JouleThiefDetailedConstruction

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TheJouleThiefmakesagreatlittlelightforfieldday,nightlight,camping light,andevenonemissionaryintendstousetheminAfrica.Getthelastbitof lifefromthosesupposedlydeadbatteries.LearnManhattanconstruction.

PartsList PCBoard 4eapads Batteryholder LED Toroid 2ea13incheswire Transistor 1,000ohmresistor

PAD4 PAD3 PAD1 PAD2

Supergluefourpadstothe PCboard.Makesurethey arenottouchingeach other.Youshouldhave roughly1/8inchbetween thepads.Applyasmall dropofsuperglueonthe boardandpressthepad ontotheboardwiththe smalldimpleup.Usea smallscrewdrivertohold pressureonthepaduntil thegluedries(about10 seconds). Solderthe1,000ohmresistor ontopads1and3.When solderingallcomponents, placea90degreebendonthe endsofthecomponentwhere theytouchthepadtoallow bettersoldering.Thereisno polarityonaresistor. SoldertheLEDtotheboard. VERYIMPORTANT:Solderthe longleadtopad2andtheshort leaddirectlytothePCboard. TheLEDwillnotilluminateof youputitinbackwards.Ifyou lookintotheLED,theanvil shapedpartistheleadthatgets solderedtothePCboard.

PAD1

PAD3

ShortLead

PAD2

PCBoard

Emitter PCBoard Collector Pad2

Base Pad1

Solderthe transistortothe board.Withthe flatpartfacing youtheleftlead (emitter)is soldereddirectly tothePCboard. Thecenterlead (base)issoldered topad1.The rightlead (collector)is solderedtopad2. Failuretoinstall thispartcorrectly willpreventthe JouleThieffrom working.

Thisisadiagramofthetransistorshowing theemitter,baseandcollector.Flatside forward,lefttoright.

 Takethetwo piecesofwireand untwistthemif theyaretwisted. Thetoroid requires12inches ofwire.Youwill windthetoroid withthispairof wiressidebyside. Windthetoroidwith9 turnsofthewire.Each turnthroughtheholein thecentercountsasone turn.VERY IMPORTANT:Youmust takeonewirefrom eachsideofthe windingandtwistthem together.Thismakes thetransformer windingsoutofphase. Thisiscriticalto operation.Connectone wireofeachcolor.

Solderthetwisted wiresonthetoroid topad4.Solderone oftheothertoroid wires(doesnt matterwhichone) topad2. Twisted Wires Pad4 Pad2 Soldertheother wireonthetoroid topad3. Pad3

Solderthebattery holder.Connecta shortpieceof wirefromthe positiveterminal (theonewithout thespring)topad 4.Solderthe negativeterminal (theonewiththe spring)directlyto thePCboard usingashort pieceofwire.Use hotglueorsome otherglueto securethebattery holdertothePC board. Suggestedtoolsforconstruction: GeneralDescription TheJouleThiefkitallowsyoutotakeyourmostlydrainedbatteriesandsqueezethe lastJouleofenergyfromthem.Thisgadgetwillrunonabatteryaslowas0.3vto powera3.3vLED. TheJouleThiefteachesyouhowtobuildusingManhattanConstruction.This constructiontechniqueusespunchedoutpiecesofcircuitboardsasinsulatorsto isolatecomponentsfromthegroundplane.Visithttp://www.k7qo.net/manart.pdf formoreinformation. Solderingiron(lowwattage) Rosincoresolder60/40(donotuseacidcoresolder) Smallpairofwirecutters Needlenosepliersmaybehelpfulbutnotrequired Superglue Hotglueorotherglueforthebatteryholder

 TheoryofOperation

Thewaythecircuitworksissomewhatcomplex.Itstartswhenthetransistorisoff. Currentflowsthroughthelefthandsideofthetransformerandthroughthe1k resistor,intothebaseofthetransistor.Thetransistorturnsonslightlyandproduces acurrentinthecollectoremittercircuit.Thisallowscurrenttoflowintheright handwindingofthetransformerandproducemagneticflux.Thisfluxcutstheturns ofthelefthandwindingandproducesavoltagethataddstothevoltageproduced bythebattery.Thisincreasesthecurrentintothebaseofthetransistorandthe transistorsturnsonmore.Thiscontinuesandthetransistorturnsonmoreand moreuntilitcannotturnonanyharder.Atthispointthemagneticfluxintheright handwindingisamaximumbutisnotexpandingfluxandthusthelefthand windingdoesnotproduceanyadditionalvoltage.Thecurrentintothebaseofthe transistorreducesandthetransistorturnsoffslightly.Thecurrentthroughthe righthandsideofthewindingreducesandthemagneticenergyinthecoreofthe ferriteringstartstocollapseandproduceavoltage(inbothwindings)ofopposite polarity.Intheleftwinding,itstartstoturnthetransistoroffcompletelyandinthe rightwinding,itdeliversthisenergytotheLED. Nowheresthecleverpart. Whenthecurrentisabruptlyswitchedoff,asisthecasewiththiscircuit,avoltageis producedinbothwindingsthathasoppositepolaritytotheoriginalvoltageandwill behigheramplitudethantheoriginalvoltage.Thisvoltagecanbe10oreven100 timeshigherthantheoriginalvoltageandthisiscalledtheQofthecircuit. Wearenotcreatingsomethingfornothingasthevoltagewillbehigherbutthe currentwillbelowerthanthecurrentdrawnfromthebattery.Thevoltage producedbythiscircuitwillbeover10vbutawhiteLEDhasacharacteristicvoltage

ofabout3.2vto3.6vandalltheenergyinthe10vspike,andtheaccompanying current,willbedeliveredtotheLEDtoproduceillumination.TheLEDstartsto absorbenergyat3.2vandthatswhythevoltageacrossitnevergetsanyhigherthan 3.6v.ThewaveformacrosstheLEDissomewhatsquareat2.48Vamplitudebutwith overshootitwas4.2V,50%dutycycle@65.6kHz PossibleCircuitImprovements.Feelfreetoexperiment! Here'sanimprovementthatwillnotonlyincreasethebrightnessbutconsume50% lesscurrent. Connectthe1kresistorbetweenthefeedbackwindingandpositiveofthesupply. Thismeanstheendofthefeedbackwindingthatwasoriginallyconnectedtothe1k resistorwillnowbeconnectedtothebaseofthetransistorandthefeedback windingwillnowbeconnectedbetweenbaseand1k. Connectoneleadofa22nfcapacitortothepointwherethe1kmeetsthefeedback windingandtheotherleadtothenegativerail. Thecurrentwilldroptolessthan50%andthebrightnesswillincrease.Thismakes thecircuitmuchmoreefficientbyforcingtheenergyproducedbythefeedback windingintothebaseofthetransistor.Thisturnsthetransistoronmoreandfaster thanbeforeasitactsasabarrierorstoppertotheenergyproducedbythe feedbackwindingandpreventsitfromflowingintothe1kresistor.Theenergynow getssentalmostentirelyintothebaseofthetransistor.