Taste The Code

Disposable Vape Teardown: Free 850mAh Battery, USB-C Charger and a Tiny Display

Salvaging an 850mAh lithium cell and a working USB-C charging circuit from a disposable vape and examining what is on its PCB.

Apr 25, 2026 — 5 mins read

DM9 Digital Microscope Unboxing, Setup, and First PCB Tests

Testing a 7-inch digital microscope for PCB inspection, solder joint analysis, and SMD work to see how much detail it can really reveal.

Apr 22, 2026 — 6 mins read

18650 Battery Tester Review: Measuring Capacity and Internal Resistance

Testing salvaged 18650 cells from old laptop batteries using a 4-channel tester to measure capacity and internal resistance on each cell independently.

Mar 28, 2026 — 5 mins read

Diagnosing and Repairing a SANKEI TCR95 Studio Mixer from the 80s

I opened up my mom's vintage boombox to bring it back from the dead. A bad switch contact and a possible short were keeping it from working at its full potential again.

Mar 20, 2026 — 5 mins read

Full Electrical Isolation for Your ESP32 Power Switch Using an Optocoupler

Using an optocoupler instead of a transistor in a custom PCB power switch gives full electrical isolation and removes noise from MPPT solar charge controllers.

Mar 13, 2026 — 5 mins read