Improving cooling a powerful notebook graphics with a transistor and Arduino

Laptops that come with powerful graphics have an usually badly designed thermal control; This is the case of my dear Acer 5930G (already I spoke above ) wearing a removable Geforce graphics card.

Engineers Acer believed it was enough to regulate the fan with the processor temperature, since the sink joins both, but the graphics consume more, which can reach 70 easily while the CPU is 40 and the fan medium gas.

We'll see how we regulate the fan directly 5V , depending on the temperature of the area that interests us, with the advantage of being able to use any fan that can be coupled to our team, plus you can customize the level of cooling in the Arduino code. 

The result : I got him down more than 20 to the graph regarding the regulation of factory, from 70 to about 45 ° C at rest. And in 90 games at maximum 70 ° C. You hear more, because almost constantly is 100% , but if that win in durability, I welcome the resulting hiss. Another advantage is that by taking the power from the USB port, turn it off when no temperature peaks but still cooling off while connected to the grid, until it cools completely and stops. 

Materials Needed:
- Chip ATtiny85 
- Transistor NPN 50V typical and 5Vgs ( 2N4401 I used myself). 
- Capacitor 220uF 6V and min. 
- Diode 5V and minimum hold 200mAh. 
- Tubing.

Reusing power sources to power devices of different voltages: voltage converters

42V DC Power 19V 2A regulated DC to charge a laptop that spends 3A

In this post we will see how to feed these appliances we have at home, whose power supplies had stopped working and left, forgotten, in a drawer.

For example, that portable power supply can have a second life and continue feeding any device that requires a power exceeding the capacity (watts) of the transformer. While we maintain the amps equal or exceeding the needings by the apparatus we want to power, we just have to make sure that the voltage output is the same or little less of your device needs.

If for example we need an  e-bike charger, or need a charger of a given voltage, we can adapt economically the output voltage: This is where the boosters and converters come into play modifying voltage DC to DC.

Replacing the battery ARRAY Ni-MH battery with a Li-Ion one

In this post we will see another example of updating a NI-MH battery for Li-ion another , much more durable and with no memory effect, in addition to saving bucks in the long run on batteries. These modified batteries are two years running without any problem, and that they were batteries in its final cycle of use, recycled.

Disk arrays on servers usually have an acceleration unit with memory and a battery to prevent data loss in the event that there is a black-out.

Since the Ni-MH array accelerator many HP servers work with 3.6V (three 1.2V rechargeable batteries in series) is replaced by a single Li-ion protected working between 3 and 4 battery , 2V (at 3.6V is 40% capacity).

The original battery, spare ref. 307132-001 HP is 500mAh, so a Li-ion 2600 mAh far exceeds that capacity, so it will retain more energy and for more years than the original having no "memory effect" (probably last longer the server itself), protecting better against unexpected power outages data (also recommended a UPS).

Preparing a ventilated protective mask for Airsoft

Homemade ventilation mask

Eye protection is mandatory in airsoft, but most masks do not have enough ventilation, so you end up with very low vision by condensation on the policarbonate plastic.

As others have done before me, the trick is to introduce fresh air with a small fan and battery; I used a fan from a notebook computer, with a small switch and a 18650 lithium battery (4.2V) in the corresponding adapter .

Modifying an airsoft HK 416 UMAREX with 11,1V for increased rate of fire: from 13 bps to 18 bps

HK 416 from UMAREX, very high quality materials and precision

Recently I personalized with more cadence one airsoft replica HK 416 from UMAREX, the best available today replica of the lethal original, getting to shoot 18 balls per second instead of 13 with the recommended battery.

For this we have got 11,1V instead of the 7.4V li-ion recommended by the manufacturer, using 6 standard size batteries 2000 mAh 18650 and 1C discharge . Usually LiPo is more desirable for these cases, for the effort that must hold the batteries, they probably will last less than normal ... but what can we do... life is short;) and we just had them available.

Putting 11,1V to the repeater you are breaking the guarantee, but it have such good material and design that we'd rather risk getting a machine of epic massacres;)

In the following video a Youtube friend did the same and is working very well:

How to extend the battery life of your laptop without losing power: Reduce the processor voltage

Earlier we saw how to extend the battery life (and the computer to overheat less, also extending its life) tweaking the settings of the graphics card . This time we will do the same, but without any danger to your computer, without slowing it , lowering processor voltage. 

Did you know that it will continue working as before and safely? Indeed. And I'll explain why. 

Assemblers buy computer components (including the processor, AMD, Intel, or whatever) and then merge them into assembly. However, when making the processors are produced in batches of thousands of units, and each comes with its own characteristics (may have tiny defects, with a different quality, which may slightly affect the performance of each) a particular "batch" sample is tested, and labeled with the voltage required to operate safely and without fail, usually with a large margin of error. 

We will find out what the lowest safe voltage possible for each processor operating frequency that our laptop mounts, and apply it using a program (RM-Clock for intel or AMD K10Stat for K10), so our team will to do the same job, but with less energy, less warming, lengthening its life, and thus making the battery last longer. It sounds complicated, but you will see that it is not. 

This applies especially to older processors; for current (Phenom, I3 / I5 / I7) can not find them programs that can configure or that you have to make the change through the BIOS (I think that Intel now are marked with fixed voltage factory without the possibility of change "on the fly").

Install Cyanogenmod on your Android: Give new life to your mobile

If you want a quick cooked rom like lightning, stable, without unnecessary extras that will occupy memory, CyanogenMod is one of the most refined Android ROMS and more support.

You can use the latest Android versions on the old cell (eg version 4.2 on a Galaxy 9003 whose support fell in version 2.3.6); you'll be amazed at what your phone is capable with an optimized software.

Moreover, so far the fact that other manufacturers present a different user experience was an obstacle for those who are used to the "quirks" and features our brand ever. With CyanogenMod does not occur, presenting a similar Android experience use the brand you use (like CyanogenMod is not supported for all phones, see first what development there for you're interested ).

These and other reasons I will mention below, made me opt for this cooked ROM for my Samsung Galaxy S3.

Top reasons to use CyanogenMod on your mobile

Upgrade your Samsung Galaxy GT-i9003 with SCL 10.2 CyanogenMod

If you want to enjoy the features of the latest Android 4.3, CyanogenMod 10.2 is now available to give new life to your mobile phone Galaxy I9003, as I said in the previous post ; Its main advantages are speed, enjoy the latest features of Android, and homogeneity in experience (plus it is very customizable). 

It is an ALPHA version, we have been testing and hangs / restarts occasionally (once every two days or so) so it is not recommended to use it yet, I would expect to take out a stable version, see page if it already is. According to the Developer the only downside, aside from those sporadic crashes is that video playback is not quite fluent, but we just have not noticed a difference. 

Attention: If you live in South America, they carry other types of modem / 3G Network, so you will not do this version. Looking for more information on websites of your country.

After having tested this equipment, it becomes faster than any other ROM, with a more streamlined interface and interactive user, and all the improvements of Android 4.3 (camera, security, flow, etc). In the video you can see the previous version 10.1, but it gives an idea: 

To install it, we do it through CWM (ClockWorkMod Recovery, a powerful boot utility), so the process is very safe and it is extremely difficult to turn the phone into a brick like this. 

If already you had CWM installed (for a previous modified ROM), only you would need to download the ROM, keep it in the SD card, reboot into CWM (Volume Up + Home + on) mode, make a Wipe Data / Factory Reset and clear caches and then install the rom with the option of "install zip from SDCard".

We'll see then what steps to take if you have the official version Samsung; the process is simple if we follow the letter will not have problems, I recommend that you read the entire article before getting your hands dirty, to understand some of the process and avoid trouble. 

Modifying Dacia key to accommodate longer lasting battery

Hello dear readers. Today I will discuss a small modification I made to my remote control car, a Dacia Sandero diesel, a simple, robust and economical european car, both in price and consumption. 

Adding a mp3 headset to a 3M hearing protection

If you are lucky enough to work in a factory with the times, surely ye be required to wear helmets as a image.

The workshop music rarely it gets, and even went down, between the noise and helmets could barely hear, but ... what if we add a mp3 to helmets?

Use this idea with responsibility; if you put loud music, maybe you do not hear a fellow warning danger.

A friend had the bright idea to do it, and here is the result.