Ultra efficient LED driver (new lasersabre Joule ringer)

[Zooty]

This is a comparison video. Check it out!
Light output test! LED without Joule Ringer VS LED with Joule Ringer. - YouTube
Also check out the cheap easy build video.
Cheap easy to build Joule Ringer. Runs on 2uA! - YouTube

[SkyWatcher]

Hi zooty, thanks for sharing the video links.
I wonder if using a 555 timer and pulsing the led, if we could achieve the similar 10 times less power needed results.
Not sure how that lux meter works, does it take average values like a DMM, if it does not, then a 555 timer pulsing an led might achieve the same, maybe.
Otherwise, it's still a great way to give light for less, even if it might be just fooling our eyes and possibly the lux meter.
peace love light
tyson

[Neight]

I really like this ultra efficient joule ringer! I have only started building joule thief and joule ringer circuits about 3 or 4 days ago, and have built a standard joule thief, the efficient joule ringer, and even gave the super joule ringer a try.
the joule thief and UEJR are both running right now, each off of it's own AA battery, and the amp draw difference is significant. Driving three LED's each, the joule thief is drawing 70mA, while the UEJR is only drawing 13mA and all 6 LED's are at full brightness.
the Super joule ringer that lasersaber posted a few months back didn't last long, I had a short somewhere in my circuit (might have damaged the enamel coating on the primary magnet wire coil) and my primary burned up in a hurry. I am getting ready to wind another one, and start with lower power, just to be safe
While I had it working, I had a neon lit up and it was getting enough voltage to produce a purple aura around the neon contacts, and the neon was glowing super bright. I was also able to get great light out of a 22W flo light, but wasn't able to take any measurements, as it died not long after I put the flo light on it.
Great easy circuits to work with, and a ton of fun to see just how much light you can get for minimal power input!

N8

[aaron5120]

Guys,
I have a hard time to visualize the schematic connections of the UEJT of Lasersaber through the YT clip. I like to follow conventional circuit diagrams instead of wiring "dead bugs" circuits )
Could anybody be so kind to do a circuit schematics of this UEJT for us? As looking at the diagram I drew, I could not find any difference between this UEJT and a conventional JT circuit.
Thanks for helping, guys
aaron5120

[Neight]

Guys,
I have a hard time to visualize the schematic connections of the UEJT of Lasersaber through the YT clip. I like to follow conventional circuit diagrams instead of wiring "dead bugs" circuits )
Could anybody be so kind to do a circuit schematics of this UEJT for us? As looking at the diagram I drew, I could not find any difference between this UEJT and a conventional JT circuit.
Thanks for helping, guys
aaron5120

Hey aaron5120
Min2oly posted a short video showing the schematic he drew up for it on youtube
here is the link

Cheap easy to build Joule Ringer corrected - YouTube

you can also see this same diagram @ lasersaber's website, laserhacker.com

I don't like building dead bugs either, and this helped a lot.
hope that helps

on a quick side note, I hooked a regular joule thief up to the output of the UEJR I made, and it is now running both circuits, driving 6 LED's total all on a nearly dead AAA battery pulling only 60mA at near full brightness. the joule thief alone wants to pull at least 50mA for the same light. If I do turn the trimmer pot I am using all the way down, it will pull over 100mA, but you really don't get much more light for all that extra current.
Very neat little circuit

N8

[aaron5120]

Hey aaron5120
Min2oly posted a short video showing the schematic he drew up for it on youtube
here is the link

Cheap easy to build Joule Ringer corrected - YouTube

you can also see this same diagram @ lasersaber's website, laserhacker.com

I don't like building dead bugs either, and this helped a lot.
hope that helps

on a quick side note, I hooked a regular joule thief up to the output of the UEJR I made, and it is now running both circuits, driving 6 LED's total all on a nearly dead AAA battery pulling only 60mA at near full brightness. the joule thief alone wants to pull at least 50mA for the same light. If I do turn the trimmer pot I am using all the way down, it will pull over 100mA, but you really don't get much more light for all that extra current.
Very neat little circuit

N8

thanks, NEIGHT,
Do you mean connecting the JT to the leads of LED of the UEJT circuit? Do those six leds you re lighting be all connected to the output of the JT or half to the UEJT and half to the JT? Sorry for my confusion.
Minoly2's diagram is great, now I see the difference,
Thanks Buddy.

[Neight]

thanks, NEIGHT,
Do you mean connecting the JT to the leads of LED of the UEJT circuit? Do those six leds you re lighting be all connected to the output of the JT or half to the UEJT and half to the JT? Sorry for my confusion.
Minoly2's diagram is great, now I see the difference,
Thanks Buddy.

No problem, I am happy to help in any way I can (the thanks should really go to Patrick (min2oly) as it was him who drew up the circuit.

What I have is a AAA battery hooked up to the UEJR, and the joule thief is basically in parallel with the LED across the collector/emitter on the UEJR. both are running, though I am pretty sure they are both just drawing straight from the battery, as it takes the same mA to light them combined as it does to light them separately. It is still cool to see one running the other though

Something interesting I have seen though...
I put a neo magnet on top of the UEJR toroid, and it boosts the light output, just like lasersaber with his super joule ringer. but when i hook up the UEJR and the joule thief together as I have, it actually reduces the light output from the LED's. If I remove the magnet when they are put together, the lights get brighter. I may make a short video showing this later this evening, but first I really need to clean off my bench, as it is getting very cluttered with all the experiments I have going
Great fun to play with, but now I have to clean my room...
If I am able to take a video tonight, I will post it up here

N8

[alexscg]

Potentiometer

Hi, I know this thread is a bit old, but I hope someone can answer my question.

Looking at the diagram I see the pot connected with pin 1 and 3, with no control (pin 2). How would one change the resistance via pot if you are essentially utilizing the full resistance value of the pot? ...or am I missing something?

Thanks for the dead bug analogy, love it!

[gyula]

Hi Alexscg,

Just connect the control pin (the wiper) to either pin 1 or pin 3 of the pot, does not matter to which. This way you will have a variable resistor from the full pot value down to near some Ohms. You may wish to use a fix resistor of say 1 kOhm in series with the pot to avoid its near some Ohm values. Such low values are not always good to the transistor should you turn the pot to that low value, so in that case the 1 kOhm will still be in series.

Gyula

[Euphoric Now]

Reverse enginered!

This being the most recent thread on JT circuits, I'm trying to see if I can use some parts of some burnt out EL wire drivers (real cheap crap from China) that run from 2 AA bateries. The wire is fine but the buggers keep blowing so I would like to try changing what I need to light the EL wire.

There is a black gob covering a control IC but I've reverse enginered from the EL wire back to the trace coming from the contol IC.



My questions are: are these juole thief circuits talked about on this site just stipped down Hartley ocsillators? Is all I need to do is connect R1 to + to get it to start?
The transformer windings resistances are:
pin1 to pin2 = 195 ohms
pin2 to pin3 = .7 ohm
pin3 to pin4 = .2 ohm.

This is for an outdoor solar powerd sign with 4 banks of 3 x 1.2 volt nicads that come on at dusk (you can't see the EL wire light during the day).

Here's a pic of when it was all working = 5 EL wires around the letters.
London-20130530-00134.jpg

Any sugestions/help is very much welcomed.

[xee2]

Another circuit for a 2 uA Joule thief >>> 2 uA Joule thief - YouTube

[Euphoric Now]

Opps

Sorry about the bad schematic. The transistor is a PNP type not NPN as shown. I did say these were blown right. I've attached a new updated schematic with a darlington arrangement instead of just 1 transistor (may protect the output driver better?).

china juole thief2.jpg

Will this work with R2 connected to -V instead of the control IC? Basically I just want to reuse the little transformers and the 4.7 uF caps.

Thanks for the reply xee2. Nice and clean.
Too bad I want to drive more than a few leds. The draw from the battery for the EL wire driver is about 100mA. A scope measurement across the EL wire was about 150 vac at a couple kilohertz (you can here some whine).