Tooth Torch - Recycled Electric Tooth Brush Turned Into an LED Flashlight - top electric toothbrush

There are usually two kinds of electric toothbrushes.
Battery death or corrosion of electrical components due to water penetration.
This Instructure will show you how to recycle broken electric toothbrushes into useful LED flashlights.
The picture above shows the main components that are cut and disassembled in a typical toothbrush.
Pay attention to the corrosion on the motor housing.
The motor failed but the battery turned on
Switching off, housing and charging base are still useful.
Before you start, you must determine what caused the failure.
If the unit has not been charged for a while, charge it now. Turn it on.
If the motor turns but the brush does not vibrate, this means that the gearbox is faulty but everything else is OK.
If the motor is not turned, it may be a failure of the motor or battery.
In this case, you must remove the unit by cutting the housing or carefully unscrewing the base from the brush cover.
The picture shows how the house was cut.
Please note that I am saving the switch assembly.
Carefully cut the housing with a saw and carefully remove the components.
Check the battery voltage first.
If the voltage is less than 1 volt after charging, you must replace the battery.
If the battery shows more than 1.
Then the charger and battery are OK.
At this point, you should test any LED you plan to use to see if it lights up at your battery voltage.
Don't forget to use the current limiting resistor.
You can check the motor but will not use it in this project.
Now is a good time to check-
Turn off the switch to see if it can be used or if you have to add your own, as shown in figure 2. (
This is a different unit I have modified before, showing the mini switch I added)
Now that you're sure you have a good battery and a viable switch, you can now add extension cords to the LED.
Depending on what's in your junk box, you have several options.
You can use the small specification stranded wire, the heavy specification magnet wire or (
As shown in the photo)
Normal solid wire.
Cutting wires is a few inches longer than necessary, as it is much easier to cut off excess wires than to replace them with longer ones.
The heavy duty inspection wire allows you to bend the LED to the base at any angle.
At the base or battery end of the heavy wire, you should Weld some light (22-26)
Connect the gauge stranded wire to the end of the heavy wire, then connect the light rail distance wire to the battery, and switch before fixing the heavy rail distance wire to the housing.
After preparing the ends of the wires, fix them on the shell as shown in figure 2.
I use epoxy but you can use hot glue or nuts and bolts.
The actual wiring will depend on what switch and the physical configuration of the toothbrush you are using, basically you want the circuit shown in photo 1.
Current limiting resistance (s)
Can be placed anywhere in the circuit.
Depending on the battery voltage and LED of your choice, you may have to arrange the resistance in parallel or in series.
As shown in Figure 2, I used two resistors of 100 ohms.
Make sure your joints are safe and insulated with adhesive tape or hot glue.
If you have cut off the top of the device, you should insert the heavy measuring wire into the shaft opening before soldering the LED.
Now, you should test the circuit before connecting to the top or inserting the enclosure.
I used epoxy again. attach the top.
If everything goes well so far, you will have a handy, always charged LED flash (
As our English cousins say).
As you can see from the photo, I did this for quite a long time
It is best to spy on the dark cracks and gaps.
I also used the magnet wire on this line and used the heat shrink tube to keep the wire together.
Good luck building your own recycling "tooth torch "!