Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bitseeker]

Ok, someone please tell me..
WHAT IS IT ABOUT HPAK AND THOSE BLOODY FEET?

The HP6825A is missing all four of them. I am not amused!

See! It's a thing.

They either get broken, fragile with age or, more often, the gear gets put into a rack and the feet go bye-bye. So sad.

[mnementh]

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet this is a good way to reuse salvaged 18650's. Charge and use at the same time, Onboard 5V 90+% eff dc-dc converter and 3V regs and proper charge and protection circuits. 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP32-ESP32S-For-Wemos-For-Raspberry-Pi-18650-Battery-Charge-Shield-Board-V3-Micro-USB-Port/32870411748.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.5aa04c4dw78fPg

Cheap Cheap not so Ruff Ruff 

10 pieces for $3.75; fits pretty much anywhere. Also works with most small-medium salvaged LiPo cells.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303045071629

mnem
Feeling totally ratchet. 

These work well if you just need to charge single cells. Again if you built a pack, don't go here. But for single cell use, hard to beat. But why spend a penny if you just need to charge one cell? Almost all of these are built from the DW01 IC or whatever the newest cheapest replica unit is, and they have voltage swings as high as 4.35V and cutoffs as low as 2.50V...

The same people make similar boards to do 2S & 3S with full BMS, and with an inverter so they can still charge from a micro-USB. Yes, of course these are not appropriate to anything serious-duty; just light household crap. Like meters and little scopes and...   

I have dozens installed in various bits of kit. The worst I've seen is 1.22V TCV. 2.5V LVC is fine at the low operating currents these are meant for; it's when you try to do that at 5-10C that you eat cells. My experience with the several lots I've burned through is 2.7-2.8V LVC, but yeah... these are cheap copies of copies so I know where you're coming from in that respect. QC is not... well, it's just not. 

I have a bunch of them too but not as flexible as the other to use.

I find exactly the opposite. Their small size and ubiquitous micro-USB makes them MORE flexible. I keep discovering new places to put LiXX power all the time. 

mnem
*POIT!*

[Inverted18650]

I have spent hundreds, maybe a thousand or more hours, at the bench with just (LI-ION) 18650's; the cells themselves, and every variation of their management IC's around. I now build my own management boards for projects from 3Wh's up to 10kWhs. I have a 23 page index of cells, from various manufactures, even current down to contact names and numbers.

I do not know much about Spectrum Analyzers but I have 18650's pretty well covered. I still have about 4000 of them here that need a good home (all tested) and another (approx) 10k sitting in original packaging (from laptop packs, cordless drills, cordless vacuums, flashlights, LED drivers, hoover boards, e-cig, and  several other...)

I am just griping...I guess it makes me feel left out that noone asks for me help with matters concerning 18650 builds...getting old and fussy.

[mnementh]

You need to turn that knowledge into content.... shoot some how-to videos. There appears to be no end to the number of "powerwall builders" out there on yoobToob... and honestly, even given my own limited understanding of this very outre specialization (I know a lot about LiPo, especially high-discharge; not so much about cylindrical cells) I can tell that 90% of them are fucking imbeciles who are just a Darwin Award looking for a place to happen. 

But even I know that when you start series-parallel stacking 18650s, you get to welding-level current AND skin-resistance exceeding voltages VERY quickly. These people handle that kind of near-plasma-level energy density like a chimpanzee with a pistol.

mnem
*tzzzzt*

[beanflying]

Like all battery technologies before them 18650's/LiPos charge/BMS  have so much  and poor information out there so to get any result you need to cut through that before you get any real traction.

Teaching something that is potentially grid connectable is a lawsuit in waiting in particular in the USA when some dodo lets their smoke out.

I have never really looked in the renewables section here but a thread/videos would be a different animal given the average skills of the membership.

[VK5RC]

For the TEA who has everything, including ionising radiation!
Who doesn't need a Geiger counter for the zombie apocalypse!
Found some old gas mantles, thorium containing, man can they make this thing tick! Glad to see that I stored them in the shed a long way from where I spend a lot of time (by chance).

[beanflying]

Just what you need when SA gets our National Nuclear Dump site 

Got rid of my lanterns long ago one with a broken glass and the other ancient one had a Primus fitting on it and I had lost the adapter. These days I camp HEAVY  2000W inverter and 120Ah battery because I 'need' to run my Espresso machine in the mornings

[VK5RC]

Now that is camping!
Edit
Re South Australia and radioactivity - my late father as a civil engineering student in the mid 1940s helped survey out Radium Hill - if I recall correctly - mainly the roads etc. He also studied geology under Sir Douglas Mawson - apparently the longest legs - and could walk like crazy - also heavily involved in Radium Hill.
My father had a piece of its radio-active ore - but it got lost in the Ash Wednesday bushfires. His house was destroyed (he was ok though).
Interestingly my middle daughter is studying Geology!

[mnementh]

This morning, I poured a heaping glorpful of this into a pint of hot milk. Yes, I drank it.

I am ashamed. 

mnem

[mnementh]

Now that is camping!
Edit
Re South Australia and radioactivity - my late father as a civil engineering student in the mid 1940s helped survey out Radium Hill - if I recall correctly - mainly the roads etc. He also studied geology under Sir Douglas Mawson - apparently the longest legs - and could walk like crazy - also heavily involved in Radium Hill.
My father had a piece of its radio-active ore - but it got lost in the Ash Wednesday bushfires. His house was destroyed (he was ok though).
Interestingly my middle daughter is studying Geology!

Rockhounds are pack creatures.

mnem
 

[beanflying]

Coffee does get worse than your morning brew @ mnementh  This was from the local Bakery fter a bike ride I was drinking water 

[tautech]

OK you 18650 gurus, I've been thinking of repacking my 24V Bosch drill battery packs with 18650's and still charging them in the 24V Bosch charger base.....whata I need ?
Do I stuff 18650's into individual holders and each with a tiny BMS board and shoehorn the whole lot into the battery packs that BTW contain 20x dying or dead 2AH sub C NiMhNiCd's 

Or do I just fork out for complete packs:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/for-BOSCH-24V-3300mAh-power-tool-battery-2607335562-2607335637-2607335645-B-8230-BAT030-BAT031-BAT240-BAT299/32871751868.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.65.15657598BsW5ac&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10065_10068_10547_319_10059_10884_317_10548_10887_10696_321_322_10084_453_10083_454_10103_10618_10307_537_536_10902,searchweb201603_70,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=4067b057-4f2a-408a-a33b-ff4237ed5622-10&algo_pvid=4067b057-4f2a-408a-a33b-ff4237ed5622&transAbTest=ae803_4

[Specmaster]

I have spent hundreds, maybe a thousand or more hours, at the bench with just (LI-ION) 18650's; the cells themselves, and every variation of their management IC's around. I now build my own management boards for projects from 3Wh's up to 10kWhs. I have a 23 page index of cells, from various manufactures, even current down to contact names and numbers.

I do not know much about Spectrum Analyzers but I have 18650's pretty well covered. I still have about 4000 of them here that need a good home (all tested) and another (approx) 10k sitting in original packaging (from laptop packs, cordless drills, cordless vacuums, flashlights, LED drivers, hoover boards, e-cig, and  several other...)

I am just griping...I guess it makes me feel left out that noone asks for me help with matters concerning 18650 builds...getting old and fussy.

Ha ha, I guessed that from your username that you had spent a lot time with 18650s[emoji106]

[mnementh]

OK you 18650 gurus, I've been thinking of repacking my 24V Bosch drill battery packs with 18650's and still charging them in the 24V Bosch charger base.....whata I need ?
Do I stuff 18650's into individual holders and each with a tiny BMS board and shoehorn the whole lot into the battery packs that BTW contain 20x dying or dead sub C's. 

You'd need a 30-40A 6S BMS board. But most sub-c based batteries do not cooperate with 18650 repacks; you wind up having to cut the bottom off to get some dimension you need.  By the time you repack with high-discharge cells and buy the board, you'll be halfway or more to a brand-new brushless model from Loews. You won't believe the difference; the power/weight is unrEAL.

My wife bought me this kit for Father's Day 2017; it was $129. That 1/2" drill feels like a 3/8", has the power of a 1/2" corded. That 1/4" impact driver has 110 Ft/lbs torque; it will take lugnuts off a car!

Batteries are $10/1.5AH, $20/2.0AH and $45/4.0AH. 3-year warranty on batteries and 5 years on the tools.

Best sales are Father's Day & Christmas.

mnem
Move forward.

[tautech]

OK you 18650 gurus, I've been thinking of repacking my 24V Bosch drill battery packs with 18650's and still charging them in the 24V Bosch charger base.....whata I need ?
Do I stuff 18650's into individual holders and each with a tiny BMS board and shoehorn the whole lot into the battery packs that BTW contain 20x dying or dead sub C's. 

You'd need a 30-40A 6S BMS board. But most sub-c based batteries do not cooperate with 18650 repacks; you wind up having to cut the bottom off to get some dimension you need.  By the time you repack with high-discharge cells and buy the board, you'll be halfway or more to a brand-new brushless model from Loews. You won't believe the difference; the power/weight is unrEAL.

My wife bought me this kit for Father's Day 2017; it was $129.
Batteries are $10/1.5AH, $20/2.0AH and $45/4.0AH. 3-year warranty on batteries and 5 years on the tools.

Best sales are Father's Day & Christmas.

mnem
Move forward.

Yeah but......
1/ I need the 24V grunt for 32mm wood augers.....already killed some 1/2" Dewalt drills. 
2/ The packs also fit my reciprocating saber demolition saw.........a veeeery useful tool. 

And son has some of the fancy new Hitachi brushless stuff, actually lots, but it's his, bought with his hard earned coin.
Further info, charger does 7.2-24V packs and it's badged as a 2.5A unit.

[med6753]

This morning, I poured a heaping glorpful of this into a pint of hot milk. Yes, I drank it.

I am ashamed. 

mnem

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

[mnementh]

OK you 18650 gurus, I've been thinking of repacking my 24V Bosch drill battery packs with 18650's and still charging them in the 24V Bosch charger base.....whata I need ?
Do I stuff 18650's into individual holders and each with a tiny BMS board and shoehorn the whole lot into the battery packs that BTW contain 20x dying or dead sub C's. 

You'd need a 30-40A 6S BMS board. But most sub-c based batteries do not cooperate with 18650 repacks; you wind up having to cut the bottom off to get some dimension you need.  By the time you repack with high-discharge cells and buy the board, you'll be halfway or more to a brand-new brushless model from Loews. You won't believe the difference; the power/weight is unrEAL.

My wife bought me this kit for Father's Day 2017; it was $129.
Batteries are $10/1.5AH, $20/2.0AH and $45/4.0AH. 3-year warranty on batteries and 5 years on the tools.

Best sales are Father's Day & Christmas.

mnem
Move forward.

Yeah but......
1/ I need the 24V grunt for 32mm wood augers.....already killed some 1/2" Dewalt drills. 
2/ The packs also fit my reciprocating saber demolition saw.........a veeeery useful tool. 

And son has some of the fancy new Hitachi brushless stuff, actually lots, but it's his, bought with his hard earned coin.
Further info, charger does 7.2-24V packs and it's badged as a 2.5A unit.

These ARE 24V. AND Brushless. This Christmas my wife got me the kit with 1/2" shortie impact, 1/2" Medium duty Drill/Driver, 6 1/2" circular saw, flashlight and 2 port USB charger. The saw has 1/4" less usable depth of cut than my full-size 7 1/4" Skil, and cuts better. Impact has 260 Ft/lbs torque; doesn't hold a candle to my good air impact, but plenty for 90% of my work.

And YES they have a cordless sawzall.

Dewalt killed me as a customer with coffee-grinder gearboxes. I've been a Makita diehard ever since I built my first barn with one. I like these Kobalt tools better. More torque, and the HF motor controllers are so smoooth. Go to Lowes, test drive them.

mnem
 

[tautech]

This morning, I poured a heaping glorpful of this into a pint of hot milk. Yes, I drank it.

I am ashamed. 

mnem

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

Like the Canadian guy that tutored a log building course I spent a week at in '82, he couldn't stomach the instant stuff we were used to and had to have a perc'ed brew on the stove all day long.
Man, a bloody spoon stood up in the stuff it was so strong ! 

[beanflying]

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

And Fresh Ground too even when camping 'light'  Siphon brewed Single Origin ground as needed 

[bd139]

That sucks. And what happens after you guys go Brexit? 

Then ordering from the continent will be about the same!

Yep, if it goes ahead we're screwed, because some people cannot let go of the past and move on, others of course are going make a fortune from it, namely those in power I guess because I cannot think of a single reason why else have they not scuppered plans to exit 

To be honest I’ve made a load of cash out of it because I raised my daily rate by 25%. No one argues a bit on the justification for that. But at the same time I didn’t vote for it because in the long run it’s bloody stupid.

If it wasn’t for the kids at school I would move to Europe, probably Netherlands, and hand my passport in. Ironically my eldest is actually in Austria at the moment. I’m going to Amsterdam (business unfortunately) next month. We all like to get away from this bloody place. Might be all that German blood in us calling us home.

This morning, I poured a heaping glorpful of this into a pint of hot milk. Yes, I drank it.

I am ashamed. 

mnem

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

My parents also used to drink Nescafé instant. Literally gives me a migraine that shit does.

Got a Bosch Tassimo now and about 300 Costa Americano capsules I got from a wholesaler for  £0.12 each. It’s a good compromise between really good and shit coffee.

[mnementh]

This morning, I poured a heaping glorpful of this into a pint of hot milk. Yes, I drank it. I am ashamed. 

mnem

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

Not only instant, but the cheap off-brand pallet-store instant that's all in Spanish. 

Fine; since it offends you so much, you can right one great wrong in the world: Hike your happy ass over here and brew a pot; I'll happily drink some when I'm done wiping my daughter's poopy ass and dressing her for school. 

mnem
*Coffee chronicles Part 7b*

[med6753]

I don't grind my own coffee but I've been tempted to try it.

I tend to favor Folger's Columbian.

[tautech]

@mnem
Sadly we don't have Kobalt over here....I think but will have a hunt.

We got cordless 1/2" impact, skill saws and some air impacts, in fact I could possibly challenge the tool dwagon ...especially if it came to chainsaws and twactors, even a crawler the young fella bought to go with his 2 diggers...then there's welders and a lathe, we got all sorts of shit and dread the day we might have to pack it up as you're trying to do. Nah, bugger that, gunna die here....easier.

[VK5RC]

My camping expresso machine, a Phillips /Saeco at home, Nespresso at work.
Life is too short for bad coffee (and bad women!)

[tautech]

You should be.  Instant coffee??  My parents used to drink Nescafe instant. Total swill. Fresh brewed or get the fuck out of here. 

And Fresh Ground too even when camping 'light'  Siphon brewed Single Origin ground as needed 

Are you glamping Bean ?

Still haven't seen your parcel.