I tried finding Hidden Gems on AliExpress AGAIN! (Part 7)
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2024
- Download the Rohde & Schwarz Fundamentals of Vector Network Analyzers Primer: shorturl.at/rwBEY
You can get the featured products here: (affiliate links)
Ipad LCD: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dms...
LCD Driver Board: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DeW...
USB-C Connector: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dnc...
Hidden Wireless Charger: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFm...
Wire Twister Tool: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFm...
Bluetooth Beacon: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dm4...
Adjustable Power Supply: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dc9...
Previous video: • Ground is MORE IMPORTA...
Previous Aliexpress video: • I tried finding Hidden...
Future Tech Bluetooth Board video: • I tried 4 Future Tech ...
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In this video we will be having a closer look at 6 different products I got from Aliexpress. Aliexpress is famous for featuring the newest products/ICs when it comes to electronics but finding those can be a bit difficult. So I tried finding the hidden Gems not only electronics related but in general what I think could be useful. Let's get started!
Websites that were shown/used during the video:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:244...
Thanks to Rohde & Schwarz for sponsoring this video.
0:00 Weird Product Descriptions
0:46 Intro
1:34 IPad LCD & Driver Board
4:21 USB-C Connector
5:55 Long Distance Wireless Charger
8:19 Wire Twister Tool
9:46 Bluetooth Beacon
11:30 Adjustable Power Supply
13:07 Verdict - Наука та технологія
This guy will never run out of videos thanks to aliexpress 😂
Haha kind of true ;-) But maybe viewers will get bored someday....who knows.
As long as AliExpress is such a hit or miss this series will always be useful 😅
@@greatscottlab My favorite series on your channel
it's a treasure trove of random gadgets you might want to use lmao
@@greatscottlabWe dont know. This series helps us viewers to find components that we needed or didn't think of existed. So please continue
„Say goodbye to bondage“ 🤣 those translations are the best of all.
Haha true ;-)
I won't forget the "110w violence" motor I once saw, too bad I can't find it anymore.
Zero shades of Grey :(
Quick note on the USB video function: It takes a DisplayPort signal, so the USB device must support USB DisplayPort
If he has a Nintendo Switch he should try that (I think that uses USB C DisplayPort although I could be wrong)
@@stoutscientist nope, the Switch needs the cable to provide power for it to even try to send a video signal. Also it’s notorious for not following USB-C spec and many hubs/dongles don’t work with it.
@@TheOfficialOriginalChad That's what I was afraid of
@@stoutscientist don’t be afraid. We will get through this together.
For this test, he used the same Samsung phone that was later shown charging wirelessly in the video, that pretty much grants it's one of the various Galaxy S phones and all of those have DisplayPort output via USB-C...
Not gonna lie, it's fun just browsing the site to see what's available. It's even more fun to have the products reviewed by a knowledgeable maker. Thank you!
reading the sales blurb is one of the more interesting things. 🤣🤣
There are a lot of products that I browse and I feel somewhat urged to buy them just for curiosity, just for trying them for a few minutes. Scott's videos are perfect for satisfying that curiosity.
No one's expecting you to lie, what is this trend of starting a sentence off like that??
@@dcallan812 sometimes i wonder if they let their competitors write the descriptions
I Realized that Aliexpress only shows me stuff i've searched before, and not the stuff i want. When i google for stuff and enter aliexpress in the search i find sellers that i couldn't find before while searching locally on Aliexpress... Kinda annoying.
As someone fluent in Mandarin, I believe black technology is a direct translation from Chinese which is supposed to translate to something similar to "secret technology" or "special weapon" in the case of games/sports.
Thanks for the information :-)
So it's funny even on the native language, nice
Beacons like that need to be used with multiple gateways, and you move the beacon within the system rather than move your phone around. Home assistant can be set up to do useful presence detection in rooms if you carry a beacon like this.
Stuff like ESPresense?
I've tried doing this with 5 receivers spread around a 12' x 20' (3m x 6m) area. Even with those I was only able to get accuracy of about 8 feet (2.5m). The RSSI varies based on the orientation of the antenna, obstacles, etc.
@@mikebenza that sounds about right. The best case is you can use it for sensing presence in one room vs another, but still not with a very high accuracy.
@@Haldi4803 that's definitely one to try
You got to mess around with the settings regarding distance and accuracy. What ESP32 chip/board you use matters. I got way better results with an m5stack ESP32-C3 than I did with a ESP32 weoom but you have to tweak some of the default settings, you can find the ID (or one of the options for tracking, night be iBeacon) in the companion app for HA if you want to track your phone. For a smartwatch or beacon like this you really need a free third party app or use Espresense built in functionality to find the right ID of the device you want to track. Works great for me up to 12 meters but I have the cut off set to 8 meters. It really depends on the number of ESP32's you have, living space, wall material, ect.. I'm unsure why the C3 worked better and is more accurate. Last time I checked it only works with the C3 or original ESP32. You can't use an S2 or above and it's not needed either. The m5stack also looks way more stylish so it doesn't need to be hidden either which probably helps.
I built a custom dual panel ultrawide mini monitor for my workbench using a pair of those iPad LCDs. Put it on a sliding rail under my top shelf, and used a GoPro handlebar mount to get a tilt and swivel for it. It's combined 4096x1536 is a high enough resolution to show detailed schematics and diagrams, but not very tall, so it doesn't obscure the workspace below. I used a cable chain to guide the power and video cables to the PC at the side of the desk. Even if just using it to play youtube videos to pass the time while working, I could slide it to the side and rotate it to face me. It was perfect! The LCDs and drivers, the GoPro mount, the cable chain, and even the screws all came from AliExpress. The slide rail (closet door slide), aluminum U channel (for the frame), and the polycarbonate (screen protector) all came from the local hardware store. The plastic used to close up the back was taken from some salvaged Gamestop poster holders. It was a great project!
How did you do the cable part? It connects with only one usb c?
@@GabrielGBjas i literally just ran two HDMI cables. The computer treats it as two 2048x1536 monitors side by side.
I was also thinking about getting that mini screen. The LCD panels are sourced from older iPad replacement screens as I understood, so no wonder why they look very good.
But in the end I've got a used older 4:3 TFT LCD screen. It was even cheaper and was good enough for my need.
Yeah, the aspect ratio is definitely the weakest point on there. [I think they're actually 3:2, but anything not 16:9 or 16:10 definitely feels weird these days]
It's not a great idea if you have to buy a $25 screen. I have a 1080p display from an old Acer laptop and a $17 driver board that works perfectly. The only problem is finding a way to mount/secure the board and fragile cables without breaking out my ghetto fabrication skills.
I'm glad you mentioned the potential issue with the twisted connection: heat cycling.
In the U.S., this type of connection would not pass inspection. Electrical connections must be done by mechanical means (wire nut, compression, wago, screw, etc.). This, on its own, is not mechanical means.
Sure, you could throw a wire nut on the end of it and be compliant, but you're still royally screwing over the next guy that has to work on it. This much twist on solid wires can weaken the copper, causing it to break in half when you try to undo it. That's fine when you have 20" of wire sticking out, but most of the time, you cannot afford to make the wire any shorter than it already is.
I LOVE this series. On Scott's recommendation, I bought and included in a project, some capacitive touch fingerprint sensors. Keep them coming, and thank you!! 😍😍
Came across that wireless charging a few months ago when I wanted one, thankfully I got myself the KPON branded one instead (a hexagon shaped one), it works perfectly here, 10W charge, comes with the wall adapter (requires a QC 2.0 12v 18w one at least), the relay coil and even an alignment tool. Pretty nice device, on my 18mm MDF desk it doesn't need the relay coil and works with just the sticker to "target" the phone. More expensive but considering it actually works, would say it was worth it.
Efficiency is likely quite bad as I would expect of not only wireless charging but long distance one at that, the phone heats up a bit more through it's use than the cheapo short distance pad I use normally, but it really does it's job on my desk.
Couldn't trust that "say goodbye to bondage" description but it's the best description I've read in years when searching for that type of product.
I also got the KPON charger. It charges my phone at a rate of +2100mA according to a battery app. I initially used it through my entire desk which is 28mm thick, but that charger very slowly at about 600mA. I ended up routing a slot in the underside of the desk so the distance is now about 15mm.
@@Zwamdurkel Is it slow through a thicker surface even with the relay coil? Interesting to know if so, wouldn't have imagined.
On my 18mm MDF one I can get it to show it's "fast charging" so more than 5w at least, gotta get an app that actually measures it out of curiosity.
@@KalvinjjIt did not work through my 28mm desk without the relay coil. Even with the coil the speed was only 600mA. That's why I routed out the underside of my desk
Always a joy to watch your Hidden Gems series 😊
I salvaged an ipad 4 screen a few years ago and recently ordered basically the same controller board you feature here. Hopefully it will work as good as it did for you. I think I will combine it with an SBC to make a Batocera console. Or possibly add in an SDR dongle to make a standalone SW radio. I look forward to seeing your project ideas for this device.
The ad segment reminded me of an old adage: the different between analogue and digital electronics design is that the people designing analogue circuits know when they are making a radio transmitter.
Always a great insight Scott thank you for sharing your knowledge and findings!
My pleasure!
You can use the Bluetooth beacon with ESP32s. They can be placed in all rooms as receivers and the signal with the best signal strength then "wins" :)
Perfect to track pets for example. Say if they like to hide or if you want to unlock the cat door for them if they come close....
Or be reminded to let them in if they are close to the door :)
wanted to write the same thing. I got one on my key and use it with esphome so my home assistant knows if I am home or not and adjusts automations accordingly. Works well better than WiFi and GPS tracking without privacy concerns and the batteries last forever...
@@gorgorgonzales3090 I use "is my phone in my wifi" tracking. Can you explain which privacy concerns you got with this method? 🤔
Look for espresence
Works well with homeassistant or other mqtt enabled devices
Those orange lever-lock connectors are the best thing ever, a little dielectric grease and its perfectly weatherproof and takes a LOT of force to separate the connection
I found a similar power supply on Amzon for a similar price, but was let down when orders got mixed up and I got a heating pad and arthritis glove instead🙃. This turned into a mixed blessing as I do a lot of indoor bouldering and my finger joints get a little sore. The arthritis glove turned out to be great for that. Eliminates most of the pain almost instantly. Anyway, I do want to get the power supply as it could be useful for random projects. I'll see how AliExpress goes...Thanks👍🏽
The all seeing eye knew you were developing arthritis. This was no mixup. Now, you can just think of what you need, and it'll show up at your door in six to eight weeks.
@@kenmore01 with a little help from my purchase history😂
TBH I'm wondering how this stacks up to Mean Well supplies.
These videos are mini Christmas present opening sessions each time. Keep them coming
I love these videos because I do my own version of this while shopping on aliexpress. Honestly there is a lot of good stuff on there with some bad. please continue this series
I've been wondering about using old ipad/iphone screens and that stuff for projects for awhile now, but never had the confidence to actually try them. I have a bunch laying around I bought as a joblot years ago & just stored away, so may finally get some use out of them. great vid, subbed
Awesome stuff! Thanks a bunch, dude! 😃
I would love to find a TP4056 kinda board with mounting screws, like the USB-C connector!
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
And happy holidays!
For the wire twist tool, even before you mentioned the reliability over time, I was thinking adding some solder with a torch and plumbing solder would make that connection very reliable.
Electrical codes for mains power in most countries don't allow wires to be twisted in that way, nor can they be soldered.
I've been using the abusemark driver for ipad screen for years now, it's really good. Nice to see china have made their own version too, I'm tempted to switch, since it has USB C.
Love your Videos. These Videos real help people choosing the right products.
I bought the same beacon 3 months ago. I hung it on my keychain and integrated it into my homemassistant via ESP32 (esphome bluetooth proxy). This allowed me to set up automations to turn the lights on/off and trigger my robot vacuum to clean.
I think this beacon is a good solution instead of using a phone with wifi or a smart watch with bluetooth. I don't have to wait for my phone to connect to wifi for the light to turn on (which can take a few minutes). I save the watch's charge because the discoverable mode is turned off. At the same time, with my esphome and beacon settings, the maximum delay for turning on the light does not exceed two seconds, and the CR2032 charge is still more than 90%.
Just beware that you are not the only one who can track it.
I love this series! Please keep making them!
Thanks for the VNA download link.
I bought a nano vna and it is sitting on my desk until I have time to callibrate it and become more familiar with its abilities. The PDF will be very helpful for all that it can do above showing me impedance relative to frequency on the extended complex plane called a Smith Chart which is primarily why I bought it. I do think it offers a good deal more.....
Such high current adjustable power supplies are very useful as a universal fast charger for larger (lithium) batteries.
These lcd driver boards are great if you need second or third screen for cheap and you have some lcd panels laying around.
True
In regards to that adjustable power supply, I actually bought something you mentioned from one of your previous videos, the 24 pin ATX power supply connector to separate screw terminals. I already hacked up a power supply a long time ago to power my 3D printer😅 But this thing works great for anything else lol
I actually have a few older Ipads and I looked into getting one of those boards for making them portable displays but never really had a use for it but I recall them being pretty expensive. I see they have come down quite a bit since, so I just might get one to check it out👀 Love your videos!
What i'm looking for for a und hile now is a usb c smd part that has the necessary resistors build in and fits otherwise the footprint of a usb micro port. This would enable a relatively clean and easy swapping and upgrading of older devices
As for the wire twister you can definitely twist any wires. If the goal is not making a connection at the tip, just hold it to twist the wires and yes you can definitely twist breaded wires, not for making a connection at the tip but to TWIST them. I for once see this as user error and see this tool as very useful but tbh, you could probably make one at home.
Why on earth would you want your wires in this difficult to maintain mess? How do you then insulate the remaining copper? Just bung a load of electrical tape over it I suppose? Ghastly!
The tool, and the connections it makes are utter garbage at best, outright dangerous at worst.
Why on earth this was given a thumbs up is beyond me.
Nice, glad my iPad display recommendation made it into the video!
I got a premade screen, including speakers for $40 on Aliexpress. It also had the correct holes and connectors for mounting an RPi.
Love the Screen for use as a Computer Performance Monitor Screen. USB-C, allows for the upgrade from our Mini USB to updated, and upgraded periferals.
I could watch a video like this every day and not get bored :D nice finds this time!
I have very similar power supply, but with 2 line display for voltage and current. And also two nubs to adjust the same. Also I saw mppt solar charge controllers in same body/enclosure.
Beware, those power supplies are hot garbage. I've had one blow a MOSFET, another shorted to the case due to a ridiculously long capacitor lead they didn't trim, and of course they can only supply about 60-80% of their rated power without the aluminum windings in the transformer or inductor melting their insulation. One overheated so bad it melted the isolation between primary and secondary and brought mains voltage to the output. If it plugs into mains, stick with a name brand like Meanwell. Or at least make sure it has the proper UL/CSA/ETL/GS certification.
Thank You for doing the "Leg Work" for us, Scott!! 😍🤩🙂
I need to follow this more. I've got two answers I had for a long time answered straight away. Project in mind straight away.
Surprising good screen.
I only tried two of those much more expensive ones and they only worked sometimes.
Can't believe you didn't know about those cheap adjustable power supplies! They're all I use for medium scale projects like a 3d motion control system
For charging i use a magnetic usb c system i got from amazon. I found that wireless would create a lot of heat. Some of them are just two votage pins but the good ones do fast charging and data. Normally over nught i plug it in to a 2 amp charger since i dont need fast charging while i sleep
You should also check the EMC emissions of the switching power supply units, as these are often real EMC slingshots that cause radio interference if they have not been correctly suppressed.
On the usb c port. On the other side is a litte cc pad (or a r1 pad, dependingon the board version) where the resistor comes to enable pd! Thats the correct way. No need of the resistor vetween data pins and ground. The resistor is correct between cc pin and ground
Ooooooo. Going to have to remember the screen one. That could be a killer setup for a Home Assistant kiosk.
if you can controll the trackers acceleratometer then you could use it to measure rotation and movement of objects, if you know rotation you could use them for VR tracking since you only need the joint rotations.
I have never seen your videos before nor do I know anything about electronics or electricity, however, youtube told me to watch this video at 5:39 am so here I am. Video was good so I’m subbing 👍🏻
You can get proper bench PSU's like the TENMA 72-10480 for the same price if you want to adjust voltages during testing.. Also comes with proper over voltage, over current etc..
I've bought the USB-C port with panel mount having an integrated usb to serial converter...it's very handy for some projects! For example, I've used it to re-flash a router :-)
Btw I really like these videos!
I LOVE THIS SERIES!
one thing i'd find super cool to see here would be a 3.3V or 5V USB-C power module, that is also a battery cell manager (charging, protection etc) so you could use kt directly for your u-C Projects.
Cool idea!
Just looked at those USB-C ports because I think they are going to be very useful, and they have a 6-pin version now that breaks out the CC1 and CC2 pins for you! That's great for me because I want to use them as a power injector in my car for a stereo that does not provide enough current on it's own.
The beacon sounds interesting. I wonder if the accuracy is something to do with phone/app rather than the device. Also I wonder how open it is to be used without phone, say rpi or arduino. With phone alone I don't see much use for it.
Thanks for the great video. The wire twisting tool looks pretty cool, but one must be careful about grabbing the base of the wires... in the video, several of the wires have damaged insulation after twisting, which would be a problem.
More so what the hell do you then do with the clump of mangled wire you have not connected? Just bosh a load of electrical tape over it? Heat shrink and hope one of the ends doesn't poke through...
How do you separate one circuit for testing, then reconnect it? just lob off 6 inches of cable each time then twist them all again? not very practical.
Horrific way to connecting wires! unmaintainable, dangerous nonsense.
6:19 "Say Goodbye to bondage" lmao 😂😂
I put those BlueTooth beacons on my cats so I know if they're at the front or back doors wanting to be let in. PIR to detect motion (saves power), Arduino + BT wakes up to read the tag and send a signal to chime.
Bluetooth doorbell basically.
I'd love to see your take on repurposing a desktop power supply. Basically everything I've watched on the topic uses the same element (a DSP5005 converter), which not only sounds inefficient but also wasteful, given that ATX PSUs have 3.3 and 5V rails. While I'm not experienced enough to work out something else, I'd gladly watch a piece of content from you on that subject :D
just made the iPad monitor because of your video. I bought a bricked ipad off ebay for $9, gutted it, cut away some of the frame, and stuffed in the driver board. works great!
This power supply is the kind you can find in 3d printers (mostly 24v 200/300w and meanwell brand for quality). I got a 5v/50w one and a 12v to power SBCs in the future. The no name ones were quite known to blow up easily in 3d printers in the past, but so far no issue here.
Been looking at those screens for a while. Might have to pull the trigger on one soon.
I would've bought only the driver board , the LCD would've fished it from eBay scraps... I find these videos useful since I also buy stuff from AliExpress. Thanks, Scott!
its $27 for a brand new screen, and saves you the hassle of tearing the glass off an iPad. You can also buy a new touch panel for $17, and the controller board has touch input. All you have left is figuring out the drivers for touch support on your pc or RPi.
@@frostbite1991 they are not brand new. I bought one and got a garbage reconditioned screen
@@frostbite1991 Do you know which touch panel would work on these controller board? The iPad touch have too many pins.
Great Scott!!!! Great video… thank for sharing. 😊
honestly this is my favorite series, very entertaining. much love from germany ;)
Thanks for opening my eyes to iPad screen conversion!
If you do a video on the DT3 USB cable tester (as shown at the very end of this video) you should consider "hacking" it with a CR2032 power switched lilypad coin cell holder glued on the back and wiring that into the GND/VCC on the input side. Now you have made the tester purely portable without need for a USB power source. It makes the unit much more useful. Keep up the posting of cool electronic / tools from AliExpress !
Thanks for the tip. Will do :-)
One use case for such a beacon would be a "person present" detector, e.g. in conjunction with Home-Assistant or similar. That Temp/Humid won't work wouldn't be a problem then.
Love the sudden, rare jokes 😂 btw. I hate when I want to watch something simple on UA-cam and every video is either 10 or 20 minutes+, but this series is definitely too short!
About the USB-C Connectors. They have a spot for a 0402 5.1K resistor. Solder it in and boom you have a USB-C to USB-C capable socket. This place is marked as J1 or R1
Super videro, great check of products, screen seems to be best.
Was looking for a small 3rd screen last week and just realised I have an old ipad with a broken digitiser laying around, genius!!
Awesome ;-)
@@greatscottlab So as it turns out the "ipad air 2" I had laying around has its screen fused with the digitiser 😆 and I've got a bandaid on my thumb because glas is sharp 😂
There are (or there were when I bought them) panel mount USB C ports with the correct resistors on the CC pins available on AliExpress.
heat and cold cycles stiffing the metals loose the elasticity so the problem have the vago connectors than make the spring not properly working after a lot time. Its the other way around is more safe the twist's cable in long run that the vago.
You can buy the USB c sockets with presoldered 5.1k resistors. Use them to power esp32 projects.
For tracking beacon use samsung smarttag 2 (and phone with uwb) or apple itag (if you use apple phone), uwb is specificaly made for this purpose, to track nearby device in 3D
3:20 oh hey i have that powerbank too.
works really well. the USB A ports fried themselves but usb c outp[uts 100 watts atleast.
I love theses videos ! Please keep them coming !
@GreatScott! I have the same controller board. I get video output from laptops usb-c thunderbolt 4 using a 40gbps usb-c cable
A buck regulator power supply would be cheaper than the PSU mentioned in 11:30 which has limited range.
I could see a use for the beacons for presence detection for smart homes. I'm currently using a Gigaset beacon with iObroker, but that doesn't have a button.
I bought the iPad screen and the driver board, thanks for the recommendation! In the video it looks like that the driver board got an internal audio amp. You connected a speaker without amp. Does this also work for the 3.5mm jack? Just connecting a small speaker...
I bought same driver board and screen, I spotted the driver board has a control input section, possible for a video on how to create our own touch button input instead of the dial? Im worried the dial for browsing the menu etc will give one day. Thanks!
While the mm distance on the charger isn't super great it does remind me that theres a fair bit of project potential with wireless powered devices anyway. Combined with NFC then its a wireless interface with some capability for some logic, add in an esp32 on the powered side you got some capability for remote data updates, then use in something like a low powered display on the user's side and you got a thing or something. idk what tho
Super glad I came across these products, as I recently misplaced my baby. 0:14
Hoping to find him/her soon. 😜
Good luck!!
Is putting an Apple AirTag on babies really a thing? 😆
@@fitybux4664 - as long as it's only external. :D
My kids 27 now so it's not an issue, but when she was ~5 and I misplaced her at the mall I would have killed for a tracking device! You wanna talk going insane for a few minutes?! :O
that apple screen makes me happy-ish. I've been looking for a tablet with no android / ios that is still thin (yeh rpi4 pads exist but the extra io makes it horribly thick).. with that screen I am inclined to figure out a way to have it work with a cm4 esp if you incorporate that extra board with a custom pcb to house the cm4
I now check this channel weekly for the next AliExpress vids
That display board look cool, I have old iPad 4 lie around that might useful
Thanks for including smol stuff
I love these series!!
Me too ;-)
Usb c port get damage yh.
But your battery get hot with wireless charging so i keep me cable and sometimes wireless with me powerbank
Check that the ground connector actually has continuity to the chassis of the power supply - mine wasn’t
Will do. Thanks :-)
The beacon would be awesome to solve my issue with unreliable home/away detection for my smart home.
That adjustable PSU is ok. You can't have high efficiency all over the range. On top of that switching power supplies have a small dummy load to keep the output voltage under control when no load is connected. That should be take into account as well ar small loads because it starts to matter.
Those panel mounted USB-C ports have pads for a 0402 5.1k resistor to be soldered onto. In my experience, Type-C PD chargers don't use the USB data lines at all and only use the CC lines for picking the voltage. What sucks is USB-C conversions for devices that originally charged over micro USB, since they use the data lines to accept charge. If they don't receive anything on the USB lines, then they just refuse to charge, despite having voltage applied to them.
Oh no, really? I was already planning on upgrading several older gadgets from Micro-USB to USB-C with those boards
You can however find true USB C PD boards there that let you select the required output voltage.
If you only want 5V then all you need is two 5.1k resistors, one on each CC line (don't connect the data lines)
@@tim0steele I think you missed the point about this not working for USB C power supplies.
@@stevetodd7383 it does, just 5V
More More More, I really like this series🎉😃😀.
Damn it's pretty impressive that the sponsor is putting out a guide with a lot of knowledge out for free, you don't see that often
I love this series but I think it will be more helpful if you can create a google sheet containing all previous item featured in your video
Ive been buying cheap solar street lights from there to modify them for USB/Power bank charging, for $2+ they are quite good and exceptionally bright for the price. Decent USB C Cables with wattage displays too, though they tend to be inaccurate of 2-6W depending on the cable, but that isnt bad at all.
Any link for good ones (or name)? I see a lot of them but but also a lot of people giving 1 star reviews on some. Want to use them connected to a big solar panel and a simple dc/dc convertor with a high efficiency hooked up where the internal solar panel is. Been using it on led light strings here for years and works perfectly. The big 100 Watt panel is useless for other things during this period of year.
@@Luke-san The ones i'm referring to are probably not the ones you're thinking of, they have about 106 LEDs or below and are powered by a single 18650 and a 1-2w solar panel, they go for $1.99-$10 so are very easy to find on there. They are pretty damn bright for their size though, perfect for porches, doorways etc.
I've considered giving the large solar panel street lights a try that go for $30+ but i dont need anything quite that big, and id rather not risk paying that much for something that gives off similar brightness to the small ones
many of the designs have been reviewed by people on UA-cam so you could always give those a look if you need something that size.. Using a 100w panel would likely be overkill without a limiter though as even the larger lights they sell arent capable of handling that i dont think.
@@DigitalIP Those are exactly the lights I am looking for. Well the 100W panel is in parallel with a 150W panel. Today I measured a short current of 430mA. So not even delivering 10 Watt. That is wintertime here. Even during the summertime the led strings, garlands, are connected to it. I set the dc/dc converter to about 5.6 Volt and I can see that the current is limited somehow in the devices that I use. Some of them draw like 500mA, so in about 1 to 4 hours the cells are full. The small dc/dc converter only can handle like 2 amp tops so it would cap out at 5.6 x 2 = 11,2 Watt anyway
I replaced most of them to old laptop 18650 cells that still have like 2000mAh capacity. 1 light I connected using thin wire wrap cable, is about 10 meters/yards away. I did that experiment 4 years ago and it seems that experiment is still going on ;-)
Using the original solar panels (6V ones) the lights died in about 30 minutes after it went dark during wintertime, now most of them make it through the night.
@Luke-san Oh ok, well in that case try the ones i got a couple days ago, they actually have it so you can replace the batteries if you want, the cell is in an actual holder instead of having the wires attached to the battery! HIGHLY Hackable because of that! The other ones i got last month didnt have that little feature. Can only use flattops though, button tops wont fit, and the size of the cell itself is also a factor.
Okay so one of them is from the Shop5370096 store and is the 616B 72COB model "solar outdoor Led Courtyard wall lamp" search term, the other is 108COB with remote or 117COB with remote from the same store apparently. Fun fact, practically All versions of these that use a remote use the same remote/code so you wont need more than one remote.
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To solve the winter/not enough sun problem i just connect a TP4056 wired to a 2-4 cell pack of 18650s to the lights battery terminal or directly to the wires and recharge the cells with a USB power bank. While recharging since the voltage is higher the lights get slightly brighter so thats a nice side effect.
a couple years ago i did the same thing to a 1000lumen solar light i put under an overhang by my front door which obviously wont get enough light, so i have it connected to a USB power supply on a smart outlet controlled by Alexa, i have it set so it automatically turns on to charge the battery for 2 hours every day then automatically turns off, finally changed the battery last month after 2 or 3 years of use. Works flawlessly like that, and i can have her turn the charger on or off at any time as needed (especially now with how cold its been).
@@Luke-san Any updates?
Also as an electrician in Europe, that cable twist thingy would not make approved connections. It overstrains the cables and the insulation is ripped of and as seen by your example they even hurt the insulation below your connection point. So if you use that at a construction site you would just get a fail on the inspections. Also if you use it for diy 230V connections at home and something happens the insurance company will see this connection and you won’t get a single penny there bubba😅
"say goodbye to bondage" at the top of the wireless charger 🤣