I have now started working on a battery case, with a dual-role USB-C port with 45W bidirectional power and a USB-A port with 5V at BC1.2.
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Sir you have my immediate attention.
I would gladly pay for a working version when you’ve gotten the kinks ironed out, or even just a kit.
I literally just opened an alternate thread asking for the framework team to publish the demo unit’s schematics:
My old battery is sitting in my junk drawer with all my adapters and card readers taunting me right now. It’s maddening.
Cool! I thought you said a daul usbc/usba port wasn’t possible?
I think that was in reference to an expansion card with a USB-C and USB-A port, not a case for the battery.
I’d be interested in this, especially if it had a physical power switch rather than some sort of automatic sensing of power draw coupled with a power button. Low current draw devices don’t always play well with such battery packs, unfortunately.
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Thank you for picking up the slack. Keep on rockin mate
My current plan is to offer a fully assembled product, with 2 adapter cables to allow connection to both Framework 16 and 13 batteries as they are identical in terms of their communication interface, along with the compatible screw bosses for either. Do people think that a clear top would be cool?
I’ll certainly have some way to turn the system off on the final product.
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It would certainly be nice to show off the reuse aspect. But I’d suggest translucent rather than truly glass clear. Since I believe, clear requires more brittle plastics to be used.
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I don’t care how it looks, I just want a way to reuse my battery without starting an electrical fire. I am not an electrical engineer by any means, lol.
I’d looked briefly into making my own but quickly realized that I was so out of my depth that the fish were glowing. And I personally enjoy not having my batteries explode on me.
Even if you don’t get to where you can sell a full product, telling people what kind of circuit protection or socket to use would be a godsend for idiots like me.
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Components that I want to see reuse / extended use cases:
- External battery bank.
- External display.
- USB hub for the other expansion cards that we have (some of us have more than 4 or 6 for our laptops). i.e. Now, even a USB hub can be modular.
- Wireless keyboard, so the same layout and tactility can be had even when we’re on other computers (similar to the Bluetooh ThinkPad keyboard).
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2 of the 4 listed I am working on!
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Nice! Working on for personal use, or as a purchasable DIY project?
I’m thinking, you can even bundle 1 and 4 together, since you need power for keyboard anyway. Make the keyboard into a powerbank too.
Purchasable as always.
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Just finished up on my rev1 prototype, I will order the PCBA shortly.
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Let me know how it goes! I promise I’ll be one of the first people in line to order.
I also had the (possibly stupid) idea of using the powerbank circuitry to power an lcd controller board for a spare fw13 display using an internal usb-c cable.
Then you’d (theoretically) have an external display that doesn’t need to rely on drawing power from the laptop, and can connect with a single usb-c cable.
Though, I am not at all sure if this is even feasible, so take the idea with a grain of salt.
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I’ll probably have 2 ports on my controller board, with only 1 needed at all times and the other 1 as a spare power input.
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Fair.
Thought was integrating the battery case into a housing for the LCD panel so you have essentially a power bank and portable monitor combo device.
That way I wouldn’t need a second cable for power if I say, used an expansion card with a usbc port on the LCD controller to connect via HDMI or full sized displayport
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Glad to see someone carrying the torch on this! Any chance you want a contributor? My EE MSc isn’t keeping me busy enough… 
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I’ve been following this thread here and there for a while. I feel it’s necessary to say @Josh_Cook is the hero we’ve all been waiting for. 
I, and as it appears many of the rest of us, will throw money at you for the battery case. Keep going and the hard work is appreciated! 
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Just wanted to also add that if @Josh_Cook does make the battery case and external enclosure for old monitors, I am all in! I think the existence of these options will also create a market for just the parts on eBay and other marketplaces. Right now, without other options I think some of these old parts either sit around in people’s homes or in the case of the batteries I can see how they might end up recycled prematurely. I for one have held off on the upgrades because of this!
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Those actually work well enough. If you get from a good brand like anker with a decent enough controller. My friend’s anker even have a dedicated “slow charging” that let you charge devices slower.
But I hate the concept of dual-purpose ports. have it so at least one is a dedicated charging port would be nice.
Maybe dig into the entire expansion bay battery idea? Maybe have it so you can literally use the battery-included expansion bay as a power bank. Although it wont fit a framework 14 battery.
Or will it?