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Fixed it! (Then broke it again.) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-10-22 04:42:43
Imported:
2023-02

Content

Those of you who watched that bit of the Patreon live stream will know that I was demonstrating this whoofle igniter by swiping it back and forth in the air to disturb the arc, when suddenly it stopped working.

The good news is that I fixed it.  The LED staying on was a weird and complex effect initiated by a damaged component.

The bad news is that I then abused the thing again and it appears the arc length was probably already a bit too long for the tiny transformer, as it arced internally and is no more.   To fix it now would require a new transformer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drUYueP0pNg

Files

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During a live stream I was demonstrating this igniter unit and waved it back and forth vigorously to show how the spark changed. Then it suddenly stopped working with the green "charged" LED lit. The circuitry is interesting, but quirky, and has some weird features like a MOSFET that bypasses the power switch to activate the microcontroller while it's charging, purely to light the charge status LEDs. It appears that the generous arc length may have been part of the issue. When I was playing with it after the fix I managed to push the arc length a bit too far (again) and the transformer flashed over internally. When that happens the only fix is a new transformer. The live streams mentioned in the video are on another channel called BigCliveLive - but be aware that it's more of an informal online pub-meet of technical people and the chat can go a bit weird at times. Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams. https://www.patreon.com/bigclive #ElectronicsCreators

Comments

Rupert Kent

The look on your face during the live stream when you realised it had packed up was brilliant. Broke it. Fixed it. Broke it. It's the cycle of life of budget electronics...

Mark Trombley

It lived by the Clive and died by the Clive.

Wim

I use one of those ebay cattle prod/stun-gun modules as an oven lighter. The spark is quite pleasantly aggressive. :)

Curtis Hoffmann

Poor little igniter. We hardly knew ye.

Ymir the Frost Giant

Try Ralfy's van - it might be a Transformer in disguise.

Seán Byrne

We have an arc lighter very similar to the blue one at 0:20. Purchased March 2019 and in regular use to light firelighters in our stove, birthday candles, instead of a document shredder, etc. The tip needs cleaning roughly every 2-3 months as it stops zapping once it gets sooty. Makes me wonder how many throw out their arc lighter due to soot build-up.

Mick Spanner

Mine gets wax on it and fails to ignite as I use it for tea lights. Need one with wider jaws to stop this.

Anonymous

Emitter follower gate drive (which is what you have there) is pretty much a standard trick. I have used it may times. It is great when you need more gate current (=more speed) but don't want to have to change driving IC. There are even special high pulse current transistor pairs made for the purpose.

Mike Page
>>94132187

I've ended up using gate drivers (which are cheap enough these days) for sharper edges but should have tried this old trick. I've fiddled about with it as an opamp booster and found a resistance from bases to emitters smooths out crossover distortion. (Works a bit like power steering.) I wonder if the same might be handy to make sure today's low Vgs-th FETs are really off when they're meant to be.

Anonymous
>>94132187

Yes, the resistor can be useful for gate drive too, it can regain the vbe one loses when driving like this. And yes, a lone PNP on the low side (with resistor for rising edge) is useful for exactly what you said!