Bike Flasher – Amazing!

by Colin Mitchell
two LEDs illuminate. This also puts a voltage through the
This bike flasher uses a single transistor to flash feedback winding that keeps the transistor OFF. When the
magnetic flux has collapsed, the voltage on the negative
two white LEDs from a single cell. And it has no core for lead of the 10u is so low that the transistor does not turn
the transformer - just AIR – so it’s very easy to build. on. The 100k discharges the 10u and the voltage on the
It’s a Joule Thief circuit - the name was invented by a base rises to start the next cycle.
reader who made a similar circuit and posted it on the You can see the resistors and all the other parts in the
Instructables website. It’s a very good name and has photo as a "birds nest" to allow easy experimenting.
been used for this type of circuit using a small transformer- This is the first circuit you should build to flash a white LED
inverter to drive a LED. from a single cell. It is simple and
All Joule Thief circuits on the web easy to build.
use a ferrite rod or toroid (doughnut) It covers many features of
core and the turns are wound on the electronics-understanding and
ferrite material. But this circuit shows how the efficiency of a LED
proves the collapsing magnetic flux increases when it is pulsed very
produces an increased voltage, briefly with a high current.
even when the core is AIR. The fact The two coils form a
is this: When a magnetic field TRANSFORMER and show how a
collapses quickly, it produces a collapsing magnetic field
higher voltage in the opposite produces a high voltage. It
direction and in this case the produces as much as 20v, but the
magnetic field surrounding the coil two white LEDs produce a
is sufficient to produce the energy characteristic voltage of about
we need. 3.6v each and this reduces the
Wind 30 turns on 20mm (1" dia) voltage to about 7v.
tube and then another 30 turns on The 10u and 100k form a delay
top. Build the first circuit and circuit to produce the flashing
connect the wires. If the circuit does effect.
not work, swap the wires going to This circuit was designed and
the base. perfected using a "birds nest"
Now add the 10u electrolytic, 100k arrangement to make
resistor and another white LED experimenting easy.
(remove the 1k5 and 22n). The Note: Changing the turns to 40t
circuit will now flash. You must use for the main winding and 20t for
2 LEDs for the flashing circuit. the feedback (keeping the turns
The secret to getting the maximum tightly together with sticky-tape)
energy from the coil (to flash the Build the top circuit first then add reduces the current to 8-9mA.
LEDs) is the maximum amount of
air in the centre of the coil. Air
another white LED, 10u and 100k to The size of the wire is not
important and the diameter of the
cannot transfer a high magnetic flux produce the flashing effect.
coil is not critical. You can
so we provide a large area (volume) experiment with a different
of low flux to provide the energy. number of turns and you will be amazed at the brightness
The current for the circuit is 11mA. The two 30-turn of the flash.
windings must be kept together because the flux from the More details on these circuits can be found on the
main winding must cut the feedback winding to turn ON website:
the transistor HARD. [Link]
When the transistor starts to turn on via the 100k, it
creates magnetic flux in the main winding that cuts the
feedback winding and a positive voltage comes out the
end connected to the base and a negative voltage comes
out the end connected to the 100k and 10u. This turns the
transistor ON more and it continues to turn ON until fully
turned ON. At this point the magnetic flux is not expanding
and the voltage does not appear in the feedback winding.
During this time the 10u has charged and the voltage on
the negative lead has dropped to a lower voltage than
before. This effectively turns off the transistor and the
current in the main winding ceases abruptly. The magnetic
flux collapses and produces a voltage in the opposite
direction that is higher than the supply and this is why the
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