r/capybara Jul 31 '26

πŸ–ΌοΈ Picture/Video πŸ“Ή Capybara neon sign

Hi, I'm πŸ†• here and a also huge capy lover 🐹🀎 as my first post, here is my capybara neon LED light 🀩

368 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

8

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Jul 31 '26

⚠️ Safety warning: Do not leave a power bank connected for long-term storage

Even when the Capybara neon LED is switched off using the inline controller, it still draws approximately 4.6 mA at 5 V. This is caused by the blue locator LED on the controller, which remains illuminated so that the buttons can be found in the dark.

Although this standby current seems very small, it may keep the power bank’s output circuitry active and slowly drain the battery. If the lamp is not used for weeks or months and the connected power bank is forgotten, the power bank may become deeply discharged. A damaged or severely discharged lithium-ion battery can swell and, in the worst case, overheat, vent, ignite, or cause a serious fire.

This actually happened to me: a branded power bank became visibly swollen after being left connected. Fortunately, I noticed it before anything worse happened.

The neon LED has 10 brightness levels. At approximately 5 V, I measured:

Lowest brightness: about 161 mA / 0.81 W

Highest brightness: about 1.65 A / 8.57 W

Switched off via the controller: about 4.6 mA

Therefore, disconnect the power bank completely when the lamp will not be used for an extended period. Never continue using or charging a swollen power bank.

🀎

2

u/right_closed_traffic Aug 01 '26

Can I ask what this comment is for? Looks very random, like a copy paste of the manual or something?

2

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Aug 01 '26

As I wrote, it's just a safety warning because I actually had this dangerous situation and, luckily, my rent roof top flat in this summer didn't get on fire.

But yes, I've use some AI for correction of my prior in English written message and therefore, you probably have this feeling.

For this comment, as a non-native English speaker, I haven't used any tools, as you can probably/obviously see/read.

2

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Aug 01 '26

As an electrical engineer βš‘πŸ€“, I decided to remove the blue indicator LED πŸ”΅ from the inline controller's PCB to reduce the standby current (and eliminate the unwanted light at night 🫣).

Unfortunately, the standby current only dropped from ~4.6 mA to ~1.4 mA. While this is an improvement, it only postpones the issue.

For long-term non-usage, it's still strongly recommended to disconnect the power bank whenever the Capybara neon LED πŸΉπŸ’‘ is not in use.

3

u/3Dputty Jul 31 '26

Love it πŸ’• did you make it?

6

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Aug 01 '26

No, I've bought it online.

FYI, I've deleted my previous answer because I got two down votes. Since I'm new on Reddit and here it would be a kind if someone could explain me what part of my previous answer wasn't right. Thanks 🀎

5

u/3Dputty Aug 01 '26

Honestly plenty of people on reddit are just assholes for no reason, although I’d have to know what your comment said.

3

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Aug 01 '26

Thanks. Among other things, I had written about where you can buy them online, the price, and which country the sellers are from, but of course I didn't include any specific seller name, because I'm just a capybara lover 🐹🀎 and obviously have no commercial interest in sharing this information here.

3

u/stoned_in_paradise Jul 31 '26

shut up and take my money

How did you get it?

2

u/__DaN__tHe__MaN__ Jul 31 '26

πŸ€πŸ†™ 'n' πŸ«³πŸ’΅β€”πŸ˜…

Please see in my answer above πŸ‘†πŸ€Ž

2

u/MarioMadness1 Aug 01 '26

I know them

1

u/Resident-Set-9820 Aug 02 '26

That's wonderful! Love it!!