Joule Thief

[TinselKoala]

Yes, it's similar, and I already took it apart... by breaking the glass accidentally! Once I did that the rest was easy, some snaps and pressfit stuff. I can't get any of the LEDs to light up by any means, I even melted one off the heatsink mount and tried just the bare LED. I can't imagine that all 20 of the the LEDs are blown somehow but that is how it is acting, so I've just tossed it into the junkbox

[Pirate88179]

Yes, it's similar, and I already took it apart... by breaking the glass accidentally! Once I did that the rest was easy, some snaps and pressfit stuff. I can't get any of the LEDs to light up by any means, I even melted one off the heatsink mount and tried just the bare LED. I can't imagine that all 20 of the the LEDs are blown somehow but that is how it is acting, so I've just tossed it into the junkbox

Mine have three snap clips that you can't see but, you can feel them with a jewelers screwdriver.  You just pop around under the heat sink until you release all three.  Then you can snap it back together.

Did yours have a complicated driver board like this inside?  Maybe something on the board is fried?  Oh, I see you said you tried lighting the leds directly...never mind.  When I run my bulbs on the mains, they get pretty hot, which is why I added a much larger heat sink.  All of my bulbs still work.  I gutted three of them for my lighting projects but use the others on the mains.  I also peel that diffusion goop off of the bulbs on all of them.  The bulbs are not clear and still diffuse and I figure more light can get out that way.

Bill

[Pirate88179]

I just wanted to add that the circuit I sent TK was a Kodak style circuit modification and the ones we were making here way back when were based on the AA Fuji design.  Someone tested the modified Fuji a while back and said it was about 400 volts.  The Kodak based circuit may have less output as my lights are not as bright as the ones I still have running the Fuji.

If I had to make a guess, I would say the new style Kodak based circuits are probably about 300-325?  Just a guess. 

Now, the Jeanna circuit using the large toroid (3 3/8" dia.) were measured (not by me) to be over 800 volts on a single, "dead" AA battery.  The zaps I have received from that circuit hurt much more than any of the camera circuits that have bitten me.

Bill

[PhiChaser]

Hell of a 'light bulb'...
And this is 'going green'...
Goddam scary if you ask me.

[sm0ky2]

@PhiChaser

you forgot to label the built-in self-destruct mechanism, that keeps us buying more of these things!!