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  • From: bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] No battery 'Ultracapacitor' flashlight
  • Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:22:45 -0800 (PST)

Thanks. I have seen some of the LED lights. They have a bluish "aura".
What you brought up was what I was mthinking, about solar stuff. Probably
pretty far off though.....................bobford


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--- On Mon, 11/10/08, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:

> From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] No battery 'Ultracapacitor' flashlight
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Monday, November 10, 2008, 6:03 AM
> > >I don't really understand this technology. The
> article doesn't give
> > enough info. This is not a wind-up flashligh, nor
> does it use batteries. It
> > lasts forever, without having to use and throw away a
> lifetime of batteries.
>
> It uses a capacitor or bank of capacitors. It does not
> have batteries and it
> last "forever" until the bulb or capacitor
> deteriorates with age.
>
> Have you noticed that a radio or stereo will continue
> playing for a few
> seconds when you turn it off or unplug it. You might even
> have noticed that if you
> turn a solid-state radio or stereo off while it is still
> plugged up, then
> unplug it, and turn it back on, it will sometimes play for
> a few seconds then go
> dead until you plug it back up.
>
> In the "power supply", the circuit which converts
> the 120V AC into low
> voltage DC (which the device requires) employs one or more
> capacitors to "filter"
> the rectified AC.
>
> A capacitor is a very efficient electrical storage device
> and can maintain
> that storage for a very long time. When I was doing
> electronics bench work (an
> exticnt occupation), I had two enourmous capacitors there
> about the size of a
> coffee can each, something like 22,000 mfd, and I'd
> charge them up from a 12v
> DC source and use them to power the transistor radio for
> nearly a month.
>
> Capacitors charge instantly. Even those huge coffee can
> capacitors took no
> more than 45 seconds to charge.
>
> With the advent of low power, low voltage LEDs for
> flashlights, this
> capacitor based flashlight is quite feasible.
>
> Here's the bit. This same principle crops up time and
> time again. Do you
> have one of those LED flashlights that use batteries?? You
> can charge a NiMHd
> battery, AA or AAA, and that flashlight will keep a bright
> beam for months
> (used a few minutes a day). The new technology that makes
> this flashlight
> feasible is not the improved capacitor, it's the LED
> bulb, which IS a turning point
> technology. It won't be many years before that's
> all we use anywhere for
> lights. Have you noticed those new traffic lights with
> LEDs, many times more
> clear and visible.
>
> So why not have a whole house full of capacitors to store
> your solar and wind
> generated electricity? It's probably coming, but they
> are ghastly expensive
> compared to batteries and prone to failure.
>
>
> James
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