TARDIS Battery Base for Joule Thief

thingiverse

Human: Power up your TARDIS with a single AA or AAA battery! This design harnesses a joule thief to light up your LEDs using just 1.5 volts from one dead battery. No problem if your battery has lost its charge; this circuit can even power up on what others might consider a "dead" cell. Instructions You'll need the basics of making a joule thief down pat, so start with a great tutorial here. The center circle is sized to accommodate toroids from Amazon. Beyond the components for the joule thief, you may want to get some battery springs and plates. Pick up your SPDT (single pole, double throw) switch and jumper wire. You'll also need a hot glue gun to secure things into place and prevent potential short circuits. When you're comfortable assembling the joule thief, it's time to proceed. Solder 1" jumper wires to the positive battery springs/plates and negative spring plates. Keep soldering as light as possible so you can easily insert them into the channels for the springs/plates. Next, connect the other end of the jumper wire on the battery springs to the outer pins of your SPDT switch. Solder another 1" jumper wire onto the center pin of the SPDT switch and then link it up with one of the single wires from the joule thief. Solder the jumper wires from the positive battery plates (positive side) to the double twisted wire on the joule thief. Insert your battery springs into the 1mm channel on both negative sides of the base and your battery plates onto both positive sides. Position the SPDT switch inside the hole in the wall of the TARDIS's base, and prepare about six inches of jumper wire for connecting to your LEDs inside the TARDIS cavity. Finish up your circuit wiring with a transistor, resistor, and the six-inch jumper wire on the joule thief. Be sure to twist your wires together before soldering, double-check your connections frequently, and keep it clean! Add optional hot glue to secure contacts at each connection, securing the TARDIS's body in place by ensuring there is slack for battery swapping. Don't seal the case – just use a notch or make adjustments with your Dremel for easier entry. Once that cools, slide on your top plate. Secure LEDs using either your Dremel or a small dab of hot glue inside the top to keep it held up against light leakage. Plug in an extra LED through its matching shade if you wish to add lighting outside; however just stick with no more than three for overall better viewing – they should work but it'll also dim a bit too much! This thing will now go bright or die (if the voltage falls below optimal thresholds) - always only ever have one single power source in use.