Home
[=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=]
[<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>]
[=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=]
Stardate: 20221211.2227
Location: The Lab
Input Device: enTourage pocket eDGe
Audio: Hum of fans.
Visual: Device in landscape mode, using Documents To Go.
Emotional: Dreading Monday, not enough weekend :/
[=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=]
I brought out the enTourage pocket eDGe (ebook reader) this evening
from the archives. It has been awhile since I used this device. I
try to keep some charge in it, and it still seems to be handling well
for its age. This was a quirky device when it came out, having 2
screens, one resistive LCD and the other an eink display. There
seemed to be more odd-ball kinds of devices before than now. These
days, they all seem basically the same. I think the world needs a
better selection of odd-ball devices.
As some of you that read my phlogs know, I enjoy electronic gadgets
and I do what I can to extend the life and purpose of these devices.
As a result of being the curator of these devices, I have acquired
some knowledge of caring for the power consumption and the
mechanisms that provide power for these devices. This has led me to
having an inadvertent hobby with batteries, DC power, and even photo
voltaics.
Over the past couple weeks, I have been going through the irregular
practice of testing the capacity of rechargeable power banks and
batteries that I have acquired over the years. Some of these are
small and portable, others are larger and provide power to the
Ghetto Charging Cart[1] and smaller rechargeables.
The way I test capacity is with various tools depending on the
battery/power bank. Originally, it was very manual and not precise,
using alligator clips, hacked cables, a multimeter and a watch, with
tracking how long it would take for the battery to be depleted
under load. I learned quite a bit doing things that way back then.
These days, I use better tools that are more precise and less of a
fire hazard. But I still keep a fire extinguisher close by.
For larger batteries, I use a West Mountain Radio CBAII (Computerized
Battery Analyzer). This device has a fan that sits on top of a heat
sink that sits over the microcontroller and has wires coming out of
it. There is a type-B USB port for the data and is plugged into an
old Windows XP tablet PC. The firmware on the CBAII will not work
on Linux or newer versions of Windoze, so I keep a partition on the
tablet PC for offline, legacy support.
For USB power banks, I use an inexpensive Chinese USB multimeter
(Rui Deng UM25C). This tool has an Android app that commuicates
with the mulitmeter over bluetooth. I put it on an old Android
phone that has an infrared camera (CAT S60). The camera comes in
handy when checking for hot spots or shorts in the discharging.
Here's a pic from the camera with and without thermal imaging.[2]
It shows the 12v banana jack accessory that I have plugged into a
12v accessory socket to test the ACOPOWER power bank. There is
visible heat (110.7F) that cannot be seen in the regular image but
is clearly visible in the thermal image.
The USB mulitmeter has few USB ports for the load. Sometimes I
connect a power bank for the load so I can reuse the power. If I
need to test at a specific amperage, I will attached the CBAII for
the load.
This round, I tested a number of devices.
[-------------------------------------------------------------]
[ | Original | Current| Life | Service ]
[ Battery | Watt Hours | Wh | Left | Start date ]
[------------------|------------|--------|-------|------------]
[ ProHT | 37 | 25.628 | 69.2% | ]
[ Aduro Ultraboost | 74 | 65.185 | 88.1% | 06/07/2021 ]
[ ACOPOWER | 150 | 42.106 | 27.9% | 07/21/2019 ]
[ Rad Shack 7A SLA | 84 | 18.96 | 22.6% | ]
[ Rad Shack 5A SLA | 60 | 7.9 | 12.9% | ]
[ Rad Shack 7A SLA | 84 | 34.08 | 40.6% | 07/21/2019 ]
[ Xpal 18000 | 70 | 49.2 | 70.3% | 08/2012 ]
[ Energizer PS010 | 15 | 1.013 | 6.75% | ]
[ Krisdonia NJF-5X | 185 | 78.54 | 42.5% | 07/21/2019 ]
[-------------------------------------------------------------]
If I remember to, I will make a label with the date and stick it
on the battery pack when I put it in service.
Most of these batteries were discharged at the rate I typically use
them. I was suprised at the remaining life of the ProHT and Xpal
batteries. These are one of the oldest ones I still have in
rotation, but they do not get used as often as before. Perhaps they
should.
When the capacities drop down to <25%, I will repurpose the battery
for discharging that is less demanding. For instance, the
Energizer PS010 used to be able to charge an old mobile dumb phone
but is no longer able to. Now it can be used to charge a 3.7v 150mA
Lipo cell that I use for LEDs, while also extending the life of the
battery and keeping it away from the recycler/landfill.
This task of charging, discharging and maintenance of the batteries
can seem a bit much. Most people would not even bother. For some
reason, I enjoy the task and looking at the graphs and the data.
The observation of the life cycle and the tracking of the history of
various batteries and power banks was not a hobby I would have
actively pursued. It now seems like it has become part of my routine.
DIR [1] 20190113_charging
IMG [2] Side by side regular and thermal image from CAT S60 phone.
[=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=]