charger

Light a Fire to Access This Post-Apocalyptic Digital Safe

Light a Fire to Access This Post-Apocalyptic Digital Safe

When the end times come, you’ll still be able to download survival guides from this DIY digital cache that’s powered by fire.

Continue Reading
Maximize Your Solar Charging With a DIY Arduino Controller

Maximize Your Solar Charging With a DIY Arduino Controller

Here’s how to build a buck converter using an Arduino Nano (as well as another 28 listed components) to supply the maximum power that you can to your PV cell. This is known as maximum power point tracking, abbreviated MPPT. Photovoltaic (PV) cells produce different amounts of current and voltage depending on light and temperature conditions. […]

Continue Reading
Apple iPhone Charger Teardown

Apple iPhone Charger Teardown

Great article by Ken Shirriff on the circuit and build of the iPhone charger. Like most people, I think I have taken this little device for granted for the years that I’ve owned an iPhone. Disassembling Apples diminutive inch-cube iPhone charger reveals a technologically advanced flyback switching power supply that goes beyond the typical charger. […]

Continue Reading
Hand powered smartphone charger updated

Hand powered smartphone charger updated

Back in October 2010 Ben Heckendorn discovered that a hand-cranked LED flashlight had enough juice to recharge his smartphone. He recently revisited this idea on his show and updated the hack by adding a simple voltage regulating circuit using a Zener diode and a 100hm resister. He also added a USB port to plug in a microUSB recharging cable.

Continue Reading
Dog-simple phone charging station

Dog-simple phone charging station

Over at the Steampunk Workshop, Jake von Slatt posted this brief item: Here’s a dead simple cell phone charging station I installed next to our main entrance. It’s just a pair of hangers of the sort you’d use in the garage to store a shovel or a rake. If your wall isn’t made of barn-board […]

Continue Reading