My DIY Joule Thief Hurricane Lamp Project: Lots of pics!

[wquiles]

Thank you guys - I will buy some parts to build one to "play" with

Will

 

[tylernt]

For those of you that want to experiment with the ZXLD381, here's a way to put it on your breadboard:

First, get some breakaway header pins. These could be desoldered from an old computer motherboard (IDE/floppy connectors, USB headers, etc). Stick the long ends in your breadboard like this:
[X] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [X] [X]


Cut a 2x3 grid of copper-ring perfboard and lay it over your header pins, ring side up:


Lay down the ZXLD381. The ground pin should be touching the top middle contact; the Vin and Vout pins should be touching the bottom middle and bottom right contacts. I used a little rosin flux on the SMT pins to ensure good contact:


Apply heat to the copper rings and feed in solder until things ball up. Deliberately create a solder bridge from the top middle contact (where the ZXLD ground pin is) to the top left contact (where the header pin is):


Now you can unplug and plug that teeny tiny SMT chip anywhere on your breadboard you like, because now it's a through-hole component!

 

[Darvis]

Genius!!!

 

[IcantC]

Can I use the same basic JT I I want to use 2aa? If not, what do I need to change?

 

[IcantC]

Btw made a very crude JT with parts I found, it ran for over 72 hours straight off a used/dead AA! Testing again with a used/dead AAA.

Btw are lithium batteries safe to fully discharge with a JT? Or should I be worried about venting?

 

[wquiles]

Thank you guys - I will buy some parts to build one to "play" with

Will

OK, so I got some ZXLD383's to play with:

I implemented this circuit, and I made my own PWB's as part of my most recent PWB pannel for the MagnetoDrive project:

Here is my first board - not pretty, but it works:

Just as Justin pointed out earlier, these will not work down in the 0.5-0.6 volt range. Mine did not work at 0.79 volts, but started at 0.80 volts:

Using a 4uH inductor, at an input voltage of 1.6V I had a healthy 250mA current going out of the power supply to an old 3W "U" bin Luxeon (remember those???):

I will try to measure the current into the LED sometime later this week

Will

 

[wquiles]

I know tables here loose all formating, but here is the Power_in vs. Power_out (and efficiency as Pin/Pout) that I got as I went from Vin of 0.8 volts up to 3.5 volts (where I was pretty much getting to a direct drive condition):

(these values are all using the 4uH inductor)

Vin Iin Pin Vout Iout Pout Efficiency (%)
0.8 0.013 0.0104 2.49 0.0001 0.000249 2%
0.9 0.045 0.0405 2.61 0.001 0.00261 6%
1 0.162 0.162 2.74 0.016 0.04384 27%
1.1 0.197 0.2167 2.81 0.031 0.08711 40%
1.2 0.221 0.2652 2.86 0.046 0.13156 50%
1.3 0.235 0.3055 2.9 0.06 0.174 57%
1.4 0.244 0.3416 2.93 0.074 0.21682 63%
1.5 0.246 0.369 2.95 0.084 0.2478 67%
1.6 0.244 0.3904 2.97 0.094 0.27918 72%
1.7 0.241 0.4097 2.98 0.101 0.30098 73%
1.8 0.237 0.4266 2.99 0.107 0.31993 75%
1.9 0.234 0.4446 3.01 0.113 0.34013 77%
2 0.232 0.464 3.02 0.12 0.3624 78%
2.1 0.232 0.4872 3.03 0.128 0.38784 80%
2.2 0.231 0.5082 3.04 0.135 0.4104 81%
2.3 0.231 0.5313 3.06 0.142 0.43452 82%
2.4 0.232 0.5568 3.07 0.15 0.4605 83%
2.5 0.232 0.58 3.08 0.158 0.48664 84%
2.6 0.233 0.6058 3.1 0.165 0.5115 84%
2.7 0.234 0.6318 3.11 0.173 0.53803 85%
2.8 0.232 0.6496 3.12 0.18 0.5616 86%
2.9 0.216 0.6264 3.11 0.182 0.56602 90%
3 0.229 0.687 3.12 0.183 0.57096 83%
3.1 0.238 0.7378 3.14 0.197 0.61858 84%
3.2 0.279 0.8928 3.19 0.24 0.7656 86%
3.3 0.333 1.0989 3.25 0.297 0.96525 88%
3.4 0.388 1.3192 3.31 0.35 1.1585 88%
3.5 0.435 1.5225 3.38 0.406 1.37228 90%


Will

 

[Darvis]

Will, what can I say? Thanks for the great info!!!

That circuit you built up looks very cool, did you make the board yourself?

 

[wquiles]

Will, what can I say? Thanks for the great info!!!

You are welcome

That circuit you built up looks very cool, did you make the board yourself?

Yes, I worked from the Data Sheet, made my own schematic on Eagle CAD, did my own layout, ordered my own boards, the regulator, discrete parts, and soldered all of the parts myself. It is very time consuming to do all of it, but it is also fun stuff to do

I have plenty of boards left, and I am willing to sell them if there is enough interest - either the bare board (you buy/solder everything on your own), or I can provide a completely finished board, ready to use. If you or anyone is interested, please send me email (in my signature).

Will

 

[firefly99]

For those of you that want to experiment with the ZXLD381, here's a way to put it on your breadboard:

First, get some breakaway header pins. These could be desoldered from an old computer motherboard (IDE/floppy connectors, USB headers, etc). Stick the long ends in your breadboard like this:
[X] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [X] [X]


Cut a 2x3 grid of copper-ring perfboard and lay it over your header pins, ring side up:


Lay down the ZXLD381. The ground pin should be touching the top middle contact; the Vin and Vout pins should be touching the bottom middle and bottom right contacts. I used a little rosin flux on the SMT pins to ensure good contact:


Apply heat to the copper rings and feed in solder until things ball up. Deliberately create a solder bridge from the top middle contact (where the ZXLD ground pin is) to the top left contact (where the header pin is):


Now you can unplug and plug that teeny tiny SMT chip anywhere on your breadboard you like, because now it's a through-hole component!

Can't see the pictures. Kindly post again. Thanks

 

[unclearty]

Yes...I think this should be re-opened again....now with newer, better LEDs....and all the power outages throughout the world....

 

[archimedes]

Can't see the pictures. Kindly post again. Thanks

The post you quoted is 6 years old, and the poster hasn't logged in to CPF in more than a year ....

 

[nein166]

Aw I thought there was some action on this old thread. Just another Necro... Google that one kids😁

 

[firefly99]

The post you quoted is 6 years old, and the poster hasn't logged in to CPF in more than a year ....

Aw I thought there was some action on this old thread. Just another Necro... Google that one kids😁

Sorry to dig up an old thread. I did google extensively on LED, Joule Thief, vampires, SMD, etc and found this & other post. Unfortunately, most of the image hosting link are no longer valid. Hence, my attempt to contact the poster about the smart way of doing some SMD.

What happen to all these posters ?
Hope they are well.

 

[archimedes]

When one of the major photo hosting sites recently changed their terms of service, innumerable photos were lost, across endless forums ...

 

[firefly99]

When one of the major photo hosting sites recently changed their terms of service, innumerable photos were lost, across endless forums ...

Because of this change, knowledge is lost. No longer available to people who are ready to learn about the subject.

 

[DIWdiver]

Was that the library at Alexandria?

 

[eh4]

Does Google support image sharing?
They seem like a well established company anyways.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/...unlimited-storage-for-free-with-a-few-gotchas

https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/66576/can-i-use-google-for-image-hosting-on-forum-sites

"Google allows public anonymous access to images if you use absolute address of the image. One simple way to find absolute path of an image (in Google Chrome) is to right click on the image and choose "Open Image in New Tab", then you can see the absolute path of the image in the address bar of newly opened tab. You can use this address in img tags. But remember, to be able to open an image in a new tab (I'm absolutely talking about this simple method) you should not use the "Zoom" feature of Google+ photos, otherwise you have to find the absolute path of image another way (by inspecting the element containing the image in the developer panel and finding the path)"