Welcome back to another Pokit Pro weekly update. Here’s our latest progress with Pokit Pro:
Production:
The Pokit Pro production units that we sent for safety certification last week have just arrived with our manufacturers in China. Here, the production units will undergo ultrasonic welding and have pad printing applied on the housing before being handed over to the IEC test house.
We’ll be keeping you updated with how safety certification is going over the coming few weeks.
App:
We have sent off a version of the app for IEC testing. Our engineers identified a minor issue where measurements above 100V were fluctuating. We have since improved the measuring accuracy, and measurements above 100V are now significantly more stable.
Comments
14 comments
If it is ultrasonically welded together, does that mean that the internal battery is not replaceable?
Hi Colin Ng,
That is correct. Pokit Pro's battery cannot be replaced, but it is a rechargeable battery
That's actually extremely disappointing to hear. Batteries are often the first thing to go on a device, so the fact that this product isn't possible to open without physically cutting/damaging the plastic is almost a complete dealbreaker for me. This turns a potential 10+ year tool into something that'll only realistically last a maximum of 3-5 years.
Pokit Pro is obviously marketed towards the DIY community, so this seems like an odd business decision to make the product unseparable. Planned obsolescence is never a good thing. It's anti-consumer and anti-environment, all so you can make the device ever so slightly smaller/cheaper by avoiding screws and clips.
I'd happily wait a few more months for a redesign of the casing to introduce screws, but seeing how far along you guys already are, I doubt that will be considered. Maybe for a future Pokit Pro 2?
Hi Christopher DeVries,
Thanks for your feedback about the battery. You're correct in that keeping the device as small as possible has led to the device not being able to be opened to change the battery.
We will keep this in mind for future products to reduce the likelihood of waste.
May I request my units not be welded together? I will then furnish my own suitable adhesive. If not, may I reduce my order to 1 unit?
I know I should not have assumed it would have screws (even though it was marketed toward the DIY community), but I agree with Chris: non-replaceable batteries is wasteful. If I use this device as much as I currently use my scopes and multimeter, I’ll wear out the battery in a short while, unless it is an automotive grade NCM (2000 cycles to 80%) or a 3000+ cycle LiFePO4 cell. Are either of those what is being used in the POKIT Pro? If not, as soon as the cell wears down appreciably, it becomes eWaste.
The power brick that came with my Apple AirPort Extreme was ultrasonically welded together. It was absolutely impossible to open without total destruction of the case.
If I may say so, it is nonsense that doing without screws makes the case noticeably smaller. Change it before it will delivered!
Hi Colin Ng,
If we added screws to make Pokit Pro openable, it would have broken the strict creepage and clearance rules for a device this small. Because of this, it would be a safety issue and wouldn't pass safety tests/certification. Our main priority with this device was to make it as capable as possible as small as possible. We will not be able to provide a non-welded unit, unfortunately, and if you would like us to reduce your order please email us at support@pokitmeter.com.
Pokit Pro uses a 130mAh 3.7V LiPo battery.
Hi Teef,
Unfortunately, we won't be adding screws to Pokit Pro due to how compact everything is inside the unit.
Dear Lachlan,
Thank you for the explanation. Kindly excuse my ignorance for not knowing about clearance and creepage distances.
Having looked up what constitutes CAT III, 600V, I am impressed your team was able to pack that much capability (safely!) into something so small.
Now that you have educated me, I choose this trade off for capability vs. maintainability. I would like to keep my full order, and I look forward to supporting your teams’ future endeavours.
Thanks for keeping us informed all the way, for being generous with your knowledge, and for considering replaceable batteries in future products.
Is the Pokit Pro usable while plugged in and charging? If/when the battery finally dies I'm wondering if I can just keep it plugged in to a battery bank to extend its usefulness, even if the battery is no longer able to provide any power itself.
Plastic screws should be able to solve the problem of dielectric strength and leakage currents.
Hi Colin Ng,
Thanks for your understanding! It has been a great challenge to engineer so much capability into such a small device. Thank you for your feedback, and we look forward to being able to deliver Pokit Pro to you as soon as possible!
Hi Christopher DeVries,
Yes! You will be able to use Pokit Pro while charging. We have worked hard to minimise the amount of noise that Pokit Pro picks up while charging so that this would be possible.
Hi Teef,
Thanks for the suggestion of the plastic screws. We will keep this in mind for future products.
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