Pages

Monday 9 January 2023

Joule Smasher Led Flasher - 2 Days from a Dead AAA (0.76V Opencircuit)

I took a very flat AAA battery from a discrete led flasher that had stopped flashing and used it to power a Joule Smasher Led Flasher. It ran for 48 hours supporting the case for how good the Joule Smasher Led Flasher is.

The boost IC worked really well. It started with a battery voltage of 0.76v and delivered full brightness flashes down to 0.5V. Somewhere between 0.54V and 0.25V it could no longer boost to 3.3V so the LED brightness diminished. At 0.25V the led was still visible but the boost voltage had fallen to 1.75V so it wasn't very bright. RiP you poor AAA.

But what a remarkable result. It supports the battery life expectation from a fresh AA of 6-8 years and a end of life estimate of 0.4V for the battery. A similar trial is running on a AAA that started at 1.013V and after 16 days it reads 1.002V. I believe I'm watching grass grow!


No comments:

Post a Comment