3 Awesome Must-Have Tools You Can Find on AliExpress

By lostCrypto | DIY Electronics | 4 hours ago

1) World’s Smallest Li-Ion Battery Charging Protection Board 3.7V

Where to buy: Charging Board: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3updRvR

Discover the world’s smallest single-cell Type-C 3.7V — 4.2V Lithium Battery Charging Module! This incredibly compact, lightweight, and affordable module is perfect for smart wearables, micro drones, and any project with tight space constraints.

Unlike traditional TP4056 chargers, this tiny Type-C module offers a smaller footprint without sacrificing essential features. Learn about its specifications, protection mechanisms, and how it can simplify your next DIY electronics project. Get yours for just $8 for a 20-pack!

🔋 Batteries that can be charged:

✅ 18650 Batteries

✅ 14500 Batteries

✅ 10440 Batteries

✅ 16340 Batteries

✅ 3.7v Power Banks

✅ 3.7v Li-Po Batteries

🔋 Batteries that cannot be charged:

❌ Ni-MH Batteries

❌ Ni-Cd Batteries

❌ 7.4V or 11.1V Batteries

❌ Non rechargable Li Batteries

Where to buy: Charging Board: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3updRvR

2) The 60AA Mystery Chip: The Secret Inside A Battery Level Indicators

Hello everyone in my hand is a super tiny 3.7V Li-Ion 4-level battery indicator. Hardware designers love it because it’s cheap, saves a ton of board space, and requires zero programming.

You’ll find these everywhere in budget power banks, rechargeable fans, Bluetooth speakers, and more. Next time you see four glowing dots on a gadget, you’ll know exactly what’s doing the heavy lifting.

In one of my recent short videos, I talked about the world’s smallest Li-Ion battery charging protection board. Just imagine pairing that with this tiny 4-level battery indicator would be a huge win for any compact circuit board.

On the front of the board, you’ve got four SMD LEDs and solder pads for the battery’s positive and negative wires.

On devices with rechargeable batteries, every time you press the button to check the battery level, a tiny brain does the math. But if you look closely at the board, there’s no big computer chip. Its just this tiny 6-pin component marked “60AA.” So what is it?

That “60AA” chip on the back is actually called the HM1160. Back in the day, you’d need a pile of resistors and a bulky chip called a comparator to do this job. But the HM1160 packs everything into a package smaller than a grain of rice. It’s a specialized, ultra-compact single-cell lithium-ion battery level indicator chip in an SOT23–6 package. It measures the battery voltage and directly drives a series of LEDs to show how much charge is left in portable electronics.

Instead of using a complex microcontroller that needs programming, this tiny chip does it all natively. It constantly monitors the battery voltage running at <10uA. As the battery drains, it automatically turns off the four indicator LEDs one by one — typically at 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%.

To understand how it works, you need to know how lithium-ion batteries behave. They don’t just sit at 3.7 volts all time. Fully charged, they’re at 4.2 volts; empty, they drop to about 3.0 volts. A battery indicator module is essentially a tiny voltmeter that measures that exact voltage drop.

Order Here: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3Lvko1F

The Breakdown of HM1160’s 6-Pins:
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
* Pin 1 (VDD): Connects directly to the battery’s positive terminal to read the voltage.
* Pin 2 (GND): Ground (Negative terminal).
* Pin 3 D4 LED outputs.
* Pin 4 D3 LED outputs.
* Pin 5 D4 LED outputs.
* Pin 6 D1 LED outputs.

The Logic (How it lights up):
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
The chip uses internal voltage dividers to check the battery level against fixed thresholds. If it sees over 4.0V, it lights all the LEDs. If it drops below 3.4V, only one flashes, telling you it’s time to plug it in. It consumes virtually zero power when the lights are off, so it doesn’t drain your device.

| Battery Voltage | LEDs Illuminated | Approximate Battery % |
| — — | — — | — — |
| > 4.0V | 🟢 🟢 🟢 🟢 (4 LEDs) | 75% — 100% |
| 3.7V — 3.9V | 🟢 🟢 🟢 ⚪ (3 LEDs) | 50% — 75% |
| 3.5V — 3.6V | 🟢 🟢 ⚪ ⚪ (2 LEDs) | 25% — 50% |
| < 3.4V | 🟢 ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ (1 LED Blinking) | < 25% (Low Battery) |

3) FNIRSI DPS-150: The Portable Voltage Regulator You Need?

Where to Buy: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c3EPIPtP

Discover the FNIRSI DPS-150, a versatile and portable CNC DC power supply perfect for electronics enthusiasts, hobbyists, and professionals!

In this video, we unbox and showcase the key features of the DPS-150, highlighting its intuitive design and powerful capabilities. Learn about its tilting LCD screen, various input/output ports, and programmable functions that make it a must-have for your workbench.

Why the FNIRSI DPS-150?