mini 18650 powerbank

thingiverse

A small 2x 18650 powerbank enclosure is made from a compact and simple to print and build design. It's very handy to have when out and about. The board used is available at https://www.banggood.com/3Pcs-Dual-USB-5V-1A-2_1A-Mobile-Power-Bank-18650-Battery-Charger-PCB-Module-Board-p-1133268.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN. The batteries used were salvaged from an old laptop battery pack, saving them from being thrown away. To assemble the project, you'll need 6x M2x10mm screws/bolts to put everything together without any gluing required. The compact design leaves no room for anything to rattle about inside. The indented button on one end can be held to turn the bank on and off or double clicked to turn the LED torch on at the other end. The display shows voltage percentage in the batteries, as well as power in and out and voltage/ampage out. To build: First, solder a couple of wires to your board before trying to fit it into the enclosure. Next, join the two 18650's together live to live, negative to negative (parallel configuration). They often come out of laptop battery packs already paired this way anyway. Slot the button into the main body with the slightly tapered edge toward the front of the enclosure. Insert the power board, keeping it in place by plugging in a couple of USB cables through the enclosure which helps keep the board somewhere like its final placement. Slot in the paired batteries below the board (make sure you have them connected the right way round for connecting to the board) and let the board naturally settle back onto them. Now simply trim back the wires either end and solder them to the joints on the batteries. Bolt the end caps on and your done. Update: 19/1/2017 Added a 4x 18650 version, requiring 10x M2x10mm screws bolts.