Amazon Deal Alerts & Discussion Thread

Just don’t try to measure the length of a Li cell… :laughing:

Been there - almost done that! Keep tape handy to keep the sparks at bay!
:open_mouth:

Thanks for the heads up. I ordered both, but had to check out each separately for the codes to work.

Interesting. I should qualify things a bit more, to help make the picture perfectly clear.

1. I tested one battery out of the box and it showed 1.27V with my basic digital battery tester. Now, since the cell is marked 1.2V, that should be considered a fully charged cell, right? So I thought maybe I should put it in the charger to see what is shown. Only 1 bar of power level was indicated.
2. I figured OK, I’ll put the whole pack on the charger. I have heard it’s good to “exercise” a NiMH cell at first use. Fully charge, deplete near empty, then charge up again. I didn’t expect that charging would take so long. I mean… cells starting at 1.27v, but the EBL charger showing only 1 bar?
3. It took way too long in my book for the charger to “top off” these cells. But, if there’s one consolation, I had temperature checked the batteries at several points. Never got hot. Barely warm even.

After charging they showed 1.42v. Next day, after “resting,” they’re now showing 1.34v which is in line with what’s considered “normal.” LINK.
AFAIK, there’s no such thing as a 1.5v AA NiMH battery. You have to step up to Lithium Ion to achieve that.

Been there, actually did that. Thank heavens it was a protected cell and the protection circuitry actually did it’s job. Yes, I’ve now learned to tape one end of the cell.

I got a great deal on mine 3 years ago. Monoprice had the Tacklife DC02 (metal, digital) for $8 and free shipping. They might not be high end, but they’re great. I probably use them at least once a week, especially now that I do quite a bit of 3D modeling for 3D printing.

Thanks! I ordered the 26,800 mAh version. You’re right… it’s a steal at this price if genuine and the cells still maintain their rated capacity.

Bought a cheap one with plastic jaws just for that. Just don’t forget and use the wrong one

https://www.amazon.com/Dispatch-Trapper-Traditional-Folding-Outdoor/dp/B08RMP1RX5/?th=1&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Dispatch-Trapper-Traditional-Folding-Outdoor/dp/B08RMNHKPF/?th=1&psc=1

few trapper knives for 6.99 - 3.00 click coupon, 4 bucks prime shipped.

The trouble with those cheap digital calipers is they eat button cells. Parasitic current drain is significant enough that they will use up a cell in a few weeks or months just sitting there. Keep spare cells around. I found this annoying enough that I mostly use a 2 dollar Harbor Freight caliper now, and plan to get a crap-rate dial caliper ($10 at dx engineering) sometime. Meanwhile the HF one is perfectly fine for measuring batteries:

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-utility-caliper-63664.html

And since there are non-amazon links here, the 2 dollar 1aaa Halo lights are up again at Meh::Sidedeal:

https://sidedeal.com/deals/3-pack-halo-mini-lite-led-flashlights-15

They are that price til midnight EDT Sunday night, then back to $3. My review is here:

I’m tempted to order some now, but I have several other 1aaa lights (Sofirn C01 variants) making their way from ali express. So I’ll resist. But these are decent gift lights since each comes in a little box with some useless accessories, and they are fairly bright by non-flashaholic standards. I am edc’ing one right now.

Finally got around to sticking the first 4 in my Ope, and they’re clocking in at an average 2050mAH each at 500mA, and pretty consistent (2072, 2069, 2035, 2049).

Didn’t try the charger, but in the Ope, they all ran fairly cool, nothing was heating up.

This was a great fan ( The night of Ida) at the $13.99 price — Even better at $7

https://www.myvipon.com/product/8844112

Good to know, time will tell…
The set I got has an on/off button. It turns on by itself it the jaws are moved.
All the Best,
Jeff

Just received both of these power banks. Both arrived in brand new unopened boxes and are each about 1/3 charged. I have them on the charger now and I’ll run
them through a charge cycle and let you all know if any issues arise. Thus far, all seems perfect, but I will try to open the larger 30,000mAh version and see what
type of cells are inside it.

Thanks Richie. Im looking forward to your discharge results and 30k tear-down. Does the larger one allow for fast charging the pack? And can the pack be charged via USB C?

I’m charging the 30,000mAh PowerAdd from my large AFTIME power bank that I also recently received from Amazon. The AFTIME is sending the PowerADD 5.02v and 1.92a using
one of my USB-A to USB-C cables.

Finally got around to opening one up. Bad news for anyone wanting to check/redo the thermal pathway. The mcpcb is glued. So wrestling the base out is a pita and risky. Since I really like the light and paid so little, I think I will just keep them as is and hope they are adequately thermal glued. The one I did open doesn't look promising though.

Oh, for those curious. The emitters are wired 21S2P. Unloaded voltage from the driver is about 67 volts.

All 3 panels dies in mine now. They said they’re sending replacements but I doubt it, just chalking those garage bulbs up as a loss. No big deal.

Which ones are you talking about? I’ve had a pair in my basement for over a year now.

Sorry, the latest deal for those 3 leaf garage bulbs, coupon from vipon. 1 is still working great, other dead. I have 2 others from different listing working for 4 years or so.

I have had zero Phillips led bulb failures out of 100+ in that time, so just warning people. These garage bulbs look less redneck than my 4 to 6 bulbs per socket solution. I would like to find good ones.

Hard to find the post on mobile, this was the item.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08CVRNDJ3

I thought that light looked familiar. I purchased two of those from that Amazon deal back on August 13th. I’ll have to use them carefully being plastic housings. Obviously
not great heat dissipation.