Sunday 11 October 2015

Quick RC Remote power mod

So, I have this Propo XG6 (6 channel RC remote). Love the thing, does what I need and some.
Any way, AA batteries here in South Africa are overpriced....That and I didn't have any around.

What I did have lying around was a power bank. Now, the remote needs 4x 1.5v batteries to operate...that's 6v....The power bank produces 5v. At first I thought this might not work out, turns out that my remote displays the current battery value of the battery in the receiver, and half way through the previous pair of AA batteries they hit 5v...so...yay.
My Mii power mank (10400 mAh)
 Next step was to hook up the power from the power bank to the remote. Now, I'll be using the power bank for other things, like...charging my phone when I'm in lectures and such. So modding the power bank was out of the question...that means alternative methods of power transferred needs to be explored. Turn sout, I had a broken micro USB cable laying around (with the standard USB still in perfect condition), so I stripped that and got ready for some epicness.
Remanent of an micro USB cable

Conveniently, the Black wire int the USB is the Ground and the Red is the V+...so WIN, no need for searching for arb coloured wire.
  Because I wanted a backup to the power bank, I left the battery clip in (in case I don't have my power bank but do have access to some AA's) and just soldered Black to Black, and Red to Red.
After all is hooked up I did a quick power test.
Power Test: GREAT SUCCESS ^^
Put everything back in place.
Oh my...did not think this through did I?
Nah, I gots this. Measure the cable width with my suuuuper high tech calipers to get a sub micron accuracy measurement of aprox 4mm.
 Made a 5mm hole...just to be sure.
 Next up was attaching the power bank to the controller. Seeing that I would be using the power bank for other things...it had to be detachable. Now I wanted to make something fancy...like a clip on system, or somthing like that...but I lack the hardware (3d printer) to do that...so Velcro Time.
 Measured the lengths needed to cover the power bank. Two horizontal strips should be more than enough to hold the weight.
 By using contact glue, I stuck the Velcro to the power bank.
 And obviously have their counterparts stuck to the controller.
Wait until the glue is dry and you're done.


So with a need, an idea, a Power bank, USB cable, Velcro, some glue and hour of your life. PROFIT!!! 
An infinitely powered RC remote control xD (Ok not infinitely...but it uses so little power that that power bank could last forever)

Proof that it works. ^^
Hope you (poor lost souls who accidentally landed on this post) enjoyed this impromptu project.

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