I bought two of these packs for my new DeWalt combi drill, as the branded packs are very expensive and there’s unlikely to be much of a difference in cells used. I was a little mistaken on this, as you’ll see! The top of the unit has the battery connections,
Since I got my new DeWalt combi drill, I needed a way to charge the batteries without having to resort to sticking blade terminals into the pack connectors – I didn’t purchase the branded charger, mainly due to cost. I also have a very capable multi-chemistry charger that handles multi-cell
Continue readingClone DCB090 DeWalt USB Battery Adaptor Teardown
Just a quick teardown this month! This is an industrial RS-232/RS-485 to Ethernet serial converter.Not much to say about the outside of the unit, there’s the DB-9 connector for the 232 interface, and Phoenix connector blocks for the 422/485 interface. The main power input, and the Ethernet jack are on
Another Chinese eBay teardown! This is a “720p” LED projector, available from nearly everywhere for very little cash. But they are very little cash for a reason – they’re total shit. The resolution as stated is a blantant lie – the LCD panel used in these is usually around 320×240,
After watching Mike’s Electric Stuff’s video on these a while back, I figured it was time to grab one from eBay & see for myself how pointless a tech these are. As far as I am aware, these units are no longer available, the domain name redirects to a company
Here’s something anyone in the industrial sector will recognise – it’s a strobe beacon, which continually flashes with power applied to alert operators of a hazard. These older ones are Xenon tube based, instead of LED, so contain a bit more circuitry & some high voltages. Unhooking the lens reveals
Time for another eBay special: this time it’s an 8-port video distribution amplifier, with BNC connections designed for commercial/industrial equipment. Not much on the front panel above, apart from the power switch & LED. The rear panel has all the connectors, input is on the left, while the outputs are
Here’s another Eberspacher control unit, this time from an ancient D5W 5kW water heater. The system in this case is just flaky – sometimes the heater will start without fault & run perfectly, then suddenly will stop working entirely. The error codes are read on these very old units via
Recently my phone decided it was going to die a battery-related death, and having not found much useful information on the Great Google, (all the information I could find, was hinting at many issues from firmware to a faulty motherboard, nobody seems to have actually done any investigation into similar
Since this phone has been in my drawer for some time, I figured it was time for a teardown. (It’s never going to see any more use). The back cover on these phones is easily removed, as it’s just clipped on. Once the back cover is removed, the Li-Polymer cell
For my latest project, I needed an easier way to paint without messing about with brushes, and the associated marks they leave in a paint job. eBay provided me with a cheap airbrush & compressor. For less than £30, this kit doens’t look so bad. I’ve never used an airbrush
Since the 4×18650 battery pack supplied with my Cree head torch is pretty shit, even by China’s standards, I figured something I could put my own cells into would be a better option. An eBay search turned up these battery boxes, not only with a direct battery output for my
The Dyson DC16 is one of the older handheld vacuums, before the introduction of the “Digital Motor”. (Marketing obviously didn’t think “Switched Reluctance Motor” sounded quite as good). These vacuums have a very large DC brush motor driving the suction turbine instead, the same as would be found in a
This camera has now been retired after many years of heavy use. Exposure to a 3-year old has caused severe damage to the lens mechanism, which no longer functions correctly. Pretty much standard interface for a digital camera, with a nice large LCD for it’s time. With the front cover
Continue readingGeneral Electric A735 Digital Camera Teardown
I was looking around eBay for decent deals on a branded CO alarm, and came across these for next to no money, so I thought I’d grab one just to see how bad they could be. Popping the casing open shows the very small circuit board inside, with the CO
Here’s an old HDSPA 3G USB modem stick that I got with a mobile phone contact many years ago. As it’s now very old tech, and I have a faster modem, not to mention that I’m no longer with Orange (Robbing <expletive>), here’s a teardown of the device! The top
These units are used to broadcast local audio, such as from a public address system or local microphone. They accomplish this by producing a modulated magnetic field that a hearing aid is capable of picking up. Not many controls on this bit of equipment. A bi-colour LED for status indications,
I have yet another receipt printer, this one appears to be brand new. It’s possibly the smallest thermal 80mm printer I have at the moment, and has both USB & Serial interfaces. There’s not much to these printers at all. Removing a single screw allows the case halves to separate,
Continue readingNanoptix “Spill-Proof” Thermal Receipt Printer
For as long as I can remember I’ve been using Trangia-type alcohol fuelled stoves when I go camping, even though these have served my needs well they’re very limited & tend to waste fuel. I did some looking around for Paraffin/Kerosene fuelled stoves instead, as I already have this fuel
I’ve been a vaper now for many years, after giving up the evil weed that is tobacco. Here’s my latest acquisition in the vaping world, the JoyeTech eVIC 60W. This one is branded by Totally Wicked as the Forza VT60. Powered by a single 18650 Li-Ion cell, this one is
Continue readingTotally Wicked Forza / JoyeTech eVIC 60W Teardown
Inkeeping with everything else in my shack being low voltage operated, I had planned from the outset to convert the desoldering station to 12v operation. It turns out this has been the easiest tool to convert in my shack so far. The factory SMPS is a fairly straightforward 18v 12A
For a long time I’ve needed a decent vacuum desoldering tool, as I do much stripping of old PCBs for random parts. Solder wick works well for most things, but it’s expensive & can be fiddly. It also doesn’t keep very long as the copper braid oxidises & after that
Continue readingDuratool ZD-915 Vacuum Desoldering Station Teardown
Here’s another retired piece of tech that we used to route media from the NAS to the main TV. It was retired since it’s inability to support XBMC/Kodi & having some crashing issues. After attacking the case with the screwdriver (Torx in this case), the main board comes out.
On the quest to get things on board replaced that are heavy users of power, the monitor in the main cabin was next. The original CCFL-backlit monitor was very heavy on 12v power, at 5A. This meant falling asleep watching TV would result in severely flattened batteries. Replacement with a
Continue readingViewSonic VA2232W-LED Monitor 12v Conversion
With a recent order from a Chinese seller on eBay, this little gadget was included in the package as a freebie: I’ve not smoked for a long time, so I’m not too sure what use I’m going to find for this device, but it’s an electronic lighter! Pushing the slider