Hello everyone,
Here I share a link to my DIY 3D printed case project for a Rak Wireless meshtastic node
STL files are in the video’s description for anyone to use if interested.
Cheers
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Nice!
I like the minimalist case, not every node needs an external antenna.
The one Modification I have been making on RAK cases, is to add a power switch, to disconnect the battery when not in use. Even when the node is turned off through software the battery still slowly drains. I usually have a bunch of nodes running at once and having to connect to each one to shut it off in software is a pain.
My CAD skills are minimal, usually just cutting and merging one part of model on to another with in the slicer, so I greatly appreciate the skills of others and the sharing of designs.
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Nice suggestion to add a switch!
By the way, the links to the freecad source file and stl files are in the description of the youtube video, if you want to start with that and modify/merge with something else
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Adding a power switch is nice but…you should plug a usb c to charge the battery ONLY when your device is on.
Because when your switch is off, the voltage from usb may exceed the maximum value allowed…while when the switch is on, the battery voltage will deliver a secure voltage to your device…
Is switching off the battery different from powering directly from USB without a battery connected at all?
I dunno if the surge (or not) is the same during this transient … i just know that the resulting state are identical… i did not (nor want to) do this test while i look at my scope to watch and measure the voltage (even if those devices are not that expensive …)
is that true !?
, u think the raks get damaged, when powered by USB only?
i did that to all of my RAKs, when unboxing and initially installing firmware 
what might be damaged???
I was asking…i dunno if the 5+volts from usb used to charge the battery is reduced till the max allowed value ( using a diod or else) …i would appreciate to know the voltage applied to the chip when you power the rak via usb without battery…
There is absolutely no issue to power a RAK 19007 board directly from USB without a bettery connected. The 19007 has its own charging/voltage regulating circuit.
If you use an on/off switch between the battery and the board, then do not forget to switch it ON when plugging the USB charger if you want your battery to charge. It is obvious but something i forgot many times myself and was wondering why my battery would not recharge.
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So the topic is over now… no risk
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When I charge the device, “ with switch in the on position ” I know the battery is charged when the red charging light dims out.
Would be nice if RAK in future added a power switch to the board to streamline the charging process.
It would be nice to have a switch (connected to predefined GPIO pins) that allows charging the battery when USB power is connected while remaining/switching automatically to the OFF state when USB power is disconnected. That way the board could remain OFF but still could be charged when you plug USB power.
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