Some stuff I got this week...

Where shall I start?

Let's start with the junked UPS. It was being thrown away and because it looked fairly new, I decided to 'rescue' it from the bin. One thing about UPS is that during power failure, it is one of the most important component where it comes to saving data and shutting down the computer. A UPS is not meant for working through a power failure.

But you already know that, right? RIGHT?

And so, this is the UPS which I took. It has that very
nice shape which screams for modification. No, not
the electronics but more on the modeling side, OK?

Also, I finally bought these Kotobukiya guns too.

Its just a two sprue part which makes up into
a rifle of some sort.

And this is how it looked like from the instructions

So, why did I buy it? My normal answer would be;
"Because of the design." And its true as its just the
pair of little round pipes under the main barrel
just got to me.

Back to the UPS. I have tried it earlier in the week
and it just refused to take charge. The guy also told
me that they have replaced the battery with a new
one and it still did not work.

Which means, its broken. Of course they could take it
to have it repaired but with the time and money
used, its better to just get a new one. And so, this
UPS is mine! So, let's start with the screws...

Strange.... I thought it was made in Malaysia.

Anyway, here is what the UPS looked like inside. For a
Degree holder, it spells danger. But for someone who's
ignorant in electronics, this is a mystery worth looking
into! Of course, with all the capacitors in there, you
will learn very quickly about how not to probe with
bare metal.

The 7AH battery looked brand new

The reason why UPS are so heave is because of their
backup batteries and the huge transformer inside.
Now, this is where you start to take things apart,
item by item. Don't worry about the sequence
as you're not going to put it back together
again. However, the first thing you must
do is to make sure its not plugged to the
mains and remove the battery.

Next is the controller board. I am not sure what it
does but I can guess that it controls the charging
rate of the battery, monitors it and also, tells
when there is no power.

However, at this stage, its just a great source of spare
parts. For example, I can take the beeper, the relay
and some capacitors. As for the three shiny aluminum
heatsinks, they're blocks of metal for the time being.

A circuit breaker, a mains cable socket, some caps
and a toroid too...

So, all these are taken out...

The transformer serves as a great paper-weight.
But not so for iPads...

Its amazing to see how a quality product was designed.
Even the mains sockets here uses the correct cabling
and its not even soldered.

But ultimately, what I wanted was the two halves of
the UPS. What am I going to use it for, I am not sure
but one day, it will have its purpose. A command
centre, a back pack for some costume, or even as
a project box.