7 ms·

I hacked one of these to power the nightlight in my kid's bedroom (https://github.com/ecaron/hue-website-nightlights https://github.com/ecaron/hue-website-night

by ecaron 10y ago

I hacked one of these to power the nightlight in my kid's bedroom (https://github.com/ecaron/hue-website-nightlights https://github.com/ecaron/hue-website-nightlights). The downside is that the button barely lasts for 1000 presses = 90 days (all kids like pushing buttons). And it is heart breaking because its just a AAA battery that they decided to solder in place... I'm excited that this button launched. But $20 is too much for something without a swappable battery. I'll either keep intercepting the ARP packets from the $5 unit or buy https://www.particle.io/button https://www.particle.io/button.

libria 10y ago
Is desoldering an option?
- tdicola 10y ago
  It's tricky, metal tabs are soldered right to the battery terminals. It's a lithium battery so you don't want to heat it too much so desoldering will be annoying and potentially dangerous. What you can do instead is cut both tabs to remove the battery then solder wires to the tabs on the board and connect a proper battery holder. Might need to move the battery outside it since the holder + battery won't fit.
  - fuzzygroove 10y ago
    For folks who use words like "desolder" it's not tricky at all. This (and the Dash) come in a glued shell with a 1.5v Energizer Li AAA solder-welded to the back. Getting inside without completely destroying the curb-appeal takes a hex bit, some scraping, and a little patience. Once you get to the board, the battery is easily replaced with a LiPo. The MCU is 3.3v, but Amazon Prime has you covered on cheap LDO/buck converters (like, "a buck" converters).
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Bombthecat 10y ago
Wait, what? So, we are basically moving from this which could last decades to stuff which stops working after 1000 presses? And people say we are not moving to planned obculence ( sorry, don't know the English word for it)
- fnbr 10y ago
  The word is "obsolescence." (I wouldn't be able to say it any any other language!)
  - mathheaven 10y ago
    Planned obsolescence = obsolescencia planeada in Spanish, designing purposely a product that won't last to get money through client's pockets. Examples with ink for printers was on courts.
- profmonocle 10y ago
  It sort of makes sense for the dash button's original purpose. You probably wouldn't order stuff like paper towels / toilet paper / dish soap more than once a week or so (less for for most people), so 1000 presses would last you over 19 years. Using the exact same hardware for a general purpose remote control seems like a mistake - an extremely limited product at best, an unnecessary source of ewaste at worst. A modified dash button with a replaceable battery would me much nicer, though I'm sure it's far cheaper to just sell a rebranded dash button.
  - comboy 10y ago
    > so 1000 presses would last you over 19 years I've been wondering about that. They say you can use it to control lights/netflix. If you don't want 10s delay it has to do wakeups every 30s or so depending on the wifi setup to stay connected to the network. And wifi transmission is quite power expensive. If it does that, I wouldn't give it more than a year (maybe more like a few months). If it doesn't, the latency must be terrible.
    - 10y ago
bschwindHN 10y ago
From the Amazon official page (https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/ https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/): How long will the battery last? The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery. How can you sell a button that has only 1000 presses in it for $20 with a straight face? Looks like overcomplicated, overpriced garbage to me.
- staticelf 10y ago
  From an environmental perspective, it is completely retarded I would say. I don't get why people like Amazon, none of their services are any good. Although to be fair, Amazon (the retail) doesn't exist in my country.
  - deanCommie 10y ago
    > none of their services are any good Care to back that statement up? :) (no argument on the environmentally subpar approach to the button)
    - staticelf 10y ago
      Well, it's a subjective statement as it is my opinion. But for me as a Swede: * The closest retail in Amazon is in GB or Germany, orders takes weeks to reach me which is a mystery since I've ordered stuff from Germany before and they usual deliver within a week. * Closest AWS datacenter is in Ireland, latency is high for nordic countries. * Their documentation is very confusing, you can read all about their web services without understanding one. Leading to sites like this: https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain-english https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain-english But sure, their services works and is probably good for many, but I've never found them any useful at all.
      - eterm 10y ago
        Isn't there an AWS Amsterdam datacenter which would be better latency?
ecaron 10y ago
Follow-up: This thread is getting a fair amount of heat, and let me foremost say that I love the button and think it'd work for the vast majority of people. Just as a child's nightlight, he pushes it probably 10 days a day (potty breaks, bad dreams, is it time to get up yet, etc). I'd also wager that my ARP-interception causes the board to consume more just the norm.
- tracker1 10y ago
  10x a day means it'll last about 4 months... do you really want to have to pay $20 every 4 months for this thing?
  - ecaron 10y ago
    Certainly not. I'll keep using the $5 counterpart and intercepting the packets in an inglorious-but-it-works way.
jstoiko 10y ago
Agreed. It should at least reorder itself when battery runs low (and copy it's configuration over so I don't have to redo it)
karmicthreat 10y ago
I love my particle. I'm even using it in production now for measuring remote process levels (ultrasonic level sensors, flow meters). I'll probably have 100-200 in the field by the end of the year.
fuzzygroove 10y ago
You can replace the battery with a rechargable LiPo using a $2 security driver, spudger and a little elbow grease.

by ecaron 10y ago

libria 10y ago

Is desoldering an option?

tdicola 10y ago
It's tricky, metal tabs are soldered right to the battery terminals. It's a lithium battery so you don't want to heat it too much so desoldering will be annoying and potentially dangerous. What you can do instead is cut both tabs to remove the battery then solder wires to the tabs on the board and connect a proper battery holder. Might need to move the battery outside it since the holder + battery won't fit.
- fuzzygroove 10y ago
  For folks who use words like "desolder" it's not tricky at all. This (and the Dash) come in a glued shell with a 1.5v Energizer Li AAA solder-welded to the back. Getting inside without completely destroying the curb-appeal takes a hex bit, some scraping, and a little patience. Once you get to the board, the battery is easily replaced with a LiPo. The MCU is 3.3v, but Amazon Prime has you covered on cheap LDO/buck converters (like, "a buck" converters).

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Bombthecat 10y ago

Wait, what? So, we are basically moving from this which could last decades to stuff which stops working after 1000 presses? And people say we are not moving to planned obculence ( sorry, don't know the English word for it)

fnbr 10y ago
The word is "obsolescence." (I wouldn't be able to say it any any other language!)
- mathheaven 10y ago
  Planned obsolescence = obsolescencia planeada in Spanish, designing purposely a product that won't last to get money through client's pockets. Examples with ink for printers was on courts.
profmonocle 10y ago
It sort of makes sense for the dash button's original purpose. You probably wouldn't order stuff like paper towels / toilet paper / dish soap more than once a week or so (less for for most people), so 1000 presses would last you over 19 years. Using the exact same hardware for a general purpose remote control seems like a mistake - an extremely limited product at best, an unnecessary source of ewaste at worst. A modified dash button with a replaceable battery would me much nicer, though I'm sure it's far cheaper to just sell a rebranded dash button.
- comboy 10y ago
  > so 1000 presses would last you over 19 years I've been wondering about that. They say you can use it to control lights/netflix. If you don't want 10s delay it has to do wakeups every 30s or so depending on the wifi setup to stay connected to the network. And wifi transmission is quite power expensive. If it does that, I wouldn't give it more than a year (maybe more like a few months). If it doesn't, the latency must be terrible.
  - 10y ago

bschwindHN 10y ago

From the Amazon official page (https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/ https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/): How long will the battery last? The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery. How can you sell a button that has only 1000 presses in it for $20 with a straight face? Looks like overcomplicated, overpriced garbage to me.

staticelf 10y ago
From an environmental perspective, it is completely retarded I would say. I don't get why people like Amazon, none of their services are any good. Although to be fair, Amazon (the retail) doesn't exist in my country.
- deanCommie 10y ago
  > none of their services are any good Care to back that statement up? :) (no argument on the environmentally subpar approach to the button)
  - staticelf 10y ago
    Well, it's a subjective statement as it is my opinion. But for me as a Swede: * The closest retail in Amazon is in GB or Germany, orders takes weeks to reach me which is a mystery since I've ordered stuff from Germany before and they usual deliver within a week. * Closest AWS datacenter is in Ireland, latency is high for nordic countries. * Their documentation is very confusing, you can read all about their web services without understanding one. Leading to sites like this: https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain-english https://www.expeditedssl.com/aws-in-plain-english But sure, their services works and is probably good for many, but I've never found them any useful at all.
    - eterm 10y ago
      Isn't there an AWS Amsterdam datacenter which would be better latency?

ecaron 10y ago

Follow-up: This thread is getting a fair amount of heat, and let me foremost say that I love the button and think it'd work for the vast majority of people. Just as a child's nightlight, he pushes it probably 10 days a day (potty breaks, bad dreams, is it time to get up yet, etc). I'd also wager that my ARP-interception causes the board to consume more just the norm.

tracker1 10y ago
10x a day means it'll last about 4 months... do you really want to have to pay $20 every 4 months for this thing?
- ecaron 10y ago
  Certainly not. I'll keep using the $5 counterpart and intercepting the packets in an inglorious-but-it-works way.

jstoiko 10y ago

Agreed. It should at least reorder itself when battery runs low (and copy it's configuration over so I don't have to redo it)

karmicthreat 10y ago

I love my particle. I'm even using it in production now for measuring remote process levels (ultrasonic level sensors, flow meters). I'll probably have 100-200 in the field by the end of the year.

fuzzygroove 10y ago

You can replace the battery with a rechargable LiPo using a $2 security driver, spudger and a little elbow grease.