disposable camera flash circuit

Maybe, but it may cause the active electronics to lose their magic smoke :-(

The resistor for the "ready" indicator should be doubled in value.

No. The tube is designed for that capacitor - no more voltage, no more capacity.

You haven't mentioned what you plan for this, but I've seen Web pages devoted to making your own radiation detector that use disposable flash units (minus the flash tube). You might try searching along those lines, maybe include "scintillation counter" or even "Geiger counter" in the search.

Best regards,

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

You can "Rube Goldberg" two disposable camera flash units together. Remove the flash tubes. Than do this:

existing New discharge pushbutton camera 1 __ circuit ----o o-------o o---+ | \\ | | o | | + | | | [Cap1] | | | [600 volt device] +---->|-----+ | + | | [Cap2] | | | | | +----------------+

Both the spdt switch and the pushbutton must be rated for > 600V.

Ed

It might work just like you want, double the input, double the output

- or the oscillator might pull enough current to kill the oscillator transistor. Ideally, I'd creep up the voltage with a variable source and watch for smoke and feel the transistor and resistors to find hot ones.

Or ditch the flash tube, replace the cap with a higher voltage one and try it - especially if you don't mind losing the first one you practice on. The output may exceed the normal voltage because efficiency improves as voltage goes up - the required transistor drop is met and everything over that goes to producing more output. There's always a safety factor built in with a higher voltage cap than the expected voltage and the electrolytic you use might withstand more than its rating by a few percent.

Your use of the output may be more benign than what the camera intended and that could also work in your favor - the oscillator pulls more current when it is charging the cap from zero - flash it a lot of times quickly and it works the oscillator harder.

We could use more data on the use . . .

Hi Bob, you wrote and guessed what I was going to use the circuit for (Geiger counter):

You are a very good guesser and I will emloy your search strategy.

Thanks

gn

Thanks to "Rube Goldberg" and "default" for sharing your worthy knowledge and circuit design/conversion ideas.

saxum, g.n.

Hi John, thanks for your assistance. You included info about the possibility of overheating:

LOL!! I know about the "magic smoke", Over the years I've seen quite a bit of it wafting upward in its enigmatical way and then disappearing into thin air!!

saxum g.n.

Ever seen it coming out of the boss's new $250,000 molding machine?

No, but it is that type of thing that makes electronics a hobby for me, and not a career.

saxum g.n.

That's what happens whenever Homer messes with something. No wonder his favorite beer is called Duff. :(

Nope. That's what happens when you let the Yanks build one instead of the Swiss.

Just slightly off track, these cameras are also a good source of no-cost batteries (aa or aaa) for experimenters with limited means - just ask the local photo processing shop and they will give them to you by the dozens - but note the safety warning given by Grostle News

David

Grostle News wrote: