First real electronics project done: a mintyboost!

I just finished building a “Mintyboost” kit — its a tiny little cell phone charger that fits in an Altoids gum tin, and charges your phone from a pair of AA batteries. It comes as a kit: all the parts and a printed circuit board for about $20, and it took me about 90 minutes including fixing my mis-soldered part, probably an 45-60 minutes if I hadn’t messed that up.

I didn’t do half bad! My soldering improved as I went, but I did have one part I soldered in the wrong place, and removing that was a pain! I need to get some solder wick to fix that.

Completed back of circuit board
My first soldered circuit board
Completed front
Completed front

Fully installed in the tin:

Ready to boost!
Ready to boost!

The “business end” — I covered the cuts I made in the tin with electrical tape to protect from the sharp edges.

USB end
USB end – plug in your cable and you are ready to go!

And lastly, proof it works!

Its alive and charging!
Its alive and charging!