FLIR Ex Series IR Camera 18650 Adapter

thingiverse

This adapter allows you to power a FLIR Ex series (E4, E5, E6 and E8) with a single 18650 lithium cell battery rather than having to use the proprietary battery packs. I created this because the FLIR battery packs for this camera are expensive ($50 each) and suck. Out of the box, their battery pack can only be charged with the battery installed and plugging a micro USB into the camera, with stress being placed on the cable by the rubber cover for the port. Or, you have to fork out $130 for a desk charger that charges one battery at a time. This is a working, functional design. I have created a few of these adapters to power our company IR cameras and they work well. **Materials Needed** * x1 Keystone Electronics 228 Battery Contact * x1 Keystone Electronics 209 Battery Contact * 4mm wide nickel strip (I cut 8mm strip I had in half) * x1 1N5819 diode (Schottky, 1A) * Light gauge solid hook up wire or transformer wire (I used salvaged transformer wire 1mm dia) * Plumber's clear PVC cement **Tools Needed** * Needle file set * X-Acto knife, tweezers (stuff to remove supports) * Fine sandpaper * Soldering equipment **Printing Parts** ABS filament is recommended for all parts. _Adapter Base:_ The stl model has the adapter base oriented with the bottom flat against the print plane, but it must be rotated 90 degrees on the X axis for printing. This is essential to ensure maximum strength of the clips that secure the adapter to the camera. Otherwise, you will almost certainly get layer adhesion failure during use and break the clips. When you print in this orientation, the new "bottom" does not sit flat on the print bed. Supports are vital. I used a raft to ensure my supports were secure and to help minimize part warping at the print bed. This finished surface on the part turned out least attractive. If you have a multi-material printer, having your supports print a couple solid interface layers with a soluble filament would help tremendously to improve the finished part appearance. I had good results with 2mm rectilinear supports throughout this part. The supports behind the clips can be tricky to remove (soluble supports would help here). Take care when removing supports, as there are a couple vulnerable areas on the base where too much pressure in the wrong spot will cause layer adhesion failure and split the base. However, if this happens, finish cleaning the supports then reattach the split pieces with a little PVC cement. _Battery Sled:_ This is much easier to print. Use small rectilinear supports inside the nickel strip channels for the device contacts on the underside of the model. I also used supports inside the slots in the Keystone contact mounts. _Sled Wiring Cover:_ Print on its side. **Preparing Parts** _Fitting parts:_ Tolerance between the battery sled and base are intended to be very snug. Use a rectangular needle file to smooth out irregularities in the slot the sled will be inserted in. Sand the sides of the sled, focusing on the inserted side (opposite the face with the visual + indicator). Adjust until the sled can be slid into the base snugly and will not come loose unless intentionally pulled out, but not so tight you risk splitting the base. Use a needle file to smooth the inside of the wiring cover and shave down the mating surface of the sled end cap and battery contact mount until the wiring cover fits with its ends touching the main body of the sled, as can be seen in the photos. Snap the adapter base by itself into your FLIR camera to ensure the latches catch properly. These latches snap properly with no play under my print settings. If you can pull out the adapter base without depressing the latches, use a rectangular needle file to take a small amount of material on the underside of the latch hooks, keeping the filing plane parallel to the top of the base. Do this gradually and test often until it latches properly. Slide the sled into the base and test fit the assembly into the camera. Sand any areas that produce excess resistance. _Cement strengthening:_ Use a Q-tip to paint a small amount of PVC cement on the inner surfaces of both battery retainer clips, extending an equal amount below the clips on the inner surface of the sled body. Also paint some PVC cement on either side of the battery-facing surface of the battery contact mount that slides into the base. Both of these areas tend to get a lot of stress that can cause layer separation, the cement will greatly increase adhesion strength where needed. Paint the cement on with a few strokes, but don't overdo it or use too much cement. Allow plenty of time for the cement to fully cure and the solvents evaporate before continuing. (note this cement will NOT work with PLA) _Prepare nickel strip channels:_ Use your tools to clear the supports from the strip channels. There is a small lip on either side of the channels in the longer dimension to retain the nickel strip and keep it from popping out, take care not to remove them. Carefully adjust with needle files and X-Acto until you can slide the nickel strip into place without too much resistance. The short channels on the end do not have a lip and are designed to let the strip lie flat. Slide the nickel strip to the end of the long slots, fold over, mark and cut proper length. **Assembly** _Wiring the sled:_ The wiring paths provided in the model ensure polarity will be correct and are intuitive to follow. The 228 contact goes on the side with the nickel strips, the 209 contact on the end that goes down into the base. Wiring the positive end, feed the wire through the hole in the top and pull out of the small space between the end cap and contact mount. Solder the wire to the 228 contact first before snapping the contact into place. Wiring the negative end, feed the wire through the other hole, which enters a protected channel to the other side. Solder to the corresponding nickel strip first, bend around the surface channel and pull slack from the other end and bend. When soldering the diode on the negative end, make sure the diode polarity is correct with the side with the band soldered to the 209 contact and the other end soldered to the wire from the other side. The diode provides polarity protection so you don't blow out your equipment if you put the battery in backwards. Also make sure the diode's position is the same as demonstrated in the photo as this lines up with a recess in the adapter base for the diode body being a little thicker than the space. File down the solder joints to the nickel strip if necessary, clean any flux off contact parts. _Final Assembly:_ Double check your diode polarity, then slide the battery sled into the adapter base. Install an 18650 battery, verifying battery polarity. Insert into camera and test. Assuming test is successful, brush the inner curved surface of the battery sled wiring cover lightly with PVC cement, fit tightly on the mating surface of the battery sled and hold firmly in place for about a minute for the cement to set. **Final notes** Optionally, you can glue the sled to the adapter, but as long as the fit is snug, this is not necessary. By not gluing these parts, if one of the parts becomes damaged, you would not need to make the entire adapter again - only the damaged piece. Please take note of the non-commercial license. It was a lot of fun to design and tweak and the result was very satisfying, but it was also a lot of work. Produce these for your own needs. Tip if you can spare and find it useful. If you wish to produce and sell these, message me and perhaps we can come to some arrangement.