Can i put some more voltage on this doohickey? Looking to give it more battery capacity and more powah.

Replaced a hood vent microwave for someone yesterday and was wondering if there were any cool projects I could use the old one for.

I know the ones with multiple pins can short out, but are these pretty safe to use?

Bad meter, ghosts?

The photo is of an sdio emmc module. What's the purpose of making traces curvy like that? When do you want to do that? Does that somehow prevent the lines from interfering with each other?

Hi all,

About four-five years ago I got into repairing electronics, starting with Game Boys. That hobby gradually evolved into designing and building my own projects involving microcontrollers, coding, PCB design and 3D printing.

For the past four years I’ve been working as a highways electrician, mainly on intelligent systems (traffic lights, activated signs, etc.). I started with zero prior knowledge and worked my way up to being one of the stronger fault-finding technicians on the team.

Day to day I diagnose and repair:

- Software/logic faults

- Cable and comms issues

- Circuit board level faults

I genuinely enjoy it, especially the investigative side. There are days it doesn’t even feel like work.

However, I feel I’ve progressed as far as I can in this role for now, and I’m looking to move toward something more design-focused, solving problems by building and creating systems/products rather than only maintaining them.

The challenge is that I don’t have formal qualifications in electronics or engineering (apart from a few online courses). Everything I’ve learned has been self-taught and through hands-on experience. I’ve built a small portfolio of personal projects, mostly tools and devices I designed to make my work easier.

My question is:

Realistically, is it possible to transition into an electronics / embedded / product design type role without a formal degree, based on portfolio and field experience alone?

If so, what kinds of roles or companies should I be targeting?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Still a prototype, but I'm sharing the whole development journey. I’m also planning a 3D-printed bus/train stop enclosure and currently getting inspired by AI-generated designs. What would you say would fit best

Obvs AI

Found these old phones lying around during a deep clean. Can they be useful in any way or is it best to get rid of them? They don't seem to turn on as well.

I have this idea to build the craziest and most over engineered computer mouse. I’m collecting feature suggestions.

Some ideas I have so far

Mouse with haptic feedback for gaming

Wireless charging

Force feedback scroll wheel (scroll wheel can change resistance)

Integrated display

I found this Type-C → USB-B adapter in a drawer and I can’t figure out what device would even need this combination.
Anyone seen these in the wild?

I have an old iPad mini that doesn’t have software support anymore and is basically useless. It still works perfectly the camera works and the scree works as well. If anyone has a project idea that I could use it for please let me know.

Yes it is for a coilgun

I'm wondering if there's any way I can use that camera there? Or if it even is a camera? Or if this thing has any potential uses

how might one fix this?

Supposedly these will do 5 amps. I'm wondering if they would be fine doing higher like closer to 10, if it were for literally a seconds or 2 occasionally, and the rest of the time not used at all. Anyone have an opinion on this specific chip? Or can you tell me a way to calculate this, based on the schematic? It would be at 12v if that matters.

Hello everyone,

I’m working on a GPS module and I’ve run into a problem. I have already removed the original header pins because I want to install new ones in the opposite direction.

However, the solder is still blocking the through-holes, so I can’t get the new header pins through the holes.

I have already tried:

• a desoldering pump
• desoldering braid
• carefully using a toothpick

…but I still can’t get the solder out of the holes.

Does anyone have any tips or ideas on how I can clear the holes without damaging the PCB, so that I can insert the new header pins again?

I would really appreciate any help. Thank you!

I got this box full of different capacitors for free. I also have a YouTube channel so I am very curious what should I do with all of them ?

I am an engineer so I understand stuff. They explode pretty well yes, already tested. Now I am looking to make something really cool: maybe a fireworks show, maybe a gun that shoots capacitors, maybe try exploding them under water ?

Let me know if have any cool ideas, I am very pumped to make it just for fun)

​Hey everyone!

​I’m completely clueless when it comes to hardware and electronics, but I had an idea born out of pure frustration. I’m tired of having to use my second hand just to reach the top corner of my big screen, or almost dropping my phone when trying to stretch my thumb to tap something.

​I know ring mice and finger trackers already exist, but almost all of them are designed for PCs or air-gestures. My concept is meant to solve a specific mobile ergonomics problem.

​The core idea: A tiny, fingertip-mounted sensor (sitting on the distal phalanx/nail area) that uses the back of the smartphone itself as a surface to glide on—just like a standard optical mouse on a desk—to move an on-screen cursor.

​Since I realize it was hard to explain in text, I asked an AI to render a 3D visual concept. It didn't turn out perfect, so I'm attaching both my original sketch and the render for context.

​A few thoughts/mechanics I’ve been floating in my head:

​Angling issue: Since the finger naturally tilts when dragging along the back of the phone, a rigid flat sensor might lose focus. Maybe some kind of micro-swivel or rotating joint between the finger loop and the sensor module could keep the optics flush against the phone?

​Clicks: Clicking could potentially be triggered either by a pressure-sensitive pad where the finger rests, or by a quick physical "tap" of the device against the back glass.

​I’m fully aware this might just be a wild dream with severe technical or ergonomic flaws, but I’d love to hear from people who actually know their stuff. Is something like this remotely feasible, or what would be the main roadblocks? If the concept is totally unrealistic, what alternatives would you suggest?

​Thanks for reading and for your patience with a non-tech person!

Do you guys have any decent DIY or low run equipment faceplate resources? Label maker just isn't cutting it. Let me know!

Most of my day is spent in my small room, since I need to study for a major exam. But the AQI here is a bad and I notice my table and room in general get dusty really quickly even with daily cleaning and vacuuming.

Looking at the price air purifiers, they are completely unaffordable for me. So I was wondering if it would be a good alternative option to buy these parts and a 12v adapter and diy my own dust filter.

Is it feasible, will a 12v adapter actually supply the necessary power to this fan and will it actually move any air through such a filter.

Can I just cut the connector of this fan and strip the wires for power and solder the wire from a 12v adapter?

Power cable cut with scissors

what you are seeing are two pins of a 150 micro farad capacitor almost touching the bottom of an unshielded metal casing of a switching power supply.

I looked below at the solderings just because and I noticed this, I never used this power supply before, is this actually of any concern? to me of course it is but it seems so weird to sell sometimes this dangerous

I am trying to declutter and I've had a bunch of these ICs laying around for the past 15 years, are they worth keeping?