Industrial-strength LVI
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 8:13 pm
A while ago, my DIY Line Voltage Inducer (LVI) for my DreamPi broke yet again, and instead of digging out the soldering iron and repairing it for the upteenth time, I decided to overhaul the design. (The ends of the fragile RJ11 cord pins must have gotten strained, and the solder broke loose on the RJ11 pins. Tiny, stripped 24 AWG gauge wire inside RJ11 cable is a complete pain to deal with and to solder down tightly, especially since it's tiny stranded wire, not solid-core.)
My original LVI
Instead, I replaced it with a DIY, industrial-strength, solderless LVI, which I'm showing off today. For those who want to create their own DIY LVI, who don't have the ability to solder, or who just struggle dealing with stripped RJ11 wire like me, this is probably the best design out there. And it fits into a fancy case to boot!
It uses 2 RJ11 wall plates (which attach the RJ11 pins to user-friendly spade terminals and screws on its keystone), solid-core copper jumper wires stripped and crimped with spade terminals, and a mini-breadboard for the LVI circuity itself. Everything fits into a small metal tin, which can easily be found for cheap at craft stores. Holes were Dremeled out to fit the RJ11 wall plate keystones, wall plate screw holes were drilled out to the top/bottom, and the plates were tightened down to the top/bottom of the tin with short screws and nuts/washers. The black, green, and yellow pins between the RJ11 wall plates were just jumped (direct connection), while the red pin was jumped over to a small breadboard. That mini breadboard has the LVI circuity for applying the voltage, and is attached to the bottom of the case with the adhesive tape on the bottom of the breadboard. Total cost was ~<$15 USD, and the circuit implemented is just the simple LVI from online-consoles website.
Pictures:
I'm also curious to see other member's LVIs 
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Instead, I replaced it with a DIY, industrial-strength, solderless LVI, which I'm showing off today. For those who want to create their own DIY LVI, who don't have the ability to solder, or who just struggle dealing with stripped RJ11 wire like me, this is probably the best design out there. And it fits into a fancy case to boot!
It uses 2 RJ11 wall plates (which attach the RJ11 pins to user-friendly spade terminals and screws on its keystone), solid-core copper jumper wires stripped and crimped with spade terminals, and a mini-breadboard for the LVI circuity itself. Everything fits into a small metal tin, which can easily be found for cheap at craft stores. Holes were Dremeled out to fit the RJ11 wall plate keystones, wall plate screw holes were drilled out to the top/bottom, and the plates were tightened down to the top/bottom of the tin with short screws and nuts/washers. The black, green, and yellow pins between the RJ11 wall plates were just jumped (direct connection), while the red pin was jumped over to a small breadboard. That mini breadboard has the LVI circuity for applying the voltage, and is attached to the bottom of the case with the adhesive tape on the bottom of the breadboard. Total cost was ~<$15 USD, and the circuit implemented is just the simple LVI from online-consoles website.
Pictures:
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