Don't throw away your old cartridge - turn it into a power bank

Thinking about another homemade product, I realized that there is no strong Powerbank. The idea of ​​a structure in a pipe was immediately formed. But I didn’t want to take a PVC pipe. Soldering it is not a problem, but it’s somehow handicraft. As always, I came across an old laser printer cartridge just in time. The cartridge contains a photo drum. It is painted, has a strong construction, and is lightweight. The drum is hollow inside. Its case will fit a pair perfectly 18650 batteries. It’s decided, we’ll take a photo of the drum in the housing.

Making a Powerbank from a Printer Cartridge

We take the cartridge. If there is a lot of toner in it, then clean it. Mine was old and there was just a little bit of toner. But that didn't stop me from getting dirty.

In general, we remove the photo drum and cartridge. Everything is simple here, you need to unscrew a pair of screws on both sides of the cartridge. I only left the drum and the screws, and threw out the rest. There is a lot of toner flying in all directions.

We clean the photo drum of toner, the body is not scratched, excellent.

Using a hot air gun, I remove the guides. They are made of plastic and come out of the body well.

For the Powerbank design I will use two batteries with residual capacity as in the photo. For my ASUS Android background, it was enough for one and a half times.

Used as a boost converter module from China. It is compact and has proven itself to be excellent.

Charge batteries will charge controller with protection. You can do without it, but you definitely need it. You can use a scarf from a mobile phone battery.

I will turn on the boost converter with a micro toggle switch. Great size, fits perfectly.

Assembly

We solder the batteries with negatives to each other. We solder the wire to the connection point. We do the same with the plus. Since the batteries are used, when disassembling I recommend not tearing off the nickel-plated tape, but cutting it off. This makes it easier to solder the wires to it later. One minus came off and I had to carefully solder it. We bring the wires to one side, there will be a charge controller.

The plugs for the case, as well as the board holders, were cut out of plastic. PVC plastic, I really enjoyed working with it. Soft, processed with a construction knife.

I mark the holes for all the connectors and the switch. I cut with a knife. I make small recesses for the boards.

I attach the boards with thermal glue. Holds up perfectly, pressure does not squeeze out from the outside.

Solder the wires to the controller. From the controller to the other side of the tube to the boost converter board.

To fix the batteries in the case, I will use pieces of wine cork. You need to cut off a piece of the plug to allow free passage of wires. We insert the batteries, the plug and install the plug with the charge controller. Everything is holding up great.

We solder the switch on the plug on the side of the boost converter. We break the positive or negative power wire. The one that comes from the battery charge controller.

The wires are unsoldered.We carefully insert everything into the case and do not forget about the wine cork. You can also glue it with super glue.

This is what the side of the converter looks like.

This is what it looks like from the charging connector.

So they shine through LEDs indications during operation. You can drill a hole and fill it with hot glue, but I didn’t bother and left it as is.

This is such a strong and quite convenient Powerbank. In general, I think a photo drum is a good element for something like this. I recommend repeating this device.

Watch the video

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Comments (19)
  1. Ali
    #1 Ali Guests August 8, 2018 09:56
    6
    You know, such a power bank can be assembled from a water pipe. And the title will be even cooler!
    1. Guest Vladimir
      #2 Guest Vladimir Guests 8 August 2018 13:46
      2
      A water pipe with an internal diameter of 20 mm will look like a baton.
      1. Local
        #3 Local Guests 26 June 2019 08:59
        0
        You can fight off the gopniks and the cops won’t bother you... you can always prove that it’s a power bank.
  2. Guest Mikhail
    #4 Guest Mikhail Guests August 8, 2018 12:09
    1
    Will the selenium or whatever is sprayed on the drum come off?
    1. Vitos
      #5 Vitos Guests 8 August 2018 19:21
      2
      will peel off with “great benefits” for health.
    2. popvovka
      #6 popvovka Guests 8 August 2018 20:46
      1
      Or silicon. But any device is afraid of mechanical impact. These drums are durable.
  3. Guest Alexey
    #7 Guest Alexey Guests 8 August 2018 18:58
    2
    Selenium and its compounds are poisonous; their action is somewhat reminiscent of arsenic; has a polytropic effect with primary damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system. Selenium salts in direct contact with the skin cause burns and dermatitis. Selenium dioxide upon contact with skin can cause severe pain and numbness. If they come into contact with mucous membranes, selenium compounds can cause irritation and redness; if they get into the eyes, severe pain, lacrimation and conjunctivitis.
    1. Guest Victor
      #8 Guest Victor Guests 9 August 2018 14:49
      2
      Are you going to bite him? On these drums it is in the form of a coating, which is not dangerous even when heated. If everything was terrible, no one would use them in printers...
  4. eeee
    #9 eeee Guests 8 August 2018 19:18
    0
    Now make a plastic soap dish out of a scoop)))
    1. Guest Victor
      #10 Guest Victor Guests 9 August 2018 14:58
      0
      There are plenty of them on YouTube...
  5. Guest Mikhail
    #11 Guest Mikhail Guests 8 August 2018 21:06
    1
    It's easier and cheaper to buy.
    1. Guest Alexey
      #12 Guest Alexey Guests 9 August 2018 12:34
      1
      The case for 2 batteries costs 80 rubles together with the charge-discharge board and looks decent, what for this collective farm? Individual boards are more expensive than the ready-made version without batteries.
      1. Guest Victor
        #13 Guest Victor Guests 9 August 2018 14:57
        2
        Have you held cases for 80 rubles in your hands? They crumble before our eyes. And for some reason these boards are not reliable.
        I asked the neighboring service workers, they said we can give you some drums for free. The fees cost pennies.
        Why the case, solder the boards and wrap them with blue electrical tape...
        The drum is quite strong and looks beautiful. And it’s easy to buy, but not everyone can do it themselves. We sell them on polymers, with a capacity of 5 Ah, price 1000 rubles. They brought 5 pieces under warranty and out of 15 they were sold. We won't order again..
  6. Guest Alexander
    #14 Guest Alexander Guests 11 August 2018 20:12
    0
    You can do without it, but you definitely need it

    how is that? smile
    1. Guest Vladimir
      #15 Guest Vladimir Guests 12 August 2018 10:23
      1
      Can't you read further?
      It is possible without it. There are boards without protection. In this case, use a circuit board from a mobile phone battery...
  7. My name
    #16 My name Guests 11 August 2018 21:23
    0
    Now download a spelling dictionary from the Internet and correct your mistakes!...
    1. Guest Vladimir
      #17 Guest Vladimir Guests 12 August 2018 10:26
      3
      Start a sentence with a capital letter, right?))
    2. Dmitriy
      #18 Dmitriy Guests 22 August 2018 15:43
      0
      and there's an extra comma
  8. ANONYMOUS
    #19 ANONYMOUS Guests 13 February 2019 13:17
    3
    And why did they attack the author? I made it myself, came up with it and thought it through. WELL DONE!