blog.l-lacker.com » Toys http://blog.l-lacker.com Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:52:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Project | MintyBoost http://blog.l-lacker.com/project-mintyboost/ http://blog.l-lacker.com/project-mintyboost/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:54:13 +0000 admin http://blog.l-lacker.com/?p=195 [...]]]> LadyAda sells a pretty neat kit to allow you to give your USB gadgets power from 2 AA batteries. To create the “Boost” (save for batteries) The capacitors, IC Socket, schottky diode, etc.. took roughly 10 minutes to solder onto the PCB using these instructions, and another 15 minutes and 2 Altoids gum tins to give it the “Minty” part. Note: I spent the better part of 2 days locating these gum tins in the midwest.  Eventually I found them at CVS of all places.

A couple of test gadgets; iPod touch (Gen2), G1, iPod Shuffle seemed to work just fine.  The tin does get hot, and there is a buzzing and hissing noise that emits from the tin.  Perfectly Normal.
From the F.A.Q

“How many charges/hours of use can I get out of a MintyBoost?”

This question is hard to judge because every device has different power usage. However, a simple way to calculate approximate run-time is: take the size of the internal Lithium-Ion battery (for example, many iPods have 750mAh batteries) and divide 1000 by that number. So for a 750mA battery, 1000/750 = 1.3. The MintyBoost will fully charge the device about 1.3 times, as a best case. Remember, this is only an approximation and has a lot to do with the quality of the batteries you use (expensive alkalines v. cheap rechargables) and the internal circuitry of the device for recharging the battery.

I would suggest this for anyone needing a quick burst of juice on the go.   This is also a nice beginners soldiering project.

As always, comment with questions or contact me via twitter.

]]> http://blog.l-lacker.com/project-mintyboost/feed/ 0 Project | Harley Cruiser Mod http://blog.l-lacker.com/project-harley-cruiser-mod/ http://blog.l-lacker.com/project-harley-cruiser-mod/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:50:19 +0000 admin http://blog.l-lacker.com/?p=89 [...]]]> DSC02303

A neighbor gave us a Harley Cruiser power wheels.  The only thing wrong with it? Battery fail.  Well, technically that was the only thing wrong with it.   In my opinion it was missing a few things.  Time to mod this hog.

What are you going to do?

I decided to keep it very simple at first and just add a working headlight and tail lights. That’s right, all show and no go. This is for my Son and he DOES want to actually ride it.   Since he is the boss, I’d better get him on the road as quickly as possible. We’ll give him some power a little later on.  I headed to Walmart (urp) to look for the following.

Taillights    x2    @ 1.75″
Headlight    x1    @ 4.75″

I decided the best thing to use would be flashlights. For the headlight,  I picked up a Brinkmann 6 Volt Krypton Lantern.  It had the size and the power source I needed.  Plus it was $5.00. Score.

For the tails, I chose a 2 pack of Rayovac Brilliant Solutions LED Flashlights.  The top cover was a pretty close match to the style of the bike.

I added a small row of LED’s on the rear fender for some sweet “blue flame” action.

I wired it up,  and was able to cram both the 12V battery and the 6V battery under the seat by flipping the 12V battery so the connection was on the other side.

Is that it?

Next up? Working sounds, a paint job and maybe some sweet handlebars.  Stay tuned.

@hevnsnt from I-Hacked.com told me about http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com… the possibilities for this are endless.(and scary). Just check out the videos.

Questions?

Please comment, or email me here.

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