This fun hack is an electric fly swatter modified to power a
compact fluorescent light (CFL). It runs on 2 AA batteries for
around 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Fly swatter powered CFL.
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At one stage of the construction - testing resistances.
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Click on the images below for larger versions.
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When I'd previously
opened up an electric
fly swatter as a possible power source for something else,
I was surprised to find a
joule thief/blocking oscillator circuit inside. I'd previously
used one of those circuits from scratch
to power a CFL so after some prompting from comments on
my electric fly swatter video, I gave it a try with the fly swatter.
The circuit
Below is the schematic for the original electric fly
swatter circuit and below that is the modified one for powering a CFL.
The few modifications are circled in red.
All the parts on the output side of the coil (the left) were
removed and replaced with just the CFL. Also, one resistor was changed
from 1200 ohms to 820 ohms to get a brighter light while still protecting
the transistor. And the original switch was a momentary switch, meaning
the circuit was on only while you held the switch closed. I replaced
that with a switch that you could turn on and let go while it stayed
on.
See my webpage all about
reading schematics if you're unfamiliar with reading them.
Electric fly swatter schematic.
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Electric fly swatter powering a CFL schematic.
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Completed electric fly swatter powered CFL with cover off.
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Details of modifications.
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Below you can see that wires are soldered to the CFL's tube. Those
wires are then connected using marrettes to the wires from the fly
swatter and then tucked into the white container and the CFL is
put in place, hiding them.
To see the details of how to get the CFL fluorescent tube from the
CFL watch the video below or see the steps on my page about
making a joule thief circuit from scratch for powering a CFL tube.
The wires going the CFL.
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The CFL in place, hiding the wires.
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Video - How to Make CFL Powered by Electric Fly Swatter/Racket Zapper
Below is a video showing how to make the CFL powered by a fly swatter,
along with some demonstrations and a test to see how long it runs for.
