Couple of LED lights using Joule Thief circuits ...

[wquiles]

I guess i should have asked if you used a reflow oven or a hot air pencil. I'm building my D1s again and I use a reflow oven to do 10 at a time. those joints are too good for a conventional soldering pencil.

I am using the same equipment/techniques as before, as I show here in my web site - using the pre-heater, and then the hot air pencil to reflow parts once they are at temperature.

When you say the joints are too good in your case, do you mean you have so much copper in the traces that it takes forever using the hot air pencil?

Will

[JimmyM]

I am using the same equipment/techniques as before, as I show here in my web site - using the pre-heater, and then the hot air pencil to reflow parts once they are at temperature.

When you say the joints are too good in your case, do you mean you have so much copper in the traces that it takes forever using the hot air pencil?

Will

No, no, no. YOUR joints look too good to have been done with a conventional iron. In any case your preheat then reflow approach is perect for high mass boards. I just use my oven to do several at a time. Your tools are doing the exact same thing my oven is doing.

edit- I just looked at your site. Did I aleady know we had the same equipment? What paste do you use? I use Shenmao water soluble leaded paste.

[wquiles]

Ahh, thanks Jimmy

Yes, I have the same equipment since it was "you" who recommended those to me. It has been working flawlessly for the last couple of years. Like you said, practice, practice, practice

I am using Kester Easy Profile 256 solder paste. Like with most of these, you need to keep in the fridge to prolong its useful life.

Will

[JimmyM]

Ahh, thanks Jimmy

Yes, I have the same equipment since it was "you" who recommended those to me. It has been working flawlessly for the last couple of years. Like you said, practice, practice, practice

I am using Kester Easy Profile 256 solder paste. Like with most of these, you need to keep in the fridge to prolong its useful life.

Will

I have a small fridge in my basement shop that I keep my paste in. Along with some refreshment. of course. I work best when lightly lubricated. heh heh.

[Mr Floppy]

Alright! I finally got a solid working 1xAA Minimag working with the Joule Thief circuit

That is excellent! I've been looking at your joule thief circuits and thinking of ways of putting them in a 2AA mag but always dreaming about a 1AA version.
The picture says it all! No way I'll be able to that myself. If you ever offer this as a service, I'll be in line to get one.

[tobrien]

would one of yall be down to make me a nice neutral white battery vampire for CR123 primaries?

edit: I will pay for this

[PCC]

If you look at the very first post in this thread you'll see that Will had made a P60 drop-in using this driver. One of those in a L2M would be a nice little battery drainer unless you are looking for something custom made.

[tobrien]

If you look at the very first post in this thread you'll see that Will had made a P60 drop-in using this driver. One of those in a L2M would be a nice little battery drainer unless you are looking for something custom made.

if I had the time and tools I'd do it myself but alas, I do not

[wquiles]

That is excellent! I've been looking at your joule thief circuits and thinking of ways of putting them in a 2AA mag but always dreaming about a 1AA version.
The picture says it all! No way I'll be able to that myself. If you ever offer this as a service, I'll be in line to get one.

Thank you

Right now it is very labor intensive, and you can get 1x AA LED lights far cheaper than what I would need to charge for this one. Here are the basic operations/steps: Cut & re-thread body), cut threaded part on head shorter, and clean up edge on threads, bore head for pill, create a new pill from scratch, drill and tap pill's screws for ground contact, solder/assembly pill, and do final assembly. Lots of labor, all done on manual machinery. I would have to charge upwards of $100+ to even come close to breaking even

would one of yall be down to make me a nice neutral white battery vampire for CR123 primaries?

edit: I will pay for this

The cheapest way to go is to simply have Nailbender (Dave) make you a P60 drop-in using one of my Joule Thief V2 boards.

This is not a sales thread, so if interested, contact me privately by email.

Will

[Mr Floppy]

Lots of labor, all done on manual machinery. I would have to charge upwards of $100+ to even come close to breaking even

Ouch, then again, I'm sure some collectors would hand over the cash. At times, the frustration of working with the size Zetec380 (don't know how similar it is to the 382), I've often felt like paying $100 for it. I've made some of the ugliest dead bugs

[tobrien]

Thank you

Right now it is very labor intensive, and you can get 1x AA LED lights far cheaper than what I would need to charge for this one. Here are the basic operations/steps: Cut & re-thread body), cut threaded part on head shorter, and clean up edge on threads, bore head for pill, create a new pill from scratch, drill and tap pill's screws for ground contact, solder/assembly pill, and do final assembly. Lots of labor, all done on manual machinery. I would have to charge upwards of $100+ to even come close to breaking even




The cheapest way to go is to simply have Nailbender (Dave) make you a P60 drop-in using one of my Joule Thief V2 boards.

This is not a sales thread, so if interested, contact me privately by email.

Will

,I'll hit you up in an email

[fyrstormer]

Hey Will, remember those AA adaptors you posted on the first page of this thread? I was thinking, an AA-to-2x123 adaptor and a matching 2x123-to-18650 shim sleeve would be a great accessory for your Joule Thief boards. I already have a Joule Thief that I've turned into a P60 drop-in, hosted in a Solarforce L2M shell, and the ability to run it on 1x18650, 1x123, 2x123, or 1xAA using various combinations of adaptors would be awesome. (I know some of those voltages are impractical with the Joule Thief, but a set of adaptors might as well be as flexible as possible.) I tried to talk Oveready into making a set like this, but nothing ever came of it. If you're willing to make a set of adaptors like what I described, I'm interesting in buying a set.

[wquiles]

If I had a CNC setup where I could create the design, program the CNC, and then make several of them (10+) then I could offer them cheaply enough. As it stands today with my manual setup, it takes me 30-60 minutes to make each one, and at a cost/labor of about $1/min, there is no way I can sell them to even come close to break even.

Will

[tobrien]

i've decided to ultimately order a joule thief from you (at some point, not right now though) and a Nailbender module (shipped to NB of course) and I just wanna check: due to the efficiency of the XM-L it makes more sense to use that emitter with the joule thiefs instead of the XP-G, correct?

edit: but as voltage from the cell goes down, you get closer to the VF of the XP-G though, right? not sure what emitter to go to

[Kestrel]

i've decided to ultimately order a joule thief from you (at some point, not right now though) and a Nailbender module (shipped to NB of course) and I just wanna check: due to the efficiency of the XM-L it makes more sense to use that emitter with the joule thiefs instead of the XP-G, correct?

edit: but as voltage from the cell goes down, you get closer to the VF of the XP-G though, right? not sure what emitter to go to

NB has compared the XP-G to the XM-L with the JT driver, he recommends the XP-G BTW.
Check the beginning of NB's latest P60 thread for more info, post # 2 IIRC?

[tobrien]

NB has compared the XP-G to the XM-L with the JT driver, he recommends the XP-G BTW.
Check the beginning of NB's latest P60 thread for more info, post # 2 IIRC?

thanks bud, I didn't notice it haha.


you're a big help

[wquiles]

Thanks Kestrel

NB has the most hands-on experience with my JT boards, so I defer to him

Will

[CMAG]

Will, would you know if your newer JT will fit a Aleph can

[wquiles]

Will, would you know if your newer JT will fit a Aleph can

I have not tried building yet an Aleph can, but here is the size of the board:
http://www.atdms.com/battery_vampires.html

How big are these?
The new V2 boards are slightly larger in diameter than V1 boards, but 100% functionally identical. The V2 production boards have a diameter of approx. 0.53" - 0.54" (approx 13.5mm to 13.6mm).