Wind up Torch from ASDA

[Skean Dhude]

Grumpy,

They may not be battery. I've taen some wind up stuff apart in the past and they were capacitors. You need to look inside before you make an assumption.

And they are worth keeping anyway. They still work. It is just that they will eventually stop holding charge and will need continual winding.

[Lord T]

What are the options on capacitors? For example can I buy a capacitor I can charge and use to power my radio like it as plugged into the mains?

[Skvez]

Capacitors store electricity directly (rather than converting it to chemical energy like a battery does). There are different technologies of capacitor but a few general trends are:
· They store less energy than a battery for a given volume
· They leak that energy faster than a battery (discharge in minutes or hours rather than days or weeks).
· Because there is no chemical process required they last many many more charge/discharge cycles.
· Like all things they degrade eventually but can be expected to last decades (rather than years for a battery).

But aside from those differences a capacitor can be considered to be similar to a small rechargeable battery.

[Skvez]

Update:
The torch I've been using nearly every night since Septemper snapped the winding handle last night.
I might be able to glue it but It doesn't look hopeful (it's likely to break again at the same stress point)