Author Topic: The Joule Thief  (Read 5984 times)

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Offline Gordo4444Topic starter

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The Joule Thief
« on: August 08, 2008, 06:57:12 PM »
I thought this was pretty interesting... Something like this could have unlimited uses in the small robotics field of work...


[youtube]gTAqGKt64WM[/youtube]
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Offline izua

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Re: The Joule Thief
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2008, 09:28:50 PM »
Heh, cool name for a voltage booster.
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Offline BANE

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Re: The Joule Thief
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2008, 06:20:21 PM »
I haven't looked at the link yet, but how are they boosting voltage and how much longer will a battery like that last?

Bane
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Offline Commanderbob

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Re: The Joule Thief
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2008, 10:22:02 PM »
The battery is actually drained faster! However you can use it down to a lower voltage, around 0.5V I think. You do get a lot less current at that voltage so you could not power much. I made a Joule Thief a while ago and they work pretty good. I used it to power a LED off a super capacitor.
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Offline BANE

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Re: The Joule Thief
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2008, 11:16:34 PM »
What would be the voltage out put on a fully charged one?
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Offline JonHylands

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Re: The Joule Thief
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2008, 07:56:42 AM »
If you're looking for a reasonably priced commercial version of this, Dimension Engineering has one:

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/lvboost.htm

I am using one of these in my Seeker 2x mini-sumo emergency stop remote control, to boost a couple AAA batteries to 5 volts, so I can run an ATmega168 and a few other things...

- Jon
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