Powering an LED- The nuclear way

So uhm, are you still using batteries to power your things? Common, they’re over 200 years old, it’s too mainstream!

Why not build a nuclear reactor at home instead? Did I catch your eye?

Heh, but seriously now, this article about making such a “reactor” at home caught my eye and amazed me by its simplicity. You should at least check it out

It uses some kind of  tritium vials that it seems are safe to handle, they emit weak beta radiation that doesn’t pass the glass. Although somebody should test these out with a Geiger counter .

Making a LED flasher

Note: The leds are actually very bright

This is a small project I was done with in about one hour(I didn’t found a use for it, but I’ll update the post if I do ). It’s easy to build, especially for beginners like me. And the result is satisfying.

I used 2 blue leds, and I tested the circuit on my pc Power Supply. I found out that, although it’s designed for 5V, if I connect it to a 3,3 V line it will flash quicker.

Parts list:

• 2x 5mm LEDs( I think it works best with blue\white leds)
• 2x 330Ω resistors
• 2x 22kΩ resistors
• 2x 47uF capacitors( I used 16v ones)
• 2x BC547C transistors( ‘universal’ transistors, they’re pretty common and easy to find)
• a 4,5v-5v DC source(I used my power supply to test, but you can use 3 AA batteries)

Some pictures:

This project is so easy to build that I don’t really think it’s necessary to explain how to do it. But I’ll give you some indications if you really want to build it.

-When soldering it’s really hard to solder with one hand and hold the pieces together with the other hand. You need to use some kind of stand. If you don’t have one, you can improvise, like me . I used a pair of pliers with a rubber band on them so it can hold small pieces while I solder them.

-Be attentive to polarities.  For resistors it doesn’t matter(you can actually see in the pictures they’re not in the same direction). LEDs, electrolytic capacitors and transistors are polarized though. Be attentive to the schematic and solder them as indicated. Need help here too? Well here’s how to find the polarities:

• LEDs: on the schematic, the negative part of the led is represented by a bar on top of that triangle. The other side of the LED(the one that, if you follow the wire, goes to the +5V input) is obviously the positive wire. Negative= Cathode, Positive=Anode. You know which is which because the anode wire is longer than the cathode. Also, near the cathode the LED is a bit flattened(it’s a bit hard to see).
• Electrolytic Capacitors: this one is easy, because it’s written on the capacitor’s package(usually the negative side is indicated).
• Transistors: This is a complex subject but I’m only going to clarify how to solder in the current situation. On the schematic you can see there’s an arrow on one of the wires. That’s the emitter. The middle one is the base, and the other wire is the collector. Because there’s no indication on the transistor, you need to consult the transistor’s data sheet. Here’s the BC547C  datasheet.

Ok, here’s the schematic:

2 Leds flasher Schematic

I made the schematic using an open-source software: TinyCad !

Have fun and have a nice day!

Repairing the Audio System

One and a half year ago my audio system(Manta Merlin 2.1, aprox 25W RMS) made a loud bang. It scared the crap out of me. I was, in a way, suspecting something like that would happen because the back panel was seriously hot all the time. From that moment, the bass didn’t work anymore.

In the meantime I bought a 5.1 audio system and left this at my grandparents where I used it to play music in the yard through an external speaker mounted outside.

I thought, out of boredom, it’d be cool to repair it and have it fully functional again.

Here are 2 pictures with the exploded IC( I think TDA 2030):

I then resoldered the new IC( TDA 2050, a bit more powerful), and applied lots of thermal paste . I believe my soldering went really well, even though I usually have problems soldering such small points.

The front panel had 2 leds that stopped working long before the loud bang, but it didn’t really matter for me as long as the music kept playing . In a precautionary manner, I measured the voltage before installing new leds. It turns out those LEDs were tortured at 6 V. And they make the package shiny and write 1400 PMPO on it… oh well… I put a 91 ohm(0,25W) resistor on each led to limit the voltage and current for each of the blue and white led.

Finally, a video with the test(the song is “Netsky- Smile“, dnb for some bass ). I must say, the back panel isn’t that hot anymore!

If you want, you can watch it HD directly on youtube.

Special thanks to Elforum, a romanian forum where I got some help with those ICs.

LED Ball

I found this on youtube and I think you should watch it too. It’s lovely. And innovative. And I like the effects !

HDD activity LED mod

I modified my case a little with some components. Know the red light that flashes when the HDD is in use ? Well, I deconnected that led and added 2 blue leds with some circutry. That’s because I wanted the mto slowly fade away.

Here’s the video : 

And here’s how to hook the pieces so you can do this thing too :

M-am ars

M-am ars cu peroxid de hidrogen . Cam asa arata o arsura de peroxid de hidrogen ( la mine e mult mai mica) :

Am aflat dupa net ca H2O2 ingheata la o temperatura mai joasa ca H2O si m-am gandit sa cumpar niste apa oxigenata si sa o bag intr-un pahar la frigider. Ok, dupa ce am scos-o , am observat ca intr-adevar a ramas o pelicula subtire de lichid la suprafata ( pentru ca apa oxigenata din comert are doar 3% peroxid de hidrogen )  .

Si ma gandesc eu … cum sa testez daca e concentrat sau nuuuu ?????? Si bag eu degetu ca zic ca n-are nimic in atata apa .  Nu am simtit nimic. Am ramas deceptionat … frate si m-a pus dracu sa ma scarpin pe nas cu degetu ala ( suprafata mica din fericire) . Dupa care vad ca mi s-a albit unghia. M-am sters repede ) . Dar dupa un timp am simtit o caldura puternica pe suprafata aia mica pe nas. Si alb o ramas acolo =)) .

Acu ma gandesc sa iau vreo 3 flaconase de apa oxigenata si sa fac niste peroxid de hidrogen pentru niste experimente. Un flacon de 170 ml costa 3 lei . Si o sa incerc sa fac ceea ce se numeste “poor man’s liquid nitrogen“ . Dar la chestia aia nu se mai poate gresi cu un deget. Pentru ca a doua oara nu mai ai deget . ( bine , nu stiu daca pot face asa ceva deocamdata, nu m-am informat complet).

In alta ordine de idei, ma apuc de electronica inapoi. Simt ca explodez daca nu fac ceva. Si cu leduri sau ceva . Orice, numai sa fac ceva . asa ca vreau sa-mi cumpar ceva piese si un multimetru digital, eventual un letcon fiindca e mai bun(cred) decat un pistol de lipit traditional cu sarma de cupru).

Daca va plac chestiile astea DIY ca si mie ( foarte mult imi plac) , cautati pe youtube dupa “kipkay”.

Are multe videoclipuri DIY tipu’ , unul l-ati vazut deja mai jos , cel cu bateriile la laptop .

Si in final, mai spun ca fac ceva research-uri si ma documentez despre condensatoare. O sa incerc sa-mi fac si o butelie de leyda . Si sa strang cat mai multe condensatoare la aceiasi volti ca sa-i leg in paralel si sa obtin o baterie ( care ar tine macar vreo 3 minute aprins un led) .

huaaaa, mi-e somn . pa pa ©