Building Julian Edgar's Hand-Cranked LED Torch With 16V1F/2F Supercapacitor Module

I'm planning to build the hand-cranked LED torch designed by Julian Edgar and featured in his Electronic Building Blocks column in the current (April ) issue of Practical Electronics magazine. Getting the parts together now. Looks like an easy and cheap build for a very practical item.
Julian's design features a pre-built super-capacitor pack - "the 16V1F/2F Farad Capacitor Module 2.7V 10F Supercapacitor with Protection Board" to give its full name. The board uses six 2.7V, 10F capacitors, plus some protection circuitry (mounted on the rear of the board).
Julian writes in his article: "If you wind the handle (of the torch) for a minute or two, the capacitor pack will be charged to about 7.5V. With the capacitor pack driving the (12V) LED, after around five minutes the voltage will have dropped to about 4.3V, and after 10 minutes to 3.4V, and after 30 minutes to 2.7 V. Such is the quality of modern LEDs, the light will still be quite useable in a dark area for all this time."
I'm a newcomer to super-capacitors and have a question. If I buy a second of these super-capacitor packs and wire it  in the torch in parallel with the first what do I get? Logic says twice the timings given in the paragraph above but is that right? Like I say, I'm new to these things.Michelle O'Brien, SE London, UK

Hi Michelle,
Yes, with a second super-cap pack,  I'd expect everything in that para to approximately double.  

However... the amount that you need to wind the handle works pretty well with the one super cap pack. For example, if the super cap pack is dead 'flat', you might need to wind the handle for 15 sec before the LED will come alive, and then another 90 seconds to get the 'glowing all night' duration. With a second super cap pack, those times would double too. 
 The cap packs are pretty cheap to buy, so perhaps just experiment with a couple to see which approach best suits your application? 
Julian Edgar

The parts having been assembled, it works it works it WORKS.
It would be distinctly odd if it didn't since the layout is so simple that there's very little to go wrong in putting the bits together.
But that said, the components - the stepper motor, the super cap and the LED - and the design have clearly been selected/calculated with a knowledgeable eye to do the job to best effect. Which makes the thing a reliable, inexpensive and above all very useful piece of kit to have in the home.
So thanks, Julian. I judge your hand-cranked LED torch A WINNER.Michelle

@Michelle: "...It would be distinctly odd if it didn't since the layout is so simple
that there's very little to go wrong in putting the bits together..."I beg to differ -- past experience has shown me that I can make things go wrong even if the project uses hardly any parts at all LOL

A valuable bonus with this design is that when the cranked-up power in the super-cam falls and the LED dims,  the light remains on, but now only as a faint glimmer. The glimmer is too feeble to serve as a torch but sufficient for you to locate the torch in the dark. So then with a spot more cranking you can charge up the super-cap to full power again and away you go once more.

In glimmer mode sufficient power remains in the super-cam to last throughout the night, any night, even the long hours of a northern winter one. I think that's what engineers call belt and braces.

That's great Michelle. I liked the project too, and I use one of the torches on my bedside table. The other day I could see the 'glimmer', and I hadn't wound it for many, many hours - 16 I think.