Step-up disc idea

KenBar`s post gave me an idea...would it be possible to place a step-up between two thin washers...the idea is to make a disc that could be placed in the bottom (or top) of a two cell Mag-lite (or any two cell) to bump the power up to a usable level (for white standerd replacement PR base type LED`s)...when high brightness is not needed the disc could be removed...for a low consumption night light, while camping for example... of course the challenge would be to make it as thin as possible...any thoughts?

Another idea: A 2D to 2x3AA converter.

It is a battery compartment with same outer dimensions as 2 D cells and with connectors at top and bottom. Holding 3+3 AA cells (combining them in serial and parallel) would give 4.5 V.

I thought about a Step-Up-Disc also, but the problem is, you have to connect it to mass (the lamp case) also. So you would need a disc in the bulb end of tzhe battery case which also gets a contact on the body of the lamp. Because of the bad contact between something on aluminium, I think this is impossible.

For the 2D to 2x3AA converter: Good Idea, I didnt find some appropriate battery holders yet, but if you find something, please tell me.

A solution I already did is to build fixed battery packs of 2x4AAs which fit VERY tight into a 2D Mag. I soldered them inline and glued them with cyanacrylate. Then 2 pieces of PC board and wood (as a spacer) were glued on the ends with 2 component epoxy glue after wiring. The GREAT disadvantage is that you have to build disposable battpacks. For accumulators this works fine...

Hope I could provide you with some ideas..

Bye,

Good idea, but with this circuit, it just won't work.



As you can see from Satcure's schematic, the LED is in parallel with the Transistor.

This does NOT eliminate the idea of a drop-in bulb replacement for a 2 cell, though. You would just have to get all the components in the head of the light. Unfortunately, the Satcure circuit won't fit into a PR base. I think KenB mentioned this already anyway.

BTW, the Base and Collector of Q1 in this schematic are switched

I don`t think that will work. It was ages since I last saw that keyfob kit of mine (it`s here somewhere under all the mess of bulbs, batteries, LEDs, wires...) but I`m pretty sure it`s not just connected in series with the battery. The circuit has seperate +/- inputs and outputs so would need 4 wires- 2 from the battery and 2 to the LED. One might share a common terminal (not sure) but that`s still 3 wires minimum. I`ll have to check but I`m about 90% certain it`s like that. So your washer idea wouldn`t work, sorry.

As a separate "disc" which you pop in, it will not work. However, if you have a little bit of space around the battery, you can make a pop-in component that accepts the battery as part of the device. ie, the device looks like a battery in itself, but the external contacts are for the bulb and the actual battery is contained inside the device. Haven't found any existing mini-torches that I can use in this way though. The solitaires, the UKE2AAA, the Mini-Mags are all too tight, unless you use the Mini-Mags with AAA batteries. (The SatCure circuit can accept 2 batteries in series and produce a brighter light.)

"BTW, the Base and Collector of Q1 in this schematic are switched" good man i did not see that

Probably when the market expands the LED manufactures will start adding circuitry to the die to handle step up/down, current, etc.. for different applications. Till then we get to have fun tailoring generic devices to our needs.