EEVblog #751 - How To Debunk A Product (The Batteriser)

[EEVblog]

Or, they may use flex PCB and possibly with the sheet metal that contacts the B+ terminal as support.

Looks like regular fibreglass PCB in the photos. Probably 0.5mm.

[daqq]

Most of the components are around 0.7mm tall. The inductor is the biggest challenge it around 1mm tall. With a 0.8mm circuit board, the total height is 1.8mm

Can you see any benefit to building this ?

There are several options for a smaller PCB height. Embedded or semi embedded components are one option:

You can also have very thin PCBs. You could use resistive film as resistors further decreasing the number of 3D parts.


Now onto theoretical hacks:
You could possibly get away without the 33pF capacitor if you make a harder resistor divider.
You could split the inductor into two or N series connected inductors (I don't know about this one).



General advice: Take the disk you have the old OrCAD Layout installed on, put it in a grinder, take the scrap, douse it in holy water (or holy acid if you can get some), and burn it. I hate it vigorously.

[chris_leyson]

Nice one Jay_Diddy_B, been meaning to try something along these lines but never got around to it. Bought an LTC3539 and stuck it on a Schmartboard 204-0021-01 DFN-8 adapter, Farnell part number 2483420. It's sitting on the bench somewhere.

[SL4P]

Considering the mechanical design also needs to isolate the battery (+) from the Batteriser's positive output nub, I'm not so sure Batteriser have figured out the physical assembly either - let alone the electrical design.

Perhaps Batteroo is smarter than we give credit.  IGG projects only suggest a project will give an idea 'a good go', but doesn't guarantee it is possible or will work... that's the backers risk.

They are salesmen, not engineers (despite bleating to the contrary), and we all understand the ethical differences between 'sales' and 'engineering'!

How they handle their equity partners and legal challenges, will be an interesting story in itself.  Just walking away from the litigation could cost them more than their entire funding income.

Second set of the match has yet to start!

[LabSpokane]

A shame I don't have any any more but I thing the keyboard runs down to below 1v per cell. It has been a while so i don't remember.

I think someone busted the Apple keyboard on here too, IIRC it did go down to 1V or less.

My engineering notebook was stolen, but I think the keyboard was 1.05V and the trackpad was 0.95V. 

[Smokey]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

[LabSpokane]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

I know you're kidding, but I'm not.  My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.  I lost a year's worth of work because I never scanned or copied my engineering notes.  It's a royal pisseroo.  Don't be like me and make sure you duplicate your notes and store them separately. 

[Brumby]

Backup your backpack.

I like that.  Added to my list.

[meeder]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

I know you're kidding, but I'm not.  My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.  I lost a year's worth of work because I never scanned or copied my engineering notes.  It's a royal pisseroo.  Don't be like me and make sure you duplicate your notes and store them separately.

That sucks big time

[Howardlong]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

I know you're kidding, but I'm not.  My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.  I lost a year's worth of work because I never scanned or copied my engineering notes.  It's a royal pisseroo.  Don't be like me and make sure you duplicate your notes and store them separately.

That sucks big time

Indeed. I've taken to using my phone to take pics of my notes as appropriate. Sure, unless you're organised it's just a bunch of photos, but at least the info is there. The same applies to odd bits of info on the computer screen, just take a pic of it, far easier than messing about with the snipping tool or print screen button and trying to save it away "somewhere safe" that you forget about. A bit of a PITA to search back more than a few months later but at least it's there.

[meeder]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

I know you're kidding, but I'm not.  My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.  I lost a year's worth of work because I never scanned or copied my engineering notes.  It's a royal pisseroo.  Don't be like me and make sure you duplicate your notes and store them separately.

That sucks big time

Indeed. I've taken to using my phone to take pics of my notes as appropriate. Sure, unless you're organised it's just a bunch of photos, but at least the info is there. The same applies to odd bits of info on the computer screen, just take a pic of it, far easier than messing about with the snipping tool or print screen button and trying to save it away "somewhere safe" that you forget about. A bit of a PITA to search back more than a few months later but at least it's there.

That is what I do as well, I frequently take pictures with my phone of measurementdata and scada screens when I am at work. Losing a piece of important paperwork could be hell...

[timb]

My engineering notebook was stolen, but ......

Suuuuuure... That's totally going to be my excuse next time.  Sorry boss.  stolen again!  Damn engineering hooligans!   

I know you're kidding, but I'm not.  My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.  I lost a year's worth of work because I never scanned or copied my engineering notes.  It's a royal pisseroo.  Don't be like me and make sure you duplicate your notes and store them separately.

That sucks big time

Indeed. I've taken to using my phone to take pics of my notes as appropriate. Sure, unless you're organised it's just a bunch of photos, but at least the info is there. The same applies to odd bits of info on the computer screen, just take a pic of it, far easier than messing about with the snipping tool or print screen button and trying to save it away "somewhere safe" that you forget about. A bit of a PITA to search back more than a few months later but at least it's there.

If you use an iDevice, check out Scanner Pro by Readdle; it does an amazingly clean job of converting photos of documents to PDF. You just snap a pic in the app, it automatically try's to detect the boundaries of the page (you can drag a selection box around it if it's off) and then it automagically deskews and performs image processing then spits it into a PDF for you. Text and sketches come out nearly as good as if you ran them through a real document feeder style scanner at 300DPI.

At the end of the day I can snap a few quick pictures of any new pages I've added to my notebook (then I draw a box around the page number, so I know that I've got a digital copy of it).

I'm sure there's similar apps for Android. Either way I highly recommend people check it out.

[rrinker]

 Since at my job we are required to submit all receipts for expenses, I make heavy use of that app on my iPhone. There's another similar one I have as well. Snap a photo, it makes a PDF and emails it to me.

 The one good thing about my horrible handwriting (if I need to write something down and other people need to be able to read it, I always print) is that I tend to take any and all notes electronically, which means they get backed up in multiple places. Even if I don't have a computer handy, I'll use my iPad to take notes. Could have used technology like that when I was in college - I recently dug out some of my old notebooks and some stuff I can't read, and I'm the one that write it all.

[Zbig]

I'll just leave it here: Wacom Bamboo Spark. Got it this week and find it really cool.

As for the notes management, I use both Microsoft One Note and Evernote. Each has its pros and cons. Personally, I find OneNote better suited for project-oriented stuff and Evernote for every other random pieces of information. Anyhow, try any of these and you'll soon find out how antiquated and inconvenient keeping a bunch of .TXT files on your desktop is.

Also, few people seem to be aware of the "Snipping Tool" that comes standard in every Windows installation since, I think, Vista. Much more handy and functional than bare PrntScrn.

[Fungus]

Also, few people seem to be aware of the "Snipping Tool" that comes standard in every Windows installation since, I think, Vista. Much more handy and functional than bare PrntScrn.

Alt-PrntScrn captures just the current window.

[Halcyon]

My car got cleaned out the one night I didn't bring in my backpack.

Sorry to hear that. I've had my car broken into once. From that point onwards, I keep nothing inside anymore, not even the remote control to my garage door. Always comes inside with me.

[EEVblog]

Also, few people seem to be aware of the "Snipping Tool" that comes standard in every Windows installation since, I think, Vista. Much more handy and functional than bare PrntScrn.

Alt-PrntScrn captures just the current window.

I use Screenpresso, so handy.

[quad]

Will we ever hear from Batteriser again?

[EEVblog]

Will we ever hear from Batteriser again?

It's got to reach a point were it's better to remain silent than come out with more vague talk or BS excuses.
Every new update that doesn't mention the Energizer law suit just digs their hole deeper.
But that's why everyone keeps watching this thread, because it's the best engineering soap opera in town!

[Kjelt]

But that's why everyone keeps watching this thread, because it's the best engineering soap opera in town!

Powered by batteriser! 

[rrinker]

 Soap opera indeed. 
Instead of who is sleeping with who and who the stranger with his head all wrapped up REALLY is, we get to see who gets sued next, who gets fired, and what production problem delays things this week. So much more fun that those shows I had to watch as a kid because we only had one TV. My constant background to playing with Legos or my box of electrical gadgets. Only difference is, those shows have a much greater lifespan than Batteriser can ever hope for.

[Fungus]

FWIW, I've had some more of my Facebook accounts banned...

Last month I could make a couple of posts before bannination. Now it's almost instant death to post anything negative.

(Still got some accounts left though  )

[madires]

FWIW, I've had some more of my Facebook accounts banned...

Last month I could make a couple of posts before bannination. Now it's almost instant death to post anything negative.

(Still got some accounts left though  )

They are spending much more ressources on social media damage control than on updating supporters and delivering the product. The state of Batteroo should be obvious. "It's dead, Jim!"

[f4eru]

Soap opera indeed. 
Instead of who is sleeping with who and who the stranger with his head all wrapped up REALLY is, we get to see who gets sued next, who gets fired, and what production problem delays things this week.

We should have a real life series like that

there are some dilbert cartoons in a similar style
https://www.youtube.com/show/dilbertanimatedcartoons

[rrinker]

Soap opera indeed. 
Instead of who is sleeping with who and who the stranger with his head all wrapped up REALLY is, we get to see who gets sued next, who gets fired, and what production problem delays things this week.

We should have a real life series like that

there are some dilbert cartoons in a similar style
https://www.youtube.com/show/dilbertanimatedcartoons

 We do - it's just that no one is filming it. Most of the info is collected in this thread, so maybe it could be a dramatization later on when it's all over.