Aliexpress finds for home and DIY

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Willuknight

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Topic # 195307 15-Apr-2016 00:56

There's so much great stuff on aliexpress, but sometimes it can be hard to filter it down and actually find the really useful things, so I thought maybe we could all share various products and projects we've found stuff / done?

Insect screens: I couldn't find anything cheaper than $40 at bunnings, but these were awesome. I did 2 toilets, bathroom and kitchen with only 2 packs!

Drill bits: seems pretty simple, but this little self locking quick release bit head makes my life so easy. I also got some drill bits that use the standard hex and it's so much easier to swap between drill and screw.

RGB Wifi LED strip lights: Wired them to my ceiling, great for ambiant lighting, disco parties, instant themed decorating, you name it. All runs off my phone.

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Reply # 1533334 15-Apr-2016 06:32

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Paging @richms ....

richms

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Reply # 1533341 15-Apr-2016 07:16

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I suppose I could go thru all 65 pages of order history and pick a few out...

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 1533347 15-Apr-2016 07:55

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Watching

richms

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Reply # 1533352 15-Apr-2016 08:04

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Nice quiet powerful enough DAC and headphone amp -

USB charger doctors - this one no good for QC 2.0 tho -

Wall anchors for hardiflex garage walls etc - although not too huge saving over handy warehouse in glenfield to deal with the delay in getting them.

HDMI capture box -

Thread gauge to try to sort out what stupid non metric thread things are -

Digital Micrometer -

Double screen rear view mirror for backing cameras -

AC wireless card to upgrade the inexcusably crap 2.4GHz N that my slim HP laptop came with -

Retro USB game controllers -

Another retro USB game controller -

Many of these wifi sockets that -

banana plugs for speaker wire -

12v toggle switches for the car -

black hot melt glue sticks -

Funny looking round pillows -

USB DAC and amplifier -

Pimp looking chrome microphone -

Pillow covers that look like the fancy ones in all the magazines -

nerf compatible rounds -

Little waterproof electronics plastic boxes -

160mm holesaw for led downlights -

USG OTG adapters that just go into the USB plug -

Laser tape measure - seem accurate to about 20mm -

USB micro cables that go both ways for plugging in without looking easier. -

Tablet holder for the car, the end will swap with the phone holders but I couldnt find this gooseneck supplied with the phone holders, so just got the tablet one and a phone holder and swapped the ends -

router bits -

cable glands for the waterproof electronics boxes -

benchtop 0-16v power supply -

Clamp to hold a camera over my workbench -

Mount to hold a softbox over my workbench -

Cat bed -

another cat bed -

powerstrip that takes all sorts of plugs -

Richard rich.ms

richms

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Reply # 1533354 15-Apr-2016 08:05

Thats prettymuch the things that are still listed and I have used enough to know how they are. Also have bought a crapload of arduino and similar stuff that if you know you want it you would buy anyway, and LEDs etc too.

Richard rich.ms

Willuknight

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Reply # 1533441 15-Apr-2016 10:12

Haha nice, added a bunch of those to my cart.

That Laser tape measure, is it pretty easy to use? I've been wanting one for a while, but I've never used one before...

trig42

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Reply # 1533447 15-Apr-2016 10:33

Richms: How do the Orvibo power sockets go? I have a Wemo one, and everything about it is great, except the price. These look almost exactly the same.

Can you control them from outside your house (the Wemo works without needing to do any fancy stuff on my router).

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 1533449 15-Apr-2016 10:35

Yeah I am interested in those power sockets as well - much cheaper than Z-Wave enabled ones. Is the API open? And can you connect direct or is it via some 3rd party cloud based service?

richms

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Reply # 1533450 15-Apr-2016 10:37

On lan they are fine, from outside it seems their cloud servers are sometimes slow or do not respond well.

They are quite a bit smaller than the belkin wemo's, but still block all adjacent outlets for normal plugs which is my biggest gripe against them. There are some other wifi sockets that are smaller but I have not tried them much to know if they are any good, and they have a chinese plug which may cause some issues in some extension cords or other recessed sockets.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 1533451 15-Apr-2016 10:42

SumnerBoy:

Yeah I am interested in those power sockets as well - much cheaper than Z-Wave enabled ones. Is the API open? And can you connect direct or is it via some 3rd party cloud based service?

Someone has reverse engineered the lan protocol to discover them and get the name and swtich them etc when I last looked into it.

Richard rich.ms

flyingdutchdude

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Reply # 1533453 15-Apr-2016 10:46

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2 current favourites of mine:

Mach 3 blades (Gillette branded, quality seems ok):

Irrigation Pop Up Sprinkler 5pcs

Blanch

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Reply # 1533456 15-Apr-2016 10:51

Bunnings sell the Orvibo power sockets relabeled as a Arlec Wi-Fi Remote Control Power Point

Willuknight

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Reply # 1533641 15-Apr-2016 16:48

Anyone been looking at these smart light switches? Am I correct in thinking with this unit, I can wifi via my phone to the radio emitter (the RM2) which then tells the light switch to turn on (TC2)?