Charge Your Phone With a Candle!

In this instructable I will show you how to make a device that will charge your phone and give off a soothing light with a candle. If you like this instructable then please be sure to vote for me in the make energy contest

Step 1:

To make this, here's what you will need:

• 2 empty cat food cans( these can be the bottoms of any can)
• Heat resistant epoxy or glue: http://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-8297-HighHeat-Degr...
• Solder: http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-AT-31604-60-40-Solder...
• USB 2.0 plug (scavenged from old charger): http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Micro-USB-
• 12v Peltier thermoelectric cooler: http://www.amazon.com/Tec1-12705-Thermoelectric-Co...
• A strip board: http://www.amazon.com/Prototype-Universal-Stripbo...
• A small tea candle (can buy almost anywhere)

-Components

• 5v regulator: http://www.amazon.com/L7805CV-Positive-voltage-reg...
• 2x 10 nanofarad ceramic disk capacitor: http://www.amazon.com/Radial-Monolithic-Multilaye...
• 100 ultrafarad electrolytic capacitor: http://www.amazon.com/100uF-Radial-Aluminum-Elect...
• A diode: http://www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-Diodes-Pack--D3...

-tools

• Multimeter: http://www.amazon.com/DIGITAL-MULTIMETER-MULTITES...
• Soldering iron: http://www.amazon.com/Meter®-Watts-High-performan...
• Pliers : http://www.amazon.com/CablesToGo-38002-4-5in-Long...

Step 2:

To start you Will take the cans and cut the lips off the top, so they can fit on top of each other. Then I cut three slits equally spaced apart. I also you Will need to poke some holes in the sides to allow air flow.

Step 3:

I tested mine out and found that I needed more holes so hooked some in the top. Before you continue be sure light the candle to see if it goes out. If it does then you will need to poke more holes. This step is all about trial and error.

Step 4:

In this step we will build the circuit. Just follow the scamatic and you should be fine. Other wise, I added the pictures of me building the circuit. Use them for reference when building it.

Step 5:

next I took my heat resistant epoxy and glued the cooler to the top can. I recommend placing something on top to prevent it from falling off as it sets over night.

Step 6:

this step is pretty simple, I trimmed down the circuit board.

Step 7:

To finish is simple, light the candle, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. If it didn't start charging right away then give it a moment becuase it takes time to heat up. Thanks for viewing, and don't forget to vote.

Comments

[vem777]

kids...kids...dont induce other kids in error..peltier element produce current ONLY from temperature difference...your device is a toy... in one minute is heated and stop produce whatever..

[nitrojon]

I like it! Maybe combine this with a DIY Beautiful Candle and just put a USB socket in the base. Light the candle and it gives off light and USB voltage! All lights should be replaced with these!!!

[LP5]

How many watthours can a single small tea candle produce? can someone kindly explain how to get the answer?

[AndIToo_17]

Hi, I'm a high school student and I want to create this for my school project. Sadly, I'm not very familiar with electronical components and I'm not a native speaker. Can please someone explain the schematic of step 4 or recreate the scheme for me? Thank you.

[Conor M]

#AndlToo_17 the bits saying 100 uf and the 10 nf are capacitors. You just need to solder all the pieces onto a perf board and it should work.

[FabianR13]

Cool !! Can you cool down one side of the peltier with a heat sink to make it more efficient / draw more amps out of it ?? I think it makes electricity out of the difference in temperature, no the heat itself right ? Also could you wire two of these in parallel on the same can, to draw more amps and charge the phone faster ??

[FabianR13]

Cool !! Can you cool down one side of the peltier with a heat sink to make it more efficient / draw more amps out of it ?? I think it makes electricity out of the difference in temperature, no the heat itself right ? Also could you wire two of these in parallel on the same can, to draw more amps and charge the phone faster ??

[Lilybugcrafter]

Very impressive

[MykeP1]

Incredibly inefficient process and metals kinda have to be pure not super strong heat resistant alloys. It only works here since there's so so so much waste heat, but probably about 1-2% is actually turned into power here.

[MykeP1]

Essentially this is mixing a car phone charger with the thermoelectric effect.
It does work yes, but to the people saying use it on ROCKETS...it's actually very inefficient compared to using an alternator. It might do okay as a post-stage in a catalytic converter.....You can also cool objects to crazy temperatures using this too (before electrical resistance gets too high and must be taken into account). It's a cute idea but certainly not a radical invention. A turbocharger is a much more "efficiency" option to get more out of your car.Look up the flame speakers...now that is something else.

[Yash Vats]

i can't beleve it worked. My phone charged 100%.

[dzikriyana]

what you use for convert 1.5DC to 5DC ?
why on cool side peltier, you don't use almunium ? if the cold side is not balanced by the heat, peltier would be easily broken?

[ajmal hassan]

What is the voltage and current generated in your case

[kedwa30]

That is a great idea. Another great idea is if every person covered their auto exhaust system with these devices to generate electricity with them instead of using the alternator. That would allow the engine to not be slowed by the pull of the alternator, so the car will feel more peppy.

[daniel.gordon.9674227]

and that idea has the added perk of possibly doing away with these stupid glasspaks

[Errol1951]

one of the european car maker already do this

[Cambenora]

Cool instructable!

I think these Peltier cells are the way forward in generating electricity.

I think your device would work more efficiently if you put a heatsink on top of the Peltier cell to help dissipate the heat.

[ukhan14]

I didn't saw any replies so far!
but anyway my question is about how this setup cools the other side of peltier??? coz peltier only works with temperature difference on its both sides.
p.s. the peltier you mentioned above and the peltier you showed bellow in pics looks different.
I think you used a powerful, high temperature and expensive one instead of that 'tec1-12705' you mentioned above.

[FM-5]

What!!!!

This is possible!!!!

oh my god

How about using a solar panel instead of the thermoelectric Cooler?

Would that work?

[kedwa30]

Well I think solar panels are more specific to converting the visible light spectrum while peltiers work better with the heat spectrum. You probably could combine the two to convert both the light and the heat from the candle to electricity.