I tried finding Hidden Gems on AliExpress AGAIN! (Part 9)

[@Juniocrvlh]

I'm civil engineer who has a bit of experience with these two laser tapes. Both are great to work indoors but the Bosch one is way better at outside work cause it has a stronger laser pointer that doesn't get faded easily by sunlight. Also it seems more heavy duty and some people say (not me) that the AAA batteries are more reliable in field work because if it runs out of juice you can just change the batteries and keep going. In my experience the rechargeable cheaper one lasts way more than you need in a full shift of work, it is cheaper to maintain, easier to carry around just in case and more environmentally friendly. That is, the expensive one only outcasts the cheaper one if you need to measure great distances at direct sunlight.

[@MarkLeinhos]

Other advantages to AAA for some people: When left alone for a year the rechargeable unit will be dead when I want to use it, while the AAA unit will be ready to go after a quick trip to the battery drawer. Because of this I always look for non-rechargable tools when I know I won't use them often. Bonus points for devices that might live in the trunk of my car and get quite hot in the sun, alkaline batteries are less likely to turn into fire while unattended.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

AAA batteries won't "get fat" in a year or so. Yes decent phone batteries don't do that, but this is a 10 euro device so the batt is going to be cheap

[@daviddavidson2357]

AAA one is more environmentally friendly as you can just use rechargable cells. when that cheap battery dies in the cheap unit, which is likely sealed, most people will just toss and buy another.

[@joakinsa]

Exactly the information I needed, thanks a lot!

[@damnwereinatightspot]

But neither measure from both ends. A dual laser would allow you to stand in the middle of a room and get a distance from wall to wall with out walking to the wall. Also Bosch, i belive, will work in fractions of an inch.

[@realmacmods]

Those USB-C adapters will also perform the ID function on Dell and HP laptops. Most Dells will not charge if you simply give them the 19V they are looking for. It does a handshake with 1-Wire EEPROM to define charger capabilities. Those adapters will emulate that EEPROM. This will tell the laptop how much power to attempt to pull, and if it pulls more than the USB-C charger can deliver, the charger will cycle, as you experienced. Ive used it on a few. A smaller Inspiron that takes a 45W charger works fantastic. A big Precision workstation that uses a 180W charger will not charge the battery while turned on, as you experienced. I actually mounted one inside the Inspiron so I can just plug and USB-C PD charger into it. Very useful for having to switch between a MacBook Pro and a Windows computer.

[@aleksandersats9577]

I'm a bit skeptical about them in one specific area. A lot of the time, older laptops with barrel connectors require a variety of voltages. I've seen 15v all the way to 20v. And I'm wondering how damaging it can be for said laptops that require a lower voltage.

[@realmacmods]

@@aleksandersats9577 That are basically just PD trigger boards with a barrel jack. So if it is a Dell computer meant for 19.5V, the trigger board is hardware configured via soldered pads or a resistor to tell the USBC charger that it needs 20V. If you plug that into a computer that wants 12V you are likely going to have a problem. PD standard can do other voltages with varying degree of compatibility.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@aleksandersats9577 you just need to make sure you only use the right adapter for the laptop, it is no different from being able to plug in incompatible power supplies to laptops already. So it’s really not much of an issue, no different to replacing the normal power supply, you need to get one that fits in the barrel Jack, is the correct voltage and can deliver enough power. If you use a 20 V power supply on a 15 V laptop then that is likely your fault and it could just have easily been two actual laptop power supplies you mixed up rather than these adapters.

[@ArtemisKitty]

@user-rw3fm9ix3i Yeah, I've been doing the same for a while - I carry a 65w charger barely larger than an ice cube, and can use it to charge one of my personal laptops, my work laptop, headphones, phone, steamdeck, etc. ALL off a single tiny charger and just 1 USB-C cable, plus a few dongles. They work GREAT up to about 120w... IF you get the right charger/cable/dongle all combined. Anything over that I haven't tested, so I can't vouch for the ones that advertise 180/240w, and... considering how new the standard is... I'm pressing X hard. But anything on PD3 - so up to 120w? A good little dongle paired with a decent quality charger is all you need. WELL worth it if you ever travel. Heck, worth it just in general IMO to carry less weight. I'm lazy. And I lose things. It's a lot cheaper to keep 2-3 of these in a drawer. Edit: Sorry, if I was unclear, I also have a 120w charger that I typically won't take with me unless I am carrying the gaming laptop. And... only the older one. Like I said... I don't trust 240w ones yet, and I'm not risking my laptop 'til they've been out for a while/settled to a standard. Heh.

[@sergeyafanasev7505]

Not all laptops uses EEPROM - some old Lenovo uses simple resistors, so it's a bit easier to emulate different PSUs.

[@lolidasterner414]

The usbc barrel adapter can power anything that demands less than 100w. Using it daily with a dell laptop and a 45w gan charger.

[@greatscottlab]

Good to hear :-)

[@v000000000000v]

i have a similar cable that i use for my bluetooth speaker that takes 20V, and it has a magnetic attachment that kind of works like a macsafe port too; probably not the safest for high amperage use cases but has been working fine for my use case

[@grzegorzw5042]

​@@greatscottlabOn some laptops like Dell, HP there is a charger power detection. On HP on third pin there is a voltage divider (simple resistor to +) In your movie it looks like there was 100watt resistor and the power supply with less power. In Dell is 1-wire. Those plugs are fine, but you need to remember that it might be tricky, due to cheating laptop's power detection.

[@HerrFreese]

Maybe an addional info here: I think these adapters produce 20V. I don't know if all Laptops use 20V in. Btw: works for my old Lenovo (not thinkpad) an also my wifes newer lenovo (not thinkpad) with thinkpad connector.

[@v000000000000v]

@@HerrFreese they have 9 12 15 20 from what I could find

[@bspringer]

From someone who had this charger for 3 years: It held up very well, but I've also seen some negative reviews of burned ones. Other than that: The UI sucks, because you cannot long press the button to change e.g. the charging current quickly. Meaning, if you want to change the current to 8.0A, you have to click that mushy button 80 times without EVER accidentally long pressing it, because then you have to press it 80 times again because the list always starts at 0. Secondly, when you are in Power Supply mode, you cannot have fast current jumps. When I power my Pinecil from it, it sometimes says overcurrent just because the current rises to fast. So don't put PWM LED strips on it or so. But for just static or mostly static power output it works just well. Generally, for Lipo charging, get the SkyRC B6 neo. Smaller, better UI and additional USB C power input. Not sure whether it has the DC-DC mode though.

[@ATX_Engineer]

I bought it about 5 years ago and it had pretty iffy output and the power mosfets failed after a couple of months.

[@trevorbartels1730]

I also had one burn up, customer support ignored me

[@ThePunischer1000]

The BattGo feature is awesome tho. I have swapped all my batteries to it so they get automatically identified upon plugging them in and the battery stores all information that you could ask for. Also you can configure that the battery will discharge itself to storage voltage if it is not used for an extended period of time. I don’t know if this exact charger model has this feature bit I believe all of their variants are equipped with it.

[@bspringer]

BattGo has been bought by another company and I didn't read the release notes when I updated the firmware on mine. BattGo is a thing of the past on ISDT chargers. Don't update your firmware!

[@Ubiquities]

I agree on this, I’ve used a couple ISDT Nano chargers and they have been great a few years and hundreds of battery packs charged. Also agree that the interface is an absolute pain in the butt, if you find the Q6 pro version with the wheel button at a decent price, that’s the better option

[@MykolaInc]

The problem of USB C laptop charger adapter is that most USB C power supplies trigger overload protection when total power riches maximum allowed. That is why you wasn't able to charge your powerful laptop, as the power to charge was about 65w and only 35w was left to power the laptop itself. Anyway the adapter can be used to power fully charged laptops (in the case of extending battery life from power bank) as fully charged laptops will drain the energy from the powerbank first (as charged batteries does not require power) then after the power bank emptied will use the battery.

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the feedback

[@yurcchello]

i used same adapter with 60W usb-c cable and get same results - resetting loop, worked fine after i switched to 100W cable. note: watched on youtube that this adapter can fail when transfering more than 100W, i have not tested this yet )

[@xmlthegreat]

​@@yurcchellothe problem is needing to use PD chargers. Non-PD chargers (such as the normal laptop chargers) can fault if you try to use them with these adaptors.

[@zeev549]

Did not work for me with 100w battery and Lenovo laptop that can consumes more than 100w. I would expect the plug to limit the current and ro it's capabilities and not disconnect, but it's probably too much for this price

[@cyby124]

@@greatscottlab my laptop only needs 40W usbc. no big bricks needed

[@parmesanzero7678]

These are great but one problem with those sellers is they’ll completely change the product being sold so one good review doesn’t mean you won’t get something more cheaply made from the same listing later.

[@BustRush]

I'm in China, and the items you mentioned, I can get them from e-commerce websites here at only 1/2 to 1/6 of the price you pay! This is also why China's manufacturing industry has progressed so rapidly.

[@schaltnetzteil495]

The Aliexpress hidden gem series is awesome! So please continue it!

[@Francisco17Berrios]

Yeah! I loved it too! :)

[@fatsolutions]

Absolutely

[@nimoy007]

8:18 "50 m without any walls in between" *immediately goes outside and closes a sliding glass door* XD

[@popcanter188]

i mean.... a door isnt a wall

[@nimoy007]

​@@popcanter188 You are technically correct...

[@greatscottlab]

The door was actually open. It is not that visible in the video though.

[@iXenox]

@@popcanter188 The listing names obstacles as a problem

[@nimoy007]

​@@greatscottlab I figured, but I just thought it was presented in a comedic way. The only problem I have with your videos is that they keep making my "Engineering & DIY" playlist longer! Keep up the great content!

[@harrkev]

About the laser tape measure, at the end, I would consider having a rechargeable battery to be a minus. A product like that is something that I would only use occasionally, and I would expect to keep it for 10 years or more. Unfortunately, with the built-in rechargeable battery, I wouldn't expect the battery to still be able to hold a charge after 10 years. So for my application, AAA batteries are far better.

[@greatscottlab]

Good point

[@iXenox]

It is extremely small, so I guess it is meant to fit into your pocket. This wouldn't be a design consideration if you weren't meant to use it often.

[@generalzugs6017]

Also, sometimes you find the battery to be empty just when you need to use the device. It's much quicker to replace the batteries (which have the standard size and are available everywhere) then to wait for the built in battery to charge.

[@Fraunzi]

You’re all wrong. Rechargeable is the way.

[@eDoc2020]

@@Fraunzi NiMH cells work great. No need for a hard-to-replace LiPo.

[@cuf_]

1:45 thanks for featuring my suggestion! Now i understand what they meant in the listing, time to get one.

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the recommendation :-)

[@wilfriedklaebe]

I'm looking for a BLDC blower optimized for static pressure to suck air through a filter, 5S or 10S would be just perfect. Any ideas?

[@cuf_]

​@@wilfriedklaebe maybe get one of those centrifugal fans, or maybe this one featured in the video would do. You could get the 310v unmodifoed fan and rewind it to be 5-10s, if they recommend an x amount of turns for 3s (im too lazy to check) then just wind it with 5s-10s/3s*x turns. You could make it work.

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@wilfriedklaebe The ~$100 "Wix" air filters from Costco use a ?30W? mains BLDC (been a while since I checked) to drive a centrifugal fan. It has a board that also has an ionizer and is controlled by an ESP32. You could probably find the parts cheaper individually, but if you can accept mains voltage, I'd say it's a great deal for an all in one solution.

[@AndersEinarHilden]

I feel like giving the PD3.1 powerbank PCB negatives because it required a new trigger board and cable was wrong. It worked great with the PD3.0 compatible trigger and cabels that you had. That you required newer trigger boards and cables was a limitation of your tools, not the board, and will be true for everyting supporting PD3.1 per spec.

[@kwinzman]

It clearly failed the test at 28V with too much 4.5V voltage drop. It should not get a recommendation. It should not advertise 28V5A if it can't provide the power. Is there any way to make it advertise only 28V3A? Was it overheating? Or were the battery cells the limiting factor? Review was severely lacking in this area IMHO. Clear failure having USB compliance but very little information and no effort to find the cause and still counted the product as recommendation.

[@xrafter]

Yeah, get him! Make him make another video!

[@Gintas50]

@@kwinzman I use power bank as fancy soldering iron power supply. I have pinecil v2 and sequre S99. This powerbank board with s6 21700 is working same as Anker 737, just S99 shutdown with anker because of 6A is too much for it, but this board just pushing these 6A and voltage drops to ~17V. I try charge 737 with this board and I had stable 28V and 5A

[@uzlonewolf]

​@@kwinzman More like, the tester used a long, crappy USB cable that had a ton of voltage drop. You need a pretty beefy cable to handle 5A without much drop.

[@Arhey]

13:40 for me having AAA batteries is actually advantage. Cause you can use the product for longer. Internal battery will degrade over time.

[@ezg8448]

100% agree with this statement! Especially because it came from AliExpress. Products from there aren't particularly known for using high quality batteries. But, of course there are always exceptions.

[@lavacat720]

Lithium batteries aren't complicated anymore and can be switched out like AA batteries these days (if you know how to use a JST connector and replace every year

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@lavacat720 most devices with internal lipo batts in this price range aren't designed to be opened up easily

[@lavacat720]

@@marcogenovesi8570 Reminds me of my old zte router which took a brain surgery to disassemble it

[@techheck3358]

it also makes them replaceable in the field. you switch them out, dont need to wait however long to charge. he isnt really the target audience for that kinda product

[@dan-nutu]

You can buy whole blowers with that motor, battery, USB-C charging for about 30 euros, I got one from amz to replace compressed air cans

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the info. Will have a look

[@Tomazack]

Do share a link if you will, that sounds very interesting.

[@dan-nutu]

yt has an annoying tendency to delete comments with links to anything else but yt, however you could search for something like air duster/blower, compressed air can replacement etc. and I'm sure you'll get some options. I checked my orders and the one I got in Feb 2023 was called "Compressed Air, MECO ELEVERDE 36000RPM Cordless Air Duster Blower for Computer, Laptop, Tower Fans, Printer, Computer Cleaner Keyboard for Cleaning Dust". I see it says "only" 36krpm but that is more than enough to blow dust. This particular model is not available anymore from the same seller ("MECO ELEVERDE") but they have a corded version, claiming 550W (maybe some of those 550W are Chinese Watts though). I guess this should have a similar motor to the one in the clip.

[@ProtonOne11]

I just got an aircan with a schrader valve, so i can "recharge" it at the compressor. I got a brand named one tho, not sure i want to trust an aliexpress aircan with a few bars of pressure.

[@dan-nutu]

@@Tomazack and here we go again, my reply to you just vanished, again. I must be on some sort of naughty list for youtube's "AI".

[@skysurferuk]

200mA Rx, 10mA Tx? Sure that's not backwards? Never heard of any system where the receiver uses more energy than the transmitter.

[@exen900]

For the wireless HDMI extenders, the answer is projector usage ;) if you have a two digit cable run going from our presenter table through the floor, wall and ceiling to the projector, those are awesome.

[@kikihun9726]

* aliexpress is a company like ebay. Not a seller.

[@greatscottlab]

True

[@M4XD4B0ZZ]

Who would have thought 😅

[@gibbyrockerhunter]

Thank god, Allah, and the big Buddha you made it here to catch that.

[@DivinityIsPurity]

Wrong, eBay is mostly an auction site with some buynow listings and many used items, aliExpress is not an auction site and doesn't sell used. More like amazon.

[@Raven3one]

This distinction was important

[@ulfnic]

Super grateful for these series! Thank you! Word of caution about the iSDT Q8 and why i'm getting rid of mine... I bought three of them a while back and all of them have a problem where they deeply discharge one cell of the battery if the balance cable remains attached after charging finishes, even if the input power to the Q8 is removed. It's as if the last cell that it was balancing gets stuck in discharge mode. It also has an annoying auto-off timer if you're using it as a DC power supply that you can't turn off. It's my experience that issues like these don't tend to get fixed but i'd like to hear if your recent purchase is any different. I replaced them with the SkyRC B6 Neo which has none of those problems. Only downside is you don't have as many voltage options for balance charging and 1 of the fans out of 3 devices had a fan that needs replacing at some point.

[@TheHellis]

The wireless HDMI is something I have been looking for a long time. Wanted to find something that was tested and preferably by someone I trust. Thank you! That will work fine for our old projector that has been in a box for years because I don't want to or can't route cables to it in our living room.

[@ezg8448]

Especially for people with a ceiling projector, no unnecessary cables!

[@Nevir202]

Why are wireless HDMI dongles a thing and not wireless USB? Kinda irritating having a cable laid all across my floor to reach to PC hooked to the TV on the other side of the room.

[@Fuzuki785]

Wireless HDMI tranceivers would have been great to have at my previous job: I worked in a public research lab working on VR simulations for emergency response during crises. We would run demonstrations to various actors to show off the prototype (as we didn't have the funding nor the people to make a full-fledged application) and our demo room setup was constrained by the length of HDMI cables we had to mirror the simulation output onto large screens…

[@tlxyxl8524]

Not sure about the interference of the wireless HDMI dongle though. Such device almost always uses 2.4GHz or 5GHz spectrum, and likely uses WiFi protocol as well. So if there are lots of wireless APs and devices around, it may not work as well

[@No_True_Scotsman]

Wireless may introduce lag but you can do hdmi over Ethernet for long cable runs

[@sensiblewheels]

10:26 I bought the same adaptor from Amazon de for €2! For a Thinkpad which needs 230w. It was the same result. Can not charge the laptop when it's on but charges it perfectly when turned off. I also measured the power the original charger draws when the laptop is on idle and that's only 60W. So it's definitely the software that's not allowing it to be charged with 100W.

[@benjaminfrohns]

If you use a lower powered Lenovo charger (from an office laptop), you will see the same behavior. We use Thinkpads in the office with 170W and 230W chargers and cannot borrow a charger from lower powered systems.

[@koomber777]

Good rule of thumb: if it looks too good to be true it probably is, but if it looks like a bargain, it probably is.

[@greatscottlab]

Haha sounds about right,.

[@fredrikcarlen3212]

@user-rw3fm9ix3i If you read reviews, especially those with photos attached, it's pretty easy to tell which are fake and which are real to judge a product before buying. I've bought so much good stuff on aliexpress, but if you look at the front page and just blindly buy stuff, you're going to get crap.

[@jpt3640]

​@user-rw3fm9ix3i They want the customers to stay? Didn't know 😂 Google wants to get rid of all customers so nobody will tell them "your software sucks" ever again!

[@mikeselectricstuff]

10mA for the transmitter sounds way too low - maybe it was taking power from the ID EEPROM supply?

[@NiHaoMike64]

Or maybe the RF from the transmitter is interfering with the meter?

[@Beansswtf]

We need an episode where you show us how you find these things haha. I have tried numerous times to just go find random 'cool stuff' on ali express and just get greeted with pages of nonsense. Unless i search for exactly what i want, i won't stumble across any of this stuff

[@theangelofspace155]

10:50 itsnt that just a PD trigger eith a barrel solderd to it? Can do you the same with the $1-2 pd trigger board from AliExpress?

[@spicymemeboi2646]

This series is my favorite, you managed to get me hooked on aliexpress electronics!

[@skenzyme81]

1:40 Is this the exact same Dyson motor that Ave looked at 7 years ago? Sure looks like it.

[@ergindemir7366]

The pd adapter is very useful, i have the same exact model and been using it for over a year. You have to set the laptop to the power saving mode when charging if you have that chunky laptop, afterwards you can switch to balanced mode. The tip with power meter overheats when plugged in the converter, you should plug the other way. The first problem is those al cheapo chinese power supplies have short lifetime, they die within a year. Second issue is straight usb plugs can be easily broken when somebody hits while sitting in a cafe, you should buy the one with the 90 degree connector on the other end.

[@superslash7254]

ugreen GaN power supplies are really solid. The whole company basically went legit

[@marioalonzo5952]

I bought the IP2368 board that you made in your project, but I have a problem, both the IC and the mosfets reach more than 80ºC when they work at 100W, what could be the problem? I bought it in the same store as you.

[@kwinzman]

4.5V voltage drop at 5A @28V nominal is "just fine"? Is that still within USB spec? I don't think so! I would have loved if you could have provided more context here why it failed the 28V test. Are your battery cells the limiting factor? The cables? Or the tested board itself? Was it overheating? Can you change it so it advertises 28V3A max instead of 5A?

[@gbraadnl]

10:30 Your notebook draws just too much power when in use; does it come with a discrete GPU, like an Nvidia or Ati? I had to same with my Lenovo before, but the machine with an IGP does not have the problem and can even be lower, all the way down to providing just 30W.

[@tobiwonkanogy2975]

the wireless hdmi could also be used for remote digital signage or high up in the air. walk out with the laptop , update the display . or from the comfort of the office instead of running out to the sign itself

[@this_is_lemon]

10:15 - Your laptop is trying to draw more power than the adapter can provide, causing it to cycle power on and off. I had the same issue, but it works fine if I remove the battery or if the battery is already fully charged. 100 watts isn't enough to power a high-demand laptop and charge the battery simultaneously

[@rickoneill4343]

I hope this series lasts forever

[@fatsolutions]

Agreed

[@asiano3385]

13:40 If the batteries are rechargable I prefer AAA batteries because they are easier to replace than a glued in battery.

[@rabbitrampage]

Can you try one of the $40 42cm holographic fans in the next episode? From what I've heard they're cool tech but with bad UI/UX, would love to see an indepth review of one

[@greatscottlab]

Sure. I can put it on my list.

[@L-Tek]

About the USB-C Charger adapter at 8:52 , I definitely do not recommend it for high power laptops. I have used that on my samsung laptop (both editions with and without the additional short cable) which can draw 90w max and the adapter always died after 3 months due to overheating. I have contacted the shop and they replaced it twice and now I have 3 dead adapters. After that I just cut off the PD module of the one with the cable, soldered on my own PD trigger one and I have been using that one for over a year. I am really unsure as how they messed up this bad, as my own adapter consists of just the pd trigger board + some little bit of heat shrink tube and it does not get nearly as warm as the one from the shop.

[@_B_K_]

Love this series -- definitely will look into getting that charger (I have two decade-old ones, that are similar to yours).

[@jantube358]

Do you have an idea for a wireless DVB-S (satellite cable) solution? So I don't need to run a cable from the satellite antenna to the TV? I have seen satellite to IPTV receivers but they were like 500€.

[@mikestewart4752]

14:00 I wonder how long until we see “a little bit of wiggle room” in Chinese marketing material? 🤣

[@DrHouse-zs9eb]

We already have! Loads of products advertise different parameters in their titel and the description.

[@RWBHere]

@@DrHouse-zs9eb Not to mention 'Chinese' Watts, Milliamp-hours and their esoteric safety features!

[@procrastinator1842]

I bought some parts of aliexpress recently, with a dimension of 21mm, but with 1-3cm of measurement error...lol.

[@bobedwards8896]

"NOW Whith MOST LITTLE WIGGLE. ULTRA WIGGLE, VERY QUEALOTY"

[@mikestewart4752]

@@bobedwards8896 👍👍🤣 Exactly!!!

[@malatinpeter]

Hey Scott what is that thing at the beginning of the video (0:28)? not sure If you have presented it in previous videos?

[@mrwho30]

Sadly there's no information available about the trust of the High Speed BLDC Motor. Would be the icing on the cake.

[@johnsonlam]

AliExpress is such an ocean which you have to try it yourself, that's why this series of video really help to save money.

[@mrwho30]

@@johnsonlam Absolutely!👍

[@Etacovda63]

I think he meant thrust, not trust

[@mrwho30]

@@Etacovda63 Ooops, that's right. "Thrust power" 😅

[@esuil]

Alright, so, I have additional vote for USB-C charger, and for reasons that might be unintuitive. We use those things in field/wartime/outage conditions, because they work seamlessly with "crude solar" charging setups when power grid is not available. Our "crude solar" is basically a solar panel that can output 12V-30V, hooked up directly to DC power charger designed to work with car batteries (those thingies with usb-c/usb-a charging ports that you can install in your car and plug into car battery - we just hook them up directly to solar panels instead). So solar panel -> directly to usb-c outlet that receives 12-24v inputs -> usb-c cable -> into that kind of USB-C charger = laptops with such converters and any kind of usb-c powered tech, powered directly from solar panel, anywhere, without solar controllers or batteries involved anywhere in the loop. It is absolutely king of crude and cheap "I want to power my portable electronics from solar" setups. In fact, because I was buying those things, I have a feelings that's why algorithm even recommended me your video. If you were to go with traditional solar controller+battery setups, the cost is like triple/quadruple, and efficiency is reduced because power goes trough multiple systems before coming to your components. But directly feeding solar DC into gadgets designed for a car that take that DC, then using them with things like that USB-C dongle, pretty much comes out to the cost of just solar panel and maybe like 10% of more cost on top of it. Not to mention you can salvage such gadgets from disabled cars, if you are in warzone conditions. So yeah, here is my perspective on those things. They are very useful, and that whole "for people who don't want to carry chargers with them" is only part of the story on why those things exist.

[@dcallan812]

More "bargains" Double figures next video. 🤣 Thanks for buying them so WE dont have too. 2x👍

[@greatscottlab]

Happy to help and entertain :-)

[@theoldironqueen8224]

These USB-C Adapters for notebooks are working just fine, I have them for a surface, an HP Elitebook that came out long before USB-C Charging and now a Lenovo Slim Tip version (the funny square one). They are great up to 100W and for smaller notebooks they get you through the day even with a super small 65w USB Power Supply.

[@trumblez]

00:29 this Video Sewiies 😂

[@CICADA1033]

I wish Scott would create a DIY heating stirrer project for European chemists, as many of us struggle to find affordable, used equipment. His expertise could greatly benefit our community.

[@ChrisTopher-wl6pd]

First 5 seconds made my dog flip out 🤣

[@greatscottlab]

Oh boy. Sorry about that

[@ChrisTopher-wl6pd]

No it was funny! I even went back and started the video again later and he started barking again. 🤣

[@user-dj1hy6zc6q]

At 1:22 : that BGA connection looks really bad. Why would they advertise that?!

[@rabbitrampage]

Do you know where to find a datasheet on the PD3.1 board? I'm planning to build an external laptop battery with one but I can't find any datasheet or efficiency numbers. I'd be running it for hours at 140w so I need to make sure I don't overheat it. Does the button turn it on and off or is it just used once to kick start it like a BMS?

[@John-vk1ij]

regarding the battery options, I used to be a fan of such built-in battery devices like the laser meter you shown in the last. But they age just like myself, and eventually the battery life become so short that I basically have to bring a power bank with me. And it's almost impossible to find replacement battery because they are almost always custom designed. Therefore nowadays I tend to buy devices that use standard AA or AAA batteries.

[@jftechdrones]

I get that there's safety concerns, but I wish more devices like this used replaceable 18650s or similar.

[@cajampa]

You can buy any lipo size on that same site. I have bought many weird sized cells to fix old devices like that. The bigger problem is if the device can be opened non destructively or not. As long as it can be opened it is very easy to get a new cell in the right size and model in also all cases or if you can't get the exact right. You can always go down a little in size. And many times you can get a bigger sized cell to squeeze in there.

[@jftechdrones]

@@cajampa True, I've done that myself with a few FPV goggles and radio transmitters.

[@damnwereinatightspot]

But neither measure from both ends. A dual laser would allow you to stand in the middle of a room and get a distance from wall to wall with out walking to the wall. Also Bosch, i belive, will work in fractions of an inch.

[@Averell64]

One note regarding ISDT-Chargers! They are great for about 3-4 months and then quality issues start to arise like crazy. From faulty connections to the selectorwheel/button registering wrong inputs as well as cancelling charging processes multiple times during a charge due to „abnormal battery connection“. I have had 3 of these chargers and all of them had the same issues. Friend of mine who also had about 3 also reported similar problems!

[@maxmyzer9172]

9:34 USB-PD 3.1 (EPR) can deliver up to 240W, but compatibility is limited, as seen at 11:45

[@arva1kes]

About the charger converters - The original barrel connections actually have onewire chip in them (the barrel is mostly 3 pin connector, not 2 pin connector) It will advertise to laptop what wattage charger you are running so to set power modes and charging speeds. Depending on model , the laptops act - no charging or running at all, only charging while off and while on running from charger(sometimes cpu clocks are set to minimum because of unknown charger). Seems MSI is making assumption if there is no correct onewire data it will treat it as 65w charger which is almost always minimum for these barrel jacks. As it's not sure if it can hold the power while chargin and running it will turn off charging so that you battery won't get spikes of charging-discharing. So the real reason to have "per brand" charges is to have correct onewire communication which states correctly what wattage charger is connected. I have this for my lenovo laptop with square connector and it works fine with 65w and 100w type-c chargers and battery banks just like OEM.

[@essmene]

3:00 For health reasons, you only want to blow large particles. Anything small particles that are created from sanding wood will get into the air and stay there for hours and thus have the ability to get into your lungs and later cause damage.

[@superslash7254]

i wonder if you could use the fan to put a vacuum behind a filter.

[@DigitalIP]

How useful would that motor be for say like, a fume/exhaust hood for soldering etc instead of using a fan and duct? For the USB C barrel jack connector, you could use that to power other things with a barrel jack, not just to charge laptops, but a PD trigger board might be needed to activate it.

[@chocolate_squiggle]

About those little USB laptop power adaptors; They serve a purpose for older laptops without direct USB-C charging. I've bought a used laptop about 5 years old and it has type-C charging built-in. BUT it requires a 20V capable power supply which aren't cheap - whereas everyone already has a million regular USB chargers lying around. Before I got my HP, I always thought the charging circuitry must have voltage boosters in them but sadly they don't, so you can't use those older chargers. I 'm well aware my old phone chargers won't power a laptop and won't charge it quickly, but there's no reason I can't use them to charge a switched-off laptop slowly overnight in a hotel room while on holiday for a week or so. THAT's the sort of adaptor I want to see. Something that boosts 5V up to 20V and tricks the laptop into charging - just very slowly. Some years ago I already bought a DC-DC voltage booster for pennies, I don't want to spend $60+ for a 20V usb-c charger that will only be used for my laptop when I already have a regular laptop PSU at home anyway.

[@superslash7254]

just get a GaN charger and be bulletproof.

[@_Funtime60]

9:35 THESE WILL NOT WORK WITH DELL LAPTOPS (out of the box). Dell laptops have a 3rd pin used for DRM. You would need to either mod the adapter or laptop to trick it into thinking it has a genuine brick.

[@nickteb.2286]

where did u get the organizer on the wall 00:23??

[@someguy2741]

The ISDT C4 is a very good battery charger for standard sized cells. AA, AAA, 18650, 26650. NIMH, Li-ion, LiFe. Charge discharge storage cycles. It really does it all. It works well when you need to exercise NiMh or to test the capacity of lithiums.

[@Spyd77]

If anyone is curious about why the TX HDMI device uses almost no power and the RX almost too much, is because the TX module is getting most of the power from the HDMI device, and the RX module has to provide power to the connected output device.

[@DannyWilliamH]

I love these Ali product videos because you tend to show products I have considered purchasing about half the time. It allows me to know if it was junk or not, lol. This video had two items I already have in my cart, sitting as I debate taking the plunge.

[@mimp8365]

AVHzY/WITRN C5 power meter next? (I think Power-Z and FNIRSI are also made by the same manufacturer)

[@20cent]

Lot of sellers on chinese platforms sell these air blowers/vacuum packaged in 3D printed body cases, like the one you quickly showed, yes. Regarding the wireless HDMI, it's clearly not for you, but useful for many use cases (carrying devices is not a solution when you have to do it few times a day).

[@BlackCatRedScarf]

About the wireless HDMI Tx-Rx kit (6:33), I guess more testing would be nice. Like... what the maximum frequency of this kit? 30, 50, 60, 100, 120Hz?

[@mrdovie47]

If you are interested in Joule Thieves, look into the A2SHB MOSFET with low turn on voltage. I built a MOSFET Joule Thief with a 2N7000 and it needed at least 1.0 VDC to work, but the same circuit with the A2SHB worked at 0.6 VDC and will light a 9 Volt LED. The FET is very small and I had to make a special mount to use it in a breadboard, but it was well worth it.

[@gregorymccoy6797]

I enjoy this series immensely.

[@ClicheKHFan]

About the laptop adapter, Usually the way these usbc things work is you can provide a higher power source and the components will negotiate and you will get a safe level of power without frying anything. So, if you were only getting 60w and your power supply can output 100 or 180w, you might need to take a look at the cable. Not all usbc cables are compatible with 100w. Otherwise, since you brought up the msi compatibility thing, the adapter may not be able to figure out what the correct safe power level is to give to the laptop, so it’s throttling to 60w. Lastly, it could be a product defect or inaccurate specs.

[@TylrVncnt]

Have the same battery balance charger - love it. So much functionality packed into a small form factor with a pretty nice UI

[@DaJetzi]

Your channel is fantastic, I'm always excited to see your Hidden Gems videos. Can you recommend a boost converter with low RF noise, birdies, etc.? Preferably a module from Aliexpress, but there are so many. The converter should deliver a maximum of 19.5V and 10A at 13.8V input. It's intended for a mini-ITX motherboard used in an all-in-one SDR. Do you have any suggestions?

[@ferdi93ferdi]

4:23 hell of a smooth transition 🤌🏽

[@nicholasweiss4662]

Does that ISDT charger work with an Input close to or below the output voltage? Would be nice to use a 12V PSU or another 4s LiPo to charge my 4s LiPos with it

[@Kwaq84]

@greatscottlab 10:10 You should be careful when determining USB-C devices using that cable with display. I bought one, and found out in some instances it worked fine with some devices , but with others somehow messed with the QC protocol, so connected devices would fall back to standard USB 5V charging and would either refuse to enter QC or it would be intermittent. You should try that adapter with a known good USB-C cable that has a complete set of conductors (some USB-C cables don't populate all pins in the plug).

[@sweetiebot2560]

Wow, half of the products in this video are either ones I got for myself, once I was eyeballing, or ones I have a variation of - caught me by surprise ! I can confirm these USB-C to laptop power adapters can do wonders even in edge cases - I have a Lenovo laptop that comes with a 120w power brick, but it never actually reaches that power ceiling so I gave the adapter a shot a while back. It really works with all my 100w type c power supplies, and I haven't touched my bulky laptop charger in forever. As you said they're not auto wins, but they're worth the gamble imo

[@jokmenen_]

Just wanted to comment that i really like this series! Wish there was more of it for all kinds of product categories haha.

[@sebastiannielsen]

The HDMI extender is very good for the cases where you have a TV box with 1 subscription, and want to look on that on multiple TVs. You need a IR extender tough, so your remote control works in "the far end" aswell. Have done that solution for many people, that want multiple TVs (for example one in bedroom and one in living room) but not have to pay for subscription of 2 TV boxes.

[@dodgydruid]

Ooo two other gems, one a all metal pen with a set of calipers built in has become my most used tool at the mo, the other is a delightful £15 Portabler Air Compressor kit which came with a tidy little 5v powered air compressor, two very nice airbrushes, paint tanks, cleaning tools etc and has done duty spraying watch dials and hands already and the output quality of the paint is extremely good with what seems to be the internals of the brushes all stainless steel meaning I can retire my 1970's Badger airbrushes having done tons of work over the years... def recommend the air compressor air brush kit :)

[@rpenm]

I bought that mini laser rangefinger last year, used it maybe a dozen times, haven't charged it in 8 months, and it's currently still showing a 2/3 battery charge. Quiescent current/self-discharge seems pretty good. Not sure how the battery would hold up to more frequent use, but it's great for my occasional use. Hat-tip to Benn Jordan, who I first saw using the device in his video about hunting for reverb samples in a cave.

[@pabloprado8228]

Hi Scott! I’m looking for a fade-in fade-out module for led strips with no luck, the idea is that my led slowly turn on and off when a sensor or switch is activated

[@andbondstyle]

4:44 - Be aware there's also a SkyRC's B6 Neo charger (successor to the legendary iMAX B6). It is extremely similar to ISDT Q6 Nano, but has type-C PD input. Also, there are several issue reports of Q6 Nano around the internet (including "destroying cells" and "frying itself"), so I'd be careful with this kind of choice!

[@Jan_TRO]

I am glad you got a new dschadscha

[@virtualxip]

Sounded more like TSCHAADJAA. But yeah OHL IN OHL it's the same...

[@bast_hout]

@greatScott! Nice video again!, do you also have a link for the usb powermonitor you use at 8:11 ? Thats also a thing you can find in millions of versions on Aliexpress

[@sandordugalin8951]

The best series on KZbin for tinkerers. None-barred.

[@Alias_Anybody]

Honestly, I'd love to see some more scientific tests for those USB-C to barrel plug dongles. Can they damage your device? Like, my notebook can suck up 130W max, but also wants 20V, so could you let's say still charge it with a 100W USB C charger when not running on full power? Or could you even recharge the battery while it's shut down with let's say a 35W brick?

[@NiyaKouya]

Damage: very unlikely. Worst that can happen is that the internal charge controller of your laptop refuses to accept power. Or, as he showed in the video, the laptop tried to draw more and the PD charger reset itself. My gaming laptop comes with a 230W power brick but also has PD-capable USB-C ports. When I plugged in a 65W charger for testing it said something like "hey, I found a PD charger, but it doesn't deliver enough power. Please plug in something that delivers more juice".

[@3v068]

You know, that wireless HDMI thing can come in handy for certain streaming purposes. For example, I put my PC in a ventilated cabinet to be tidy. If I want to plug in my capture card, I would have to extend cables everywhere and open my cabinet, which is not ideal for a tidy space. If I got this kit, I could keep my capture card plugged in, put away, and all I'd have to change is the console that is outputting a signal. No big mess of wires. That's really cool, and I'm glad it works at such low latency.

[@humbughumbughumbug]

The usb-c charger trigger board is great for modern laptops that aren't usb-c PD compliant. I keep a 90w usb-c power supply in my laptop bag, and i use one of these trigger boards with my Asus vivobook. So i can use the PS with my Asus and my Dell (which is PD compliant)

[@mystechry]

AA-Batteries is not a negative. The cheap one might break because of its battery. The Bosch one will last you forever.

[@armonfrohlich6348]

Most people simply have unrealistic expectations. For example, they could get a 1 terabyte SD hard drive for €1, including shipping... Or they think they're big YouTub-Maker, but can't manage to re-drill a messy hole or repair a wobbly guide rail. Of course, the edge router wasn't well received (and of course it was the seller's fault). The fact that everything that could have been done without any problems was made of plastic also became a problem. But the fact that the motor used was the same as the current Makita model at the time and the overall design was very well thought out was of course no argument for saving on unimportant parts in order to somehow get to the price of €30 including shipping... Then there are those who just buy rubbish. But the description already says that it's rubbish. Not literally, but - for example, a projector with only 500 lumens but for €250. It's completely clear that you can't do anything with the thing! And certainly not in daylight! But of course it's the shop's fault. Because they sell things like that... Sure, because they basically force you to buy them. The only problem I've ever had with it was the shipping. The DPD warehouse that took care of the delivery is about 1km as the crow flies from my apartment and I live in a central location. Despite having a satnav, the driver couldn't find my street. Not only did he not find the house, he couldn't find the whole street! He is said to have "tried" 4 or 5 times. But the driver is new and doesn't know the satnav... after 4 attempts? Is he even allowed to drive a car? Ultimately, the boxes and plastic casings in the boxes were broken. They had clearly been kicked. And they were wet. There was a lot of electronics in them, but luckily they survived... But! After I complained about it the next time I ordered and showed them pictures, DPD never came to us again when we ordered something from them, which I did regularly for a while. All great stuff! The housing would have been replaced, but since I had to wait so long for it, I didn't want to wait any longer and had already repaired it. So a replacement wasn't necessary.

[@alexandrebaux4042]

But is this small laptop charger adapter able to cut power if the charger is not able to go to 20V? Or will it simply try to send 5V

[@greatscottlab]

Good question.....

[@Bobby11]

Ive been using ISDT chargers for years now. Very reliable from my experience. i used to use them for drone racing. Both at home and at the races. The fact you can power (most of) them using a larger capacity battery and charge smaller so easily is great

[@IzzyIkigai]

Actually got one of those wireless HDMI dongles for our meeting room. One of these is a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than having tons of 20m HDMI cables(just look up the prices, gets expensive quickly) layed from the floor to the ceiling where the beamer hangs. Not to mention having input source selection gets weird past 3 inputs. Plus it's great when you have a table situation where you can reangange your tables, opening you up to simply not knowing where the person presenting will sit.

[@eformance]

Wireless HDMI is mostly used today for content production. There are expensive solutions that are high quality for being able to locate a camera remotely from the ingest station, or have remote monitoring of the camera output. Many high end camera monitors have a remote viewing capability for secondary displays or phones/tablets.

[@Artemis_WR]

10:36 this has to be expected with the laptop on, as your laptop drains more power while charging and being on than what the adapter can provide. i use such adapter to power a lenovo m93p tiny, which yes is one of those small desktops and works flawlessly

[@JessicaFEREM]

Buy a 5.5x2.5 USB PD board, then buy a massive pack of bit adspters for $13. Basically a $16-20 universal laptop charger. As well you can do this with trigger boards with a variable voltage, just solder a standard jack, then adapt it. Basically 90% of barrel jacks in one adapter set.

[@d.jensen5153]

I appreciated the ducted-fan BLDC motor. For some applications biscuit fans don't have enough pressure head, and compressors don't have enough flow rate.

[@stevefox3763]

Your old charger can check individual cell voltage and resistance as well, flash it with cheali charger custom firmware! Cheali charger firmware also opens the charger right up on the functions, it becomes programmable where you can set all sorts of parameters for pack types you save in memory slots.

[@ulfnic]

For the 12V high speed fan, is there a reason you used your own controller instead of the option in the listing?

[@GeertGoossens]

can you give some links to the older usb-c trigger boards (with a button) and the old usb-c cable you used which has a voltage indication?

[@gerardbroek1943]

@14:04 the measuring error in my lasertapes are 1,5mm. If with these two devices that error is the same, both measurements overlap within their errors. furthermore the relative error is 0,00875 and 0,00876. So to mention the wiggle room, and thus saying it significant, I find questionable.