Charging Batteries
It's been a funny few days, but the funniest thing is that the days are not really getting started until nearly lunchtime. I really must find a way to get myself awake in the morning and get out and do something.
On Friday, I successfully drove the City-El to the electric vehicle owners' meeting at the charging points in central Bristol. But it felt like it only just got there, with little energy left over. The trip back was easier, though. I'm wondering if the additional battery drain of the long climb up the hill at Filton is part of the problem. We'll see when Filton Avenue is reopened.
Saturday was Bristol Linux User Group meeting day, and I took the Cappuccino (via a friend's, who wanted to see the car and then come to the LUG). As it turned out, we had as many Arduinos as Linux machines.
On Sunday, I popped over to see k81ng and aminorjourney and helped to clear out the garage. Amongst the stuff, we found a NiCad cordless drill, but no charger. I have now got it working again by improvising a connector and charging up the 15-cell battery. I'm considering modifying it to have a white LED light and maybe a MOSFET speed controller. The garage clearout turned out a number of Prius parts too, including a couple of Denso current sensors, which I'd like to get working in the City-El.
I've also charged up the lithium-ion battery in an Orange SPV, aka the HTC Universal smartphone. It's a Windows CE based phone with two built-in cameras, one for stills and the other for video calling. If I can get the phone SIM-unlocked, then that'll make a good replacement to the aging Nokia 9110.
All the FreeCycle items have been collected, leaving me with a bit more room in the house. I've also been given a rug for the living room floor, which turns out to be not only just the right size, but also a pleasant colour scheme. It makes the "sitting" area of the room much nicer.
The insulation that I applied to the inside of the garage door has fallen off, which is disappointing. It's supposed to be held on by double-sided sticky foam pads, but I suspect that they'll only dry up in time and fall off, even if I can get them to stick in the short term. So, I may need to devise an alternative fixing method -- I'm considering a sort of zigzag pattern in strong cord, rather like shoelaces.
My attempt to charge up a Roomba battery (12 cell, NiMH) has been less successful. It seems to have at least one cell with a bad case of self-discharge. But opening it up will have to wait for a triangular "security" screwdriver bit.
Today, I helped aminorjourney with the arrival of a yellow G-Wiz electric car, and then headed for the Uni. The evening was taken up with more Dorkbot activities. Tomorrow, I need to get on with more Uni stuff, but also a trip to the tip to dump the accumulated scrap metal from the garage.
On Friday, I successfully drove the City-El to the electric vehicle owners' meeting at the charging points in central Bristol. But it felt like it only just got there, with little energy left over. The trip back was easier, though. I'm wondering if the additional battery drain of the long climb up the hill at Filton is part of the problem. We'll see when Filton Avenue is reopened.
Saturday was Bristol Linux User Group meeting day, and I took the Cappuccino (via a friend's, who wanted to see the car and then come to the LUG). As it turned out, we had as many Arduinos as Linux machines.
On Sunday, I popped over to see k81ng and aminorjourney and helped to clear out the garage. Amongst the stuff, we found a NiCad cordless drill, but no charger. I have now got it working again by improvising a connector and charging up the 15-cell battery. I'm considering modifying it to have a white LED light and maybe a MOSFET speed controller. The garage clearout turned out a number of Prius parts too, including a couple of Denso current sensors, which I'd like to get working in the City-El.
I've also charged up the lithium-ion battery in an Orange SPV, aka the HTC Universal smartphone. It's a Windows CE based phone with two built-in cameras, one for stills and the other for video calling. If I can get the phone SIM-unlocked, then that'll make a good replacement to the aging Nokia 9110.
All the FreeCycle items have been collected, leaving me with a bit more room in the house. I've also been given a rug for the living room floor, which turns out to be not only just the right size, but also a pleasant colour scheme. It makes the "sitting" area of the room much nicer.
The insulation that I applied to the inside of the garage door has fallen off, which is disappointing. It's supposed to be held on by double-sided sticky foam pads, but I suspect that they'll only dry up in time and fall off, even if I can get them to stick in the short term. So, I may need to devise an alternative fixing method -- I'm considering a sort of zigzag pattern in strong cord, rather like shoelaces.
My attempt to charge up a Roomba battery (12 cell, NiMH) has been less successful. It seems to have at least one cell with a bad case of self-discharge. But opening it up will have to wait for a triangular "security" screwdriver bit.
Today, I helped aminorjourney with the arrival of a yellow G-Wiz electric car, and then headed for the Uni. The evening was taken up with more Dorkbot activities. Tomorrow, I need to get on with more Uni stuff, but also a trip to the tip to dump the accumulated scrap metal from the garage.