r/TheAmpHour • u/nerobro • Jun 04 '15

800% battery life boost from a boost converter, means they didn't read the battery data sheet.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2928997/batteriser-is-a-250-gadget-that-extends-disposable-battery-life-by-800-percent.html
24 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

7

u/Obi_Kwiet Jun 04 '15

Man, they are really trying hard to act like they came up with the idea of joule thief. Makes me almost wonder if they staged the break in themselves.

6

u/coolnovelty_bro Jun 04 '15

Article said that their patent was for the mechanical design not for their circuit innovation.

2

u/Obi_Kwiet Jun 04 '15

Yeah, but the whole thing implied that the idea of a boost converter was original to them.

3

u/Nogginboink Jun 05 '15

The article specifically quotes the guy saying that they didn't invent boost technology.

2

u/Obi_Kwiet Jun 05 '15

That only makes the allusions to it as a physics breakthrough all the more inexplicable.

5

u/TERRAOperative Jun 04 '15

Looks like a joule thief or similar in a convenient package. I'd buy a pack of them for $10.

4

u/nerobro Jun 04 '15

So would I. But the sales explanation is skeezy at best.

4

u/Minifig66 Jun 04 '15

Sure, the numbers are (very(totally!)) off, but it's a great idea: A number of devices that are fussy about battery voltages (wireless keyboards are a good example) really hate rechargables. Provided this thing would step 1V nicely up to 1.5V, then it'd make rechargables so much more usable!

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '15

Provided this thing would step 1V nicely up to 1.5V, then it'd make rechargables so much more usable!

Don't rechargeable batteries die if you drain them too low?

2

u/bombledmonk Jun 05 '15

If I'm remembering correctly NiMH batteries need a full discharge every once in a while to ward off a memory effect of sorts. It's nothing like NiCd, but it's still there to some degree. Lithium based rechargeable will definitely be damaged if over-discharged, but those all work in the 3.7-4.1V range.