Replacing the current sense resistor in Portable Chargers/Power Banks for powering low power DIY projects.
Mobile Phone/Tablet charging Power Banks can be used to power so many DIY projects. But if your project is low power and draws very little current, the power bank will auto turn off after a few seconds thinking that it isn't being used to charge gadget (because the current draw is very low). I need to figure out a way to hack one and locate and replace the current sense resistor with one of a higher value. Here is how I did it. This told me that the resistor would be located on the return path (ground path) of the output USB connector. I promptly located the R100 SMD resistor in my iBall portable charger. The fact that this resistor was fatter (higher power dissipation rating) and that it was 0.1 ohms in value confirmed that this had to be the current sense resistor Original 0.1 ohms current sense resistor I measured the voltage across it when nothing was connected. It was zero volts and the portable charger turned off in a few seconds when nothing was being charg...
Awesome stuff man... And really neat snaps too \m/
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