Joule Thief

[Pirate88179]

Here should be 2 photos of my 2nd joule thief.  I packaged this one in an empty film (35mm) container and am running it off a single AA bat. in a battery holder.  This is placed face down into an empty water bottle filled with clear glass marbles and then filled with water.  It is bright enough to make a great night lite so you can see to walk to the bathroom, or whatever.  You can even read by it if you are close enough. (very close)  I also used a 10mm 28,500 mcd superbright LED on this one. (clear)  I bought some small switches and I will add one later.  This is a fun project.

Bill          *Edit*  I have found if you place it on a small mirror, it bounces light all over the room. *Edit*

[WilbyInebriated]

Pirate -  thanks for the link to Goldmine.  Prices are great.

I found this circuit board that looks very interesting. 

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G16565

Do you think it would be worth experimenting with?


Bill

should work fine for you. i have a similar circuit, slightly larger, taken from a scanner and it has no problem lighting a 2 foot 20 watt tube and the 8 watt shown earlier.

edit: this circuit seems to accept a wide range of input voltage, from 9V  to 16V. i didn't try any higher voltages. in this photo it is running off a 12V 1.2 Ah battery

[Pirate88179]

@ Wilby:

Powered by what?  Don't tell me it is a single AA bat. (grin)  That is a lot of light there, man, that is cool!  Do you have any idea how long this will work given the power source?  I mean, can you imagine going camping and everyone else is using candles and small LED lanterns, and you hang those tubes from a tree branch powered by a small battery?  This would freak the other campers out I am sure.  They would be looking around for your generator.  Nice work.

Bill

[WilbyInebriated]

@ Wilby:

Powered by what?  Don't tell me it is a single AA bat. (grin)  That is a lot of light there, man, that is cool!  Do you have any idea how long this will work given the power source?  I mean, can you imagine going camping and everyone else is using candles and small LED lanterns, and you hang those tubes from a tree branch powered by a small battery?  This would freak the other campers out I am sure.  They would be looking around for your generator.  Nice work.

Bill

12V 1.2 Ah battery. you really could hang these vertically, the red croc clip on the right side doesn't have to be connected. the brightness drops a bit when this is done.
no idea on the run time. i think last time i checked the circuit it pulled about 250mA, but that was with the scanner tube, which also makes a great camp light. i have one made from old blank dvd containers and a scanner tube/circuit.

i like your diffuser on your film canister JT!

[Freezer]

Interesting way to refract the light bill. 

I tried the jt posted by jenna, and found it works without a resistor if you use 2n5089 in place of the 2n3904.  It draws about 32mA at 0.86v for 3 various leds.