Made my 2nd Joule Thief today, a little different than the first one.
A rubber band secures the battery to the Joule Thief.
Rubber Band Joule Thief
My 2nd Joule Thief uses soldered connections instead of a breadboard, so this one is a permanent circuit.
Two Joule Thieves: 1 temporary, 1 permanent.
A rubber band secures a C cell battery to the Joule Thief.
For this circuit, which I plan to release to the outside, a rubber band secures the battery to the Joule Thief. This way when the battery goes all the way dead, I can easily swap it out with another battery. I’m using batteries that were destined for the scrap bin, but milking the last bits of energy using this circuit.
Plastic Container for Outside Use
My wife wanted to throw out a plastic container that is getting ugly and the lid doesn’t close easily anymore, probably because the plastic has warped in the dishwasher. I kept the container so that I can place a Joule Thief inside it and then put the entire thing outside where it should be safe from the elements.
This Joule Thief can be sealed shut and protected from rain, moisture, insects, and animals.
Joule Thief ready for the outside.
Joule Thief Durability
I’ve been running my original Joule Thief for 2 months straight and it still works like-new. I have replaced the batteries many times, though.
My original Joule Thief, still working.
I plan to continue working on these circuits. Please subscribe to the RSS feed to stay up-to-date. There are other Joule Thief posts on this site, too.
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