Introduction: Electric Chair Joule Thief
This is my first instructable so feel free to be as harsh and mean as you like, I apologize for the blurry photos, I am by no means rich or have nice toys, so on with it!
The electric chair joule thief requires . . . well . . . a joule thief, which is all explained Here . After this is accomplished, you will need a few things.
Step 1: Stuff You Probably Need.
- Popsicle sticks
- Elmers all purpose glue, or any other general purpose white glue
- A thin metal plate ( I used the side of a 9v battery case)
- A few springs ( Can be found in flashlights, old pens or mechanical pencils)
- A "helmet" ( I used the cap off of a bottle of cleaning solution)
- Hot glue gun with ammo ( hot glue)
- Soldering iron with solder
- Small gauge wire
- Sand paper, 100 or finer
- Cutting utensil ( scissors, dremel, small saw)
- Small drill or dremel with small bit that can cut a hole for wire to go through
Again, apologies for poor photos
Once you get all your stuff together, time to begin.
Step 2: Building the Chair!
Hurray! Time to create the chair that will be slowly executing your dead batteries! Grab a fist full of popsicle sticks and either a dremel tool or scissors or whatever you can find that will cut through a popsicle stick nicely. I didn't use specific measurements, but after measuring, I found that the pieces that I cut are damn close to usable figures, so I will post them. Your standard popsicle stick is roughly 4 1/2 inches long which works out nicely for us.
Pieces that you will need -
6 - 2inch pieces without the rounded end
2- 2 1/8th pieces without rounded end
2 - 1 5/8th inch pieces without the rounded end
2 - 1 5/8th inch pieces WITH rounded end
2 - 2 1/2 inch pieces WITH rounded end
Take 4 of the 2 inch pieces and stick em together, make sure they are even then sand and elmers glue together, I used some scrap pieces and glued them across all four, bracing them together. You can replace the sanding and elmers gluing with hot glue, I don't like it because it is ugly and not as ridged as white glue. Sanding is important because you will find your glue sticking much better and adhering much quicker.
Anyways, once the four pieces are dry, take the two 1 5/8th inch non rounded pieces, and the two 2 1/8th inch pieces, sand the thin edges and apply some more white glue, then glue to the bottom edge of what is now the chair seat, this will be the trim which will help hide the joule thief.
After that dries, move on to creating the back of the death chair.
Take the two 2 1/5 inch pieces, sand and glue on the back piece of trim on the chair seat, then sand and glue on the last two 2inch pieces to create the chair back.
Wait to dry and on to the arms. You should only have two pieces left, and they should be rounded. Take them and some small pieces of scrap, sand and glue the small pieces to the arm, then to the seat top and chair backing. Wait to dry and you have a chair. . . without the legs. . . but who cares!?
Step 3: The "Helmet"
The helmet is used as the positive connection to the battery and, for mine, was where I put the L.E.D. from the joule thief. It really doesn't matter what you use for the helmet, in fact you should really be more creative than me and come up with something much more cool. I used a cap from some CD cleaning solution. As for the springs, I used one from a free L.E.D. flashlight I had lying around, and another spring my friend got me from his work.
First off, grab your dremel tool or something that can drill a small hole through plastic and drill a hole big enough to put your L.E.D. in.
Once in, drill a hole in the side near the sealed end of the cap, this is where the positive wire will go through to connect to the spring you will later put inside the cap. I fed the wire in and out the open end of the cap, then soldered on my spring and fed back in. I also hot glued the L.E.D. and spring in place once I had the spring in position.
Done and done, back to the chair!
Step 4: The Negative Connection
Ok, we have a small wooden chair, and a rather intimidating looking death helmet, now for a few finishing steps.
To make the negative connection I used a small peice of metal from the side of a 9v battery that I disassembled previously. Make sure you grind away the label and any paint, then cut out a nice flat piece out of the side.
Grab your death chair and dremel or drill and drill a small hole in the middle of the seat of the chair. Slide the negative wire of the joule thief from the bottom through the top of the chair and solder the end to the middle of the plate of metal, then pull back to the metal is somewhat flush with the chair seat. I used some more white glue on the bottom, but it didn't seem to adhere.
Now before we hide the joule thief underneath the chair, flip to the back of the chair and drill three holes in the bottom trim, this is where I fed the positive and negative wires for the L.E.D. and the positive wire for the battery connection. I suggest you do the same.
Once complete, I crammed the joule thief under the chair, making sure the components fit within the sides of the trim, and grabbed a piece of scrap which I sanded and glued to the underside to keep everything in place.
Step 5: Finishing Up
Now for connecting everything together. I used a torsion spring which I attached to the back of the chair and to the helmet to keep some tension on the battery to keep it in place. I'm sure you can come up with some creative alternative, like magnets or something.
Once it is all assembled, insert the positive end of the battery into the helmet, and stand up the negative end on the metal plate, the L.E.D. should light up, if not, check your wiring and especially check to see if any metal parts on your joule thief are touching. If it works, then congratulations, you can now enjoy watching your dead batteries fry!
15 Comments
12 years ago on Introduction
lol nice one man :_:
13 years ago on Introduction
These are the $2 automatic wire strippers from goldmine, right? How is the quality; I was looking to purchase them.
13 years ago on Introduction
i have those same wire strippers
14 years ago on Introduction
Where did you get your actual "joule thief"? btw, cool idea.
14 years ago on Introduction
Thats pretty cool! once a battery is unable to do its job it gets the chair!!! XD must add to favorites :)
15 years ago on Introduction
Now that is so cool. I'm definitely going to try this out.
A while ago I tried 1up's Joule Theif but kind of messed up.
I'M STILL GOING TO TRY THOUGH.
MWUAHAHAHA.
+5/5 stars.
(added to favorites)
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
sorry but i dont understand what this is supposed to do. And what a joule thief is, please explain.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
When you have "dead" batteries, there is usually still some power left in them, whether or not it has enough to power an electronic device, the joule thief is a circuit that drains the remaining power from your dead batteries by lighting up either an LED or small motor. It's basically for fun or for a first time electronics/LED project.
15 years ago on Introduction
Cool! Great Instructable!
15 years ago on Introduction
Very nice !
15 years ago on Introduction
haha, I love this project... It's just weird, maybe adding a little figure that holds the battery would be a good addition...
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
Yea, I was thinking about using some pipe cleaners to make some arms and hands to strap down to the chair arms, and maybe some googly eyes to the front of the helmet because. . . well who doesn't love googly eyes?
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
Or an action figure hollowed out to hold the battery, more complicated but funny...
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
Maybe just add some wire arms and legs to the battery.
15 years ago on Introduction
Hehe, I don't think I'll be worried about saving electricity when I'm frying in the chair! (Just kidding, great job!)