

Show HN: Building a Military Spec MacBook Air Case with Long Life Battery - jrobertfox
http://neverstopbuilding.net/mil-spec-mac/?utm_source=hn

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chiph
Tip for soldering the milspec connectors.

Slide your heatshrink tubing over the end of the wire. Strip the insulation
from the wire so that the copper will bottom out in the connector cup, with
about 1/16" (1-1.5mm) left bare beyond the end of the cup.

Clean the wire with some alcohol & a cotton wipe, taking the opportunity to
twist the strands back together. Tin the wire with your solder. Use a large
paperclip or tweezers to prevent heat transfer that might melt the insulation.
Locking forceps can work if you bend the handle so that the jaws don't crush
the wire.

Once the wire cools, coat it with a thin layer of flux. Then cut a length of
solder to fit into the connector cup. Insert the tinned wire next to the
solder strip and heat the cup. At the exact moment when the strip of solder
melts and blends with the tinned wire, rock the wire away from, and then back
down against the back of the cup, and remove heat. Hold it still while it
cools.

Slide the heatshrink over the connector and shrink it with a heat gun. Don't
use a lighter - it chars the insulation and you'll have to start over. Most
hair dryers don't get hot enough (darn safety rules!)

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sigkill
_> dropped a glass of water on the case, and _

Okay, so that sucks.

 _> razor sharp shards of glass ricocheted_

Welp, you _literally_ dropped a _glass glass of water_. Good lord, that's
scary on a naked computer. This is a pretty awesome hack.

 _> (Be sure to get your finger partially in front of the lens while
documenting this.)_

Why does he say this? I don't understand.

I have another question. What is the present status of taking something like
this on-board an airplane? Is the extended battery likely to raise alarm at
the carry-in security section?

~~~
jrobertfox
oh lol, it's cause i had my figure in front of the lens in one of the pictures
i took.

We had no problems, sending it through the airplane, i snuck a peek at the
x-ray cause i wanted to see what the battery looked like. Just a bunch of
cells.

------
thuuuomas
"Military Spec MacBook Air" is my new favorite oxymoron.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Military Spec MacBook Air _case_. During use, it’s the external battery and
power supply that are very well protected, not the computer itself. The
MacBook Air is hardly a Toughbook (of course, a Toughbook is also 3 times as
heavy).

~~~
johnbellone
I had trouble seeing where it actually houses the MacBook Air? In the first
photo it looks like the battery and custom power-charging cable. There does
not seem to be much clearance for the lid of the Pelican case if you put the
MacBook on top.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
It looks to me that the biggest cut-out is exactly the size of a 13" MBA. The
computer also isn’t very deep, 0.4" on average.

------
Samuel_Michon
> My [MacBook] Air usually lasts about 4 or 5 hours with full brightness and
> the wifi turned on

What are you doing that depletes the battery so fast? I have a 2012 13"
MacBook Air which lasts 8-9 hours. My typical use is: display set to 50%
brightness, WiFi turned on, mostly using Adobe CC apps.

~~~
jrobertfox
I think those numbers are full brightness. Maybe 2012 is better, this was mid
2011.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Ah yes, that does matter. My 2012 MBA has a better battery life than the 2011
MBA, and this year’s MBAs in turn have way better battery life than my MBA. It
also matters a great deal whether you have the 11" or the 13" model (which has
way better battery life).

[http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-
ai...](http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-
faq/macbook-air-mid-2011-real-world-battery-life-core-i5-core-i7.html)

------
ChuckMcM
Pretty cool, the other change I would suggest would be munging one of those
plugs that can morph into any sort of wall plug [1] (they sell them in airport
shops) so you end up with a charging cable that can plug into anything.

[1] Something like this:
[http://www.isplc2006.org/b2b/graphite/5/universal_plug_adapt...](http://www.isplc2006.org/b2b/graphite/5/universal_plug_adapter_203.html)
I've got a round shaped one with a "Fuji" logo on the side I got at Heathrow I
believe.

~~~
jrobertfox
That's a good idea, especially because the charger is duel voltage.

