My Goals
- Build something that I need and will use, not a shelf queen. It’s not a win if all it does is look pretty for the camera, then go to storage.
- Outperform expectations on 3D prints. The internet is filled with pics of 3D prints that look like they belong in a dollar store. This won’t be one. I promise.
- Inspire others that only have a 3D Printer to join in next year’s Old Lumens competition! That’s the spirit of this competition, to get people involved and building.
- Follow the basics of good design. Mind the weight, cost, and labor needed. I might want more than one. Maybe BLF members will want a parts kit? Like #3 said, I want to inspire.
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The Power
For the platform, I am using this battery pack I made already. It contains (10) Samsung 30Q batteries! That’s what? 20v * 30A = 600watt. Yea, that will do nicely.
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The Dock
Let’s get connected in style! I am designing a dock that can slide on and latch just like a Dewalt tool!
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The Terminals
Now the problem solving begins. These holes are meant to capture and hold on to a standard spade connector. I may add 2 more in the “FlexVolt” jumper positions before printing. But it’s about time to print something and see how it fits.
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Checkpoint
The CAD model is in no way nearing completion, but I need to check fit and function before going too far. Making changes to the foundation of the design at a later date can totally break the models. Ask me how I know.
It fits a bit loose, so I will be adjusting some measurements by feel. But overall it’s quite good. Onward!
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World First!
I decided I wanted individual cell monitoring to alarm me if one cell in the pack reached empty before the rest. And I have some small pins that are perfect. To my knowledge, no hobbyist has ever made a fully functional 8 pin Dewalt-compatible dock. Until now. It wasn’t easy cramming all that geometry into such a tight space while leaving room for the .4mm print nozzle on the printer. But I did. Booya!
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What is that?
That’s goals being met. The inside-out design is great. It’s light weight, has excellent passive cooling, and takes minimum print time and labor to assemble. There will be a “headlight” mounted to the left and right side. You may have seen or heard in my other threads that what I call a headlight is a ring I designed that mounts a CPU cooler to a tripod. In this case, 2 will thread on to the sides.
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ooh, shiny!
Here are the headlight rings! The sanded/painted one sure looks more impressive than the unpainted one! This paint job meets goal #2. To “Outperform expectations on 3D prints”. It doesn’t look cheap now, does it?
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Ready for takeoff
After a break I am back on the project today. I will start wiring things up. This metallic paint sure is hard to photograph. Notice how different it looks in this pic compared to the last one on a sunny day.
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Putting it all together
First, a headlight. The CPU Cooler just press fits in. Then I pull up the two unused wires and clip them. Then tuck them back in.
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Then I solder 8” wires to each pad of the COB. Then apply thermal paste to the heatsink. Then screw the COB on.
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Then I slide a LM7812 voltage regulator into place on the main dock. It fits in upside-down so any heat transfers upwards into the aluminum plate on the bottom of the boost converter. The location also hides and protects its wires. Quite a clever feature if I do say so myself. It worked excellent.
I also put the power switch and headlight bolts in place.
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Then I hung the headlights and run their power wires to the 12v output on the regulator. I attached a red and black wire to the other two pins to feed it battery voltage. And the fan ground wires will go to the battery terminal. I had to extend the darn COB wires because I made them too short and it’s a pain to re-solder the other end. Then I was able to route them under the boost-converter’s area.
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I soldered two red wires to the power switch.
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Then I just wired it up to the battery terminals. The boost board only has 2 wires coming in and 2 wires going out. The wires from the voltage regulator just needed battery voltage. And the other two blacks are the ground wires from the fans.
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Then I turned on the power and it was almost flawless. Apparently I had hooked the voltage regulator to un-switched power, so the fans run all the time. That was a super quick fix. As you can see the cell monitor is correctly cycling through the voltages on each cell.
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Beamshots!
It’s been rainy lately, but I did beamshots in the light rain anyway
It’s pitch black in my backyard with the light off. And like daytime with it on
Is this a cool shot or what?
The handle is balanced perfect so I can carry it with one finger
