team_nightstalker said:
ok call me an idiot. i built this one here:
**broken link removed**
was working GREAT. then what do i do? forgot the battery was hooked up and grabbed the LED leads to bend and get to fit in my 35mm canister. Then the LED was REALLY dim. took it out and replaced it. nothing now. replaced the transistor and metered the resistor. all good. the only thing i can think of is the ferrite. could i have burnt it out? i'm only getting 1.5 volts at the LED leads. man i hope i did not burn it out. that was a mother to wrap. had to do it 3 times. about 30 minutes each time. please leave me some input. i'm off to bed.
thanks guys.
hi,
Nice to see you are a component scrounger/recycler,
its suprising what you can find on old electronic items.
It sounds as though the circuit is not oscillating, that could be due to a number of causes..
You have changed the LED and transistor correctly and with the same type???
It maybe a shorted turn on the ferrite, check the windings for contact with ferrite ring.. dont worry about burning out the ferrite, its not going to happen.
Is the ferrite cracked across its annulus?
Do you have a dry joint on the winding due to the enamel coating?
Lets know what you find.
BTW,, S/H is second hand and PSU is power supply unit, its an easy way to write, bit like BTW!
EDIT: can you post some data for the solar cell you are using? .. Volts/mA etc