#446 RGB Joule Thief Night Light
Testing a slow-flash RGB LED with a 1.5V joule thief power supply.
Here’s a quick demo..
Notes
I recently got hold of some 5mm RGB Flashing LEDs from a seller on aliexpress - some slow and fast flashing varieties just out of curiosity. Here I’ve put one the slow-flash kind in a “night light” circuit.
I decided to power from a little 1.5V CR1216 coin cell. To boost the voltage sufficient to power the LED, I’ve attached a toroidal joule thief circuit, similar to LEAP#137 ToroidJouleThief.
The oscillating voltage produced by the joule thief is not suitable for the flashing LED as it is liable to get stuck on a single colour, so I’ve added a diode/capacitor charge pump to provide a more stable power source for the LED.
Construction
The circuit and breadboard equivalent are shown below, however for the actual construction I’ve gone a bit freeform including fashioning a battery holder from 0.9mm copper wire. The CR1216 battery slips in nicely (I haven’t added a power switch - the battery must be removed to turn it off).
