New Joule Thief project... need help

[unzapped]

Hello. I have been here, overunity, and pretty much any forum having to do with experimental circuits for years. I thoroughly enjoy reading all of these wonderful experiments and watching videos.

To date the only thing I ever built was a replication of shake light. My intention was to build a 2D size battery pack (shaker) and LED kit conversion for a Mag light... until I learned about the lenz effect... I got the shaker and led conversion alright but then uhhhh mr lenz stepped it and squashed it all because the body of a mag light is aluminum... haha what a putz! So I gave up thinking that I just don't have a enough time to spend puttering like I want... I just work way too much on top of being a father of 4, 5 if you count our chihuahua.

Lately, I have been enamored with the joule thief and thought ok how about a LED Mag Light conversion 2 D or 3 D cell size drop in joule thief? One of the cells being a AA to D converter the other being a charging joule circuit in a dummy battery shell.

The questions I have for the experts before I dive into a whole new world are:
1. Is this possible
2. Is this feasible... Meaning will I be able to get long battery life and good light from a mag light from a single AA battery or a combination of ultra caps charging each other?

If the answers to the above questions are both yes...

What would be the best way to accomplish this task?

Circuit diagrams, ideas, anything that can help me cut the development time down.

In my head I am thinking that dual ultra caps would be very cool... When the pack finally dies just plug her into an outlet and charge the pack back up!.

I have another really nice thing going... up the street is a coil manufacturer... the owner is willing to machine wind me some kick ass coils... I just need the specs for them. << he made my shake light coils.

Anyway all help would be appreciated and I will upload videos, pics, and all related accoutrement as I move forward on this project.

Thanks in advance...
Jason

[Inquorate]

The answer is 42

The answer to your questions is yes.

Look to the Joule thief thread and the use for the tesla switch thread as well as the dielectric emf recycler thread for ideas.

You may want to use a small solar panel from an outdoor led garden light to recharge your torch during the day.

Look forward to seeing your results

Love and light

[unzapped]

42! Thats what i thought the answer was!

Thank you for your reply. I will be doing some more research... I waz hoping to get more specifics on the project based on the application I plan to employ.

I could use a potential diagram of what the completed circuit would look like


Still reading...

UZ

[unzapped]

Heres the direction I plan to take...

1. charging Joule Thief circuit possibly with a rodin coil
2. two ultra caps to run and charge flip/flop
3. 2 D cell size LED maglight
4. AA battery that will be used for reserve power... this will be depleted as the charging circuit degrades over time.

The missing link in this experiment will be the switching circuit for the caps.
I need an addition to the JT a circuit that will automatically switch the "source" and "charge" caps based on a determined energy remaining level.

I have no budget for this project no holds barred, the absolute only limitation will be the entire package must fit inside the space consumed by 2 d cell batteries.

Outside of a mini rodin coil(which will be the biggest pain in the ass)

Does anyone have any ideas on what a diagram of a autoswitching, charging, joule theif circuit would look like?

Thanks
Jason

Still reading...

[kooler]

charging jt

@all
i haven't tried to build this yet but it looks easy and i will be doing very soon
the user tysb3 is claiming it is charging
Jule Thief
that is the diagram that user jesus cleaned up for us

hope it helps

[CaptainScat]

Hello. I have been here, overunity, and pretty much any forum having to do with experimental circuits for years. I thoroughly enjoy reading all of these wonderful experiments and watching videos.

To date the only thing I ever built was a replication of shake light. My intention was to build a 2D size battery pack (shaker) and LED kit conversion for a Mag light... until I learned about the lenz effect... I got the shaker and led conversion alright but then uhhhh mr lenz stepped it and squashed it all because the body of a mag light is aluminum... haha what a putz! So I gave up thinking that I just don't have a enough time to spend puttering like I want... I just work way too much on top of being a father of 4, 5 if you count our chihuahua.

Lately, I have been enamored with the joule thief and thought ok how about a LED Mag Light conversion 2 D or 3 D cell size drop in joule thief? One of the cells being a AA to D converter the other being a charging joule circuit in a dummy battery shell.

The questions I have for the experts before I dive into a whole new world are:
1. Is this possible
2. Is this feasible... Meaning will I be able to get long battery life and good light from a mag light from a single AA battery or a combination of ultra caps charging each other?

If the answers to the above questions are both yes...

What would be the best way to accomplish this task?

Circuit diagrams, ideas, anything that can help me cut the development time down.

In my head I am thinking that dual ultra caps would be very cool... When the pack finally dies just plug her into an outlet and charge the pack back up!.

I have another really nice thing going... up the street is a coil manufacturer... the owner is willing to machine wind me some kick ass coils... I just need the specs for them. << he made my shake light coils.

Anyway all help would be appreciated and I will upload videos, pics, and all related accoutrement as I move forward on this project.

Thanks in advance...
Jason

hi jason.

i think this is just what you are looking for...
the full description and source of the circuit diagram is here vboostLED
looking forward to seeing your conversion.

[jeanna]

Start at the beginning

Hi unzapped,
I would suggest making a plain joule thief as beautifully described by Bre Pettis and Windell Oskay on this youtube video

makezine video
I learned to make mine from that video and I still think it is the best instructor.

After you have made a couple (I made 3 before I started to get what I was doing = non an electronics trained person either) then make a 20 turn secondary on the toroid... in between all those wires etc is ok. And do not solder the led into its place, this time...
Instead, connect the leads of the secondary to the led. If it doesn't work one way try the opposite way.
In fact you will probably get 2 to 3 lights in series to look pretty bright with a 20 turn secondary.

Now you are no longer using the battery to light the light. You are only using the battery to turn on the transistor...
This turns on the process of switching the transistor on and off which causes backspikes in the secondary and.....(and it is the backspikes that are turning on the leds.

It is the coolest most majickal thing ever.

enjoy,

jeanna

[unzapped]

Thanks you!

Thank you to everyone who has posted so far.. just a quick update. Santa brang me a 2D cell 3 Watt LED Mag light!!! I had a sucessful trip to radio shack, and a family friend gave me a government suplus O scope!! Not sure if it works or how to use it... but I will post pics as soon as time allows... I am gettin giddy.

UZ

[CosmicFarmer]

Oscillators, resonance, magnetic fields. Anything is possible.

[unzapped]

Unzapped Cell Working

YouTube - Joule Thief Led Mag Light

Ok. I have sucessfully made a joule thief "cell" real simple straight forward. I used a 1 in pvc tube... some 1 inch chrome "plugs" a axl cap for 1/4 diameter axls for the +button... standard joule thief, AA battery holder and a 2 D cell 3 Watt LED maglight. As I show in the video I just drop the cell into the maglight and turn it on. I drains a full AA in about 6 hours. LOL.

Also very interesting to note... intermittantly sometimes it glows really bright, and sometimes it glows dim... I suspect it is another circuit in the maglight interfering with the joule thief... Mag calls it
"Intelligent Energy Source Management balancing high brightness with extended battery life(patent pending)."

When it glows dim I can hear a high frequency ringing..

Anyway I bought two generic double d flashlights for $3 at wal mart.

I broke the bulb on one and soldered in there a single highoutput white led. I am testing a brand new AA in this config with the "unzapped cell" to see how lang that lasts.

Once I get a chance I will post some good pictures.

Lastly I was looking at the charging joule thief circuits... has anyone ever just hooked up the charge outlet back into the power source battery? Seems pretty easy with a diode or two... But I am not very smart when it comes to electronics so...

Ok later for now.

J

[Lidmotor]

Standard flashlight conversion

@Unzapped
That is a very good conversion you did. I have never seen anyone convert one of the new high output LED flashlights to a joule thief circuit. Six hours of super bright light on one AA will work for me.
It would be great for the boat.

Lidmotor

[unzapped]

Part Deux

YouTube - Joule thief maglite part two unzapped cell

Ok, thank you all!... I was able to in this second video show the high frequency ringing that i am hearing in the 3watt maglite.

Also showed some versatility of the unzapped cell in a cheap flashlight... this is really fun stuff!

Any help or ideas would be appreciated...

Thanks
Jason

[sniky]

I made one from a old flash light and put instead of the bulb a timer 555 socket and mounted to that 4 super bright led. and used a 2 aa soket for the battery. I have to say that the light wasn't great with 2 used battery 1.1V each (but it worked), but when you put to new battery the light increased at least 4 times.
but I like your idea with the conversion.
I will try to make one of this as well.

[unzapped]

Unzapped Cell

I was trying to change the title of this thread... is this possible?

[unzapped]

Update

YouTube - Mag lite Joule Thief Unzapped Cell UPDATE

Just a quick update.

Also just to clarify... the cell in that light has run for about 45 Minutes on and off and is still very bright... I have not had time for a proper rundown test.

Thanks
UZ