Evaluation of Aliexpress sourced EBM315 battery packs (for DB3DL2)

In Repack of Hikoki / Hitachi EBM315 battery pack (DB3DL2) I discussed the repack of a battery pack. At the same time I also ordered a no-name replacement 1.5Ah battery on Aliexpress for $25 incl shipping… with some reservation as most batteries I have purchased on Aliexpress have failed to deliver half of the rated capacity.

So, the battery arrived and I tested it, the purple trace above, and I was pleased to see that it exceeded the rated capacity a little.

So, I purchased another from the same seller, and it duly arrived, and to my surprise, it exceeded rated capacity by 30%.

Both batteries recharge properly on the Hitachi / Hikoki charger.

Time will tell whether they are good value. In any event, they use screws to hold the cap on so they can probably be repacked with good cells.

Repack of Hikoki / Hitachi EBM315 battery pack (DB3DL2)

I have had a Hitachi DB3DL2 ‘pencil’ type cordless screwdriver for about 12 years, and one of the supplied two batteries (EBM315 1.5Ah) has just failed. This is not the first failure, the charger failed after about five years use and the LED push button became electrically leaky flattening the battery so the push button was removed. The second battery is still working, but at about 65% capacity.

It is actually a really good tool to use, and so worth trying to extend its life. To that end:

  • I purchased a new genuine Hikoki (new name for Hitachi -Koki) charger on Aliexpress for about $80 shipped (they are more like $150 locally);
  • I purchased an after market EBM315 1.5Ah battery on Aliexpress for about $25 shipped;
  • I purchased locally two Panasonic NCR1650B unprotected 3.4AH 18650 cells to repack the two original batteries; and
  • repacked the failed battery.

Above is a capacity test of the new Aliexpress 1.5Ah battery and the working 14 year old Hitachi battery. The little squiggles are concerning, to be further investigated. It is my experience that most rechargeable batteries purchased on eBay and Aliexpress grossly fail to meet specified capacity, the one is a welcome change… though note the quite low cell voltage to achieve rated capacity. Continue reading Repack of Hikoki / Hitachi EBM315 battery pack (DB3DL2)

Battery testing – BN-V12U

The BN-V12U is a NiMh battery used in JVC video camera / recorders in the 1990s. It was used in a lot of competitors products, and found its way into other applications. In my case, it is used in a Leica T107 theodolite.

This article documents initial tests on two new after market Chinese made batteries purchased on Aliexpress 12/2023 for about $34 for two, incl shipping. These have a label rating them at 2.1Ah. Continue reading Battery testing – BN-V12U

Google Bard on two wire line Zo

What’s that… the centre to centre distance is less than the round wire diameter… a physical impossibility… never mind, Google Bard can solve it!

Not only solve it, but warm you with a bit of humanistic chat to lend credibility to its answer.

This is worse than your average online expert on social media! A high tech automaton that is not fit for this purpose?

PS: I hope my doctor does not use Google Bard to recommend my treatments!

Initial review of ECO-LFP210 LiFePo4 (LiFe) battery

A ECO-LFP210 10Ah 4S LiFePo4 battery was purchased on eBay for a solar powered project, cost about $65 delivered.

Above, the battery (the Anderson Power Pole connector is an addition). The battery incorporates a battery management system (BMS), so protected against over voltage, undervoltage, over current, and cell balance is preserved. Continue reading Initial review of ECO-LFP210 LiFePo4 (LiFe) battery

Rigol DM3058 firmware upgrade – post mortem

This item documents a failed attempt to perform a firmware upgrade on a Rigol DM3058.

By the book

The process attempted to upgrade the firmware from v2.02 to v2.03 using the method described by Rigol and upgrade file from their official website.

There were not power interruptions during the upgrade which hung and was shut down after an hour. I might add that I had just upgraded two other DM3058s using the same method, same USB stick.

Email was sent to Rigol Support for help, none came. No surprises there, Rigol are a Chinese company.

I have later found comments that the upgrade may fail if Rigol UltraSensor has been used on the instrument. Others comment on difficulties working with some USB sticks.

The firware is loaded into a flash (external) memory chip attached to a ADSP-BF531 processor chip.

Above, the 4MB flash memory chip branded Spansion, later to become Cypress, then Infineon. Continue reading Rigol DM3058 firmware upgrade – post mortem

Ongoing MR16 LED failures & purchasing frustrations

We have around 25 MR16 LED lamps, half of which are almost never used, the other half probably average 4 hours per day, or ~1500 hours per annum.

Remember that greens touted this ‘green technology’ to have a life of 100,000 hours. More recently, claims have been moderated to 10,000 to 25,000 hours… but that is a single LED element alone, not a set of them, and it does not include failures of the internal and external drivers. IOW it continues the fraud of green lighting.

Above, the MR16 50mm LED lamp. Continue reading Ongoing MR16 LED failures & purchasing frustrations