Make has a great weekend project that shows you how to make a Joule Thief, this is a device that allows you to run an LED from a single 1.5 volt battery. For a similar project check out the rusty nail LED project.
This is a really cool circuit. The ones I’ve made have ran for days on a “dead” batteries.
Andy sells a kit at his site for a buck: http://www.solarbug.com/solar-kit.html
This just gave me an idea for a circuit: A “reusable” joule thief. Such as the joule thief either is used to recharge another battery, or stores the remaining power in a large capacitor for later use.
November 2nd, 2007
This is a really cool circuit. The ones I’ve made have ran for days on a “dead” batteries.
Andy sells a kit at his site for a buck: http://www.solarbug.com/solar-kit.html
November 3rd, 2007
I’ve seen circuits similar to this, it works my the transistor causing the transformer to oscilate
November 3rd, 2007
This just gave me an idea for a circuit: A “reusable” joule thief. Such as the joule thief either is used to recharge another battery, or stores the remaining power in a large capacitor for later use.
November 14th, 2007
How about a MOSFET-based circuit- less loss, right?
February 28th, 2008
Very interesting and helpful post.
I add your blog in my Google Reader!