Week 3 father’s day gift – mobile power supply
Instruction
I am not sure if all dads are makers. But if your’s is – how about a new mobile power supply? Or as an alternative: If you are a maker make this as a gift to yourself.
The idea is to have a adjustable power supply which is battery powered so you can do quite a few things mobile. You could do this with battery integrated battery cells, with an usb powerbank or with batteries from your favourite tools.
This time we need a little bit more than just the xTool, some plywood and glue. In addition you will need a battery holder, a voltage controller (I took an 80A 5A Buck Boost power supply controller), some connectors, terminal connectors and a crimping tool, a soldering iron and some screws.
I have seen something similar in a free online configurator, but unfortunately their design did not match my components. Actually many controllers, connectors and battery holders are different in their sizes. I have uploaded my design, but it might happen that it does not fit your components.
Measure the battery holder. The base plate needs to be at least this size, so this one determines width and depth of the box. Measure the controller. The controller also determines the width of the box, but mostly the battery holder will be larger, so we have to take that size. The controller also determines the height of the box. Just add enough space to places the connectors below this. I designed my box slightly bigger to have enough air for cooling inside. To make my design a little easier, I have chosen the length of each edge as a multiple of 10mm.
I have drawn a rectangle placed this at the upper left (coordinates 0/0) and placed smaller rectangles (site 10mm x 4mm) along the edges as gaps for the interlocks. If you have finished this, choose subtract in the combine-menu to generate your final geometry.
In the bottom plate you will need a hole for the wires. My battery holder came with a fuse box so the hole needs to be a little bit bigger. In the front plate you need a hole for the controller and two for the plugs. As it could get a little warm inside, I designed some ventilation slots on the backplate and the sides. On the back I have added a text with the specs.
My bottom needed to be a little bit thicker, my battery holder was made for flat hat screws and the smallest that I have had were 12mm long. So I just made three identical parts and designed the lower interlock pins at the front, the back and the sides a little bit longer.
Everything is cutted out of 4mm poplar plywood af 4mm/s and 95 percent power. Only the text is scored at 60mm/s and 60 percent.
First of all crimp some terminal connectors to the wires of the battery holder and screw the holder to the bottom plate.
Install the connectors to the front plate. Solder some wires to the connectors. And last but not least: crimp terminal connectors to the other end of the wires.
Install the controller in the front plate. Connect the wires from the battery holder to the voltage input and the connectors to the output. Note the polarity! I have used a red and a black connector to see ground and vcc from the outside. You could also mark it on the front plate.
And now: test your powers supply before you close the box.
Glue the parts of the box together. And you are done!