• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Homemade Circuit Projects

Need circuit help? Post them in the comments! I've answered over 50,000!

Blog | Categories | About | Contact | Calculators-online
You are here: Home / Lamps and Lights / Li-ion Emergency Light Circuit

DIY Circuits | Learn Basics | Arduino Coding




Li-ion Emergency Light Circuit

Last Updated on January 1, 2024 by Swagatam 193 Comments

The post presents a simple Li-ion emergency light circuit with over charge and low battery cut off features. The Circuit was requested by Mr. Saeed Abu and Y0f4N.

Technical Requirement

Bro thanks for ur reply. Actually im Pharmacist(M.Pharm) & Electronics is my hobby. So i go through ur mentioned link & i dont understand ur suggestion to modify that diagram also about ur mentioned cut off transistor. So would u mind to send me the complete circuit diagram 

My requirement is:(1) Circuit is Operated by Nokia standard cell phone charger

(2) Battery nokia 3.7 volt

(3) Auto ac to dc changeover system when ac fail

(4) Battery overcharge protection system(auto battery full charge cutoff) with LED indicator.I have tried many times to develop such type of circuit but i failed. So Please bro help me urgently. Please design it simple.

The Design

The proposed Li-ion emergency light circuit with over charge and low battery cut off features functioning may be understood with the the following points:

Transistor T6 is basically configured to automatically sense and shut off the LED during the presence of mains AC and vice versa. Here a mobile charger is used for powering the T6 circuit.

As long as the mains input is available, the 1 watt LED stays switched OFF due to the presence of a positive potential at the base of T6,  T6 starts conducting the moment AC mains fails illuminating the connected LED with the help of the attached Li-ion battery power.

T1 and T2 form the low battery detector stage and does the same when the Li-ion battery voltage falls below a certain predetermined level set by P1.

When this happens, T1 just stops conducting forcing T2, T3 to switch ON hard.
T3 passes the battery voltage to the base of T6 choking its conduction thereby shutting off the LED and inhibiting any further loss of voltage under the situation.

T4 and T5 are configured for the opposite function, that is for detecting the full charge of the li-ion battery.

P2 is appropriately set such that T4 conducts fully at this battery voltage.

With T4 fully ON, the base of T5 is unable to acquire the required negative biasing via  R6 and thus is prevented from supplying the charging voltage to the battery, which in turn protects the battery from getting over charged and damaged in due course of time.

The red/green LEDs indicate the relevant states of the battery and the cut off conditions.

The 10 ohm with the negative of the battery may be eliminated, it's not worth with so many existing protections.

For getting a better response from the over-charge cut-off stage, the above circuit could be modified further with an additional transistor stage T5, as shown below:

Referring to the following circuit, we are able to the see a few crucial additions and removals:

IC 7805 has been added, diode at T6 collector is removed, and D1 position changed. These changes ensure that an exact 4.3V is able to develop across the emitter of T6 and ground, irrespective of the input voltage level.

D5 has been removed in order to provide a better illumination for the LED at the collector of T2.

All high value resistors have now been reduced to 1K for an increased current biasing for the BJTs.

As suggested by one of the avid readers of this blog Mr. Syed, the above diagram needed some corrections.

The finalized diagram of the Li-ion emergency light circuit with over charge and low battery cut off featurescan be seen below:

You'll also like:

  • candle 1Make an Electronic Candle at Home Circuit
  • solarfishaquariumlightoptimizercircuit3 Automatic Fish Aquarium Light Optimizer Circuits
  • Illuminating an LED using Wireless Power Transmission
  • LED LDR blinker GIFBlinking LED Circuit using LDR and Resistors

Filed Under: Lamps and Lights Tagged With: Emergency, Light

About Swagatam

I am an electronics engineer and doing practical hands-on work from more than 15 years now. Building real circuits, testing them and also making PCB layouts by myself. I really love doing all these things like inventing something new, designing electronics and also helping other people like hobby guys who want to make their own cool circuits at home.

And that is the main reason why I started this website homemade-circuits.com, to share different types of circuit ideas..

If you are having any kind of doubt or question related to circuits then just write down your question in the comment box below, I am like always checking, so I guarantee I will reply you for sure!

Previous Post: « Simplest 100 Watt LED Bulb Circuit
Next Post: High Voltage Transistor MJ11021(PNP) MJ11022 (NPN) Datasheet – Complementary Pair »

Reader Interactions

Comments

Naresh says:
April 20, 2020 at 8:06 pm

Hi sir,
I hope you are doing good.
I have some LiFe 18650 (4.5 v 2500 mah) batteries which is removed from old laptop battery. I have used it to make emergency light, I used smd leds which is removed from old led buld. When I connected it to the led its glowing very good but heating up very quickly. The led forward voltage is 4v, 50ma. Do I need to use resistor? Pls advise me.

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 21, 2020 at 10:40 am

Hi Naresh, yes definitely you will need a resistor for the LED to drop the excess 0.5 V.

The formula is R = (Supply – LED V) / LED Current

Reply
Naresh says:
April 21, 2020 at 7:31 pm

Hi sir
I have added a 10 ohm 1/4w resistor in series with battery positive, now the resistor is heating up. What would be the problem sir.

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 21, 2020 at 8:22 pm

Hi Naresh, please specify what kind of load sre you using, I’ll work out the resistor for you, but 1/4 watt will not do, it must be at least 1 watt.

Reply
Naresh says:
April 24, 2020 at 7:08 am

Hi sir,
I am using 4v 50ma smd leds 10nos in parallel.i have tried with 10 ohms 1 watt resistor also but when I use it the brightness is going low.

Reply
Naresh says:
April 24, 2020 at 2:26 pm

Sir iam using 4.5v 2500mah Life battery not 3.7v

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 24, 2020 at 8:14 pm

Then 10 ohms is correct, and you should use 10 ohm separately for each LED

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 24, 2020 at 10:43 am

Hi Naresh, for 4 V 50 mA LEDs, and 3.7V Li-ion cell you will not require any series resistor. Simply connect the LEDs in parallel without any resistor.

Reply
ABBA says:
March 6, 2018 at 1:54 pm

hi swagatam
i have a question, in 3.7v li-ion battery the charging voltage is 4v how about lead acid battery rated at 4v what will be the charging voltage ?

Reply
Swagatam says:
March 6, 2018 at 2:27 pm

Hi Abba, you can use any type battery as per your preference, Li-ion batt can be charged quickly that’s the only advantage of it

Reply
Michael says:
October 4, 2017 at 2:49 pm

Hi, how can I modify this circuit to use it as mobile power bank?

Reply
Swagatam says:
October 4, 2017 at 3:34 pm

too many modifications might be required, so I would recommend the following concept instead

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2013/12/usb-automatic-li-ion-battery-charger.html

use a cellphone charger for supplying the above linked circuit.

Reply
Arun Kumar says:
December 24, 2015 at 11:06 am

I set cut off preset I adjust 4.2v voltage unplug adapter then used the battery voltage is decrease 4.1v connected circuit then not charging I check circuit out voltage 4.1v or 4.2v then adjust cut off preset voltage increase 4.3v or 4.4v then battery charging then over charging again I set cutoff voltage 4.2v again and again I set cutoff voltage I want to parent one time set the cutoff voltage sir please update any mobile charger supportable single ic used low cost circuit diagram please sir

Reply
Swagatam says:
December 27, 2015 at 6:26 am

5V input is used through the show diodes to finally make it into 4.2V for the battery

Reply
Arun Kumar says:
December 26, 2015 at 11:32 am

This circuit who many voltage used input this circuit cutoff voltage please tell sir

Reply
Swagatam says:
December 24, 2015 at 4:18 pm

if you are having difficulty with the above design you can try the following more accurate one:

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2013/12/usb-automatic-li-ion-battery-charger.html

Reply
Arun Kumar says:
December 22, 2015 at 3:59 pm

charging cut off led glowing in unplug adapter Glowing led then charging led glowing in unplug adapter Glowing led this problem please sir solution

Reply
Swagatam says:
December 23, 2015 at 6:53 am

remove the battery when unplugged, that's probably the only solution…

Reply
Arun Kumar says:
October 17, 2015 at 4:17 pm

How to set cut off voltage p2 & how to set low battery cut off voltage p1 please tell me sir

Reply
Swagatam says:
October 18, 2015 at 11:19 am

Please see the second comment from top.

Reply
kamlesh_sexy says:
August 23, 2015 at 12:17 pm

p1 & p2 is variable resistor in 1st diagram??? I will use 3.7v 1a (Sunca match box size battery) battery to this circuit. so what fixed resister I have to use in place of p1 & p2??

Reply
Swagatam says:
August 23, 2015 at 3:10 pm

p1, p2 will need to be practically experimented a lot to learn about the required exact fixed value replacement…

Reply
Saeed Abu says:
May 23, 2015 at 1:14 pm

dear i have a circuit with birthday tone but how can i convert it as a calling bell?

Reply
Swagatam says:
May 25, 2015 at 2:53 am

dear I'll post the an amplifier circuit soon which you can use with the tune for implementing a door bell.

Reply
Saeed Abu says:
May 22, 2015 at 6:18 am

dear i need temperature controlled AC Fan Dimmer circuit and Birthday song tone Calling Bell circuit diagram.do u have this pleas share it.

Reply
Swagatam says:
May 23, 2015 at 5:55 am

dear, I have one related circuit posted below:

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/2013/01/automatic-temperatureclimate-controlled.html

the birthday song tone calling bell can also be designed but first you'll have to procure the "birthday" tune COB (chip on board) without which the song cannot be implemented.

Reply
White Dragon says:
April 11, 2015 at 9:46 am

Ok sir. ill check on breadboard first. Another thing, how do i change the output voltage to 1.5v instead 3.7v? as i want to run a 1.5v (150mA approx) dc motor instead LED.How may i do that?

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 12, 2015 at 8:19 am

add 3 more diodes in series after 7805 while charging the 1.5V batt

a 10 ohm will affect and reduce current to the load, using 3 diodes will keep current intact, but reduce volts to the preferred limit.

Reply
White Dragon says:
April 12, 2015 at 6:47 am

sir, if I use 1.5v battery, then what's need to be changed? and on 3.7v battery, you told to use 3 diode in series. Why not a simple 10 ohm resistance? will you kindly explain?

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 11, 2015 at 11:39 am

for changing the output to 1.5V you can either change the battery to 1.5V or use 3 nos 1n4007 diodes in series with the output positive

Reply
White Dragon says:
April 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm

Dear sir, what will be the input voltage? as there is a 7805, i need more then 5v for that, right? but as schematic, it says to use 5v cell phone charger.what to do?
Please help!
Thanks.

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 10, 2015 at 3:32 am

since D2 is introduced, therefore only one diode at the emitter of T7 is sufficient, no need of two diodes here.

before designing a PCB I would recommend to test it out over a general purpose board for a trial and verification.

Reply
White Dragon says:
April 9, 2015 at 6:15 pm

Oh i see. i didnt know that. 🙂 thanks for the prompt reply. I am designing a pcb of this schematic. Another thing i don't understand. On 3rd schematic, from the collector of T6 toward emitter of T7, it is shown to use 2 pcs of diode, but shows only one. do i need to add 2 diode parallel or serial to there?
Thanks.

Reply
Swagatam says:
April 9, 2015 at 7:33 am

Dear white dragon, a cellphone charger will normally have a slightly higher voltage than 5V, so it's OK to use a cell phone charger as the input, the 7805 is only for ensuring that the li-ion cell does not get an over voltage due to a wrong high voltage input

Reply
Jignesh says:
October 8, 2014 at 6:29 am

hi swagtam,
i want to ask u that same configuration can be use for 12v battery and 12v charger application….???

Reply
Swagatam says:
October 8, 2014 at 4:02 pm

…7805 will need to be removed, and a precise 14V will need to be applied at the emitter of T6

Reply
Swagatam says:
October 8, 2014 at 3:59 pm

hi jignesh, yes the above same circuit can be used for 12V batts also

Reply
Saeed Abu says:
September 25, 2014 at 6:57 pm

bro is ur last updated circuit has overcome all of it's drawback? did u test it practically the updated circuit?

Reply
Swagatam says:
September 26, 2014 at 4:53 am

bro i haven't tested it but it looks perfect because most of the issues have been corrected in the last design and it should work as proposed if it's done exactly as shown.

Reply
Arun Dev says:
July 18, 2014 at 3:46 pm

The reason why i am skipping the series config. is that if an LED fails in a branch all the LEDs associated with that LED in that particular branch will be turned off affecting the overall brightness considerably

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 19, 2014 at 5:02 am

Today all LED lamps depend and use series LED configuration, some street lights even use 50 LEDs in series. Good quality LEDs will never fail no matter how these are configured, as long as everything's done as per the specs.

Reply
Arun Dev says:
July 18, 2014 at 7:04 am

Sir,
I need a simple LED light circuit to fit inside a car….
I am using 10 no.s of white LEDs… The LEDs are connected in parallel for maximum efficiency… So 10 parallel connections are there… Power for the bank is taken from the Car battery voltage… I need to drop a maximum of 600 mA from the source ( 60 mA for each LED ) for maximum brightness….
By calculations i have found the following ;

Resistance needed for a single LED to draw a current of 60 mA is:
( 12 – 3.1 ) / 0.06 = 148.33 ohms
Power rating of that resistance :
( 12 – 3.1 ) * 0.06 = 0.534 W
150 ohm 1W resistance can be safely used…
So 10 no.s of such resistances have to be used… The main drawback of this config. is, more of the board space is getting utilized.

Now i am gonna chose for a simplest design which uses only one main resistance instead of placing separate limiting resistances for each LEDs…

So
The total current required = 600 mA = 0.6 A
Voltage = 12V – 3.1V = 8.9 V
So R = 8.9 / 0.6 = 14.833 ohm
Power rating of the resistance = 8.9 * 0.6 = 5.34 W

Are my calculations correct sir ??
I need your valuable comments on these

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 18, 2014 at 2:22 pm

Arun, series connection gives more efficient results for LEDs, make two led strings with 3 leds in series on each string, and connect them in parallel.

the series resistor on each string would be then:

12 – 9.9/.06 = 35 ohms, 1/4 watt

Reply
Arun Dev says:
July 17, 2014 at 2:22 pm

Sir,
Sorry for disturbing you much…
All the problems facing by me are due to my carelessness while making out the circuit on BB…
I got the result of the above circuit in a fruitful way so that i can proceed further…

Hope you will understand my lack of time in concentrating much on the electronics due to a lot of works related to my profession to be completed …

Also expecting your valuable help in future projects that i am planning to do..

Thank you sir

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 18, 2014 at 6:52 am

Sure Arun, thanks! and keep posting.

Reply
Arun Dev says:
July 16, 2014 at 7:47 am

Sir,
On checking today,
the diagram i have sent to you via email, when assembled on the bread board, acts as the same in the VERO board..

The Battery full indicator illuminates even on power failure… also the following points were noted

– Battery full voltage is 4.7 V

(1).
the Base of T7 gets voltage about 6.4 V when a 7.0 V charging source ( to charge the 4 V 1000 Ah battery taken from the mosquito bat ) source is used, thereby the LED bank connected between its collector and ground is not active…
but when source is disconnected ( power failure ) the base voltage is getting reduced only to 3.8 V not to zero, even-though the LED bank begins to illuminate

(2).
The battery full indicator LED continues illuminating even after power failure

(3).
Correct adjustment of Higher voltage cut of can't be achieved

(4).
Even if the higher voltage cut off is achieved, the charging voltage available for the battery doesn't becomes zero..

I am expecting better solutions for the mentioned problems in the above points

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 17, 2014 at 4:37 am

Arun, others have also tried the above circuit they are quite satisfied with it, I am not sure why you are facing so many issues.

Anyway here are the answers:

"Battery full" LED will stay illuminated because it's connected with the battery line, so it's fine, you can eliminate this LEd entirely and just keep the red and green LEd for the indications.

1) This case is also normal, D2 is dropping the 7V to 6.4V, however despite my of repeated suggestions you have not used a 7805 IC that means you will get all the wrong and dangerous results while the battery gets fully charged.

On power failure T6 gets activated via R7 that's why you see 3.8V at its base, it's due to battery voltage minus the 3.8V which could be 0.6V, which is exactly what a BJT needs to conduct.

2) i have answered this above.

3) This is because you have not used 7805 IC and did not take care about making the emitter of T6 exactly equal to the full charge level of the battery.

4) the answer is same as above

Reply
Saeed Abu says:
July 15, 2014 at 5:00 am

bro ur given last circuit is overcome all the drawback of over charge cut off feature which i have faced during build it?

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 15, 2014 at 2:05 pm

…sorry the above recommendation is not correct, rather another diode needs to be added between the emitter of T6 and the base of T7 so that the battery voltage does not reach the emitter of T6 during backup.

Reply
Swagatam says:
July 15, 2014 at 2:02 pm

Thanks for the feedback bro, that's great… a small additional refinement could make it more perfect, the emitter of T6 needs to be shifted to the anode of D2 from its existing position, this will make it more reliable in my opinion.

Reply
View Older Comments

Need Help? Please Leave a Comment! We value your input—Kindly keep it relevant to the above topic! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

circuit simulator image



Subscribe to get New Circuits in your Email



Categories

  • Arduino Projects (93)
  • Audio and Amplifier Projects (133)
  • Automation Projects (17)
  • Automobile Electronics (101)
  • Battery Charger Circuits (85)
  • Datasheets and Components (109)
  • Electronics Theory (149)
  • Energy from Magnets (27)
  • Games and Sports Projects (11)
  • Grid and 3-Phase (20)
  • Health related Projects (27)
  • Home Electrical Circuits (13)
  • Indicator Circuits (16)
  • Inverter Circuits (95)
  • Lamps and Lights (159)
  • Meters and Testers (71)
  • Mini Projects (28)
  • Motor Controller (68)
  • Oscillator Circuits (28)
  • Pets and Pests (15)
  • Power Supply Circuits (91)
  • Remote Control Circuits (50)
  • Renewable Energy (12)
  • Security and Alarm (64)
  • Sensors and Detectors (106)
  • SMPS and Converters (34)
  • Solar Controller Circuits (60)
  • Temperature Controllers (43)
  • Timer and Delay Relay (49)
  • Voltage Control and Protection (42)
  • Water Controller (36)
  • Wireless Circuits (30)





Other Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Copyright
  • Videos
  • Sitemap



People also Search

555 Circuits | 741 Circuits | LM324 Circuits | LM338 Circuits | 4017 Circuits | Ultrasonic Projects | SMPS Projects | Christmas Projects | MOSFETs | Radio Circuits | Laser Circuits | PIR Projects |

Social Profiles

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • My Facebook-Page
  • Stack Exchange
  • Linkedin



Recent Comments

  • Swagatam on 9 Simple Solar Battery Charger Circuits
  • Gagana on 9 Simple Solar Battery Charger Circuits
  • Swagatam on Arduino 2-Step Programmable Timer Circuit
  • Swagatam on Simple Buck-Boost Converter Circuits Explained
  • Swagatam on IC IR2111 H-Bridge MOSFET, IGBT Driver IC: Full Datasheet, Circuit Diagram

© 2026 · Swagatam Innovations