Shake-em-up flashlight generator

[Paul-R]

I recently also bought such a shake-it-up  flashlight in a 1 Euro Store where they did have this as a special offer
and some were already broken and I got these even cheaper and I dissassembled one and was amazed,
that it had 2 button cells batteries in them....
Regards, Stefan.

Yes, I bought one of these. I think they were 2032 battys, and I presumed that they were
rechargeable. The device worked well.
But there was a strange square black component which I could not understand; about
a 0.25 inch cube.
Any idea what it could be? Is it crucial?
Paul.

[Formula1]

huhh, mine did not have any battery's. It did however have a capacitor.

Thats just for storing the energy your generate....
-Otherwise it would only work while spinning it.....

At least from what I understand

[hartiberlin]

So it probably was a cheap ripp-off, cause it still used these button batteries#
when I thought it would contain just a magnet and a coil...

  No.. your not crazy Stefan..lol

  Instead of shake-lights...Be-ware of Fake-lights..

Yup there's some rip-o f f shake flashlights out there !.... I got a shake flash light and it was totally fake.
(1) The coil was connected to nothing...the magnet was no magnet.. just a cylinder piece of metal...one resister, no diodes...
It was nothing more than two round flat batteries ran through a switch to the l.e.d. ....lol

(2) Another light I got that was fake.. Had a hand trigger type lever..which spun a motor inside for charging.
Like this one: http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=241145&image=48837432&images=48837432,48837438,83574396&formats=0,0,0&format=0
and Again.. contained two batteries, ,a resister, a switch , and two l.e.d.'s... no diodes.
Although, This one did actually have the coil connected to the led's which would light up when you gave it a crank.
but of course, contained no rechargeable batteries. nor wired up to even charge a battery...
Actually works good after you add a re-chargeable battery and wire it up.  lol

So both of those flashlights contained two round 3Volt batteries.
Equaling 6volts. which will power the l.e.d. plenty long enough until you loose the flash light.
and the average joe is the none the wiser. and still thinks the cranking and shaking is charging up his flashlight.

Look at your shake light.. I bet it has two round 3v NON rechargeable batteries. They All do!  L-O-L

Damn,
you are totally right,
mine contained also the 2 pieces of round 3 Volts Lithium button cells.
But I also had a coil and some electronics board in there...

Why do they do this ?
Is it cheaper to produce than using a neodym magnet and some diodes and
a supercap to store the charge

I did not use the flashlight much yet, but if there is an emergency and you need
it for longer time to be on, that really would piss me off,
if the batteries will go flat then...

But wait, once I use one on a vacation trip and we had one on for almost one
whole night in a dark room as a nightlight and I already wondered, why it can stay on longer
than 30 minutes, although they are supposed to only have supercaps...
so it is clear these were powered by batteries.
The next morning the light was almost out and with shaking and resting for a few
hours I could recharge a bit the battery cells...

I will look then again for some original shake flashlights to buy..
How can you see from the outside, if these are really the ones,
that have no batteries inside ?
Maybe test them with an external magnet for repulsion of the
internal magnet ?

Regards, Stefan.

[Formula1]

Yes, I bought one of these. I think they were 2032 battys, and I presumed that they were
rechargeable. The device worked well.
But there was a strange square black component which I could not understand; about
a 0.25 inch cube.
Any idea what it could be? Is it crucial?
Paul.

Is it hooked up to the Generator directly?
if so, its most likely the rectifier... since the generators work in both directions, the circuit wouldn't work out in terms of saving the power through a capacitor that usually needs a defnite + and -...
-It will make either current direction have a definite + or -

another way of saying this is, turning AC into DC

[hartiberlin]

Yes, I bought one of these. I think they were 2032 battys, and I presumed that they were
rechargeable. The device worked well.

Hmm, are there any lithium or other button cells out there that are rechargable ?
I though these button cells  are only once usable disposable batteries ( no accumulators) ??!