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").

DIY: Turn your bike into e-bike for yourself - Step 3/5: Preparing the box to house batteries and controller

Table prepared to house the batteries that drive us

If you do not want complications, you can always put a rear rack on the bike, and then put the battery. But I have opted to place them on the table, which, though it takes more work,has a number of advantages: 

1. The weight will be more evenly distributed, providing braking and acceleration. On the rear wheel and have about 6 kg. with the engine, if you also put the battery, it will be more difficult to transport and easier we can steal the most expensive part of the electric bike.
2. In the picture we can put the battery in the format we want, taking advantage of an otherwise wasted space, and allows us to better cool the driver if you use one side of sheet aluminum. It will be better secured and more stylish bike.
3. Good space and fixing. The table allows us to fix very well, so they do not "jump" with every bump. Furthermore, by using standard Li-ion batteries with 1C charge / discharge, we must use more units per cell to get enough power in case you want to overcome slopes of more than 10% without much help from us; 18650 battery using 9 x 10 cells obtain a 36V and 20Ah capacity, enough to make 50 kms without problems (helping us). A battery of this size would not be very aesthetic behind and go unnoticed.
4. And aesthetically, "cool" a lot! We can put stickers, drawings, etc.

As Jack, whose tutorials I learned a lot, he used wood to prepare : 

I preferred the aluminum for enduring great weather, easy to assemble, lightweight, flexible and durable. 
My bike Jumper BH, as I mentioned in previous posts, has a peculiar box aluminum alloy, which makes it more resistant to the jumps with its diamond shape. After figuring out the various settings, I bought a 45x23mm angles and 2 meters long, riveted on what was to be the base of support of the battery cells, placed diagonally. 

IMPORTANT: The width of the frame must be in accordance with the width of the batteries that we stay; in my case 6 cm. approx.

As batteries go diagonally, must form an angle at the bottom, where the profile will not: 

Holding one side of the base with a sergeant, drill and drilled, and then riveted

Changing the display cable on a laptop

Acer Aspire 5930G with the display cable fixed

Earlier I commented that in several ACER laptops the picture failed by the cable, and the solution to tighten the connection area does not give permanent results, so sick of the problem, ordered a new cable from Ebay. 15 days later it came to me:

In this post we will see the steps to take to change the cable screen (make that is the problem before changing; it is not the most common).

This guide will give us the necessary guidelines to disarm any screen, since all are constructed similarly.

Sending the warmth of a fireplace to the radiators with a coil

The cauldron of fireplaces Sierra (Granada)

With the onset of winter, and increasing energy bills (gas, electricity) should look ways to warm up cheaper and more efficient, as the use of biomass (wood, forest waste, olive pits, etc). 

In conventional wall mounted fireplaces, as already mentioned earlier in this blog, 80% of the heat is lost up the chimney if they have no heat recovery system (either by movement of air or water). 
In a wood stove cast iron outdoor setting this is not necessary, already have a lot of performance (depending on the oven). 

Image: Cassette flush with heat fans with 85% yield

DIY: Turn your bike into an e-bike for yourself - Step 2/5: Mount the engine and disc brakes on it

2: Putting the engine on the bike

In this post I will explain how I placed the wheel with the engine kit on the bike, but before going into the details of the assembly, we will expand the information in the first inning on motors that we use for our bike. 
In theory you could use any engine from 150 to 1000W (or more, but I think putting more unnecessary and dangerous), with or without brushes, etc, but if we use a lot of bike, it is better to spend more on a good motor brushless dc (B rush L ess D irect C urrent BLDC) that will last us as much as the bike itself (while we burn not overheat), since the only mechanical parts, bearings, they last almost a lifetime and may be changed if necessary. 

Brushless motors have the advantage of being easier to handle (not require an electronic controller), but require increased maintenance to bring wear parts (brushes, and gears if available).

Legally you can put a powerfull motor and limit it to 250W in certain countries; it is the output which is limited.

Among the small BLDC motors have 250 / 380W with gears to increase torque, the gears are usually made ​​of nylon and after a few thousand miles. often fail (although you can get partsof metal). These motors are recommended for people using the bike for rides, and have a little help with hills; they are small and inexpensive. 
It is always preferable to a direct BLDC motor bike without gears for the following reasons: 

• They are the most efficient (up to 97% efficiency).
• Very good power / weight ratio.
• Very low maintenance.
• High acceleration (nothing mechanical that limit, the limit is usually electronic).
• Precisely controllable rate.
• Low operating noise (soft rrrr only at low revs).

As I already mentioned , if we want to climb steep slopes need 500W at least one so you can go loose and does not overheat; on hot days the engine of my bike can become hot enough to climb a hill of 500 meters and 10% incline. 

As I said, I recommend reading the blog of Sebastian Reyes , especially this entry to choose the right kit for your needs. On this page of Golden Motors is a good comparison of performance and recommendations of the various engines.

I chose the 901 Prokit a kit consisting of rim GoldenMotor brushless motor that can work at 24/36 / 48V (500/720 / 1000W), controller knobs (with the right type motorcycle throttle), and a pair of switches for the horn and cruise. 
This engine runs about 38 km / h with a battery of 36V and 20Ah (I checked), and according to specifications can feed the Prokit 901 with up to 60V; I can not imagine how fast you could go with that voltage! 

An American editor has managed to put it to 120 km / h! . Yes, theorists in vacuum at 1050 rpm. and running at 72V, I guess.

Riding the rim with motor bike 

The Prokit 901 brings a BAC-281 controller 50A peak (30A continuous) which is fine, it can also operate without hall sensors (in case one fails), besides bringing cruise control, horn, anti-theft system etc, but your program setup by PC brings few changeable options: 

DIY: Turn your bike into an e-bike for yourself in 5 steps - Step 1: Build the battery from recycled laptop batteries

BH bike modified to electric with prokit 901; a real pleasure to climb hills with it

Some time ago I had in mind to change my bike to convert it to an e-bike; it was increasingly more difficult for me to climb the hill to my home with sections of 14% and get sweating profusely in summer is not very comfortable to say something.

In the next 5 entries I will tell you the details of how I have adapted mine for 500 € (if you want it without complications, since you have € 1100):

1: We'll see how to prepare the battery with Li-ion 18650 batteries

2: Putting the engine on the bike

3: Preparing the housing for the batteries in the box

4: Connecting it all and programming the controller

And finally, it is important to have good brakes; Bike weight reaches 25 kg.

Voltage monitor cell; important to know the status of each pack

Calculating the cost of lighting according to the type of bulb

Picture: r (Energy Trends)

With the price of electricity rising steadily, and the prices of CFLs, correct evaluation of what type of lighting to use at home is necessary to not lose sleep over the bill. 

Recently I commented the advantages and (current) limitations of the LED; this post by a simple calculation table, see what it would cost to illuminate a room, hallway, or whatever depending on the type of lamp chosen. 

Ex LED lamp with E27 and 420 lumens with 6W consumption.; glows like a traditional 30W

I entered the data for five similar lighting lamps (1000 lumens); comparable to a 75W traditional incandescent bulb: 

1. E27 LED lamp ; 10 / 12W consumption
2. Philips CFL; Consumption 15W
3. Halogen; 50W, their advantage is that they last longer and shine a little more (because it uses another gas).
4. Traditional low power ; use halogen technology.
5. Traditional 75W

Irretrievably Erasing a hard drive: Secure-erase your data

Before throwing a computer that has no basis in the trash, think twice, because some unscrupulous could recover all your information even if you have formatted the hard disk.

Note: When you delete files are not physically deleted from the disk, but for reasons of speed and recoverability only the "direction" of the file is deleted from the hard disk. It happens when we format a disk similar to "quickly".

Previously we discussed how to recover data from hard drives (my favorite for this is Redo Backup , which will soon explain their fascinating abilities).

To avoid this, it is best to make a low-level format with a free program for personal use as eg.HDD Low Level format Tool .

Report: LED lighting, present and future of lighting

LED Bulb E27 6W to 220VAC

The lighting technology LED is already present and future of lighting, with prices a few years ago was prohibitive but are becoming more affordable and superior performance compared to other light sources, making them rapidly depreciable . 
They are currently recommended especially where they can not be placed compact low-power, as in bathrooms and hallways (CFL does not hold up well off and frequent or cold locations such as garages on): 

• LED technology is low power consumption, with savings of 80-90% compared to incandescent and improving every year.
• Ecological; no Mercury or polluting materials, emits no UV or infrared.
• Lifetime: Duration between 20,000 and 50,000 hours, depending on the quality of the lamp and the LED.
• Instant light, as fast as incandescent or halogen.
• Can be switched on and off as many times as you want without reducing useful life.
• Because of its semiconductor format optimally support vibration and shock; it will work even if the casing is broken, contrary to the other technologies.
• With more lumens per cm2 than halogen and CFL, and more efficient, have great ability to be miniaturized (flashlights, televisions, etc).
• Uniform light without shadows into the light, available in warm white or pure, or all colors to consumer tastes.
• Design only limited by the imagination thanks to its compact size and low temperature of LED; the possibility of sharing the light sources as we want by the lamp allows innovative designs integrated into the environment ; are valid for any type of use.
• As in the CFL, some models can be adjusted easily by varying the electric current applied to a regulator. Very useful for environments that wish adaptive dynamic light environment (eg., We could program Arduino ambient lighting that adapts to the light coming through the windows, or human presence, illuminating more where people are ).

However, its disadvantages, but salvageable, are: 

• The angle of the light from an LED is directed at an angle of limited brightness;There are lamps with angles between 30 and 240; laterally to illuminatemanufacturers seek designs where multiple LEDS pointing to different parts or modern reflectors, which can be a problem of space, and rising from the lamp, but gradually being solved with lenses that scatter light or formats led targeted less.
• Are still relatively expensive when it comes to high power systems where other lamps are almost as efficient and cheaper, such as sodium vapor (80 lm / W, but also more polluting and less durable), since the ledes require heat sinks (this will change as improve its luminous efficiency).
• The LED works better the white light is emitted (temp. Color approx. 6000K), for more warm yellow light to be mixed with another color decreases performance slightly.
• Require temperatures below 70 ° C to maintain their life, so they need efficient heat sinks, which increases their cost.
• They are very long lasting, but its intensity decreases with time; for an LED with an expected life of 25,000 hours, you will after that time a light intensity of 70% the original, but it will illuminate; not "merge" normally, but they fade away.
• The high power LEDs must wear a suitable light fader so that if viewed directly by accident, do not harm the view (some are more intense to look at the sun directly).

This entry will discuss technology LED and its many advantages, the influence of operating temperature on the duration (disarm a lamp) and uses more current recommended (for those who want to minimize investment while taking advantage of technology); go for the LED is a very good investment, ecological and profitable.

Save with LED technology 

Changing brushes on washing machine

Too often, there are washers in perfect condition thrown in recycling because repair costs are too high and not worth repairing, and the consumer has to assess whether it is worth it because you do not know if it will give more problems or not, and with the aid renewal of appliances, makes you thinking twice.

But if it's a quality machine, and low power consumption with less than 10 years like this AEG, and the problem is that the brushes are worn (AEG usually eat them fast), always it is worth to repair it; two wipers is 15 €.

To access the brushes Lavamat AEG-5011 / 5012 have to remove the rear cover or case, which involves exposing half the labadora (handy for technicians, a success of AEG), takes several screws, both at the top, of which only removal of those to the rear half of the housing, and more difficult, leading to the sides at the bottom behind a plastic plug, because you have to use a hexagonal socket wrench to 8 I think it is.