Joule thief

[WarHawk-AVG]

Not exactly "personal vaper" related..but I though you tinkerer guys might be interested

I have searched all over the darn place for a viable DIY w/ circuitboard joule thief

If you have never heard of a joule thief...well this will get you started


Make a Joule thief.


Joule Thief - use LEDs with only one AA battery!
I found a GREAT PCB design from instructables with a Eagle.brd file, uploaded it to OSHPark

OSH Park ~ RazorConcepts Joule Thief

6x boards for $4
Then went and found the components
Newark part list
x12 58K2047 FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR-PN2222ABU-BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR, NPN, 40V, TO-92
x6 58K4959 MULTICOMP-MCCFR0S2J0222A20-RESISTOR, CARBON FILM, 2.2KOHM, 500mW 5%

x12 38K0258 MULTICOMP-MCF 0.5W 1K-RESISTOR, CARBON FILM, 1KOHM, 500mW, 5%

x6 32M9880 BOURNS-RLB9012-471KL-INDUCTOR, 470UH, RADIAL LEADED

x6 49W3438 PANASONIC-ECW-H12102JV-CAPACITOR FILM PP, 0.0010UF, 5%, 1250VDC, RADIAL
Fasttech SKU:1089204 14000 MCD 5mm White LED Emitters (10-Pack) $.95 ($2.95 total for shipping)

The shipping from Newark was $9, parts were $11something! arrgh

Total price for the boards and components 6x full builds


$27.99

If you choose check it out and tell me what you think (I got it so I can teach my kids electronics and soldering and get them into techy stuff...one kid took to coding like it was something he always did)


You can use those AA batteries that have discharged so much they won't run anything...but now you have more or less "emergency lighting" besides your big honkering flashlights


Discuss

 

[breaktru]

Very good WarHawk.
I've use a Joule Thief to light the On L.E.D. in my Spark-O-Matic with a 1.5v AA battery. It's a handy circuit It only cost me a few cents to make. L.E.D. with a AA battery

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Nice!

Took a different route, found another version, running great...VERY bright on a 14kcd 5mm LED

I found a really cool joule thief build with an open source shared .brd file

The Joule Thief (or just another white LED torch).

Uploaded to OSHPark and got the boards and components...small problem, it wouldn't work, until after I contacted the original designer

V1.0 missing traces http://oshpark.com/shared_projects/usJG9Oof (I deleted it as it was defective)

V1.1 fixed and running great OSH Park ~ Alx.Smith Joule Thief V1.1

Turns out he used an old version of Eagle CAD and on the parsing of the .brd file at OSHPark it dropped a few of the traces, he went back and corrected it and now V1.1 works awesome...in the mean time I did a bit of trace fixing on my boards that were missing traces...and VIOLA, at .9vdc running a 14kcd 5mm LED just as bright as a full charge 1.5vdc battery, these things are quite bright and provide more than enough light to see and get around if there was no other light source available.

My trace fix

Sorry my soldering is horrible because I had to redo them about 4x times!



And shots of it running

All parts except box and jumper push button Digi-Key
1 3 BCAAPC-ND HOLDER BATTERY AA PLASTIC PC MNT 3 0 0.92000 $2.76
2 6 CF14JT1K00CT-ND RES 1K OHM 1/4W 5% CARBON FILM 6 0 0.08000 $0.48
3 3 CF14JT2K20CT-ND RES 2.2K OHM 1/4W 5% CARBON FILM 3 0 0.08000 $0.24
4 3 1285PH-ND CAP CER 470PF 1KV 10% RADIAL 3 0 0.24000 $0.72
5 3 493-12814-1-ND CAP ALUM 100UF 100V 20% RADIAL 3 0 0.43000 $1.29
6 3 811-1312-ND INDUCTOR RADIAL 470UH 0.60A 3 0 1.42000 $4.26
7 6 BC548BU-ND TRANSISTOR NPN 30V 100MA TO-92 6 0 0.21000 $1.26
Subtotal $11.01 (for 3x complete sets)