Tag: Improvements

Making the world a better place, one piece at a time

Motel Room Safe: Whoops

We spotted a pile of room safes in one of the motel stairwells:

Motel Room Safes in stairwell

Judging from what we found in the room, it’s out with the old and in with the new:

Motel Room Safes – mounting pedestal

Too bad about the mounting pedestal, though: same size, different orientation.

Something unexpected always lurks in the datasheet …

2018-12-16
Monthly Image: Wall Painting

One day, long ago, this tree grew in a certain bedroom:

Outlet tree

And then a flower appeared in the laundry room:

Outlet flower

Much to our delight, she asked for forgiveness, not permission … which was, of course, granted immediately.

2018-12-15
Astable Multivibrator: SMT LED Ballast Resistor

The original astable multivibrator ran from a dead CR123 primary lithium cell:

CR123A Astable – front

With a terminal voltage falling from barely 3 V, the LED drew about 3 mA (1 mA/div), tops, without a ballast resistor:

Astable – CR123A 2.8 V – 1 mA -green

Hacking in a charged NP-BX1 secondary lithium cell boosted the supply to 4 V:

NP-BX1 Holder – SMT pogo pins

Which, diodes being the way they are, raised the LED current to nearly 400 mA (100 mA/div):

Astable – NP-BX1 4V – base V – 100mA-div

Somewhat to my surprise, a few weeks of abuse didn’t do any obvious damage to the LED, but I added a resistor while I was soldering up another holder:

Astable – 51 ohm SMD ballast

There’s not quite enough room for a 1/8 W axial resistor, so why not blob in a surface-mount resistor?

Which cuts the current down to a mere 15 mA (10 mA/div) from a lithium battery at 4 V:

Astable – NP-BX1 – 51 ohm ballast – 10ma-div

It’s still blindingly bright, but now I don’t feel bad about it.

2018-12-14
Desk Drawer Stops

The stops aligning the top two drawers of an old desk vanished, so I got the job of replacing them. They’re hammered into the wood frame:

Drawer Stops – width measurement

And stand up just enough to engage the back of the drawer face:

Drawer Stops – height measurement

Back in the Basement Laboratory Shop Wing, I harvested steel strips from a defunct PC case, rubber-hammered them flat, sharpened a cold chisel (un-hardened, so it always needs sharpening), and got to work:

Drawer Stops – chiseled blanks

The pointy sides should have sharp edges, which you get for free with a chisel. You also get a bench full of little steel slivers perfectly suited for embedding in human flesh. Wearing eye protection is more than just a good idea, too.

Introducing what will become the visible edges to Mr Disk Sander makes them marginally less hazardous:

Drawer Stops – in progress

A slightly fuzzy picture of a test fit shows the stops should suffice:

Drawer Stops – trial fit

Which they did:

Drawer Stops – installed

Nobody will ever notice the blob of hot melt glue behind each one:

Drawer Stops – glue blob

Done!

2018-12-13

Astable Multivibrator: NP-BX1 Base

Adapting the NP-BX1 battery holder to use SMT pogo pins worked well:

NP-BX1 Holder - SMT pogo pins — NP-BX1 Holder – SMT pogo pins

The next step is to add sockets for those 14 AWG wires:

NP-BX1 Battery Holder - Wire Posts - solid model — NP-BX1 Battery Holder – Wire Posts – solid model

Start by reaming / hand-drilling all the holes to their nominal size and cleaning out the pogo pin pocket.

Solder wires to the pogo pins and thread them through the holder and lid:

Astable - NP-BX1 holder - pogo pin soldering — Astable – NP-BX1 holder – pogo pin soldering

That’s nice, floppy silicone-insulated 24 AWG wire, which may be a bit too thick for this purpose.

The pogo pins will, ideally, seat with the end of the body flush at the holder wall. Make it so:

Astable - NP-BX1 holder - pogo pin protrusion — Astable – NP-BX1 holder – pogo pin protrusion

Dress the wires neatly into their pocket:

Astable - NP-BX1 holder - pogo pin wiring — Astable – NP-BX1 holder – pogo pin wiring

Butter the bottom of the lid with epoxy, clamp in place, set it up for curing, then fill the recess:

Astable - NP-BX1 base - curing — Astable – NP-BX1 base – curing

While it’s curing, make a soldering fixture for the 14 AWG wires:

Astable - drilling strut soldering fixture — Astable – drilling strut soldering fixture

The holes are on 5 mm centers, in the expectation other battery holders will need different spacing.

Solder it up and stick the wires into the base:

Astable - NP-BX1 base - detail — Astable – NP-BX1 base – detail

Jam a battery in and It Just Works™:

Astable - NP-BX1 3.8V - 20ma-div - cap V — Astable – NP-BX1 3.8V – 20ma-div – cap V

The traces:

Green = supply current at 20 mA/div
Yellow = LED driver transistor base voltage
Purple = other transistor collector voltage
White = base – collector voltage = capacitor voltage

The measurement setup was a bit of a hairball:

Astable - NP-BX1 base - current probe — Astable – NP-BX1 base – current probe

For completeness, here’s the schematic-and-layout diagram behind the circuitry:

Astable - NP-BX1 base - schematic — Astable – NP-BX1 base – schematic

I love it when a plan comes together!

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Holder for Sony NP-BX1 Li-Ion battery
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU January 2013
	// 2018-11-15 Adapted for wire leads from 1.5 mm test pins, added upright wire bases

	// Layout options

	Layout = "Fit"; // Show Build Fit Case Lid Pins

	//- Extrusion parameters – must match reality!
	// Print with +2 shells and 3 solid layers

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.35;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	inch = 25.4;

	BuildOffset = 3.0; // clearance for build layout

	Gap = 2.0; // separation for Fit parts

	//- Basic dimensions

	WallThick = 4*ThreadWidth; // holder sidewalls

	BaseThick = 6*ThreadThick; // bottom of holder to bottom of battery
	TopThick = 6*ThreadThick; // top of battery to top of holder


	//- Battery dimensions – rationalized from several samples
	// Coordinate origin at battery contact face with key openings below contacts

	Battery = [43.0,30.0,9.5]; // X = length, Y = width, Z = thickness

	Contacts = [[-0.75,6.0,6.2],[-0.75,16.0,6.2]]; // relative to battery edge, front, and bottom
	ContactOC = Contacts[1].y – Contacts[0].y;
	ContactCenter = Contacts[0].y + ContactOC/2;

	KeyBlocks = [[1.75,3.70,2.90],[1.75,3.60,2.90]]; // recesses in battery face set X position

	//- Pin dimensions

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	PinShank = [1.5,2.0,6.5]; // shank, flange, compressed length
	PinFlange = [1.5,2.0,0.5]; // flange, length included in PinShank
	PinTip = [0.9,0.9,2.5]; // extended spring-loaded tip

	PinChannel = PinFlange[LENGTH] + 0.5; // cut behind flange for solder overflow
	PinRecess = 3.0; // recess behind pin flange end for epoxy fill

	echo(str("Contact tip dia: ",PinTip[OD]));
	echo(str(" .. shank dia: ",PinShank[ID]));

	OverTravel = 0.5; // space beyond battery face at X origin

	//- Holder dimensions

	GuideRadius = ThreadWidth; // friction fit ridges
	GuideOffset = 7; // from compartment corners

	ThumbRadius = 10.0; // thumb opening at end of battery

	CornerRadius = 3*ThreadThick; // nice corner rounding

	CaseSize = [Battery.x + PinShank[LENGTH] + OverTravel + PinRecess + GuideRadius + WallThick,
	Battery.y + 2WallThick + 2GuideRadius,
	Battery.z + BaseThick + TopThick];

	CaseOffset = [-(PinShank[LENGTH] + OverTravel + PinRecess),-(WallThick + GuideRadius),0]; // position around battery

	LidOverhang = 2.0; // over top of battery for retention

	LidSize = [-CaseOffset.x + LidOverhang,CaseSize.y,TopThick];

	LidOffset = [0.0,CaseOffset.y,0];

	//- Wire struts

	StrutDia = 1.6; // AWG 14 = 1.6 mm
	StrutOC = 45;
	StrutSides = 3*4;

	StrutBase = [StrutDia,StrutDia + 4*WallThick,CaseSize.z – TopThick]; // ID = wire, OD=buildable

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}

	//——————-
	//– Guides for tighter friction fit

	module Guides() {
	translate([GuideOffset,-GuideRadius,0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);
	translate([GuideOffset,(Battery.y + GuideRadius),0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);
	translate([(Battery.x – GuideOffset),-GuideRadius,0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);
	translate([(Battery.x – GuideOffset),(Battery.y + GuideRadius),0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);
	translate([(Battery.x + GuideRadius),GuideOffset/2,0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);
	translate([(Battery.x + GuideRadius),(Battery.y – GuideOffset/2),0])
	PolyCyl(2*GuideRadius,(Battery.z – Protrusion),4);

	}

	//– Contact pins
	// Rotated to put them in their natural oriention
	// Aligned to put tip base / end of shank at Overtravel limit

	module PinShape() {

	translate([-(PinShank[LENGTH] + OverTravel),0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0])
	rotate(180/6)
	union() {
	PolyCyl(PinTip[OD],PinShank[LENGTH] + PinTip[LENGTH],6);
	PolyCyl(PinShank[ID],PinShank[LENGTH] + Protrusion,6); // slight extension for clean cuts
	PolyCyl(PinFlange[OD],PinFlange[LENGTH],6);
	}
	}

	// Position pins to put end of shank at battery face
	// Does not include recess access into case

	module PinAssembly() {

	union() {
	for (p = Contacts)
	translate([0,p.y,p.z])
	PinShape();

	translate([-(PinShank[LENGTH] + OverTravel) + PinChannel/2, // solder space
	ContactCenter,
	Contacts[0].z])
	cube([PinChannel,(Contacts[1].y – Contacts[0].y),PinFlange[OD]],center=true);

	for (j=[-1,1]) // wire channels
	translate([-(PinShank[LENGTH] + OverTravel – PinChannel/2),
	j*ContactOC/4 + ContactCenter,
	Contacts[0].z – PinFlange[OD]/2])
	rotate(180/6)
	PolyCyl(PinFlange[OD],CaseSize.z,6);
	}
	}

	//– Case with origin at battery corner

	module Case() {

	difference() {

	union() {

	difference() {
	union() {
	translate([(CaseSize.x/2 + CaseOffset.x), // basic case shape
	(CaseSize.y/2 + CaseOffset.y),
	(CaseSize.z/2 – BaseThick)])
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1], k=[-1,1])
	translate([i*(CaseSize.x/2 – CornerRadius),
	j*(CaseSize.y/2 – CornerRadius),
	k*(CaseSize.z/2 – CornerRadius)])
	sphere(r=CornerRadius/cos(180/8),$fn=8); // cos() fixes undersize spheres!

	hull() // wire strut bases
	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([0,j*StrutOC/2 + Battery.y/2,-BaseThick])
	rotate(180/StrutSides)
	cylinder(d=StrutBase[OD],h=StrutBase[LENGTH],$fn=StrutSides);

	translate([0,Battery.y/2,StrutBase[LENGTH]/2 – BaseThick])
	cube([2*StrutBase[OD],StrutOC,StrutBase[LENGTH]],center=true);
	}

	translate([-OverTravel,-GuideRadius,0])
	cube([(Battery.x + GuideRadius + OverTravel),
	(Battery.y + 2*GuideRadius),
	(Battery.z + Protrusion)]); // battery space
	}

	Guides(); // improve friction fit

	translate([-OverTravel,-GuideRadius,0]) // battery keying blocks
	cube(KeyBlocks[0] + [OverTravel,GuideRadius,0],center=false);
	translate([-OverTravel,(Battery.y – KeyBlocks[1].y),0])
	cube(KeyBlocks[1] + [OverTravel,GuideRadius,0],center=false);

	}

	translate([2*CaseOffset.x, // battery top access
	(CaseOffset.y – Protrusion),
	Battery.z])
	cube([2CaseSize.x,(CaseSize.y + 2Protrusion),(TopThick + Protrusion)]);

	if (false)
	translate([(CaseOffset.x – Protrusion), // battery insertion allowance
	(CaseOffset.y – Protrusion),
	Battery.z])
	cube([(CaseSize.x + 2Protrusion),(CaseSize.y + 2Protrusion),(TopThick + Protrusion)]);

	for (j=[-1,1]) // strut wires
	translate([0,j*StrutOC/2 + Battery.y/2,-(BaseThick + Protrusion)])
	PolyCyl(StrutBase[ID],StrutBase[LENGTH] + 2*Protrusion,6);

	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1])
	translate([iStrutBase[OD],jStrutOC/2 + Battery.y/2,-(BaseThick + Protrusion)])
	rotate(180/StrutSides)
	PolyCyl(StrutBase[OD],StrutBase[LENGTH] + 2*Protrusion,StrutSides);

	translate([(Battery.x – Protrusion), // remove thumb notch
	(CaseSize.y/2 + CaseOffset.y),
	(ThumbRadius)])
	rotate([90,0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0])
	cylinder(r=ThumbRadius,
	h=(WallThick + GuideRadius + 2*Protrusion),
	$fn=22);

	PinAssembly();

	translate([CaseOffset.x + PinRecess + Protrusion,(Contacts[1].y + Contacts[0].y)/2,Contacts[0].z])
	translate([-PinRecess,0,0])
	cube([2*PinRecess,
	(Contacts[1].y – Contacts[0].y + PinFlange[OD]),
	2*PinFlange[OD]],center=true);

	}

	}

	// Lid position offset to match case

	module Lid() {

	difference() {
	translate([-LidSize.x/2 + LidOffset.x + LidOverhang,LidSize.y/2 + LidOffset.y,0])
	difference() {
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1], k=[-1,1])
	translate([i*(LidSize.x/2 – CornerRadius),
	j*(LidSize.y/2 – CornerRadius),
	k*(LidSize.z – CornerRadius)]) // double thickness for flat bottom
	sphere(r=CornerRadius,$fn=8);

	translate([0,0,-LidSize.z/2]) // remove bottom
	cube([(LidSize.x + 2Protrusion),(LidSize.y + 2Protrusion),LidSize.z],center=true);

	translate([LidSize.x/8,0,0])
	cube([LidSize.x/4,0.75LidSize.y,4ThreadThick],center=true); // epoxy recess
	}

	translate([0,0,-(Contacts[0].z + PinFlange[OD])]) // punch wire holes
	PinAssembly();
	}

	}


	//——————-
	// Build it!

	if (Layout == "Case")
	Case();

	if (Layout == "Lid")
	Lid();

	if (Layout == "Pins") {
	color("Silver",0.5)
	PinShape();
	PinAssembly();
	}

	if (Layout == "Show") { // reveal pin assembly
	difference() {
	Case();

	translate([(CaseOffset.x – Protrusion),
	Contacts[1].y,
	Contacts[1].z])
	cube([(-CaseOffset.x + Protrusion),
	CaseSize.y,
	(CaseSize.z – Contacts[0].z + Protrusion)]);

	translate([(CaseOffset.x – Protrusion),
	(CaseOffset.y – Protrusion),
	0])
	cube([(-CaseOffset.x + Protrusion),
	Contacts[0].y + Protrusion – CaseOffset.y,
	CaseSize.z]);
	}

	translate([0,0,Battery.z + Gap])
	Lid();

	color("Silver",0.15)
	PinAssembly();

	}

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	translate([-(CaseSize.x/2 + CaseOffset.x),-(CaseOffset.y – BuildOffset),BaseThick])
	Case();
	translate([CaseSize.x/2,-LidSize.x/2,0])
	rotate(90)
	Lid();
	}

	if (Layout == "Fit") {
	Case();
	translate([0,0,(Battery.z + Gap)])
	Lid();
	color("Silver",0.25)
	PinAssembly();
	}

view raw NP-BX1 Battery Holder – Wire Posts.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2018-12-12

Halogen Desk Lamp Conversion

As part of converting the halogen desk lamp to LEDs, I replaced the hulking iron transformer with a flatter counterweight:

Halogen Desk Lamp – 12 V 20 W transformer

Under normal circumstances, you’d use something like steel or lead sheets, but Tiny Bandsaw™ can’t cut any appreciable thickness of steel and I gave away my entire lead stockpile, so I sawed disks from a pile of non-stick pancake griddles and drilled suitable mounting holes:

Parallel clamps in action

Another disk (from a formal aluminum sheet!) goes into the lamp head, with a trio of 3W COB LEDs epoxied in place:

Ex-Halogen Desk Lamp – 3x3W COB LED assembly

The other side of the disk sports a heatsink harvested from a PC, also epoxied in place:

Ex-halogen Desk Lamp – heatsink fitting

Realizing the head required only a little filing to accommodate the heatsink sealed both their fates.

A test firing showed the heatsink needed more airflow, which didn’t come as much of a surprise, so I milled slots in the lamp head:

Ex-halogen Desk Lamp – vent slot milling

Deburring the holes, blackening the sides with a Sharpie, and tucking a bit of black window screen behind the opening made the vents look entirely professional.

The small dome in the base originally cleared the transformer and now holds the entire 10 W LED driver, along with all the wiring, atop the counterweight sheets:

Ex-halogen Desk Lamp – base wiring

A cork pad covers the base for a bit of non-skid action:

Ex-halogen Desk Lamp – cork pad

I couldn’t convince myself filling in those sectors would improve anything, so I didn’t.

And then It Just Worked:

Ex-halogen Desk Lamp – in use

All without a trace of solid modeling or G-Code …

2018-12-07
JYE Tech DSO150 Oscilloscope: Battery Power
With the DSO150 scope running, I printed Geoff’s DSO150 case + battery holder from Thingiverse, added a few bits & pieces from the heap, and came up with a completely portable scope:

DSO150 battery hack – first light

The only scope mod consists of embedding a JST-ish connector in the back panel:

DSO150 battery hack – rear panel connector

Then soldering it to the battery pads and applying generous hot-melt glue blobs:

DSO150 battery hack – PCB power

Add a scrap 18650 Li-Ion cell, a regulated boost converter, and a switch:

DSO150 battery hack – interior

The switch is directly below the DSO150 BNC connector to get a little protection for its handle, which would otherwise stick out in harm’s way. This being an afterthought, I drilled the switch hole, rather than modify the solid model.

Some testing with a bench supply showed that the DSO150 will not operate correctly from the voltages produced by a pair of lithium cells, despite what you’d think from looking at the case. Below 8 V, the internally generated negative supply becomes larger than the positive supply, so the 0 V point isn’t properly centered and the scope loses headroom for large signals; monitoring the internal 3.3 V test signal makes the problem painfully obvious.

More color commentary from my summary email:
- Combining a case from Thingiverse with a Li-Ion cell and a regulated boost converter produces a portable scope.
- The PCB has provision for battery input, so I drilled / filed a square hole for a teeny JST-ish connector on the back panel, secured it with a blob of hot melt glue, and globbed the wires onto the PCB battery pads.
- The boost converter draws about 400 mA from the cell, so a 2500-ish mA·h cell should last Long Enough™. This is a scrap cell from the recycle box and gave out after maybe four hours.
- It idles at 8 mA, so I drilled a hole in the back of the case for a toggle switch disconnecting the battery; you’d want the hole in the solid model. Perhaps a better converter would have lower idle current; you’d never be able to tell from the eBay descriptions.
- Aaaaand it switches around 200 kHz under load, just barely beyond the scope bandwidth. It doesn’t add much noise to the signal, at least with a 50 Ω terminator jammed in the BNC, but the square-wave “cal” output looks awful at 50 mV/div; a real scope shows even more noise. I assume the noise comes directly from the logic supply; with luck, the DSO150’s analog circuitry has Good Enough™ filtering.
- Which might not matter for logic-level and moderate analog signals, of course, which is the whole point of the DSO150.
- Conspicuous by their absence: a Li-Ion cell protection PCB and any way to recharge the poor thing …
I’ve occasionally wanted a portable scope and now I have one!
2018-12-05