Crazy Amp Draw - Super Joule Ringer 3.0 - Need help...

[br0ns0n77]

Hey guys,

I revisited my SJR 3.0 I built months back, got it all hooked back up and noticed with a 7.5 watt LED bulb the transistor got a bit above room temperature. So I put my meter in line from the positive terminal of the battery to the outer winding of the coil and the reading was around 3.0-5.0amps from a 12 volt source?!? Do I have the meter placed in the correct spot on the circuit to read the amps correctly?

The SJR was built to Lasersaber's specs using a ferrite rod with it layered end to end with 28awg magnet wire and 14 gauge end to end on top of that. The circuit is hooked up correctly because it is oscillating, it's just pulling too many amps. According to his videos it should only be pulling 250mA with multiple bulbs...

I did notice after taking the outer winding off that some of the thinner magnet wire underneath had gotten a bit loose and overlapped some. Would this have anything to do with the crazy amp readings I'm getting?

I'm totally scratching my head on this one. Thanks in advance for the help!

[br0ns0n77]

So I just took off all the old wire and put on a new roll of magnet wire, top to bottom and new 14 gauge top to bottom. Hooked it up - same result. The bulbs I'm trying to power are rated at 90mA. I have no idea why this circuit is drawing so much current... It's hooked up to a 12 golf cart battery. Any ideas? I've followed his schematic exactly to a tee.

Thanks