All Techniques: Electric Solution

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Audio Amplifire Circuit Diagram

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="content_title_cell" style="text-align: center;">
3 Transistor Audio Amplifire Circuit Diagram</h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
 </h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/9u6Kz2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="http://goo.gl/9u6Kz2" width="640" /></a></div>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">This circuit is similar to the one above but uses positive feedback to 
get a little more amplitude to the speaker. I copied it from a small 5 
transistor radio that uses a 25 ohm speaker. In the circuit above, the 
load resistor for the driver transistor is tied directly to the + 
supply. This has a disadvantage in that as the output moves positive, 
the drop across the 470 ohm resistor decreases which reduces the base 
current to the top NPN transistor. Thus the output cannot move all the 
way to the + supply because there wouldn't be any voltage across the 470
 resistor and no base current to the NPN transistor.

This circuit corrects the problem somewhat and allows a larger voltage 
swing and probably more output power, but I don't know how much without 
doing a lot of testing. The output still won't move more than a couple 
volts using small transistors since the peak current won't be more than 
100mA or so into a 25 ohm load. But it's an improvement over the other 
circuit above.

In this circuit, the 1K load resistor is tied to the speaker so that as 
the output moves negative, the voltage on the 1K resistor is reduced, 
which aids in turning off the top NPN transistor. When the output moves 
positive, the charge on the 470uF capacitor aids in turning on the top 
NPN transistor.

The original circuit in the radio used a 300 ohm resistor where the 2 
diodes are shown but I changed the resistor to 2 diodes so the amp would
 operate on lower voltages with less distortion. The transistors shown 
2n3053 and 2n2905 are just parts I used for the other circuit above and 
could be smaller types. Most any small transistors can be used, but they
 should be capable of 100mA or more current. A 2N3904 or 2N3906 are 
probably a little small, but would work at low volume.

The 2 diodes generate a fairly constant bias voltage as the battery 
drains and reduces crossover distortion. But you should take care to 
insure the idle current is around 10 to 20 milliamps with no signal and 
the output transistors do not get hot under load.

The circuit should work with a regular 8 ohm speaker, but the output 
power may be somewhat less. To optimize the operation, select a resistor
 where the 100K is shown to set the output voltage at 1/2 the supply 
voltage (4.5 volts). This resistor might be anything from 50K to 700K 
depending on the gain of the transistor used where the 3904 is shown.</span></span></h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Disclaimer:</b> </span></span></h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">All the information present on this site are for personal 
use only. No commercial use is permitted without the prior permission 
from the authors of this website, or author signed by the diagram. All 
content on this site is provided as is and without any guarantee on any 
kind, implied or otherwise. We cannot be held responsible for any 
errors, omissions, or damages arising out of use of information 
available on this web site. The content in this site may contain 
COPYRIGHTED information and should not be reproduced in any way without 
prior permission from the authors.  </span></span></h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h1>
<h1 class="content_title_cell">
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ourworld.compuserve.com</a></span></h1>
</div>

Audio Amplifire Circuit Diagram

3 Transistor Audio Amplifire Circuit Diagram This circuit is similar to the one above but uses positive feedback to get a lit...

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><b>Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can Light An LED</b></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<b><b> </b></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><b><a href="http://goo.gl/gL2AxU" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/gL2AxU" /></a></b></b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Just 16 copper oxide junctions can produce enough voltage to light an LED.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copper oxide, the kind that forms on pieces of copper when you heat 
them with a flame, is very fascinating stuff.  Besides being usable for 
other things such as making photo sensors, thermistors, pressure sensors
 and diodes, it can also be used to make an impressive homemade 
thermoelectric junction capable of producing hundreds of millivolts when
 heated with a flame.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><b>Making a simple copper oxide thermoelectric junction:</b></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/ER4Roc" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/ER4Roc" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
The copper oxide thermoelectric generator or junction is very easy
 to make.  Just heat two pieces of ordinary copper wire in a propane 
flame, to form a copper oxide layer, and then place the two wires in 
contact with each other.  That is all there is to it.  An electrical 
potential will be produced between the two wires when one wire is heated
 to a much hotter temperature than the other.
<br />
The hottest wire will be negative and the cooler wire will be positive.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/gIQlzG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/gIQlzG" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/4HwIMw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/4HwIMw" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A single copper oxide junction can easily produce enough current 
to deflect the meter to more than full scale when it is set to read 0 to
 50 microamps or 0 to 100 millivolts.<br />
<br />
With the meter set to read 0 to 500 millivolts the copper oxide junction can produce readings in excess of 300 millivolts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The switch near the meter is a reversing switch for convenience whenever I want to reverse the connections to the meter.  </div>
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><b>Coper oxide thermopile made with 16 junctions in series:</b></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/XhZJ9A" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/XhZJ9A" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
This thermopile which consists of just 16 copper oxide junctions 
in series can produce between two and three volts when heated in a 
flame.  This thermopile is shown at the top of this page, producing 
enough voltage to light an LED.
<br />
It would require more than 100 thermocouples made of special wire
 in series to light the same LED.  It would require roughly 1600 copper 
and steel thermocouples to light the same LED.
<br />
The trade off is that the wire thermocouples can easily produce 
much more current than is easy to do with the copper oxide junction.
Typically the copper oxide junction can easily produce hundreds of 
millivolts whereas a wire junction can easily produce hundreds of 
milliamps.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/SjRo3a" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/SjRo3a" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://goo.gl/xfkudO" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/xfkudO" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
 <span style="font-size: large;"><b><b><br /></b></b></span></div>
The pictures above are pretty self explanatory.  The wire pieces 
are made of 18 awg bare copper wire and are 3 inches long from the hot 
tips to the hairpin ends.  The L shaped bends are 3/4 inch from the hot 
tips.  The circular wood mount for all of the wire pieces is 6 inches in
 diameter and the cutout center section is 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
<br />
All of the copper wire pieces are mounted at intervals of 22 1/2 degrees to equally space them around the circle.
<br />
Each L shaped wire is the cold positive side of a junction and 
each longer straight piece is the hot negative side of a junction.
<br />
The thermoelectric junctions are formed by the copper oxide 
between each straight piece of wire and the L shaped piece that rests on
 top of it.<br />
<br />
<br />
Most articles, that describe copper oxide projects, usually 
discuss the subject of cupric oxide (black) or cuprous oxide (red) and 
the task of separating them.  From many experiences in making 
thermoelectric generators and doing other copper oxide experiments, I 
have found that it usually just doesn't matter.  When a copper oxide 
device is made professionally this of course is an important subject but
 for the purpose of home experimentation, impressive results can usually
 be obtained without having to bother with separating the black copper 
oxide from the red copper oxide.  
<br />
When heating pieces of copper, it is typical to have a top layer of black oxide form with a layer of red oxide underneath
but, I have found that the black copper oxide layer may also contain a significant amount of red copper oxide.
<br />
Pieces of black copper oxide will often fall off in flakes after 
heating a piece of copper.  I once ground up some of these black looking
 copper oxide flakes in a mortar and pestle and the result was some 
reddish brown powder that looked a lot like red cuprous oxide.  I have 
also done other experiments that indicated the presence of red cuprous 
oxide in black cupric oxide flakes. <br />
<br />
<b></b><b></b><br />
<h2 align="center">
<b><b>What is happening?</b></b></h2>
<b>
</b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I have spent my entire life reading whatever technical books and 
articles I could find and can recall seeing only one book that tells how
 to make something like this and none that explain how this device 
works.  It would be safe to say however, that an explanation could be 
found in the institutionalized literature.  Not being presently 
affiliated with any institutions, I do not have ready access to most of 
their literature which makes the cost of reading it prohibitive.  So, I 
will offer my own take on what is happening.

</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">A thermocouple is generally thought of as being a junction 
between two dissimilar metals but it might be better to say that it is a
 junction between two dissimilar conductors.  Touching the two oxidized 
wires together forms a junction of copper oxide to copper oxide.  This 
is not where the action is.  The copper oxide on both wires should be 
thought of as one solid conductor between the two copper wires - a very 
short one at that.  This can now be seen as the classic two 
thermocouples back to back circuit.  We have a copper - copper oxide 
junction on the hot wire and an opposing copper oxide - copper junction 
on the cold wire.  With this in mind it is now easy to view this device 
as being a normal thermocouple circuit.

</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">It is easy to wonder how this device could work at all because of
 the copper oxide, that is between the two wires, being almost an 
insulator.  Copper oxide however, also acts like a thermistor with a 
very high negative temperature coefficient.  Even the "cold" wire still 
gets hot enough that the resistance of the copper oxide drops relatively
 to a very low value - enabling current to flow. </span><br />
<br />
I must give credit to an older book "Simple Scientific 
Experiments" by Aurel de Ratti as being the one and only book I have 
ever seen that makes the reader aware of this copper oxide 
thermoelectric generator.  This book also contains other fascinating 
stuff.  It is reprinted and sold by Lindsay Publications Inc.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>
</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></b></div>
<b>
</b></div>

Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator

Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can Light An LED Just 16 copper oxide junctions can produce enough voltage to light a...

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Two Channel Video Switcher

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Two Channel Video Switcher</span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
They say an Englishman's home is his castle and although my particular 
palace may only be a 1970's semi detached located in the elephants 
graveyard part of Leamington (where retired people come to die), I don't
 want it invaded by hordes of unwanted visitors intent on catching me on
 my doorstep in the hope I'll hand over cash for their cause, sign up 
for new uPVC windows or become converted to their religion. I don't care
 who you are or who you represent, just because you happen to have 
walked off the street and interrupted my privacy by knocking on my door,
 don't expect to take a slice of my bank balance and don't think you can
 convince me to subscribe to your particular version of 'the magic man 
who lives in the sky'.<br /><br />Being as antisocial as I am, when I moved 
into my house in 2002 one of my first barmy projects was to install a 
camera onto my front door so that when scumbag charity workers and 
religious nuts came knocking I could see 'em coming from the TV in my 
living room and shout "fuck off" without having to get up off my arse or
 risk spilling my beer.<br /><br />Indeed, my video cable runs around the 
house, behind walls, above ceilings and behind skirting boards. It's 
completely hidden and provides me with that all important 'heads up' 
from the living room, bedroom or from my lab of evilness where I spend 
many a dark hour hunched naked over a hot soldering iron.<br /><br />For 
nine years my original cheap black & white door cam faced the worst 
of the British weather but its image output had deteriorated over this 
time to the point where any approaching visitor began appearing on the 
screen as a two-tone pixelated blob resembling some kind of Atari 
computer game from 1979.<br /><br />Time to upgrade and fit a sexy new 
colour dome camera into one corner of the doorway. My new camera also 
has IR LEDs so I get a clear greyscale image at night. There was one 
problem however, while the old camera was mounted on the door frame and 
used a fish-eye lens allowing me to see both who was knocking at my door
 <em>and</em> who was walking up my driveway or parking in front of it, 
my new camera is directional and poining downwards only showing the 
doorway.<br /><br />To remedy this, I have installed a second camera onto the front wall of the house to give me that all important driveway shot.<br /><br />Of
 course, this meant two video feeds, however I only have the one 
inaccessible video cable running around the house. How to multiplex two 
video signals onto this one cable...??</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNZLVvh_A8HezVSy9fm6yeg3zhZhkFBTt1tCAltCosU-FhJmF1xZ3jEXsw2WJGLCu9aBXuQSKhrnREHNndhv47AEcpzQ7LxwpaWxD3wdBkazFgweTDJ4gpEIE_NDTZx0CgCNUECgDyoPa/s1600/31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNZLVvh_A8HezVSy9fm6yeg3zhZhkFBTt1tCAltCosU-FhJmF1xZ3jEXsw2WJGLCu9aBXuQSKhrnREHNndhv47AEcpzQ7LxwpaWxD3wdBkazFgweTDJ4gpEIE_NDTZx0CgCNUECgDyoPa/s1600/31.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Caught on camera. Well, two cameras actually.</em> <em>Now take your double-glazing pamphlet, collection bucket<br />or copy of The Watchtower and shove it up your arse.</em><br /><br /></div>
All the way from Hong Kong ('cos I couldn't find it readily available
 in the UK), I give you the Maxim MAX454CPD video multiplexer/amplifier.
 This 14-pin marvel is capable of multiplexing up to four video feeds 
onto a single output.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDosDHpJsIlBvoSHUK67ZCQbrcGqOMvz_ohbd1Nfklu3iZDZ_0gjpe68Feyqdq_wnn5wxino5JTbc8KmeXzdzyRrFd3NL8Hf6URA_n9Rb61qigmT73yb6uiLD0zJjAfWhMNYRrwXSGruL/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDosDHpJsIlBvoSHUK67ZCQbrcGqOMvz_ohbd1Nfklu3iZDZ_0gjpe68Feyqdq_wnn5wxino5JTbc8KmeXzdzyRrFd3NL8Hf6URA_n9Rb61qigmT73yb6uiLD0zJjAfWhMNYRrwXSGruL/s1600/32.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Pins 1 and 2 are address inputs. The binary condition on these pins 
determine which of the four video inputs are presented to the output on 
pin 14. The clever fella has break before make connections to ensure 
there is no chance of a signal clash when it switches. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><img alt="max454" height="151" src="http://www.r3uk.com/images/stories/site_content/tips/vidswitch/max454.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /><br />

<table align="center" border="1" style="border: 1px dashed #bbbbbb; cursor: default; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<td align="center" style="width: 30px;"><strong>A1<br />(MSB)</strong></td>
<td align="center" style="width: 30px;"><strong>A0<br />(LSB)</strong></td>
<td align="center" style="width: 100px;"><strong>Switched input</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">IN0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">IN1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">IN2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">IN3</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />Despite being capable of handling four inputs, I only have 
two cameras so my switching circuit can discard IN2 and IN3. The purpose
 of my circuit is to switch alternately between these two cameras every 
few seconds so I can keep an eye on things from a single video screen. 
I'd like camera 1 which covers my front door to have a higher priority 
over camera 2 which looks out over the driveway simply because if the 
doorbell rings, I want to see who is standing there. That being the 
case, I'm going to design a circuit that gives camera 1 twice the 
screen-time of camera 2.<br /><br />Here's what I came up with...<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexhSsKaDX-qNdXDPxnXeQ20E7bK9XK7n0ay-_C92bjFL0ojWX9fuT7B7u8qi6NBe1bCLqntV91-h5dtoAmEiwd6nXHVQT0xfCfvtfT9yC_FFLb_dqXtCdSmLgorXk-XkvYFt1Ls8OcGn8/s1600/34.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexhSsKaDX-qNdXDPxnXeQ20E7bK9XK7n0ay-_C92bjFL0ojWX9fuT7B7u8qi6NBe1bCLqntV91-h5dtoAmEiwd6nXHVQT0xfCfvtfT9yC_FFLb_dqXtCdSmLgorXk-XkvYFt1Ls8OcGn8/s1600/34.png" /></a></div>
<table border="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center; width: 150px;"><strong>Integrated Circuits</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 150px;"><strong>Capacitor</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 150px;"><strong>Resistor</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">7805 Regulator</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C1, <strong>0.33uF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R1, R2, <strong>24k</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">7660 DC-DC Converter</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C2, <strong>100uF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R3, R4, R14, <strong>330R</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">555 Timer</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C3, <strong>10uF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R5, <strong>150k</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">MAX454 Multiplexer</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C4, <strong>10uF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R6, R7,<strong> 1k</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Miscellaneous</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C5, <strong>330uF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R8, <strong>620R</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">LD1 - LD3 Green</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">C6, <strong>6.8pF</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">R9 - R13, <strong>75R</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
This breaks down into modular parts. Red: power control, distribution
 and indication. Green: timing and camera selection indication. Yellow: 
video multiplexing.<br /><br />Both cameras operate from the same 10.8VDC 
supply and I'm also going to use that to power this circuit. A 7805 
regulator drops the input voltage to 5V and a 7660 DC-DC converter works
 with C3 and C4 to provide the -5v source required by pin 4 of the 
MAX454 IC. LD3 provides power indication while C1 and C2 squash any 
noise on the power lines.<br /><br />With only two inputs being used, 
dealing with the addressing of the MAX454 is simple. The Most 
Significant Bit (MSB) of the address on Pin 1 (A1) is grounded as it is 
only needed when the third and fourth inputs are being utilised so to 
switch between two inputs I only need to switch the Least Significant 
Bit (LSB) on pin 2 (A0) on and off to alternate between IN1 and IN0 
respectively. An ideal job therefore for that old mainstay, the 555 
timer. The timing of the circuit is governed by R1, R2 and C5. If I 
wanted the two cameras to have equal airtime, I would make R1 a tenth of
 the size of R2, however as I want to prioritise one of the cameras, I'm
 using equal values of 24k for both of these resistors. The timing of 
the circuit can be calculated as follows...<br /><br />Output high = 0.693 x (R1 + R2) x C5 ...therefore...<br />Output high = 0.693 x (24x10<sup>3</sup> + 24x10<sup>3</sup>) x 330x10<sup>-6</sup>Output high = <strong>10.9 seconds</strong><br />

Output low = 0.693 x R1 x C5 ...therefore...<br />Output low = 0.693 x 24x10<sup>3</sup> x 330x10<sup>-6</sup>Output low = <strong>5.48 seconds</strong><br /><br />With
 the output of the 555 timer coupled directly to the LSB of the MAX454 
address bus, the camera connected to IN1 (pin 8) will be switched for 
twice as long as the camera connected to IN0 on pin 7.<br /><br />Also 
hanging off the 555 timer output are LED indicators to show which camera
 is operational at any one time. When the 555 output is high, it sources
 current through R4 and LD1 which illuminates indicating camera 1 is 
active. When the 555 output switches low, it sinks the current flow 
through R3 and LD2 which illuminates indicating camera 2 is active.<br /><br />The
 values of R5 to R8 and C6 are straight off the MAX454 datasheet and 
control the gain of the amplifier within the chip. I was missing a 620R 
resistor so I paralleled a 7.5k and a 680R to give me something in the 
right ballpark. R9 to R12 terminate the input lines.<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoyMYya9h4uZSKEBdSkIepYow3AG7df4AgvkedlEulgPSOd4tIr35mfsfbOJFT2iKmNboRtzXTNpbi2_0zfP2kjSRfVWFsl-QqCoKDt2SciQLSdslOuefzpTS4wIw0UN9n62hRoOSKOL6/s1600/35.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoyMYya9h4uZSKEBdSkIepYow3AG7df4AgvkedlEulgPSOd4tIr35mfsfbOJFT2iKmNboRtzXTNpbi2_0zfP2kjSRfVWFsl-QqCoKDt2SciQLSdslOuefzpTS4wIw0UN9n62hRoOSKOL6/s1600/35.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>Prototyping in the lab. Feeds from the external cameras are hooked into this breadboard and the multiplexed display is</em> <em>showing on a black and white monitor.</em> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRezbGRIWT686xOa-gb_pEdk4iVsWlSoFcSty8Hx1s5D77u3cT2Gl5G7mDxZ-azxwrJBgNBeey_MqNH_lD5hL6CvEXZe3a41oS25vvVAPjFaSZ-ocn1H_ez-oituXchpqlxnfNTNzKzInH/s1600/36.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRezbGRIWT686xOa-gb_pEdk4iVsWlSoFcSty8Hx1s5D77u3cT2Gl5G7mDxZ-azxwrJBgNBeey_MqNH_lD5hL6CvEXZe3a41oS25vvVAPjFaSZ-ocn1H_ez-oituXchpqlxnfNTNzKzInH/s1600/36.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
 Once testing was complete, I looked around for a suitable housing for my
 new gadget. Amongst my junk was this old HP USB modem. The case was 
just the right size and it already had three green LEDs which I could 
reuse for the indicators.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCxIF4xOxd-vlAvCW6YtKJUbPWk6MxtEE0zhG0aN7LL38sSIRnBTIZbafm7JXbHyEsmn0K1t5UJj25G3e7RM-7d1V48c-lT_5_44XiBZ_RIZ__QBt3-8iq51BpIv5Dg-D3L2OQ3O2KPBY/s1600/37.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCxIF4xOxd-vlAvCW6YtKJUbPWk6MxtEE0zhG0aN7LL38sSIRnBTIZbafm7JXbHyEsmn0K1t5UJj25G3e7RM-7d1V48c-lT_5_44XiBZ_RIZ__QBt3-8iq51BpIv5Dg-D3L2OQ3O2KPBY/s1600/37.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>I built the circuit on some stripboard and hot glued it into the old modem case. </em><em>Phono
 (RCA) connectors provide input terminals for the two cameras while 
power in and video out are on a terminal block. The LED indicators are 
mounted on the reverse (strip) side of the board so they can poke out of
 the casing on the other side.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em> </em> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Fj4bVHHQ_jCUqcP5PNYxWqHoCQoEaqZmoM4x0w-2pxQrorozrwXSrVyOu5k9LT0AOa1iDzelrsJg0ZiI_Spgs8LP-jJjMVQ1mHzICrjcO6mQvIIqdMYwmUDjZFsIRB-FondcmRfFsW31/s1600/38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Fj4bVHHQ_jCUqcP5PNYxWqHoCQoEaqZmoM4x0w-2pxQrorozrwXSrVyOu5k9LT0AOa1iDzelrsJg0ZiI_Spgs8LP-jJjMVQ1mHzICrjcO6mQvIIqdMYwmUDjZFsIRB-FondcmRfFsW31/s1600/38.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em>Final construction with the thing fixed to the wall. The leftmost 
LED is a power indicator while the other two alternate as the cameras 
switch over. The leftmost cable is power in/video out while the two 
camera phono input connections are on the right. </em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMK_mFLa7hSXb00dlNcXF-Gxn-AT6x5omBHa-fsgaZxJZSzpK0l-6OiKOca_uz8W6mLOrZDFAryE-3o0JrMNJIz7powO9FfTM4Z8sjDkmOKy9kNjkoBM1E5r1vP_NHrgUvH5luFkTs5go-/s1600/39.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMK_mFLa7hSXb00dlNcXF-Gxn-AT6x5omBHa-fsgaZxJZSzpK0l-6OiKOca_uz8W6mLOrZDFAryE-3o0JrMNJIz7powO9FfTM4Z8sjDkmOKy9kNjkoBM1E5r1vP_NHrgUvH5luFkTs5go-/s1600/39.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfcE_VCG4d9tNVTXqeRoYn5Xl_g1KdLAXu6Mzj7gGFsGmErErtcx4MGl0Tg0Amyt7IQOcz0F-rL6maiVflYYDpaty7eKIWhpI-eZ0c39iE0ikflPw7PaUjj6WxJSo6eKnS59gnskkwqXk/s1600/40.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfcE_VCG4d9tNVTXqeRoYn5Xl_g1KdLAXu6Mzj7gGFsGmErErtcx4MGl0Tg0Amyt7IQOcz0F-rL6maiVflYYDpaty7eKIWhpI-eZ0c39iE0ikflPw7PaUjj6WxJSo6eKnS59gnskkwqXk/s1600/40.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Building a video circuit on a stripboard probably isn't ideal 
considering the potential capacitance between the tracks but it works 
fine for what it does in this application. The doorway image on the left
 displays for ten seconds before switching relatively cleanly to the 
driveway shot on the right for five seconds and then back again.<br /><br />Modifying
 the circuit for use with three or four cameras shouldn't be too 
difficult although I haven't sat down and worked out a schematic for it.
 I'd imagine you'd want to set R1, R2 and C5 to a suitable timing 
interval. You'd then need to stick some circuitry between the timer 
output from the 555 and the address inputs of the MAX454. I guess a 
couple of solutions would be a binary counter IC or using sequential 
outputs of a decade counter with an arrangement of diodes to present a 
different binary value at each output. The additional cameras would 
connect to the points marked 'a' and 'b' in the schematic above.<br /><br />If
 you just wanted to select cameras manually, you could replace the 555 
timer with a suitable physical switching arrangement. I guess you could 
incorporate both mechanisms for the option of manually selecting an 
input to display or automatically cycling through all inputs.<br /><br />All
 I really know for sure is that my two cameras offer me something far 
more interesting to watch on TV than the likes of ITV can ever offer. 
I'd rather watch my parked Volvo than the X-Factor or Britain's Got 
Frikkin' Talent... which it hasn't.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Update 04/12/12</strong> - I have upgraded this project - with a switch!<br /><br />After much <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">nagging</span>
 feedback from the wife I have made a modification to this circuit to 
improve its functionality. Y’see, the trouble with the original circuit,
 as the wife *kept* pointing out, was that the video always seemed to 
switch at the wrong moment. You’d hear a knock at the door and would 
look at the screen only to see the driveway camera showing, or you’d be 
watching out for an expected visitor to pull up on the driveway cam and 
the door camera would clock on.<br /><br />A quick look at the schematic 
gave me the idea of interrupting the 555’s timing cycle by the simple 
addition of a switch between the discharge and trigger pins (SW1 in the 
schematic below). With the switch closed, the timer would switch its 
output on and off as per the original circuit design, however flick the 
switch to open it and the timer stops, leaving its output in whatever 
state it happened to be in at that time (high or low), therefore leaving
 on whichever camera is associated with that state.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_jMg_NpjAEy_idPoAby_6Ck3DxyK7-9vIFOHC5Vm5EjQ1g35Mi1gM5KGKAgSBAR3wx0cpsr5W2SjjNYf8gcJ7DaCVq30hkaA8QzOTi-LwQPioYEhUoufZP-RKbjnbXrqamYJbPmp71kc/s1600/41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_jMg_NpjAEy_idPoAby_6Ck3DxyK7-9vIFOHC5Vm5EjQ1g35Mi1gM5KGKAgSBAR3wx0cpsr5W2SjjNYf8gcJ7DaCVq30hkaA8QzOTi-LwQPioYEhUoufZP-RKbjnbXrqamYJbPmp71kc/s1600/41.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You can use this trick to make the 555 into a pushbutton latch as below.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFPNYORHHx7MA3AQDPbuYizVb1CZucrGMynZYHFg0nbFIPfi_MZxJQZmpBuz5n2JIzmVZjaOYvErfTCpcBBmoOQpXstw0orZCVcW1C1q4j5z8vRyUvubkiKGzbOSqDqs6ztkDhaW6oDdB/s1600/42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFPNYORHHx7MA3AQDPbuYizVb1CZucrGMynZYHFg0nbFIPfi_MZxJQZmpBuz5n2JIzmVZjaOYvErfTCpcBBmoOQpXstw0orZCVcW1C1q4j5z8vRyUvubkiKGzbOSqDqs6ztkDhaW6oDdB/s1600/42.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In this circuit PB1 is a push to close switch. Simply hold in PB1 until 
the 555 changes output state, then release and the 555 will remain in 
that state. Push again to reverse. Holding in PB1 would cause the 555 to
 switch its output on and off as a square wave. I used this in a circuit
 years ago when I needed to flash some LED’s but also have the option of
 leaving them in either an on or off state. Closing the switch would 
flash the LEDs and opening it would leave them on or off depending on 
what state they were in at the time the switch was opened.<br /><br />The 
wife is now complaining at the effort of having to flick a switch, but 
figuring out some kind of thought controlled camera switching ESP 
interface is going to take me a little more time.</div>
</div>

The Two Channel Video Switcher

Two Channel Video Switcher They say an Englishman's home is his castle and although my particular palace may only be a 1970's ...

Monday, October 28, 2013

How to Make Aquarium Moonlight

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;">The Making of  Aquarium Moonlight</span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;">Nothing new here folks, I've been shoving LED's into aquariums before. 
You might say I have 'previous' which I like 'cos it makes me sound 
dangerous and cool (although the knitted jumper and polyester slacks I'm
 wearing prove otherwise). Whether illuminating a bubble flow, lighting up a Biorb with an ethereal glow or decorating my 190L Juwel aquarium with spotlights,
 the aim of the game is giving my fishes a spot of colour after dusk has
 turned into dark and the main tank lights have switched off.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The
 spotlights I used when I set up my Juwel tank two years ago were 
off-the-shelf things that cost the best part of ten quid each. A timer 
was employed to switch 'em on before the main tank lights extinguished 
and to switch 'em off after the main lights came on the following 
afternoon. They suckered onto the glass above the water line and with 
the main lights off they illuminated different parts of the tank giving 
life and colour where otherwise there would be a murky gloom.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim72d2AlE0sWpje8PV3s2j4dymojHOraD6pGjV4V2juY8ZB2bx1i_yQGRP1gpjyIoHidOSDSya14C3KwSAQZn5gseeykYoGerMDCuoYoTyKupE23mf1jL35sPFObp8NrVR9j4vo_KdSOzO/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim72d2AlE0sWpje8PV3s2j4dymojHOraD6pGjV4V2juY8ZB2bx1i_yQGRP1gpjyIoHidOSDSya14C3KwSAQZn5gseeykYoGerMDCuoYoTyKupE23mf1jL35sPFObp8NrVR9j4vo_KdSOzO/s1600/1.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><em><sup>The aquarium as new in 2009 when the spotlights were colourful and before everything got covered in fish poo and algae</sup></em>
<em></em><br /><br />Earlier this year I 
decided to add a bit of extra vajazzle so I purchased another two of 
these spotlights, this time in green. Upon connecting them up I found 
the new green lights to be super bright and I realised it was because my
 two year old blue and red fella's appeared to be half burned out. I 
hadn't noticed how dark the old lights had got until I had something to 
compare them to. This annoys me as LED's should last years and not fail 
to half brightness so quickly.<br /><br />I decided therefore to build my 
own moonlight effect rather than throwing more money at any more 
overpriced spotlights. In essence, I'm gonna make a single big bulb 
comprising of 16 high brightness LED's. Hey, here it is:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6FZa9_gKShijEOAmx0LTmiflIIUu4cF6bZq_iimPr9LeONKGViXQ0vfhmvhfBi4fbWhdLa_Urzw2OiwDa1GL7jjfxgYYqRXD71dVOuy84I79039gI1TeA1dzafnjaJFx1S9mNNeZhujU/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6FZa9_gKShijEOAmx0LTmiflIIUu4cF6bZq_iimPr9LeONKGViXQ0vfhmvhfBi4fbWhdLa_Urzw2OiwDa1GL7jjfxgYYqRXD71dVOuy84I79039gI1TeA1dzafnjaJFx1S9mNNeZhujU/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">Looks shit doesn't it? That's because originally it consisted of twelve 
neatly laid out LED's arranged in three groups of four connected in 
series allowing them to run off a 12V AC supply recycled from a long 
dead telephone answering machine. When I tested it however, I found it 
wasn't bright enough so I squeezed another four series connected LED's 
onto the stripboard in a not-so-neat layout. That leaves me with a 
rather odd configuration but gave me the brightness I wanted. The two 
10mm LED's are white and came off an old garden solar light while all 
the 5mm LEDs are bright blue. When mixed together the colour works out 
nicer than straight blue. All the blue LED's stand a few milimetres off 
the board allowing them to be individually angled for the best spread of
 light and a couple of the outer ones are pointing towards the bubble 
flows at either side of the tank. A couple of 1.5 Ohm resistors are 
being used as links and can be ignored, and the green thing at the 
bottom left corner is a fuse. The schematic is as below. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGPa5DNoVqtWUp7p5PPDJfcJMJY3K78hT8Ty5FZOsh7sXNkqWGK6VMuS7EwGYd4y81y5gHlXw7sHp6-TavBXjzNXC6dUQ4-PODE9xvH2ZkBvhEwcC0tbOx_I70DoYERkEtWN7joYKExHu/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGPa5DNoVqtWUp7p5PPDJfcJMJY3K78hT8Ty5FZOsh7sXNkqWGK6VMuS7EwGYd4y81y5gHlXw7sHp6-TavBXjzNXC6dUQ4-PODE9xvH2ZkBvhEwcC0tbOx_I70DoYERkEtWN7joYKExHu/s1600/3.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The circuit has been arranged so that the AC input illuminates eight 
LEDs with each half cycle. A 1N4001 diode on each half of the circuit 
(D1 and D2) clips the AC to provide half wave recification to drive the 
LED's. Probably not really necessary as the LED's are themselves diodes 
but... well... meh.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJsbntmy-4hNso2VhFNF-ftXZO_CtG4Sx5HCcvGLSl00Mayz4E-l5iL5xAKqOJjw3-rMH6yASsZ39WxZH0nQA5Ge9ur-_IEe73ImTUOnyj9aAqElbdtmBzUTeeeBW1kXGa736AFPgGaUT/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJsbntmy-4hNso2VhFNF-ftXZO_CtG4Sx5HCcvGLSl00Mayz4E-l5iL5xAKqOJjw3-rMH6yASsZ39WxZH0nQA5Ge9ur-_IEe73ImTUOnyj9aAqElbdtmBzUTeeeBW1kXGa736AFPgGaUT/s1600/4.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">This means the LED's are not continually illuminated but are pulsing on 
and off at 50Hz which should be more energy efficient and prolong their 
life. In effect, only eight LEDs are being fully powered at any one 
time. If we hook a two channel oscilloscope to LED 1 and LED 16 which 
are on different halves of the circuit, we can see they are being driven
 180 degrees out of phase ih respect to each other.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9DyftmltR-K1zjiF_NYZh1LkxXvL0ky3fhNI6Yy7EMy9v57iuAqqso5oBZk7Scg5nS3m9hEzqMd1uk2SwI4GqRvHW7yB6Yv6DdMowq4WiPbNGS-bAv0Rd1YmfiHqji_xhHufd_0r73Hh/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9DyftmltR-K1zjiF_NYZh1LkxXvL0ky3fhNI6Yy7EMy9v57iuAqqso5oBZk7Scg5nS3m9hEzqMd1uk2SwI4GqRvHW7yB6Yv6DdMowq4WiPbNGS-bAv0Rd1YmfiHqji_xhHufd_0r73Hh/s1600/5.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The scope was set to 5ms/div so a complete on/off cycle takes 20ms which
 is what you'd expect from a 50Hz AC source. Each LED is therefore 
powered and illuminated for 10ms before being switched off for 10ms. 
This works out to 50 flashes/second (duh!) which is just on the 
peripheral of human vision (i.e. the illumination appears constant 
although you might catch the flicker through the corner of your eye).<br /><br />So
 I had my circuit, what I needed next was a waterproof container to 
house the thing. This Addis 200ml pot bought for about a quid from 
Wilkinsons while on a shopping trip with <a href="http://www.r3uk.com/index.php/home/186-spangrobbo" target="_self">Bolton Dan</a> (bald server man) should do the trick. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGu2oxaK6-5-pJe3fG14RzKz_IT36PQ6BBOj9CnUiJZPlLutvJ5Hal4jf76ui3fmAPMFzkCeEZ_wJW8XXAJbpOMj3xN2qXtCDXozImkgPVA9iyYtSsNykGASXkbd-OWLLnhTbBg4OMsEU/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGu2oxaK6-5-pJe3fG14RzKz_IT36PQ6BBOj9CnUiJZPlLutvJ5Hal4jf76ui3fmAPMFzkCeEZ_wJW8XXAJbpOMj3xN2qXtCDXozImkgPVA9iyYtSsNykGASXkbd-OWLLnhTbBg4OMsEU/s1600/6.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The clear base of the container is perfect for my LED's to shine 
through. A hole was drilled into the side of the container and a length 
of 5mm air hose fed through and sealed. The low voltage AC wire fed 
through this tube and into the container. In theory the whole thing 
should be pretty watertight however I don't plan to plop it into the 
water, instead I will be suspending it from the rear lid of the tank. 
Here is the rear lid with recessed handle before I permanently ruined 
it...</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBXITKA_I-iX5-L3XvJChLJ1EQEq5wS8ikgdm8rcTuI8gfHUfoW1tQ-CTay8as7EagY6Z0Q4SkVvGdq-alCXVaoAaiCBXqoVNcjZl1ss0qnBqtUKVDAS-kYyFFegw_PEQDSPWlGCdIvy3/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBXITKA_I-iX5-L3XvJChLJ1EQEq5wS8ikgdm8rcTuI8gfHUfoW1tQ-CTay8as7EagY6Z0Q4SkVvGdq-alCXVaoAaiCBXqoVNcjZl1ss0qnBqtUKVDAS-kYyFFegw_PEQDSPWlGCdIvy3/s1600/7.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">by drilling a twatting great hole through it with a hole saw. The 
diameter of the hole is such that the pot can sit in it from above 
without falling through....</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKosnCuta82-koK3RtbMoWuZw0Lw7jMDFgkiUBwekn_yhcAEWQoztZCsSe4ZqrFf4otWtt1d4JM3IPwLC6fJfpEjLdnbUjEZbefKbdIhhaFDFeaXCCIQvcQaGlhRGMo0BMkaVuC5bq-6IK/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKosnCuta82-koK3RtbMoWuZw0Lw7jMDFgkiUBwekn_yhcAEWQoztZCsSe4ZqrFf4otWtt1d4JM3IPwLC6fJfpEjLdnbUjEZbefKbdIhhaFDFeaXCCIQvcQaGlhRGMo0BMkaVuC5bq-6IK/s1600/8.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">like this. Doesn't actually look too out of place and with the air hose 
containing the wire hidden on the inside of the lid the installation up 
top is quite neat even if it does kinda look like what it is - a plastic
 glowing lunch soup pot suspended through the lid of a big frikkin' fish
 tank.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3SRb9-9woLfCM0bmXRWLa1H29N2Pnjo0zDd2_o8penZlVRA4zKCHw0eo8hgQI-J7Mbf4QZ9irimihaJEz5XNWsSqB-xOIUzBpT9lXkUnm40rMQRgkH5Hi0RroOZcjjGZKiDnNESwrNWb/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3SRb9-9woLfCM0bmXRWLa1H29N2Pnjo0zDd2_o8penZlVRA4zKCHw0eo8hgQI-J7Mbf4QZ9irimihaJEz5XNWsSqB-xOIUzBpT9lXkUnm40rMQRgkH5Hi0RroOZcjjGZKiDnNESwrNWb/s1600/9.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><br />The board is angled within the pot so that the light shines towards the lower front of the tank.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYDB4CUS-zzIL0zfq0Y9lZ-gcx-shsefiz8_DXylx4Eu_gUddQ6WoB2Ot7RlJYhJy3-YPcVTVpHDJfajITJM5y7vX6k2sSwln4HIq9JpDgqzIUoFlImaPSP7cKqeljQrRZnbXknefCG96/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYDB4CUS-zzIL0zfq0Y9lZ-gcx-shsefiz8_DXylx4Eu_gUddQ6WoB2Ot7RlJYhJy3-YPcVTVpHDJfajITJM5y7vX6k2sSwln4HIq9JpDgqzIUoFlImaPSP7cKqeljQrRZnbXknefCG96/s1600/10.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">It's hard to get a decent picture when you don't have the slightest 
aptitude or patience for photography and you're only armed with a mobile
 phone camera, but the snap below gives an idea of the kind of 
blue/white glow that now bathes the tank between 22:30 and 15:00 when 
the main lights are off.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIIfZx9Rb49yWUBVAyoMLwirb8xpwLiETTGRTRoIuM336U3U-LGNy94aKE4zPB3vZpVP8qh3QKxeQXlsuen247PfvB2pT47SYDiZV5DuIICmk5wDbyCLm3_YZg3aPTpE_jA9jFzFhhCLP/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIIfZx9Rb49yWUBVAyoMLwirb8xpwLiETTGRTRoIuM336U3U-LGNy94aKE4zPB3vZpVP8qh3QKxeQXlsuen247PfvB2pT47SYDiZV5DuIICmk5wDbyCLm3_YZg3aPTpE_jA9jFzFhhCLP/s1600/12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The effect is more spectacular in the flesh as the light shines through 
the filter output as it ripples the water surface casting beams and 
shadows down into the very depths of Davy Jones' locker.<br /><br />With my 
home made solution, I can add or change LEDs in the future should I ever
 want to change the colour or alter the brightness. Oh, and the fish 
love it! ...for all I know. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>

How to Make Aquarium Moonlight

The Making of Aquarium Moonlight Nothing new here folks, I've been shoving LED's into aquariums before. You might say I have...

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The joule thief flasher Diagram

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The joule thief flasher Diagram</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<br /></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: blue;">It’s  been a while since I posted a wholly new article on this site and 
 that’s because of some exciting shenanigans keeping me busy at this 
end.  In fact, relating to the exciting shenanigans was a particular 
project  which recently arose requiring the use of a flashing white LED.
 Of  course, I’m sure nobody reading this is bored enough to want to 
know  just *why* there would be a need for a flashing white LED so I 
won’t  presume to bore you with the yawn-inducing details of how this 
project  came into being when I can simply cut to the chase by skipping 
straight  to how it is to be achieved!</span><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />The
  requirements are that it needs to be low power as it would be running 
 on battery for hours at a time, and the flash rate is to be once every 
 few seconds.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Now,  there are other projects I’ve previously documented to flash LEDs using <b>transistors</b>, <b> timers </b>or <b>chipsets
 </b>capable of producing a square-wave output, but those  circuits were 
designed for a constant DC supply transformer and ideally  this one 
would only have a single battery.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Last  year I had a bit of a play with the<b> Joule Thief</b>,
 a homemade (in my  case) inductor capable of ramping up a source 
voltage through the  induction between two coils to enable a 1.5v 
battery to drive a 3v LED.  Since meddling with the Joule Thief 18 
months ago, I haven’t had cause  to do anything useful with it since, 
and my homemade inductor found  itself slung into the bottom of my deep,
 dark drawer of yesteryear porn  where it was subsequently forgotten 
about.... until now.<br /><br />The  Joule Thief is an ideal candidate for 
this job. Not only will it allow  me to drive a 3v white LED from a 
single 1.5v AA battery, but it’s also  super efficient so the LED will 
continue to light even when the battery  eventually drains until its 
output is perhaps as low as 0.2v. This means  the circuit will get the 
maximum life out of the supply battery and can  even use batteries that 
would normally be thrown away as ‘spent’  because they no longer have 
the wallop to drive higher current  applications.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />By
  its very nature a Joule Thief flashes a LED, however it is at such a  
high rate (say, 40kHz), that the human eye cannot detect the transitions
  and the light appears continuous. What I needed in this instance was a
  way to modify the existing circuit so that a slow, visible flash 
occurs.  In order to do this, I’m not going to change how the Joule 
Thief  operates - i.e. it will still be flashing the LED at a high 
frequency  making it appear to be continuously lit, however I will be 
turning the  Joule Thief itself on and off at a much slower rate so that
 the LED  illuminates only for a short time before extinguishing.<br /><br /><b>To accomplish this, I’m adding an R-C timing element to the circuit as below.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKuX2YinyXO-b_RTSKGQEG8U1Z9sSVuOFSUIROV7Hn13Nb4ho-Gi2JK97vubvJpXNRSETnRIhRP-jTudOuTl71_PBm4rUY4ZldMwxLfPKcVGcpJw-omjPRhZBNY9rEZn4MiihyphenhyphenUGHamRb/s1600/joulethiefflash.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKuX2YinyXO-b_RTSKGQEG8U1Z9sSVuOFSUIROV7Hn13Nb4ho-Gi2JK97vubvJpXNRSETnRIhRP-jTudOuTl71_PBm4rUY4ZldMwxLfPKcVGcpJw-omjPRhZBNY9rEZn4MiihyphenhyphenUGHamRb/s1600/joulethiefflash.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At  switch-on, the 1000uF capacitor begins charging through the 10k  
resistor, however there isn’t enough voltage to forward bias the 1N4148 
 diode so the secondary coil of the inductor and base input to the  
transistor are off. Although the battery is connected to the LED via the
  primary coil of the inductor, there isn’t enough forward voltage to  
drive it so the LED also remains off.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Eventually
  the capacitor builds up enough charge to bias the 1N4148 diode and  
current now flows across the secondary coil and through the transistor. 
 As explained on my Joule Thief page, the inductance resulting from  
current flowing through the coils generates a voltage high enough to  
drive the LED. As the circuit operates, the LED pulses at a high  
frequency, turning electricity into light in response to the magnetic  
fields building up and collapsing across the inductor’s coils.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Eventually,
  the capacitor discharges below what can pass over the diode which  
closes the path so that the inductor, transistor and LED cease to  
operate and the capacitor begins charging up via the 10k resistor again.
  And so the cycle continues.<br /><br />Using  these particular components,
 my LED illuminates for about one second  and then extinguishes for 
about another three seconds before repeating.  The timing of the circuit
 can be altered by adjusting the values of the  R-C components, i.e. the
 1000uF capacitor and 10k resistor. Reducing the  resistance will allow 
the capacitor to charge quicker and increasing it  will slow the charge.
 In my case I found a resistance of over 20k was  too high for the 
circuit to operate so a 10k resistor worked out well.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Decreasing
  the capacitance will have a greater effect on the timing. A 10uF  
capacitor will produce a fast visible flash rate, a 4700uF capacitor a  
much slower rate and anything in-between will be... well... in between. 
 Again, for my particular application, I found a 1000uF capacitor  
producing a duty cycle of about four seconds to be the best candidate.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />The
  choice of LED also had a significant effect on the circuit. Although  
this works like a charm with my particular 3V white LED, experimenting  
with different LED flavours of varying colours and forward voltage  
requirements could mean altered timing, no flashing or no operation at  
all. It’s a good job I breadboarded this circuit and dicked around with 
 different components before reaching for the soldering iron.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Y’know,
  all this reminds me of the LM3909 chip I used to play with in the 
early  ‘90’s. It’s long been out of production now and internally it 
didn’t  work in the same way as this circuit, but it did have similar  
characteristics. It could be driven from a single 1.5v battery, was  
power efficient and could drive LED’s with a forward bias requirement  
higher than the circuit power source. If I remember rightly, apart from a
  LED and a battery, all you needed to add was a capacitor, the value of
  which would determine the flash rate. Although this circuit isn’t a  
discrete version of the LM3909, it largely performs the same task for  
me.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I guess they  
stopped producing the LM3909 because it wasn’t capable of driving the  
newer high-brightness blue/white 3v LEDS and besides, if you wanted a  
flashing LED, you could pick one up with its own in-built flash driver  
that didn’t need any external components - but where the hell is the fun
  in that??<br /><br />I  might even have a twenty year old LM3909 lurking 
in the bottom of that  same porn drawer... although I doubt it has the 
minerals to drive my  white LED. Y’know, I’m actually tempted to fish it
 out along with a 1992  copy of Razzle for.. uh.. nostalgic purposes.... </div>
</div>

The joule thief flasher Diagram

The joule thief flasher Diagram It’s been a while since I posted a wholly new article on this site and that’s because of some excit...

Sunday, October 27, 2013

How To Repair LED Energy Saving Bulb

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">REPAIRING LED ENERGY SAVING BULB</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;">I like energy saving bulbs, not just because they produce light more 
efficiently and, therefore cheaply, but also because they last longer, 
look funkier, run cooler and require changing less often.<br /><br />Well, 
that's the theory. Unfortunately I seem to have been through a bit of a 
run of them lately causing me to take a closer look at how these things 
work.<br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;">My failed units are all from the same manufacturer and they
 haven't put in the distance so I won't be buying that brand again. I 
wouldn't mind if they were some cheap and nasty things bought off a 
nasty online auction site, but I purchased them from a reputable 
supplier and paid a premium price. I could probably get away with 
returning them as faulty however I'd rather take a peek inside to see 
how these things work and whether I can get away with my own repairs.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;">I'm
 looking today at an R50 LED bulb. This one is in green and is used for 
decorative purposes only (accent lighting around my aquarium). This 
particular model has fifteen LEDs and, no doubt, some clever bit of 
circuitry to convert the AC mains to a DC voltage to drive them. Surely 
there can't be that much to go wrong?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only one way to find out. The thing is encased in quite thick glass....</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTNjzeBygqjeBST_PCvCD2llnZ1D6HkBJEA_JfbXJQvonOAfBVrj-yfeKF9LeeEsGRfJlx5vVcf7aIbm83M7OjA4yjU0OfRENvo61jwOiPBfqG47updVRc8he8oqxKl4ZnHNy7-MZeyrc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTNjzeBygqjeBST_PCvCD2llnZ1D6HkBJEA_JfbXJQvonOAfBVrj-yfeKF9LeeEsGRfJlx5vVcf7aIbm83M7OjA4yjU0OfRENvo61jwOiPBfqG47updVRc8he8oqxKl4ZnHNy7-MZeyrc/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Using gloves, goggles and a small hammer, the neck of the bulb is (delicately) chipped away to reveal those lovely innards... </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhaZZnyB9BScWBfU0THi3_vL77-elXkPtqOwwQP1NPyL-7I-BZfsc6mWNcWABlUqFfWpyCmDf8ulge8r6ik5NUlmo9PIBir52q157gvrRFC8yPE45ppTTOOS1hsHqg0AmFe60NeayJ6qk/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhaZZnyB9BScWBfU0THi3_vL77-elXkPtqOwwQP1NPyL-7I-BZfsc6mWNcWABlUqFfWpyCmDf8ulge8r6ik5NUlmo9PIBir52q157gvrRFC8yPE45ppTTOOS1hsHqg0AmFe60NeayJ6qk/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Notice how the reflector has also cracked. This is important for later. 
Some extra chipping and biting (with pliers) allows us to remove enough 
glass to extract the driver circuit board...</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRTZ0I7Sc5dVhtR7Cax9zdmQQo7BObXYV5zm9Vl9Pi4r5RHCuTYYamdQUBRx3FCZIexA2jhrCITIbW8WJypy6stOKHxaqyDM5lKUcf98or8HvdroDk6XCpw_mW3lCxIlJa3rGFI58Ffwu/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRTZ0I7Sc5dVhtR7Cax9zdmQQo7BObXYV5zm9Vl9Pi4r5RHCuTYYamdQUBRx3FCZIexA2jhrCITIbW8WJypy6stOKHxaqyDM5lKUcf98or8HvdroDk6XCpw_mW3lCxIlJa3rGFI58Ffwu/s1600/3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We don't want to damage the reflector too much but for full disassembly 
we'll have to break it into two or three pieces along the cracks to 
remove the LED circuit board. So long as care is taken and it doesn't 
shatter completely it can probably be glued back together for reassembly
 later. With all the glass removed, we have access to all the 
components.<br /><br />Upon tracing the connections on the circuit boards, I found this particular bulb has the following schematic...</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMvk7bQbrSNdOUkcdXnSW0laZ8P8DGQJpdecxkxXvZueDd1oGcpn5M1NlLNxE1wt-ANZnHK-SgGP7PpEFevtmOTsRM8InNZ6E2YzqkP-h6T_7kBrpzqHj7a3hd2cD4LwERF5Tx3n6J3M2/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMvk7bQbrSNdOUkcdXnSW0laZ8P8DGQJpdecxkxXvZueDd1oGcpn5M1NlLNxE1wt-ANZnHK-SgGP7PpEFevtmOTsRM8InNZ6E2YzqkP-h6T_7kBrpzqHj7a3hd2cD4LwERF5Tx3n6J3M2/s1600/4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As you can see, there aren't that many components to go wrong. The 
resistor and fuse are the easiest things to check and my multimeter has a
 capacitance function so I was able to verify the caps were working 
correctly too. I wasn't sure how to check the bridge rectifier on mine 
(short of connecting it to the mains and checking the Voltage coming out
 of it) so I decided to check the individual LEDs next by connecting a 
3V PSU to the connectors of each one to make sure it lights - and that 
is where I came across a failure. As the LEDs are all connected in 
series, if one fails it will stop them all lighting up.<br /><br />The 
failed LED was removed - but what to put in it's place? I have a 
collection of LEDs but none quite the right colour (and most not even 
the right Voltage). In the end I wasn't able to match up a replacement 
LED so I fitted an ordinary diode salvaged off an old PCB onto the back 
of the board in place of where the LED had been. This diode should have 
the same characteristics as the LED it replaced except it doesn't light 
up.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaat9vXHC69tuqD0y1lTHAE9-gCIHzPqZtUqCnw-ZkevMOq2grUGutZ9oelOpdQvMYh5bFmQ8Iypug0VnhLNNSxMcDa7clrz8wDG1e5YA6aHe1ZS9OLpsTTKBpk6gxzQXMwGm4IcuPbQJ/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaat9vXHC69tuqD0y1lTHAE9-gCIHzPqZtUqCnw-ZkevMOq2grUGutZ9oelOpdQvMYh5bFmQ8Iypug0VnhLNNSxMcDa7clrz8wDG1e5YA6aHe1ZS9OLpsTTKBpk6gxzQXMwGm4IcuPbQJ/s1600/5.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reassembly involved gluing the LED board back into the reflector which 
was itself glued back together. To give the bulb some rigidity and 
prevent exposure to live components, I used the plastic top off a Right 
Guard deodorant cannister which was exactly the right size for the job. A
 hole was cut into the plastic lid to allow the metal screw connector of
 the bulb to protrude while the open end of the lid was silicone sealed 
onto the reflector.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpUR_oTzwUEQFmHtoMDRIBpiiIkH9SU9_sAfuLNPrEajBgu3RU7ylJNrrmURC55NWlMljADSMikZCcYWPWFVuvhmj1Qx50-OS0NSL-GASsgI34lMnxU2B2iqTCqD-RmGYvbpi2r7PjbvS/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpUR_oTzwUEQFmHtoMDRIBpiiIkH9SU9_sAfuLNPrEajBgu3RU7ylJNrrmURC55NWlMljADSMikZCcYWPWFVuvhmj1Qx50-OS0NSL-GASsgI34lMnxU2B2iqTCqD-RmGYvbpi2r7PjbvS/s1600/6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once inserted back into it's fitting, the casual observer would be 
unlikely to notice the difference between a rebuilt bulb and a normal 
one. The only real noticeable difference from the outside is that there 
is a missing LED - but would anyone notice (or care)....</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh87wgc-I_q6fLg7O6SQk8u9Z071iROFUATzj0cBuFefFkJl6RcPpnWqIvdwC2bxkSrWZOv_AGSDE5-y5c39DB91xKyBKNs0GKR4aIQuiBk7afl7FWQ__Xv-btMcmnxMIisKG87jBxwcv/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh87wgc-I_q6fLg7O6SQk8u9Z071iROFUATzj0cBuFefFkJl6RcPpnWqIvdwC2bxkSrWZOv_AGSDE5-y5c39DB91xKyBKNs0GKR4aIQuiBk7afl7FWQ__Xv-btMcmnxMIisKG87jBxwcv/s1600/7.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This isn't the first time I've undertaken such a project either. Another
 LED bulb I have (a GU-10 cheap no-brand) failed after just a few days. I
 undertook the same method to get into the bulb where I found the cause 
of the problem to be a duff resistor. I replaced it with a spare and, at
 the time of writing eighteen months after the event, this bulb is still
 in operation.<br /><br />I wonder how many of these things get thrown away because of a single faulty component?<br /><br /><br /><b>Update</b><br />One
 year on and this thing is still going and getting weekly use. Another 
LED failed shortly after the article was written and it was 'repaired' 
again. Recently this green bulb has been retired in favour of a colour 
changing unit that Sainsburys were selling off cheap. Although this 
repair method works it's unlikely I'll bother with it again and when a 
similar white LED bulb failed I broke it up for spares as I needed some 
white LEDs for another project. The trick with these bulbs is not to buy
 the cheap shit ones in the first place and go for a reputable make. My 
failed bulbs were made my Pro-LIte while some more expensive bulbs made 
by Ring have been going strong for three years at the time of writing. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #660000;"></span></h4>
</div>

How To Repair LED Energy Saving Bulb

REPAIRING LED ENERGY SAVING BULB I like energy saving bulbs, not just because they produce light more efficiently and, therefore ch...

Friday, October 25, 2013

How to Simply Make 12v DC Adapter

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Very Simple Procedure to Make 12v DC Adapter</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now you can make 12v DC Adapter by yourself Easily. There is no any PCB or Board required.</span></span></h3>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;">(The Mentioned Procedure is only for small use of 12v DC)</span></span></span></span> </h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Required :</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1. Transformer (12 AC)</span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguii0-zrFi74uOYdU0bH95pWaF_gkst22G95OEp6Au-LVggiHNNOYGIUKVzL4W3_hFWCQ-8MFqAn8PH9N7MYCgkty5y1OADl0SHKQcG5MMXwRk_3xE179X-yAs0nE_ykPw74Sko3sCe7rl/s1600/transfarmor_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguii0-zrFi74uOYdU0bH95pWaF_gkst22G95OEp6Au-LVggiHNNOYGIUKVzL4W3_hFWCQ-8MFqAn8PH9N7MYCgkty5y1OADl0SHKQcG5MMXwRk_3xE179X-yAs0nE_ykPw74Sko3sCe7rl/s1600/transfarmor_small.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2. Capacitor (24v - 1000uf) </span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3b1mPRWwGhNHu8Z6EZAH0OBU0vzwMA6MfdgXEdbV_PGN_Jh3nJmDZs-HwT7j7PCTO_RiNsBFjnoIikI5Z_AmI4JHjkN9-QGwKfnCbGcTXL73F0rstpRRKHL2yMuxhvz9O8eHOd8DVwwNR/s1600/Capesitor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3b1mPRWwGhNHu8Z6EZAH0OBU0vzwMA6MfdgXEdbV_PGN_Jh3nJmDZs-HwT7j7PCTO_RiNsBFjnoIikI5Z_AmI4JHjkN9-QGwKfnCbGcTXL73F0rstpRRKHL2yMuxhvz9O8eHOd8DVwwNR/s1600/Capesitor.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3.Silicon Diode (12V - 5W) </span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbMAiwaWuuUN61jl77CFu-T4g7JCIqhZsdnBvrRDWlLQA-zxIrrmHXPXPbXuWVDetXTiA9i1EQcd_jIqWPKg8i8WCrbQhzAuWzNhdxzwEJ_hdLGDrp8wcH7svmbPfQ-U6aHgK2CF8T3zj/s1600/1N5241B+12V+point+5W+Silicon+Unidirectional+Voltage+Regulator+Diode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbMAiwaWuuUN61jl77CFu-T4g7JCIqhZsdnBvrRDWlLQA-zxIrrmHXPXPbXuWVDetXTiA9i1EQcd_jIqWPKg8i8WCrbQhzAuWzNhdxzwEJ_hdLGDrp8wcH7svmbPfQ-U6aHgK2CF8T3zj/s1600/1N5241B+12V+point+5W+Silicon+Unidirectional+Voltage+Regulator+Diode.jpg" /></a></div>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Procedure :</span></span></h2>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">1. First sold the Diode (Marked Side) on the positive point of Capacitor.</span></h2>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2. Join Transformer's output wire on another side of Diode.</span></h2>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3. Join Transformer's second wire on Nagative point of Capacitor.</span></h2>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">4. Now the both points of Capacitor are giving 12v DC. Negative is Negative and Positive is Positive for 12v DC. </span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWMXU1snL4YrKGkevsBuxgFEbXmneLdjG3SbT8xJc-QJ8BfeuuWl6cke_JOzn9jlNMbeRmYKuvyNs6MCf_us8sxHMpHwE5w4zPs6j0wSXxdgURkD9OQc23UmrrZFhZjfAFOL0DcMtXHk-/s1600/Diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWMXU1snL4YrKGkevsBuxgFEbXmneLdjG3SbT8xJc-QJ8BfeuuWl6cke_JOzn9jlNMbeRmYKuvyNs6MCf_us8sxHMpHwE5w4zPs6j0wSXxdgURkD9OQc23UmrrZFhZjfAFOL0DcMtXHk-/s400/Diagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h2>
<h2 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">   </span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<br /></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<br /></h3>
</div>

How to Simply Make 12v DC Adapter

Very Simple Procedure to Make 12v DC Adapter Now you can make 12v DC Adapter by yourself Easily. There is no any PCB or Board required...

Monday, October 21, 2013

How to Repair energy saving Lamps

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 class="postTitle" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Repairing energy saving Lamps</span></span></span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQJrPAnBh0CU68hI8L4wJ5dWLtzD3oKRVuQbzJvfsoGqnPMQneSGCjFNhiWoYYUYXDmVVVPbLgwoBfPq3B0NIj__hY1JMNOI4mTzmRjzfvz5y6zqqyh0cOGPZ9mhQFkZcGzQFSMLzE2g3/s1600/EnergySaver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQJrPAnBh0CU68hI8L4wJ5dWLtzD3oKRVuQbzJvfsoGqnPMQneSGCjFNhiWoYYUYXDmVVVPbLgwoBfPq3B0NIj__hY1JMNOI4mTzmRjzfvz5y6zqqyh0cOGPZ9mhQFkZcGzQFSMLzE2g3/s1600/EnergySaver.jpg" /></a></div>
<h2 class="postTitle" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></span></h2>
<div class="postTitle" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">With over use of energy saving light bulbs,we are left with thousands of non functioning bulbs around us.Let's how to fix a </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">non functioning Energy </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: black;">There is a capacitor connected to the filament, in many cases the 
capacitor was short CCT  this was the only fault. Replace the capacitor 
removed fault  Voila, CFL is back to life<span style="color: #20124d;">.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: black;">CFLs with blown fuse, It was mainly caused by a fault in DC bridge cct.,
 I  simply replaced all the rectifying diodes (I have tons of them in my
 lab) and voila, rebirth of another CFL.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: black;">Another common fault in the CFLs was Short 400V capacitor that I 
assume had caused damaged to the transistors and resistors connected to 
them. There was no sign of resistor color codes as they were to dark ( I
 assume caused by overheat) but I had plenty of similar CFLs in hand and
 I checked the one with good resistors, Their value of the first 
resistor was around 2 ohms and the other around 20 ohms. I also had to 
change the transistors as well. Another CFL brought back to life.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Diac
 and its 500Kohm resistor at fault .In a few cases, I found the 500Kohm 
resistor to be open cct. ,And in some cases changing  the diac itself 
resolved the fault.</span></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>

How to Repair energy saving Lamps

Repairing energy saving Lamps With over use of energy saving light bulbs,we are left with thousands of non functioning bulbs aro...

Monday, October 14, 2013

Charging Battery with Solar Panel (Schematic Diagram)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 class="titles" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Solar Charger for 6V 4.5Ah Battery</span></span></span></h2>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a solar charger circuit that is used to charge Lead Acid or 
Ni-Cd batteries using the solar energy power. The circuit harvests solar
 energy to charge a 6 volt 4.5 Ah rechargeable battery for various 
applications. The charger has voltage and current regulation and over 
voltage cut-off facilities.</span></span></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Solar Charger Circuit Schematic</span></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The circuit uses a 12 volt solar panel and a variable voltage regulator IC LM 317.<br />
The solar panel consists of solar cells each rated at 1.2 volts.<br />
12 volt DC is available from the panel to charge the battery. Charging 
current passes through D1 to the voltage regulator IC LM 317. By 
adjusting its Adjust pin, output voltage and current can be regulated.</span></span></span> </span></span></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTGNAjv7iT05ZBAtm_-onLofrix_ecKEPkQKvcM_5xVS8Ni35ac4zab43eKSky0KJqwHszrizOgbUOja5YhCyQ0Ph6GQOmYRkqQQBPdCkq9PNRpifNpRxtpzlwP6h4rR_n9dcDrM6Y39E/s1600/solar-charger-550x274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTGNAjv7iT05ZBAtm_-onLofrix_ecKEPkQKvcM_5xVS8Ni35ac4zab43eKSky0KJqwHszrizOgbUOja5YhCyQ0Ph6GQOmYRkqQQBPdCkq9PNRpifNpRxtpzlwP6h4rR_n9dcDrM6Y39E/s320/solar-charger-550x274.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">VR is placed between the adjust pin and ground to provide an output 
voltage of 9 volts to the battery. Resistor R3 Restrict the charging 
current and diode D2 prevents discharge of current from the battery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Transistor T1 and Zener diode ZD act as a cut off switch when the 
battery is full. Normally T1 is off and battery gets charging current. 
When the terminal voltage of the battery rises above 6.8 volts, Zener 
conducts and provides base current to T1. It then turns on grounding the
 output of LM317 to stop charging.</span><br />
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">Note:</span>  </span></span></div>
<div class="titles" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span>You can use the same circuit by replacing ZD with a 12 Volt Zener to output 12V/4Ah Output.</div>
</div>

Charging Battery with Solar Panel (Schematic Diagram)

Solar Charger for 6V 4.5Ah Battery Here is a solar charger circuit that is used to charge Lead Acid or Ni-Cd batteries using the sola...

Monday, October 14, 2013

How to make a solar charger for a mobile phone

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Make a solar charger for a mobile phone.</span></span></h2>
<h1>
 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONi-LHpKnocIB1Ei20IG1rq3eRjJOl64TCkr1QfEzxX3HWUxF5gz31OaPzrXJD5VAtBtkx9u0kG1g4FBVvJPF-fU14_wMsK6xChQu3jPbdOyx8EL3Q_6OtGhsCDmjmjgM5gdMzPLJKh0D/s1600/soler1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONi-LHpKnocIB1Ei20IG1rq3eRjJOl64TCkr1QfEzxX3HWUxF5gz31OaPzrXJD5VAtBtkx9u0kG1g4FBVvJPF-fU14_wMsK6xChQu3jPbdOyx8EL3Q_6OtGhsCDmjmjgM5gdMzPLJKh0D/s320/soler1.jpg" title="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" width="320" /></a></div>
</h1>
<div class="box-inline">
<div class="box-inner">
<div class="group description">
Portable, lightweight, waterproof and can be positioned in 3 ways:<br /><br />1.
 Position it in 45 degree angle, facing the window up to a meter away, 
if indoors. You just have to experiment a bit, if it doesn't charge, 
move it closer to the window and if you are after quick charge, it is 
good idea to set mob to energy saving mode I think.<br />2. It can be 
attached to the bag or ruck sack, by placing leg in a pocket with your 
phone plugged in, so you can charge while out and about.<br />3. Can be hung on the window with the string, so even in limited light you can still get charge.<br />
<br />

</div>
<div class="group kit">
<h2>
<span style="color: red;">Kit list</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>2 x Flexible solar panel 0.8W, 2V</li>
<li>DC-DC step up converter charger with USB female DC 2.5V-5V</li>
<li>6 x sugru minipacks</li>
<li>Soldering iron</li>
<li>Some solder</li>
<li>Red and black wire</li>
<li>Wire stripping tool</li>
<li>Voltmeter</li>
<li>Tubing, like irrigation pipe or a straw, something similar, not too bendy as it needs to support the panel, 2 x 11-12cm long</li>
<li>Pill box </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h1>
 <span style="color: #0b5394;">The Guide</span></h1>
<h3>
<span style="color: red;">Step 1</span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When choosing solar cells for this application, make sure it has a 
decent current and voltage of 4V or 5V even better if you planing to use
 it indoors more, this way you can still charge in darker conditions, in
 addition to this to achieve 5V needed to charge, the dc voltage booster
 is necessary, I've chose 2.5-5V, so if your 4V panel only produce 
2.5-3V its enough to charge, so it doesn't have to be in direct 
sunlight. To increase current you need to connect cells in parallel, to 
increase voltage connect in series. For the 2 panels I have I need to 
increase voltage, so if you getting same panels you need to connect them
 in series to achieve 4V and the current is high enough.</span></span></span></span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbCsO6Q0d3IjMI1xWpva_LeF0vF8_GhPJFDU-fWP0liy8fNwE3K-8el1RlOfAf-F8DJ_z9BbuiOcAXmN9-eJjPCkfQbftiJFFYH0VgU8goe9QqYPJlAy90TE12u5pwQr_ldmMPxPUxCJP/s1600/soler2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbCsO6Q0d3IjMI1xWpva_LeF0vF8_GhPJFDU-fWP0liy8fNwE3K-8el1RlOfAf-F8DJ_z9BbuiOcAXmN9-eJjPCkfQbftiJFFYH0VgU8goe9QqYPJlAy90TE12u5pwQr_ldmMPxPUxCJP/s320/soler2.jpg" title="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" width="320" /></a></div>
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></h4>
<h3>
<span style="color: red;">Step 2</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">First measure voltage of your solar cells to check if its the same as in
 manufactures/sellers specs, this gives you a chance to check the 
distance from the light source ( window) and before soldering test 
polarity of the cells to determine the positive and negative (+ and -) 
when your voltmeter shows minus - you have it wrong way round, just 
switch it round and just like on your voltmeter you have black and red 
wire, solder wires about 15cm long in same way red to plus, black to 
minus and to connect your the cells in series you need to solder short 
peace of wire from + to - ( doesn't mater what colour) Then you need to 
connect solar panel to the charger module in the same way solder red to 
plus and black to minus and before you do that don't forget to stick 
tubing on wires, if you would be using this.<br /><br />Tip: (if you are not
 familiar with soldering) put a drop of solder on the clean surface 
first then add wire, I would advice practice before soldering panels, I 
haven't solder myself for long time, but i did not practice, thats why 
my joints on cells don't look too good, so its good idea to practice 
before, but don't worry if it doesn't work out very nice, it will still 
work. Also you need to strip wire before soldering.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cZGoImyQQiIJ7dnBKjPyp9ejPHutAlzoX7wsJ8sNlfw03D0lDtfRdN1VahjtHY4RPtcg7axg6lY-gWzMqh9k3OWUlQ0dImhyODqXwY-uYSQoVghs7J5d0BOFktovkB9CYnRTaxpWBl0P/s1600/soler3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cZGoImyQQiIJ7dnBKjPyp9ejPHutAlzoX7wsJ8sNlfw03D0lDtfRdN1VahjtHY4RPtcg7axg6lY-gWzMqh9k3OWUlQ0dImhyODqXwY-uYSQoVghs7J5d0BOFktovkB9CYnRTaxpWBl0P/s320/soler3.jpg" title="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: red;">Step 3</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Prepare box, if your pill box same as mine AM and PM joint together, you
 need to cut half of it away with sizers, then open the lid, cut the 
hole for USB at the top, so it would just slide in and space for wires 
to slide in from sides. Unfortunately, the box is slightly too big for 
this module, so to secure it add some material inside at the bottom and 
back. when all done close the box. (if it does not close, adjust the 
insides and try again, it will close eventually;)<br /><br />Now place sheet
 of cling-film on your preferably flat work surface and form some sugru 
with your hands and apply, start from middle, make a thicker strip, add 
sides by rolling a thin sting and attach, thickness depends on the cell,
 they can vary dramatically, apparently made by hand, but the idea is 
cover white surface from the front and the back insulate wires and 
joints, attach string for hanging option. Eventually attach/secure ends 
of tubing to panel and the box. Leave it to set for 24h and the 
cling-film prevents it from sticking to surface, it can be easily pulled
 off.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwl2fN-OmXqs2g2WJNxlUfs4cjSD8sj5R_0o3eW6m-BlSwtVfE6WMgJ4Wzii2KzXbwrZbH13lAGwhqi2EZseQyzKSLiAvNdmBh3rozQmuvtNMW0jYGstv5RX28jVRPr5NiIazj_gsyE1K/s1600/soler4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwl2fN-OmXqs2g2WJNxlUfs4cjSD8sj5R_0o3eW6m-BlSwtVfE6WMgJ4Wzii2KzXbwrZbH13lAGwhqi2EZseQyzKSLiAvNdmBh3rozQmuvtNMW0jYGstv5RX28jVRPr5NiIazj_gsyE1K/s320/soler4.jpg" title="Make a solar charger for a mobile phone" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;">Tip</span> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> If you find it difficult to do it all in one go, do it in sections, leave to set then do another section.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="color: #0c343d;">PS: you can attach string to the top rather than bottom, up to you... </span></span></span></span> </span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </span></h4>
</div>

How to make a solar charger for a mobile phone

Make a solar charger for a mobile phone. Portable, lightweight, waterproof and can be positioned in 3 ways: 1. Position it in 4...