USB soldering irons make a good compromise between the low cost of a mains iron and not depending on mains power. As I quickly discovered when I bought a Silverline Tools 463429 USB iron, it would not function off a power bank. At first I thought it was faulty, but found it works fine once plugged into a mains USB charger, defeating the purpose I bought it for.
After watching a video by Big Clive of a different model with a tactile switch that runs fine off a power bank, I was considering purchasing one. However, I thought I would first try modifying mine to see if I could wire the tip directly to the USB input. Once I disassembled my USB iron, I realised a mod would be a lot easier than anticipated – Just bridge out the transistor that controls power to the tip. Even Clive had the same suggestion when I posted a comment about the issue with mine.
Continue reading Mod a touch sensitive USB soldering for power bank use
All electric heaters are 100% efficient at converting electrical energy to heat. However, as for how warm they make a room occupant feel, this varies from a lot one type of heater to another. Some heaters are also more efficient at heating an area or minimising heat loss out the ceiling.
When I had a chat with a lady who bought a new Opel car, she mentioned how expensive the in-car Wi-Fi is to run. In addition to paying for an OnStar subscription to enable Wi-Fi access, she must pay for usage. She was surprised to hear that there are other alternatives available that would let her children go online with their Tablets.
Eir’s F2000 router provides IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity, which allows devices to reach websites and web services with native IPv6 connectivity. While the Eir ISP network handles IPv6 routing, unfortunately its DNS servers seem to stutter with IPv6 DNS lookups, particularly with earlier firmware versions on the F2000.
When we had a new hot water tank fitted some years ago, we asked the plumber about solar panels for water heating. The plumber said that while they can cut hot water heating costs, they rarely pay for themselves in a home. The plumber went on to say that most installers exaggerate solar water heating cost savings to sell a complete package.
Three’s Irish All You Can Eat prepay plan sounds great – Just top €20 every 4 weeks and stream away to your heart’s content. But what if you don’t need all that data for a few weeks? Without an active AYCE or 500MB data bundle, Three gobbles credit at a rate of €1.01 per Megabyte!
We have gone through several dehumidifiers over the years, many of which either failed or got too noisy. This time I carried out extensive research, including reading many reviews and use feedback. Based on various user reviews such as on Amazon, most report the Meaco Platinum series as quiet running and energy efficient. Meaco is also one of the few manufacturers that 
Choosing the right antenna is not as simple as picking a random high gain 4G antenna and expecting it to work! There are several types of antennas and connectors. Even the cable type and length can make a difference.
There are countless reviews comparing Spotify, Apple Music, Google and other streaming services. While they compare the variety of songs and features, most do not look at real world use such as in-car streaming with patchy data coverage.