Fixing Stuff

[rebelrider.mike]

A couple years ago, I was given a rather large old air compressor. As some of you may know, I'm not particularly well-off financially, so this was a big deal. Only catch is that it's been sitting for a while and had some electrical problems.

Well, I finally dug it out this summer to get it going again. Here's a couple videos of my progress so far:

I've actually got the motor running really nice, but that didn't make it into the latest video. Also, still having trouble getting the plugs out of the tank.

 

[rebelrider.mike]

Here's the next video with the motor finished. I'm never sure when each video will end, so sometimes they end rather abruptly, LOL. But this catches me up to where I am at the time of this posting.

 

[rebelrider.mike]

Well, the compressor parts are put away for the winter. In the meantime, I fixed up an old belt sander for use on future projects:

 

[vishal.ds]

Before I throw broken stuff away, I like to try and fix it first. Sometimes I save money. Sometimes I don't. I usually end up with a new tool and sometimes I even learn something.

So here's my latest fix it project. A while back I bought a Black and Decker electric screwdriver. Comes in really handy when I don't want to go find my full sized hand drill. Or it did until it stopped charging.

Well, the thing is powered by 3 AA NiCd 800mAh batteries in series. One cell was completely dead. The other two were pretty far gone, and I decided to replace all three.

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I've been using Tenergy NiMH cells for a while and I like them. So I decided to try out their NiCds as replacements.

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The new battery is kind of ugly, but it works.

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Got it crammed into the allotted space.

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And it works!

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At this point I decided to address the charging system. I was a bit confused to learn that the power brick sends out AC current. I guess there's a diode in the wiring somewhere inside the tool.

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Yep there's a diode in there under the shrink wrap.

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The new charger will be DC current, so the diode is no longer needed.

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Also, the barrel connector for the charger is an odd proprietary size. I'm swapping it out with a more standard 5.5x2.5mm one.

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Finally, the cable connector is just a bit shorter than the original, which prevents a good connection.

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I removed around 1/8" of the finger-holdy bit (that's a technical term) and now it snaps right into place.

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Seems quite happy on the iMax charger. And the old charger can be saved for some future thing I don't know about yet.

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Hi Rebelrider.
I have this same electric screwdriver and I have bought the same tenergy nicd 1000mah 1.2v batteries.
I have a question.
Can I simply replace the old batteries with these, without having to remove the diode, and without changing the charger adapter or barrel connector?
Will the screwdriver work?
I am a zero at electric works, and I don't have a sophisticated battery charger like yours.
Can you please guide me?

 

[rebelrider.mike]

Well, you'd need to connect them up. If I remember right, the originals are spot-welded. I think I might have soldered mine. But yeah, you can use the same hardware that came with the screwdriver.

 

[rebelrider.mike]

I've had the same headboard reading light for decades. The dimming function hasn't worked for ages. Just turns on and off. A couple weeks ago the LED bulb I've had in it for maybe 10 years finally kicked it. Rather than just replacing the bulb, I wanted to see if I could repair the dimming function.



I got it all apart, and it seems I know nothing about AC dimmers. It has a little circuit board with several components I'm not familiar with. I found a PDF that explains it, and I read it, but don't understand it. I think my issue is that I don't understand diacs or triacs. I get the feeling though, that this setup makes the dimmer more efficient. It produces very little waste heat anyway.

Now, it would have been cheaper, easier, and faster to just buy a replacement LED light. But where's the fun in that? I decided to go with what I know, and replace the guts with new DC stuff. I bought a pair of headlight ring lights, a 120VAC to 12VDC power supply, and a PWM controller with a remote potentiometer.



The light fit inside the diffuser, the power supply fit where the light socket used to be, and the PWM controller fit where the old circuit board was inside the base. It got pretty fiddly getting all the wires to go where I wanted them, but I eventually got it. I also added a switch so the power supply isn't on all the time, and a fuse just in case there's a short inside the lamp somewhere. I put the circuit boards on some foam to insulate them from the metal surfaces, but I had an inline fuse handy and there was room, so I figured why not.



Not sure if it shows up on camera, but I picked a nice amber light for nighttime reading. After 20+ years it's dimmable again, plenty bright for reading, and only uses 1.8W. I might come up with a cover for the center of the diffuser someday. I also added a rubber gromet in the back where the wires come out. It didn't have one before, and the edge of the hole was a bit hard on the wire insulation. I also took the opportunity to wash about 30 years worth of dust and fingerprints off the various parts. And if the ring light ever breaks, I have a spare. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.