Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Joule Thief Battery Charger”.
The joule thief is a popular circuit. It’S able to take low voltage power sources and use them to run devices that would normally require higher voltages. For instance, it lets you use a single 1.5 volt battery to power. A 3 volt led the joule thief circuit. Does this by converting a steady, low voltage signal into a series of higher voltage pulses in this project? I am going to show you how you can use a joule thief circuit to make a low voltage battery charger. With this, you can charge batteries from a power source whose voltage is actually lower than the battery itself.
In order to make the battery charger more reliable, i made a few changes to the standard joule thief design. First, i added a capacitor between the resistor and the first coil. This helps to buffer the voltage fluctuations in the coil.
Then i added a six volt zener diode to the base of the transistor. This helps to protect the transistor from being damaged by voltage. Spikes at the output of the second coil, i added a diode. This prevents the battery from draining back through the transistor.
Lastly, i added one more capacitor to even out the output signal. The first step in assembling the joule thief is to wind, the toroid. Take two thin wires and wrap them around a ferrite toroid 10 times try to keep the wires evenly spaced. When i was done, i put tape around the toroid to hold the wires in place. While i was prototyping next assemble the circuit on a breadboard test. It out with a variety of voltages, to make sure that everything is working properly, then solder, all the parts onto a circuit board to connect the input and output wires.
I added two sets of pc board screw terminals, be sure to label the positive and negative terminals. As well as which ones are the input and output, when i was done soldering, i trimmed the circuit board around the components. Now all you have to do is connect a battery to the output of the circuit and hook up a power source to the input.
Your dual thief: charger will allow you to use a wide variety of low voltage power sources. You can use individual solar cells, thermoelectric generators, hydrogen fuel cells or small turbines. You can even attach a small generator to a hamster wheel and let your pet generate electricity.
Well, that’s how to make a joule thief battery charger, thanks for watching and check back next week for more diy hacks and how to’s you .