EEVblog #291 - USB Power Supply Part 2 - The Housing

Part 2 in the USB Power Supply design series. Selection of the housing.

[Airman]

I like it so far, keeping it standard for use with most power supply units as well as the sleek look. If people have a problem with the wobbly nature they can chuck some rubber feet on it and it wont be an issue.

Looking forward to the future stages Dave!

[rsagdahl]

Thank for doing this Dave. It is really interesting to hear how someone else thinks and come up with conclusions. We don´t need to agree with every solution, but I am sure your seeds that you plant in our brains will lead to good solutions in the future.
Keep up your great work and positive approach!

[rsjdesouza]

The trick up Dave's sleeve is the thinking process behind the decision, since this is something no engineering school teaches. I was fortunate enough to learn something from my dad, which was very meticulous when choosing an enclosure for his electronic projects. It was not uncommon to reuse the most incredible materials and enclosures to make a project appeal to usability (soap boxes, empty deodorant cases, etc.)
Good video; we always learn something

[MrSchorschschorsch]

this video has made me want the finished product even more!

[mikeselectricstuff]

An alternative to the laser cut acrylic would be a PCB, with a rectangular cutout for the display, and you just stick a small piece of thin clear plastic on the back to cover the cutout. That way you have plenty of room for legends and maybe better rigidity, as well as less risk of plastic cracking at the screwholes.
I think you should still have knobs though, although I've found nice shallow knobs hard to find.
Another thing you could do with a PCB cover is touch buttons & sliders.

[EEVblog]

I said I was going to do it my way, but feedback and discussion is of course always welcome. If you want it done a certain way, you are welcome to do it yourself. It's not physically possible to implement everything everyone wants. I usually have very good reasons for rejecting certain suggestions, and I'll no doubt talk more about this in due course I'm sure. Not everyone will agree with my decisions, and there is nothing I can do about that.

[LevonAvagyan]

Hi Dave,
You can use one size of screws and drill out the small holes to the size of bigger ones.

[F]

on the usb side of the pcb, you could include traces and mounting holes for a standard barrel jack, and maybe a tiny predrilled hole for self-drilling the side panel.

[irishRocker]

This is interesting. looking forward to seeing how this pans out!

[mjlorton]

Great video, well timed for me too. Cheers, Martin.

[Oshbotscom]

Some peel and stick rubber feet would keep the thing from rocking and cover up the screw holes. Love it.

[kftkj]

Love this project, cant wait to see the next video and purchase one!

[SirDizarm]

Thanks for a great vid Dave. I cant wait for the next step :) Hope seeing it soon! //Dan

[gfsh]

Couldnt have put it better my self Dave at least you come up with the ideas I dont see many other people doing the same! Well done bud if the video is too long dont twist just skip a bit.

[smraynz]

Hey Dave,
What about a little OLED display like the small one that adafruit sells?

[MrKolnis]

Sadly, but you probably will need to do some additional work on this box to make cover flushed :(

[cypher]

I like the case but I think the rounded bottom would bug me. Can't wait to see the final product. Cheers!

[Andrew_Sparrow]

You could just go out and buy the device or pay someone to design/built it... the whole point of this is the design process and this is EXACTLY what it's about, spending hours on getting it how you want it is not time wasted if it's something you enjoy doing. This is the "fun" of electronics and engineering as a hobby. I go one step further and see how I can modify and reuse existing components and parts I have, but Dave wants to be able to produce many cheaply so ideal way to do it.

[EEVblog]

You are right, it's too short, I should have made it an hour.

[LtKernelPanic]

I'm really liking this project. In theory you should be able to use one of those 10W USB power adapters that you'd use for an iPad or similar to power it when you don't want to put an extra drain on your laptop.