Joule Thief

[SirPeale]

I've been wanting to replace the green LED on my computer case with a blue one I scavenged from an LED pen that the batteries died in.  Direct replacement won't work because the LED is expecting at least 3 volts, but the computer only puts out two.

Saw a great project on Make a couple days ago - the Joule Thief.

edit: that's the SMT version... here is the regular version .

Figured I might be able to scavenge parts off some TV chassis and motherboards I've got lying around. 

I took a C3199 thinking I could use it (it's a NPN transistor) but in all the schematics I've read it calls for parts that cross to an NTE123.  It didn't work, and I can't find a part to scavenge.

I don't know enough about electronics to know *why* it doesn't work, can anyone explain?

[Ed_McCarron]

Is C1399 a house marking?  It didn't pop up in many searches.

My guess?  The gain on the part might be wrong.  Oscillators can be kinda finicky.

[SirPeale]

Typo - C3199.