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Flashlight without batteries. Eternal lights (dynamo lights). Brief overview of interesting models
As you know, flashlights are battery and electrodynamic. The flashlight case contains batteries or a magnetoelectric alternator and a reflector with an incandescent bulb.
Unlike battery and electrodynamic flashlights, our flashlight will contain a small battery, which is like a reservoir of electrical energy. We can charge our flashlight from the home lighting network, which must be done very carefully.
Try to make a flashlight exactly according to this description. In no case can the case be metal. Buy plastic or bakelite cases for flashlights at the store.
For our "eternal" flashlight, the following parts are needed:
non-metal case for any flashlight,
2 lamp batteries type D-0.1,
2 diodes type DG-Ts-24,
resistance 600 ohm / 1 W,
resistance 1 mΩ / 0.25 W,
capacitor 0.4-0.5 microfarad / 500 V,
plug,
incandescent bulb 2.5 V / 0.1 A.
Schematic diagram of the flashlight is shown in fig. 1. We see that the 2.5 V / 0.1 a light bulb is powered by two batteries connected in series. Remember, guys, that you can’t use other bulbs (check the inscription on the base!), As this can lead to battery failure. There is a switch in the light bulb circuit. The second part of the circuit is a rectifier used to charge the battery from the AC mains. A circuit consisting of a capacitor and two resistances reduces the voltage to a predetermined value. Two germanium diodes rectify alternating current because the battery is charged only by direct current.
As you can see, the electrical circuit of the flashlight is not at all complicated. We mount all its parts in a flashlight case. In the bottom wall of the case, we fix two plugs of the plug, designed to be connected to the lighting network socket during charging.
We mount all parts on a small bakelite (or other insulating material) tile. The details are placed randomly. Do not forget that the voltage for which the capacitor is designed should not be less than 500 V. Otherwise, diodes and batteries may fail. Particular attention should be paid to the correct installation of batteries and diodes. On fig. 2 shows the appearance of the battery and the dimensions are marked, and in fig. 3 - one of the ways of its fastening. Both batteries must be placed in a holder insulated with the gasket facing up. On fig. 4 has a flashlight wiring diagram. It is important for trouble-free operation of the flashlight to connect both rectifier diodes correctly and exactly according to the scheme. All connections are best soldered. The distance between the plugs (axes) of the plug must be at least 19 mm, so that they can just enter the socket.
And finally, we remind you that you can not make any attempts to connect the flashlight to the network before its final assembly. A properly built flashlight provides complete safety. Charging the battery is sufficient for continuous operation of the flashlight for two and a half hours. Charging itself takes a lot of time (a small current consumption from the network), so we recommend that you leave the flashlight connected to the network all night.
Based on the materials of the magazine "Horizons of technology for children" (Poland)
Winter is gradually coming. In some countries and cities, the first snow has already fallen. However, the main thing for us is that the days have become shorter and the nights longer. This means that you can stock up on flashlights to somehow fight the darkness on the streets. We present to your attention another useful homemade product, which is most relevant in the winter, due to the fact that many of us often go home from work when it is already dark.
Please take a few minutes to watch the video
What do we need:
- a plastic spray can;
- a cylinder from a syringe;
- copper wire insulated with varnish;
- diode bridge;
- Light-emitting diode;
- off button;
- Neodymium magnets;
- a capacitor with a capacity of 47,000 and a voltage of 16 V;
Let's start making a flashlight and start by winding copper wire around the cylinder from the syringe. You need to wind it as tightly as possible, leaving no gaps. At the end, two ends of the copper wire should remain.
We fix the resulting winding with adhesive tape. Note that you can slightly lengthen the ends of the copper wire, which will allow the structure to generate more power.
Let's move on to the next step of the build. Cut out the base of the plastic spray can.
The next step is to solder the diode bridge with the capacitor. We solder the wire coming from the minus of the bridge to the wire coming from the minus of the capacitor, and the positive wire to the positive one.
After that, it is necessary to solder the copper wires to the two remaining wires of the diode bridge.
Finally, the positive and negative contacts on the capacitor must be passed through the switch to the LED.
Separately, we note that the LED receives energy from a capacitor, which is charged from the syringe barrel. One question remains to be answered: where exactly does this energy come from? The secret is to use neodymium magnets to put in the syringe and seal the barrel holes.
After assembling the whole structure and placing it in a spray can, the flashlight will be ready for use. It works according to the following principle. In order for the capacitor to charge and be able to turn on the LED, you need to shake the flashlight well. The energy is enough for a couple of minutes, which is quite enough to go through a dark alley on a winter night, because after all, not all streets these days are dark and scary, like in horror films.
Eternal flashlight or Faraday flashlight so called a flashlight with an alternative power source. That is, this flashlight does not require batteries or battery charging. To "ignite" it, you need to shake it. The flashlight itself contains a generator and a rechargeable battery.
Let's get to know the factory light first:
I tried to paint the design as much as possible. The bottom line is that the cylindrical constant magnet dangles freely in the tube-case between rubber stops or springs (wherever). A coil is wound in the center of the tube. When shaken, the magnet runs up and down inside the coil, creating alternating electricity in it.
Let's see without the case.
We see a solenoid, a cylindrical magnet, limiters, a small board with diodes, a switch, and batteries. Oh yes, and the LED on the board.
We shake the flashlight, turn it on. Works!
And here is our prototype:
Tick-tock box. The tube on which the coil is wound is a body from a ballpoint pen. A couple of magnets hard drive, there are some. Yes, capacitors are used instead of batteries. White LED. a couple of diodes.
There is a coil winding feature. As you probably noticed from the diagram - the coil consists of two windings, the total length of the coil is 40 mm. Divide mentally hit. On the first half, we wind 600 turns of the thinnest wire with a diameter of about 0.08 mm. And in the second half 600 turns. That's all - the two-section coil is ready. Further according to the scheme.
It so happened that for some reason that is not clear to me, I have a huge interest in all kinds of useful and versatile devices. In this case, I want to make a short review of dynamo lights (“eternal lights”), which can be extremely useful both in everyday life and in terms of survival.
Eternal flashlight Faraday "Universal"
This sample is interesting in that there is no need to buy batteries or accumulators for it. It does not need to be charged from the mains. The lamp of this sample, according to the manufacturer, is designed for 11 years of continuous operation. It also has good dust and moisture protection.
The lantern contains a high-capacity capacitor, which can be charged by shaking the lantern. In addition to the durable, as described above, LED, the flashlight also has a lens that significantly increases its power.
Light weight and relatively compact dimensions make it easy to carry it with you in a bag, backpack.
According to reviews, it is not super-reliable. So they are unlikely to be able to hammer nails and pegs.
Lantern size: 17 x 3.8 cm.
Charging time: from 30 seconds.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Eternal lantern "Hight Power Headlamp" (headlamp)
This flashlight is convenient, first of all, because it does not take up space in your hands. Does not have batteries. Capable of charging mobile phones (included cord for Nokia phones, and adapters for other manufacturers can be bought in almost any market).
The lamp works in two modes - 1 LED and 3 LEDs.
Charging is carried out using the charger included in the kit. Connect the flashlight with a cord (all included) to the charger, rotate the handle for a minute, and the flashlight works for an hour.
Size: 5 x 6 cm.
Charging time: from 1-3 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Eternal flashlight "Dynamo VIP"
Able to charge a mobile phone (for a conversation up to 30 minutes) or a camera. All necessary adapters are included.
It has two modes of operation - 1 LED and 3 LEDs. Brightness and power are increased with the help of optical lenses.
Charging for a minute provides you with light for one hour.
The design is comfortable, the case on the sides has rubber pads. The charging handle, if it is not needed, retracts into the case and does not interfere.
Size: 15.5 x 5.5 x 4.5 cm.
Duration of work: from 60 min.
Charging time: from 1-3 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Eternal Flashlight in a transparent case
Flashlight with built-in battery and generator. Charges when you press the lever with your hand. Halogen lamps. The perfect gift for a car lover. The size of a pack of cigarettes.
Size: pack of cigarettes.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Eternal flashlight "PIRANHA"
The flashlight does not require batteries. To charge it, it is enough to rotate the handle on its body for a minute, which will allow 3 LEDs to burn for more than 40 minutes. The lifetime of LEDs is 50,000 hours. The model has 3 lighting modes: 1 LED, 3 LEDs and "blinking" 3 LEDs. The body of the flashlight is waterproof, which allows you to dive with it into water to a depth of 10 m. The head of the flashlight can be rotated 320 °, which makes it convenient to use: just place it in a convenient place and direct the light beam in the right direction.
Size: 151x50x40 mm.
Weight: 152 g.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Solar lantern
LED flashlight powered by light energy. The solar battery built into the body of the lantern is the main, but not the only source of energy for this lantern. In addition to the solar battery, on the reverse side of the lantern there is a handle, by turning which you can activate the dynamo built into the lantern body, which will recharge the lantern battery, i.e. the lantern can work both from light energy and from a dynamo. There is no light - we use a dynamo, there is light - we use it. The flashlight is completely waterproof and can be used underwater up to 5 meters deep. The life span of three LEDs is 50,000 hours. The time of continuous glow of 3 LEDs is up to 90 minutes.
Size: 147x 61x 45 mm.
Weight: 176 g.
Duration of work: from 90 min.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Eternal flashlight with radio and siren
Multifunctional device of modern design, combining in a single ergonomic body powerful led lantern, a radio receiver with an antenna and a signal system with a siren function, which will be useful for summer residents, motorists and tourists. "Eternal flashlight" is independent of power sources. It is equipped with a manual mechanical drive that allows you to charge the flashlight in the absence of an electrical outlet. You can listen to the radio through the built-in speaker or through the included headphones. Just 1 minute of manual charging is enough for 10 minutes of continuous flashlight operation.
Doesn't like water.
Duration of work: from 10 min.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
"Eternal Flashlight" - gem
Your flashlight does not need batteries: rotate the knob for 1 minute and it will
will allow 5 LEDs to light up to 20 minutes. With 3 switches you can
choose the intensity of the glow: 1,2,3,4 or 5 LEDs. Maximum output current 400mA. Maximum output power 2W. Maximum brightness 3000mcd.
"Eternal" flashlight - keychain
The MINI LED DYNAMO FLASHLIGHT is currently the smallest representative of the entire family of self-charging LED flashlights. Its length is only 69 mm. Despite its size, in terms of lighting characteristics, the Mini is not inferior to the same Stalker.
To charge the flashlight, rotate the charging handle in one direction at a frequency of 2.5 - 3 revolutions per second. Three LEDs turn on in a cycle: 1 - 3 - 3 flashes - off.
Size: 70 x 41.5 x 41.5 mm.
Weight: 73 g.
Duration of work: from 40 min.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Powerful Dynamo Lantern
The dynamo flashlight has 15 powerful (the brightness of one LED is 12000mcd), almost eternal (up to 50,000 hours of operation), LEDs.
- Main parameters and functions: Autonomous work on one charge up to 7 hours.
- The flashlight can be charged both manually, using the built-in dynamo, and from the car's cigarette lighter (12V).
- Two operating modes: intensive (15 LEDs) and economical (9 LEDs).
- Built-in alarm siren.
- Ability to recharge cell phones (4.8V). The kit includes an adapter for Samsung phones (ask for adapters for other phones in the communication stores).
Folded size: 110 x 107 x 155 mm.
Size in working position: 110 x 107 x 225 mm.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Dynamo headlamp SORBO SB 1058
A unique multifunctional flashlight with a special mount for wearing on the head, has a built-in high-performance energy converter (dynamo) of the latest generation. The peculiarity of this device is that it can be used not only for wearing on the head, but also as a regular flashlight. That is, a special lock allows you to remove the flashlight from the head strap in a matter of seconds. There is also an emergency flash function. The body is made of impact-resistant ABS plastic.
Size: 3.5 x 11 mm.
Duration of work: from 40 min.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Dynamo flashlight SORBO SB 3070 "All in one"
Portable multi-functional LED flashlight with built-in energy converter, army Swiss knife, compass, charger for Nokia, Motorola phones, charger for any device with a mini USB port. The kit includes a handle to be worn on the wrist, with the ability to mount in any place convenient for you. The body is made of impact-resistant ABS plastic.
Size: 14 x 5 mm.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
Dynamo flashlight SORBO SB 3080 "A cyclist's dream"
Portable multifunctional LED flashlight with a built-in energy converter (Dynamo), does not use batteries and does not charge from the mains, a mount that can be placed on the handlebars of a bicycle, a compass, charging Nokia phones (2mm and 3mm), charging any device with a mini USB port. The kit includes a handle to be worn on the wrist, with the ability to mount in any place convenient for you. The body is made of impact-resistant ABS plastic.
Size: 14 x 5 mm.
Duration of work: from 30 min.
Charging time: from 1 min.
Material: plastic
Can buy .
And much, much, and much more. Lanterns - dark darkness. Share, post interesting ones, we will supplement this publication with them.
Candles, matches and a flashlight are three things that are remembered in the evening when the electricity goes out. It’s good when the much-needed is found in the house, but what if, as luck would have it, instead of candles there are candle ends, and the batteries in the flashlight have long run out? In such a situation, there are very few options: one might say, almost none. It remains only to wander in the dark and wait for the electricity to turn on. In order not to get into trouble and not to fill bumps in my own house, I want to tell you how you can stop using batteries in low-power electronic devices. This is what the manual for assembling a “hand lamp that works without batteries” is dedicated to.
By chance on the Internet I came across an article in which one craftsman made a wind generator from an electric motor. For me, this idea seemed complicated and costly, especially since it was difficult to buy neodymium magnets used in the alteration in my city. I began to study similar articles - I found out that a stepper motor can also be used as a generator of electrical energy. Thoughts began to come to my mind how to combine a windmill and Charger for an autonomous power source, but such a tandem would not be successful if I used a stepper motor. I had to temporarily postpone this venture and switch to simpler and more necessary things, such as creating a dynamo for a bicycle or a flashlight. After some thought, I settled on the idea of creating a hand-held flashlight powered by a stepper motor. If you do not go into terminology and explain plain language, then the motor can not only spin when voltage is applied to the winding, but also generate voltage itself when the motor shaft rotates. This property of a stepper motor, after all, by the way, is suitable for supplying voltage to a home-made flashlight.
Finding a stepper motor will not be a problem for you. They are used in copiers. Good motors were installed in printers and other devices in the early 2000s, where it was necessary to programmatically control the rotation of various electronic mechanisms. Now this kind of equipment is widely written off at enterprises and sent to landfills or warehouses awaiting disposal. Contact the workers who are engaged in the modernization of equipment or go to the radio market, there you will surely find a stepper motor for a symbolic price. Do not be afraid that your motor has clocked more than a dozen kilometers before falling into your hands. Old stepper motors are very hardy and durable.
Old copiers are written off and dismantled for recycling everywhere. Contact the technical workers in the production who are engaged in the modernization and replacement of office equipment - they will gladly get rid of a pile of rubbish taking up space. As a rule, such copying equipment no longer represents any value.
We already have one of the main nodes, now let's move on to what we will probably have to buy or ask for, as in the previous case.
For the lantern we need:
- Old printer (stepper motor and gears);
- Powerful LED brand ARPL-Star-1W;
- Two diode bridges KC 407A or 8 Schottky diodes;
- Large capacitor.
- Connecting wires.
All this can be found on radio markets or from a familiar radio amateur (such Plyushkins always have everything in abundance). After we have all the necessary elements for the lantern, we proceed to manufacture.
We disassemble the old printer and put everything aside except for the metal side wall with the stepper motor and gears attached to it. Remove all gears except for the one that rotates the gear of the stepper motor gearbox. In most cases, the gear has many teeth and is larger than all other gears. Why do we need a gear with a large number of teeth? The bigger the gear, the better! The gear must be large so that when it rotates, it transmits the maximum number of revolutions to the stepper motor gearbox (gear ratio).
Now on the gear that will rotate our stepper, you need to attach the rotation handle. To do this, we find a metal round cover, for example, from the case of a sound (separating) transformer. We attach two hexagonal racks to the lid and fasten the handle. It remains to put the cover on the gear and fix it with epoxy glue and screws for reliability. The rotating knot is ready. Now you need to select the body of the lantern. I decided not to invent and cut out from the metal chassis, on which the entire mechanism was attached. With a marker, we will draw the outlines along which we will cut the metal. Cut out the outline of the body hacksaw for metalbypassing all the parts of the mechanism we need. We process burrs and sharp corners with a file. We also need to protect the rotating gear from unwanted ingress of dirt and debris. We cut out the protection from the tin cover and fasten it to the cut out case.
Now let's start making the electronic part of the flashlight. It consists of a stepper motor, a rectifier, a capacitor, and an LED. We solder the rectifier according to the diagram below. If you have Schottky diodes, we connect them into a diode bridge. With two ready-made diode bridges it is much easier. We fasten the rectifier with insulating tape to the base of the handle.
Circuit using diodes:
Scheme using a diode bridge KTS407a:
Solder the leads of the stepper motor to the rectifier. We solder the output of the rectifier to a high power capacitor. I have two of them: brand K50-24 10000uF. I connected them in parallel to each other (when the capacitors are connected in parallel, the capacitance adds up), as a result, a capacitance of 20000 microfarads was obtained. I connected the capacitors with a plastic tie in two places and glued them with epoxy resin to the lantern body. The main thing is not to confuse the polarity in the assembled circuit. We got the source constant voltage. When the knob is rotated in a circle, voltage is generated and accumulates at the terminals of the capacitors. With a quiet rotation of the handle, this device can generate a voltage equal to two finger batteries. A handheld mini-generator for low-power devices is ready. Now you can ensure the work of a pocket receiver, and if you complicate the circuit, make a little more effort by turning the knob, then recharging your mobile phone. If you are not strong in radio electronics, then you probably have a friend who understands this. Ask him to help you assemble a circuit for a lantern. No such friend? Then write about your questions in the comments and we will try to figure everything out.
According to the polarity, we solder a powerful LED with a reflector to our voltage generator and fix it in the case from an old Soviet flashlight. In the Soviet lantern, an ordinary round glass was originally installed, instead of it we put a convex magnifying glass. The magnifying lens will collect the light flux into one point, which will allow us to achieve the effect inherent in the lanterns that are in the arsenal of detectives. Thanks to a powerful LED, a reflector and a magnifying glass, such a flashlight shines like a spotlight. In the final version of the homemade lantern, the wires were tightened into a cambric glued to the body. After choosing the optimal handle length, all unnecessary was cut off. In the future, it is planned to make a flashlight with a sealed housing.
For the amount of money that you spend on creating your flashlight, you are unlikely to buy with similar characteristics. Now you are ready for the onset of the electric apocalypse (you can always scare, protect yourself and highlight with such a contraption). You can get acquainted with the result of the work done by watching the video "Powerful LED flashlight that works without batteries." It is a pity that the lens of a video camera is not as receptive to light as the human eye. In the video, the flashlight is much dimmer than it really is. Good luck to everyone in creating your own light source!
About the author:
Greetings, dear readers! My name is Maxim. I am convinced that almost everything can be done at home with your own hands, I am sure that everyone can do it! In my free time, I like to craft and create something new for myself and my loved ones. You will learn about this and much more in my articles!
