» MAKE: NOISE — Discuss this article

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  Hello, guys.
  
  I was able to make a Zener-based solar engine with these schematics, however it doesn't seem to work properly. My 3904 transistor heats up like crazy whenever voltage is applied to the circuit.
  
  Any ideas how to remedy the problem? Any help would be appreciated.

  Posted by redwinedrummer on May 10, 2007 at 18:33:13 Pacific Time

• resistor
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  Can someone post the ratings of the resistor used in the Miller engine?

  Posted by Johnmon on January 04, 2007 at 14:32:51 Pacific Time

• Capacitor voltage?
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  How does the farad and voltage ratings of any given capacitor relate its usage in a beambot? If a description would be long winded a link to a decent article would be appreciated.
  Cheers,
  Etienne

  Posted by Etienneb on August 12, 2006 at 21:49:56 Pacific Time

• Solar cells
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  If you break/crack a solar cell, you can superglue it back together to perserve functionality.

  Posted by nmckenzie on July 05, 2006 at 08:41:52 Pacific Time

• Solar Trimmet
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  Has anyone tried using Radio Shack solar cells (Catalog #: 276-124)? Delivers about 0.3-amps at 0.55VDC in full sunlight. Could one of these be used with a 2.6V trigger or do I need to chain 5 or 6 together? Thanks!
  

  Posted by nmckenzie on July 01, 2006 at 13:26:13 Pacific Time

• UK suppliers?
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  Has anyone found a UK supplier for this type of solar cell? I'm new to this sort of thing, so apologies if I'm being an idiot.

  Posted by iamphil on June 29, 2006 at 12:03:52 Pacific Time

• trimet
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  I'm quite pleased with my trimet, though mine spins in circles rather than traveling in a straight line. I think it really needs to make contact on two edge points (the capacitors?) in order to do more travel.
  
  In bright sunlight, I get about one second of charge time, and one second of discharge.
  
  Pictures:
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/33689749@N00/sets/72157594168145120/
  
  Video:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXq9jz1Z8xw

  Posted by drinkumbrella on June 17, 2006 at 15:19:41 Pacific Time

• 1381-G: which output type?
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  I've found the 1381 here:
  
  http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T062/0768.pdf
  
  but I'm not sure which output type to select. The charge/discharge picture here:
  http://makezine.com/images/06/beamdischarge.jpg
  
  makes me suspect that the open-drain type is needed, and the fact of no base resistor between the 1381 and the 3904 seems to support that.
  
  Does anyone know for sure? How about posting the full part number from your 1381 in a working circuit?

  Posted by omino5 on June 05, 2006 at 09:54:20 Pacific Time

• trimet done
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  Finished my trimet.... here're pictures.

  Posted by nospam@phyro.com on June 02, 2006 at 13:13:37 Pacific Time

• trimet woes
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  I put together the trimet on a protoboard, and the voltage in the system keeps going up, past 2.3V past 3.0, 4.0, ... Are there some troubleshooting ideas? Is there a way to determine if the voltage trigger is bad? or one of the transistors?
  
  

  Posted by superalloy on May 24, 2006 at 21:14:00 Pacific Time