I had a nice electric screwdriver with a dead battery. I finally hooked it up and it works great.

Here it is:

How did I do it? Well, it is a long story. First, I tried to make it work from the charger. It did not work very well. I mean, it did not work at all.
Then I tried 3A power supply.

It did not work.

Then I tried internal power supply board from some video tape player. It span the screwdriver for a few seconds then burned with a harsh whistling sound.

Apparently, I needed something more powerful. Where do I find 5 volts and a lot of amperes? Right, in a computer power supply. I hooked it up and it works:

I’ve soldered 20-pin connector off an old motherboard. All I needed to do is just wire one pin to the ground to start it. You can easily find diagrams on the internet, just like I did.

I’m so happy to have it on my workbench! It has a lot of torque and works great. I have a nice 21V battery-operated drill/screwdriver, but it is way too big and heavy duty. Besides, this screwdriver has a very convenient collet you just pull to replace the tip.

What’s next? I have another thing with a dead battery. Here it is:

I do not think I will do a similar project with it. I guess, I already have too many power drilling tools in my garage.