Altoids Flashlight
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AMD64Blondie
Flashlight Enthusiast
O.K., I feel a college guy's phrase springing to mind..
"Dude...wait,what!!"
That is quite creative.
"Dude...wait,what!!"
That is quite creative.
warlord
Enlightened
Nice!
That looks like a great starter electronics project. It's kinda big for EDC but it's lots of fun making projects for altoids tins.
For your next project I would suggest and Altoids gum tin and a joule thief...single AA of course.
That looks like a great starter electronics project. It's kinda big for EDC but it's lots of fun making projects for altoids tins.
For your next project I would suggest and Altoids gum tin and a joule thief...single AA of course.
Thanks AMD64Blondie. Actually I got the idea from a Tic-Tac flashlight I saw on the web. I didn't happen to have any Tic-Tac boxes, but I did have an Altoids tin.
Revs, I can't remember what value resistor I used and I don't know where my wife put the light. Of all the lights I have, that's the one she uses at 4am. Anyway, I just hooked up the same circuit as in the Altoids light with a 20ohm resistor. I measured the current at about 26mA which is a little over the recommended forward current of 20mA of the LED, but I think that would work fine.
I'm not very electronically experienced either, but it was a pretty easy project. I got the LEDs from DealExtreme (see specs below). The LED holder came from Radio Shack (#276-080). They're only a couple of bucks and make it super easy to mount the LED in the tin. Have fun!
Warlord, as I said, I'm a beginner at electronics, but I'm not sure a single AA would light up the LED. The min VF for this particular LED is 3.2V.
Specifications for 14000mcd White 5mm Led:
Detail specification provided by the manufacturer
- Model: C500SW4LD, Material: GaN, Emitting: White
- Forward Voltage 3.2V MIN, 3.4V MAX (20mA)
- Reverse current: 10u (VR=5V)
- Power dissipation: 60mW
- Luminous Intension 14000 mcd MIN, 16000 mcd MAX
- Peak Forward Current: 100mA
- Recommend Forward Current 20mA
Revs, I can't remember what value resistor I used and I don't know where my wife put the light. Of all the lights I have, that's the one she uses at 4am. Anyway, I just hooked up the same circuit as in the Altoids light with a 20ohm resistor. I measured the current at about 26mA which is a little over the recommended forward current of 20mA of the LED, but I think that would work fine.
I'm not very electronically experienced either, but it was a pretty easy project. I got the LEDs from DealExtreme (see specs below). The LED holder came from Radio Shack (#276-080). They're only a couple of bucks and make it super easy to mount the LED in the tin. Have fun!
Warlord, as I said, I'm a beginner at electronics, but I'm not sure a single AA would light up the LED. The min VF for this particular LED is 3.2V.
Specifications for 14000mcd White 5mm Led:
Detail specification provided by the manufacturer
- Model: C500SW4LD, Material: GaN, Emitting: White
- Forward Voltage 3.2V MIN, 3.4V MAX (20mA)
- Reverse current: 10u (VR=5V)
- Power dissipation: 60mW
- Luminous Intension 14000 mcd MIN, 16000 mcd MAX
- Peak Forward Current: 100mA
- Recommend Forward Current 20mA
I was thinking of doing that, but it wouldn't work without more batteries or a battery with a higher voltage (maybe 9v will fit in an Altoids tin?). If the two LEDs were wired in serial, the total voltage would be divided between the LEDs. So 3AAx1.5v (1.2 for rechargeables) = 4.5volts. Divided by two LEDs = 2.25v per LED - less than the minimum forward voltage. Another thought I had was to put a white LED and a red LED together parallel and use a switch to choose between the two. I think that would work. There's a good tutorial here about wiring LEDs in serial and parallel.
That should be enough for three LEDs! One on, two on and three on. Someone with more knowledge than I would have to help you with the circuit. I'd be interested in the best way to it. If you had a single resistor for all three it would have too high a value when you're only using one LED. I think you'd have to have three different resistors - one for when one LED is used, another for two and another for running all three at once. :thinking:
Another neat thing to do would be to put a variable resistor on so you could vary the brightness.
warlord
Enlightened
That's why I suggested you make a "joule thief" it's a good beginner circuit for those interested in driving a LED from a single 1.2-1.5v cell.
Joule Thief
instructables ~JouleThief
Illum
Flashaholic
for a regulated [well, semi-] LED light...I'd probably just go with buying a nite-ize 3LED minim@g drop in and epoxy it to the aluminum. since you have plenty of estate in that mess tin put in two 2AA holders and solder them in parallel...that oughta do for a good 20 hour runtime:laughing:
as for the joule thief...I've made my own
Max756 set to 3.3V out. the original specs required a 150uF cap on the outbound, I didn't have one so I used a 100uF on it...I can only achieve 3V from 1.5V and somewhat unstable at open circuit
looks somewhat ridiculous to group all the wires together like that...
It was a failed attempt to do what this guy did: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=max756&w=46765100@N00
put it on a PCB board small enough to slide into a minimag and provide regulated 3.3V to the lamp using only one AA cell
as for the joule thief...I've made my own
Max756 set to 3.3V out. the original specs required a 150uF cap on the outbound, I didn't have one so I used a 100uF on it...I can only achieve 3V from 1.5V and somewhat unstable at open circuit
looks somewhat ridiculous to group all the wires together like that...
It was a failed attempt to do what this guy did: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=max756&w=46765100@N00
put it on a PCB board small enough to slide into a minimag and provide regulated 3.3V to the lamp using only one AA cell
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That's cheating. But it sounds like fun too!
warlord
Enlightened
It's a pretty cool circuit...it also gives a good amount of insight into how those ARC AAA's and E0's (or now E01's) work. It's also a pretty cool way of getting rid of those 'dead' single cells.
Let me show you one of my projects I resurrected today:
I made a bunch of these a while ago since I get used 9V's for free. I just got around to potting a coulple of them today with some epoxy and glow powder. Basically I just finished up some glow epoxy I had mixed for potting my headlamp.
On a fresh 9V they'll run for days straight. They're made simply from a disassembled 9V, a resistor, and an LED.
More pics:
Let me show you one of my projects I resurrected today:
I made a bunch of these a while ago since I get used 9V's for free. I just got around to potting a coulple of them today with some epoxy and glow powder. Basically I just finished up some glow epoxy I had mixed for potting my headlamp.
On a fresh 9V they'll run for days straight. They're made simply from a disassembled 9V, a resistor, and an LED.
More pics:
Illum
Flashaholic
the inductor may have to be handcrafted but the resistors are [radioshackable] and the 2N3904 low voltage transistors also [radioshackable]
if you want to start building them and not wait for parts to arrive
Thanks again. That'll be another cool project to try. I hardly ever use 9v batteries, but I'll have to make some candles.
I like the Altoids gum tin. I wonder if I can squeeze the joule thief into one of those?
Thanks, I'm making my shopping list. I have to take something apart for the toroid.
Next, the Altoids mp3 player.
http://www.diylive.net/index.php/2006/01/25/altoid-can-mp3-player/
warlord
Enlightened
I think so:
I frequently visit www.instructables.com for project ideas just like these. The real problem is that there are so many ideas to try...it's hard to choose.
I think so:
Originally Posted by warlord
For your next project I would suggest an Altoids gum tin and a joule thief...single AA of course.
Oops!
I frequently visit www.instructables.com for project ideas just like these. The real problem is that there are so many ideas to try...it's hard to choose.
Thanks. I've already seen a TON of things I want to try. Thanks again for all the help!
