Hi there,
I have a small stepper, two windings, no centre tap. Says 4.2 Ohm on the nameplate. This stepper has an extra gear wheel to get a fairly fast turn speed.
I wired up two bridges with eight 1N4148 signal diodes direct to a white 14,000mcd LED. Can get a fairly bright flash out of the LED.
I'm wondering if there's a better way to connect the windings?
I put a picture of the contraption on:
The circuit is simple, a diode from each of the four stepper lines to LED anode, and another four diodes going from each line to the LED cathode.
Wondering if some sort of series winding be better? This is just something I can give to a friend's kid to he can make some light and see the components. One may run the thing up one's leg or arm to create some light too.
Dunno if I should put any over current protection in there as well, trying to keep it simple.
I did have a capacitor in there but it reduced light output, seems the spikier the voltage, the better the light output.
Maybe a Joule thief type circuit? Ideas please?
Thanks, Grant.