Electronics and technology blog    /    Stores    /    AliExpress    /    Page 5

I’ve covered buying used components from AliExpress/Taobao on my blog several times, but I decided to play roulette once again, and it looks like I got lucky this time.

I’ve already reviewed two electronic loads made by Atorch. I can’t say they were all that great, but I can’t say they were bad either. That said, I’ve noticed that each new version of their products gets better. While I wait for mine to arrive for review, I thought I’d put together a short preview.

Today I have a short review on a very popular topic: fuses. Yes, we’re talking about the component that, as everyone knows, is the last thing to blow. Of course, there are plenty of nuances here, and I’ll try to explain some of them.

Many of you probably remember that I’ve had just about every converter model from Riden, or RuiDeng, pass through my hands. To this day, I’m still not sure which name is correct. After the RD6012P came out, I’d check from time to time to see what was new, but unfortunately, nothing had changed; the hybrid 6012 was still their latest model. Then, just today, I spotted a new product, and I’d like to share the announcement with you.

Some time ago, one of my subscribers sent me a power supply—or, more precisely, a charger—not for repair, but for testing and review. But what’s actually more interesting is a certain “special feature” I’ve wanted to tell you about for a long time, but hadn’t come across a sample to show. To get ahead of myself, everything turned out better than I expected :)

As I mentioned before, along with the BL1850 and BL1860 batteries, I also received a charger for them. At first, I hadn't even planned to review it, but I tested it while checking the batteries, took it apart, and decided it was probably worth writing about after all.

So, I’ve just finished testing the second battery I received, and this one is the BL1860, rated at 6 Ah. Inspection, teardown, tests, conclusions—as usual.

Not long ago, I was asked to test and review some batteries for Makita power tools. Since this is right up my alley, and the batteries were expected to be good, I thought, why not? In short and subjectively: they’re solid. For the long, objective version, read on.

Some time ago, I reviewed a universal trigger that was advertised as offering convenient controls and Power Delivery support, but in practice it turned out to be pretty mediocre. This time, I bought a few simple, compact models that turned out to be surprisingly good.

Around the middle of December, I ordered several inverters. I also decided to order a couple from a different store than the one I usually use. Naturally, I read the reviews first, where buyers showed that yes, it really does produce a pure sine wave output. But things turned out not to be so simple.

While preparing a couple of upcoming reviews, I needed to assemble a battery pack. Since the cells are lithium-based, they usually need a protection board. I originally bought this one for other batteries, but it came in handy here too.

While I’m getting material ready for some other reviews, I decided to put together a short one. I remember getting carried away last time and saying I’d try to keep things a bit shorter, and today seems like just the right occasion :) In short, I’ll show you a pretty good cable for a soldering iron.

Back to the topic of off-grid power. Today I have some 32700 LiFePO4 batteries on my desk. Why “again”? Because this is already my fourth review of batteries in this size, and my second review of similar batteries from Vapcell.

A couple of months ago, I was browsing AliExpress and came across some interesting power bank cases. What caught my eye was how often I saw them, in all sorts of variations, yet they all shared the same style: a colored cartridge inside a transparent case. Anyway, I ordered one and it arrived.

It's been quite a while since I last wrote about Vapcell batteries, but I recently received a package from them with four samples. So today, here's part one: 21700 batteries rated at 5200mAh.

This device is more commonly called a trigger, though that’s not quite accurate. Somehow, the name just stuck. I decided to order one mostly on principle—“just to have it.” And since I’ve got it in my hands now, why not test it and show what it can do?

Today's roundup is about materials and tools for assembling battery packs, though I may add a few other things as well.

I got my hands on a dual-port converter with QC support for a little while, so I decided to test it a bit in case anyone finds it useful.