One of my favorite and most useful projects has been a Battery Case for the TS-80 Soldering Iron. It is easy to just grab it and go if I need to solder up something, and since it runs on a battery, the cable hassle is minimal. But the one drawback has been that the battery is limited, so soldering time is as well. That is not a big deal for most projects, but for larger ones it can be a limiting factor. Most USB-C irons these days can use higher power as well, even as much as 100W on USB-C. So the design is a bit long in the tooth, and updating it has been an idea kicking around in the back of my head for a while.
Today, I was looking at power banks, and thought it would be cool to find one that used LiFePO4 cells, and could do 100W out. Unfortunately the typical power banks still mostly use regular Lithium Ion tech. However, I found the "Aferiy Nano 100" power station, which upon the initial appearance I thought would be pretty big still, but after seeing some actual photos, it got me thinking - maybe it could be the perfect power source for a new portable soldering iron kit?
Something to consider though, is that almost all the reviews on Amazon are "Vine" reviews, so they should be taken with a good sized "grain of salt". Looking for other reviews, I found one from a "Jazzy" Aussie, who covered using the Nano 100 with USB-C soldering irons - and had a similar idea for using it as part of a portable soldering setup. Note that the linked YouTube review was also done with a free unit, though the reviewer seems to know her stuff, so I feel it is more trustworthy than the Amazon Vine reviews. Based on the video, it looks like it can easily handle the soldering irons, and has power for other stuff as well (like a buck converter). It also has the capability to be recharged by solar, which could be cool (though there is no mention of MPTT and it appears limited to 12-26v max solar input).
I went ahead and ordered one for $50, since it checks most boxes for a portable solder station power supply. I plan to start working on a portable solder station design, which will be based on my 4x4 16 Bin12U Gridfinity Box For Stuff Ver 3.3 design, and will fit the Nano100, with room for other stuff. The design may (or my not) be gridfinity compatible, that will depend on how much space is left. In any case, I plan to make it modular, so trays can be installed or swapped to fit different irons. There may be a buck converter as well, if I can fit it. Even if the project fails to be worth the effort, I think the Nano100 could be a cool power source for a portable soldering setup.
This could be a big project though, and is just at the idea forming stage right now. When I get the Nano 100, the first thing I will need to do is to model the unit, and then will work on the other parts. I'm not sure if I will initially design it for my old TS-80 iron (outdated and no longer sold), the TS101 (I own the similar TS100), the Pinecil, or maybe some other USB-C iron like the FNIRSI HS-02 (which I do not currently own, but looks really interesting). There may be others as well that I am not aware of, but I don't think I will be buying a bunch of irons for this project, so will probably start with the one's I have on hand.
Update 7/11/2025: I emailed FNIRSI to ask if they may have 3D models available for the HS-02A soldering iron. If they will provide a model, I plan to design a holder for that iron to be used with this case. I will probably pick up the HS-02A eventually, since it looks like a really good match for this design (the Nano 100 power station will output 100W (20V@5A)), but right now it's not quite in the budget. The design will be modular enough however, that if I decide to add support for the HS-02A later (and could make a 3D model of it to use), it should be possible.
The Nano 100 power station also arrived, and I was able to see how well it may fit the case (which will be redesigned around it, but I was just getting an idea of the layout). It's quite small for a power station (reminds me of an alarm clock lol), and the retracting USB cable is quite nice as well. The Nano 100 is about as tall as a 12U gridfinity bin, but is a bit taller in practical use, since it is not gridfinity shaped lol. The lid on the 4x4 gridfnity case therefore does not close, but it is close enough that I may be able to make the solder station case the same size, or possibly a mm to two taller. In any case, it should have no problem being printed on an Ender3 or larger printer (the footprint is 196x214mm).
There should also be plenty of room for the soldering iron, some supplies, and possibly something else (like a small USB powered fume extractor fan and a light).
Today, I was looking at power banks, and thought it would be cool to find one that used LiFePO4 cells, and could do 100W out. Unfortunately the typical power banks still mostly use regular Lithium Ion tech. However, I found the "Aferiy Nano 100" power station, which upon the initial appearance I thought would be pretty big still, but after seeing some actual photos, it got me thinking - maybe it could be the perfect power source for a new portable soldering iron kit?
Something to consider though, is that almost all the reviews on Amazon are "Vine" reviews, so they should be taken with a good sized "grain of salt". Looking for other reviews, I found one from a "Jazzy" Aussie, who covered using the Nano 100 with USB-C soldering irons - and had a similar idea for using it as part of a portable soldering setup. Note that the linked YouTube review was also done with a free unit, though the reviewer seems to know her stuff, so I feel it is more trustworthy than the Amazon Vine reviews. Based on the video, it looks like it can easily handle the soldering irons, and has power for other stuff as well (like a buck converter). It also has the capability to be recharged by solar, which could be cool (though there is no mention of MPTT and it appears limited to 12-26v max solar input).
I went ahead and ordered one for $50, since it checks most boxes for a portable solder station power supply. I plan to start working on a portable solder station design, which will be based on my 4x4 16 Bin12U Gridfinity Box For Stuff Ver 3.3 design, and will fit the Nano100, with room for other stuff. The design may (or my not) be gridfinity compatible, that will depend on how much space is left. In any case, I plan to make it modular, so trays can be installed or swapped to fit different irons. There may be a buck converter as well, if I can fit it. Even if the project fails to be worth the effort, I think the Nano100 could be a cool power source for a portable soldering setup.
This could be a big project though, and is just at the idea forming stage right now. When I get the Nano 100, the first thing I will need to do is to model the unit, and then will work on the other parts. I'm not sure if I will initially design it for my old TS-80 iron (outdated and no longer sold), the TS101 (I own the similar TS100), the Pinecil, or maybe some other USB-C iron like the FNIRSI HS-02 (which I do not currently own, but looks really interesting). There may be others as well that I am not aware of, but I don't think I will be buying a bunch of irons for this project, so will probably start with the one's I have on hand.
Update 7/11/2025: I emailed FNIRSI to ask if they may have 3D models available for the HS-02A soldering iron. If they will provide a model, I plan to design a holder for that iron to be used with this case. I will probably pick up the HS-02A eventually, since it looks like a really good match for this design (the Nano 100 power station will output 100W (20V@5A)), but right now it's not quite in the budget. The design will be modular enough however, that if I decide to add support for the HS-02A later (and could make a 3D model of it to use), it should be possible.
The Nano 100 power station also arrived, and I was able to see how well it may fit the case (which will be redesigned around it, but I was just getting an idea of the layout). It's quite small for a power station (reminds me of an alarm clock lol), and the retracting USB cable is quite nice as well. The Nano 100 is about as tall as a 12U gridfinity bin, but is a bit taller in practical use, since it is not gridfinity shaped lol. The lid on the 4x4 gridfnity case therefore does not close, but it is close enough that I may be able to make the solder station case the same size, or possibly a mm to two taller. In any case, it should have no problem being printed on an Ender3 or larger printer (the footprint is 196x214mm).
There should also be plenty of room for the soldering iron, some supplies, and possibly something else (like a small USB powered fume extractor fan and a light).
Update 7/12/2025: I think asking FNIRSI for something as odd as a 3D model of their product was a long shot at best. I have not heard back from them (though it has only been 2 days so I still may). But while researching the FNIRSI HS-02A, I found out about the Alientek T80P, which is much closer in appearance to my TS-80, but much more capable. The T80P is a 100W iron with very positive reviews (really they both do), and is a bit more compact than the HS-02A. Importantly, it was also less expensive than the HS-02A, which pushed me to bite the bullet, and order one. I think I will base the design off the T80P and the Nano 100, possibly with a buck power supply and a small solder fume filter fan. I have some other ideas kicking around for this design as well, but I think I may be trying to stuff too much into this case (we will see lol).
Update 7/26/2025: I received the Alientek T80P and it is very impressive. It seems to work well with the Nano 100
Update 7/26/2025: I received the Alientek T80P and it is very impressive. It seems to work well with the Nano 100
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