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Reply to "LED lighting for dark Trolleys"

Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

With six LEDs, I'll bet three of the 2.5F caps will get it done for two minutes.   Even if they get a bit dimmer, they're still light, and the slow decay would probably not be that noticeable.  It's simple and fairly cheap to build.

 

I stand ready to throw darts at any circuit you propose!

 

In your previous example of the supercap dropping to 4V, I calculated an approximate drop of 30-40% in LED brightness.  This is occurring over many tens of seconds you so probably don't notice it.  And it does make for a simple circuit.  But if the OP wants constant-brightness, then additional regulation is required.

 

However, I'm curious how you make a simple and cheap rapid charging circuit.  A 1 Amp constant-current charger that cuts off when the supercap(s) reaches 5V is "easy" if you have a bench power-supply.  But a hand-built circuit? 

 

Also, when the supercap is charging for tens of seconds, I'd think you want full-brightness on the LEDs.  Or maybe not?  If so you need a bypass circuit - could be as simple as diode OR'ing - to power the LEDs to full-brightness whenever track power is available.

 

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