Drug store bonanza: AA cells & low VCE(sat) xstrs

Disposable cameras contain, among other goodies, one AA alkaline cell and a low VCE(sat) transistor. Great for 1-cell LED V boost P.S.

Thanks to Watson's tip, I checked around at photo counters for free, used disposable cameras and finally hit a gold mine after being told by three stores that they don't give them away. The gal happily dragged a BIG cardboard box over to the counter and began emptying it into plastic bags for me. Jeez ... I wanted only 2 or 3; later count revealed I'd netted 45!

The batteries have lots of life left in them (none measured less than 1.5v, static measurement) and those little xstrs work a treat for V boost.

I'll wait a week and then go back for more. Thinking about lashing several dozen of the flash units to a PIC (or PICs) for a July 4th display.

Thanks, Watson, for the tip!

--
Michael
Reply to
Michael
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Sounds like great fun.

The other thing you can do is change the flash capacitor to something appreciably smaller (like 0.1 uF) so it will recharge almost instantly, and rig up a circuit to trigger it at 10 Hz... you have a stroboscope.

Actually, those high-voltage, low-impedance capacitors are useful on their own.

Reply to
mc

and a low

used

three stores

cardboard box

Jeez ... I

1.5v,

several

HTH! Glad to hear you've hit a bonanza. Watch out for them charged caps! They BITE!

BTW, some guy built a strobe from a disposable flash and it got so hot it melted the plastic lens on front! If you're going to flash the flash at a rate higher than once every few tens of seconds, you should reduce the capacitor to 1/10 or less of its usual value. The usual cap is about 120 to 160uF at 330VDC. I think they said that 22uF was a bit on the high side, maybe should be even lower.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

Hmmm .... while each of the two types of Kodak disposable cameras I got did have an AA cell, some Fuji and Konica(?) had AAA. Boo-hiss. I think there's just one device in my entire house that runs on AAA. All others use AA, so extras are nice to have.

Reply to
Michael

YES! At least one kind of Kodak apparently stays ON, once on. This type uses a neon for the Ready light. The first of this type that I opened, I hit the shutter, removed the battery (took me a second or two), then grasped the PC board with one hand and reached for the cap. leads with a forceps, to make sure the thing was discharged. BANG! It felt like AC.

Well, if I do get something bizarre lashed up in time for July 4th it will definitely break the rule of "tens of seconds" between flashes. :-O Back in my tech. days I found a Gen Rad strobe tach in the equip. room. Played around with it during lunch break one day. It smelled like hot steel when I returned it to the tool crib. :-)

Yeah, the Kodak (use AAA cell) cap is indeed 120uF. The cap. of the AAA-driven ones isn't marked with any intelligence but is a bit smaller in diameter than an AAA cell and about 4/5 as long.

Reply to
Michael

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there's just

extras

Stick a nut or a few washers in the end of the AA battery holder and use them in place of the AAs. Or else get some AAA cell holders and make some LED flashlights that use them.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

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Go here and read Kevin Attempts.. then scroll down to the Kodak Max and other disposable schematics.

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Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

Speaking of battery holders, I visited Rat Shack the other night to kill time after ordering Chinese takeout. Wanted a few more of those nice, enclosed,

2-AA holders. Unfortunately the entire selection of battery holders seems to total three, none of them the nice enclosed model. I constantly tell myself, "When you find something that works, buy a ton of it before it's discontinued." Well, I wish I had listened. I'm down to two of those battery holders now, and one will be used for the V boost keychain light.
Reply to
Michael

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kill time

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myself,

those battery

Hey, man! Not to worry. Mouser has 'em, cheaper than Rat Shack, too. But then there's shipping. Page 1266 of their latest paper catalog, or at

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They're made by EPD, Eagle Plastic Devices. It's Mouser stock no. 12BH325/CS for two AA, and they also have two AAA cell holders.

Give Radio Shaft the shaft. Get what you want online. You may even be able to still buy them online from RS, tho. ALso you might find them on Ebay.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

I

AA, so

use

make

kill time

enclosed,

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myself,

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Speaking of battery holders. Last year I searched all over for a AAAA cell battery holder and came up emty-handed. This year, just about the same thing. I can find a press fit contact here. They even have holders for odd ones like 2/3A etc., but no cigar when it comes to the whole AAAA holder.

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I finally got desperate and made my own out of a block of wood. But it would sure be nice of some company would come up with one.

One interesting one is the 1/2AA cell holder. If one could get 1/2 AA cells, then it would be easy to put four into a mini maglite and run a LED directly off them, with a resistor. But then I already have my Opalec Newbeam, MagmaLED, and Terralux adapters, so I guess I'm already taken care of.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

Would 2/3 AE nicads fit? I think they were 2/3 the length of a standard AA cell so you could use three and get 3.6 volts. I used to buy them for regency handhelds and make my own battery packs. I don't have any of them anymore but I found something on the web that says they are 17 mm * 28 mm instead of 14 mm * 50 mm so if you could compress the spring another 12 mm you might squeeze 4 cells in to get 4.8 volts.

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also lists AAAA nicads

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

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Actually, I don't know why I brought that up. See, AA and AAA cells are a commodity item, you can find them everywhere and they are cheap. Other odd sizes are not, and are not cheap and are hard to get. So there is no point in pursuing that path.

One flashlight maker (and also someone else who was innovative) came up with an adapter sleeve. The sleeve fits into an AA flashlight and reduces the ID and length to the same size as N cells, so one can put three of them in place of two AA cells. That gives the higher voltage needed for white LEDs. N cells are not as common as AA cells, but st least they are available and not too expensive. But even so, you can buy three AA cells (which are much higher caoacity) for less than the N cells.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

In that same vein - I kinda like the idea involved in the new Eveready "Adaptalight" flashlight - Supposed to eat any kind of battery you have available, from AA to C. Couldn't tell if it was an LED or filament from the picture in the ad I saw for it, but did see that it's got a four-position switch labeled D, C, and AA.

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
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Reply to
Don Bruder

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sez Krypton bulb, comes with AAs...

Reply to
William P.N. Smith

instantly, and

their

(Heh-heh) Electric chair.

BRRRZAP!!!

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

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