past)
That if you charge a power bank and use its output it works just fine, but if you remove its power input and want to run your gadget from battery power (in my case an MMDVM) it would shut off the power for a split second...
That resets the load (and my raspberry pi does not like that..)
(Maybe you have a better/simpler solution?)
My personal solution:
Build your own power bank,
With a charge circuit and a separate boost converter to get 5.1 volts
Inter grated that all to my MMDVM and it works beautifully
(Side note, I have since bought a repeater. So I don’t really need a hotspot anymore)
Keep up the good work!
73.
PD0HOF
Excellent!
Wish there was a build your own kit we could purchase !