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TEARDOWN

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High voltage coin cell

I blew up the original PCB on a bistable cholesteric display, so I built a coin-cell Joule thief to crank out 27V and bring it back to life. A simple two-inductor setup with a 27V Zener does the trick—about 10 mA while the button’s held. Then I got fancy with a regulated version (just one extra transistor) that tops the cap to 27V and basically idles—average draw lands around 1.53 mA. It’s neat, tiny, and perfect for this low-current reset job. Full build and measurements are in the video.
26 September 2025

Tearing Down a Bistable Cholesteric Display

I recently dug out my bistable cholesteric display and decided to see how it works after being inspired by Big Clive's teardown. This nifty gadget, which allows you to write and erase with just a button, operates on bistable cholesteric crystals without needing constant power. Measuring the clear voltage showed around 30V, and a little experimentation confirmed its dependency on polarity. Despite a minor spark mishap, it's still a neat, low-power device. If you're interested, you can grab one from AliExpress for some hands-on fun.
12 August 2025

16 bit mini handheld video arcade

Disassembling a 16-bit mini handheld video arcade revealed a fairly uncomplex interior with most of the functionality being handled by a blob chip on a single-sided PCB. Despite the simplicity, the impressive design manages to fit 156 games into flash storage on a multi-layered daughter board, which helps simplify the main board's design. While not as hackable as hoped, the teardown provided an interesting glimpse into the device's construction.
26 January 2024
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