Ah the curse of the Chinese Electronics strikes again. These large DC-DC boost converters have become very common on the likes of AliExpress & eBay, and this time my order has arrived DOA… On applying power, the output LED lights up dimly, and no matter how I twiddle the adjustment
Continue readingChinese “1200W” DC-DC Boost Converter DOA Fix
I was recently given a Sony PS3 with a dead disc drive, and since I’m not a console gamer I figured I’d see if there were any handy parts inside. Turns out these units contain a rather nice SMPS, the Sony APS-231 with a high power 12v rail, rated at
After having a couple of the cheap Chinese PSUs fail on me in a rather spectacular fashion, I decided to splash on a more expensive name-brand PSU, since constantly replacing PSUs at £15 a piece is going to get old pretty fast. This is the 30A model from Mercury, which
Here’s the other TV that was picked up from the local water point having been put of to be recycled. This one is much newer than the Thorn TV, a 10″ colour version from Ferguson. The colour CRT used is an RCA branded one, 27GDC85X. Like the other TV, this
Time for another random teardown, a signal splitter for HDMI. These units are available very cheap these days on eBay. This one splits the incoming signal into two to drive more than one display from the same signal source. The stamped alloy casing comes apart easily with the removal of
Here’s a cheap PSU from the treasure trove of junk that is eBay, rated at a rather beefy 400W of output at 12v – 33A! These industrial-type PSUs from name brands like TDK-Lambda or Puls are usually rather expensive, so I was interested to find out how much of a
Continue readingeBay Chinese Chassis Power Supply S-400-12 400W 12v 33A
Here’s a useful buck-boost DC-DC converter from eBay, this one will do 36v DC at 6A maximum output current. Voltage & current are selected on the push buttons, when the output is enabled either the output voltage or the output current can be displayed in real time. Here’s the display
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
When I ordered the tiny USB soldering iron, I decided a proper iron upgrade would be a good idea. Looking around for something that didn’t require AC mains power turned up the TS100, a Chinese design, that unusually is actually very good! Above is the handle itself, with it’s small
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 Eberspacher heaters can be controlled with a single switch, but it’s more convenient to have some temperature control & the option of a timer. Above is an ex-BT 701 series controller, with built in 7-day programmer. Being an ex-BT van version though, it’ll only switch the heater on for
Finally, after months of messing about with the original seller of the generator unit, (Mike Webb from hydraulicgenerators.co.uk, more to come about the nightmare I had dealing with this man), we have had to purchase a new hydraulic control valve for the genset, as the original unit supplied was missing
Another phone from the mid 90s. This is the nokia 7110. Here the slider is open showing the keypad. Here the battery is removed, a Li-Ion unit. The battery cell & protection circuit removed from the casing. This is the rear of the PCB removed from the housing. Data &