Big Joule Theif

[pentiger]

@vaporizer and NickZ

Thank you for the support. I don't know just how to do it?

here is my circuit:



for the primaries I tried other ratios and there's no big difference so I left the last version 6,6,400.

Pentiger

[cikljamas]

Forgot to thank Vaporizer for that link, it helped a lot...
Cfl mystery resolved !
Thanks a lot !

[Tectalabyss]

Update

Hello all.
I have added a diode 1N4148 and a 47mf 25 volt radial in parallel from the base wire going to the variable resistor that goes to the transistor base this really seems to help on the battery drain. I will try and post picture's in the morning.
Tec

Hi All.
This test setup has 4 & 33 wind's of 26 awg wire on the toroid with the above added parts this is using a 2N3904 Transistor.I've been running a setup with similar parts since the first of the month with good results I checked the volts this morning and it was 1.287 volts. Volts before start were 1.301. this battery had been sitting for a few months in a controller I had not been able to use.and I think rechargeable battery's lose volt's sitting. Here are some Picture's Tec

[cikljamas]

Wow, it is not readable, i will attach this picture here :
And L1 , L2 = 4,5 ...what is that too, anybody knows ?

[cikljamas]

@ cikljamas,
Sorry to hear abt your meter. So its my fault? Every thread I read in always mentions to be careful using a meter on JT's. Especially big ones. A good reason to read threads from the beginning?

Here is what is removed from a spiral cfl hidden in the base.
There is a video on youtube somewhere.
Gutting Old CLFs | Jim On Light

Hello Vaporizer and All.
@cikliamas...Almost all meter's are marked plainly what they voltage's they can safely read.And well if you take the time to read the forum's you would know that the bigger coil's go way over 600/1000 volt's.I am not being mean Just please don't blame others for not paying attention. Tec

Hi guys, who said its anybodys fault but mine ?....
I would be very stupid if i thought it is Vaporizers or anyone elses fault...
Come on, do not make me laugh, but it was sympathetic to see how
Vaporizer put that question to me : so is it my fault ?
It would be more interesting if someone explain to me what does these
marks (TP and DP) on this diagram mean :

http://www.energeticforum.com/attachments/renewable-energy/2717d1241114418t-big-joule-theif-sjt.jpg

Thanks and cheers !

[Tectalabyss]

Diode and 47mf cap

Hello all.
I have added a diode 1N4148 and a 47mf 25 volt radial in parallel from the base wire going to the variable resistor that goes to the transistor base this really seems to help on the battery drain. I will try and post picture's in the morning.
Tec

[Tectalabyss]

@ cikljamas,
Sorry to hear abt your meter. So its my fault? Every thread I read in always mentions to be careful using a meter on JT's. Especially big ones. A good reason to read threads from the beginning?

Here is what is removed from a spiral cfl hidden in the base.
There is a video on youtube somewhere.
Gutting Old CLFs | Jim On Light

Hello Vaporizer and All.
@cikliamas...Almost all meter's are marked plainly what the voltage's they can safely read.And well if you take the time to read the forum's you would know that the bigger coil's go way over 600/1000 volt's.I am not being mean Just please don't blame others for not paying attention. Tec

[NickZ]

@Pen:
Maybe try to reverse the polarity off the secondary. See it that helps. It may be some simple little thing that keeps it from lasting longer.
I notice that the leds bulbs will light both ways on a secondary, but they are a bit brighter connected one way than the other.
I've had the same problem with short duty cycles, but sometimes it just goes away and everything work fine again. I still can't figure all that is going on yet.

[Vaporizer]

Hi pent,
I'm as new as anyone else to these things. Mine had a D2470. They were old boards I got 2-3yrs ago already stripped out. I lost 2 of them. 1st one I didn't catch why and the 2nd one I was feeling for heat and I was to slow lol. The Kodak if I remember reading right has abt 259 ohms on the output and the Fuji is abt 375? If the wire were the same, the Fuji has alot more turns and would have a higher output voltage.

The Tip31 should work. Abt any NPN will, its a matter of what you intend to load it with or how high a voltage you are running.

There is no sure cut & dry method. You can get close though then fine tune.
Have you checked your wiring closely? Do you have a huge load? Something is causing all the heat and battery drain. Could your coils be shorted to the core?
Can you post a drawing or pic of your circuit? If you are using just a trigger & primary coil with 1 LED across the E-C, it should not get hot or draw hardly any current at all. If you backed up to that point, you can add a 1 ohm resistor from battery + to the circuit. Then set you meter for volts and read on both sides of the resistor with your probes. Not to ground. Red on one side, black on the other side of the resistor. The reading in volts is now the current being used. 1v=1ma. So, if it's reading .465v using 1 LED, that's 465ma and way to much. It should be just a few ma. If its high, your transistor or coil is bad somehow. That is all with 1 AA or AAA.

Hope that helps you find the problem.

[pentiger]

@ pentiger,
After seeing a vid, I guess that one I have is a Kodak. They arent supposed to be as good as a Fuji, so actually I feel better to get what I did out of it. lol
I read somewhere they werent worth using, Fuji was. The drawings for the Fuji show 45ga wire on the output. That is so fine, I can't imagine it lasting long under a big load.
The transistor in my pic is a TIP31C. When I upped it to 2 AA rechargeables @ 2.25v it cooked the original transistor in just over 10 seconds from heat. The TIP31C handles it well. It may not be the best one for the circuit. I have some 2N3055's I need to try and a few others. then order what is best.

Thanks. I had a FUJI circuit and the transistor D1960 blew up when i upped the input voltage to 3v. I tried the tip31 and it doesn't work, that's why I am asking. I guess I will have to get myself a kodak camera now

I still struggle with my big JT as the batteries die to quick on me.
I have a 1k ohm variable resistor and rheostat at the battery and it dies so fast that it's not funny.

I wish that there was bulletproof formula for achieving the perfect JT.

pentiger

[Vaporizer]

@ cikljamas,
Sorry to hear abt your meter. So its my fault? Every thread I read in always mentions to be careful using a meter on JT's. Especially big ones. A good reason to read threads from the beginning?

Here is what is removed from a spiral cfl hidden in the base.
There is a video on youtube somewhere.
Gutting Old CLFs | Jim On Light

[cikljamas]

@ cikljamas,
I wasn't trying to discourage you from cfl's. I like the way they light.....lol
I have been reading that LED's are so much more efficient is all. Don't kill your meter trying to measure the output coil. It may show 220v and have 600v spikes that are to fast to read resulting in meter death.

Hi Vaporizer !
Why did not you tell me that before, i just killed my analog meter !
I tried to repair this stuff, but i just can not figure out what in the meter
failed to be able to change that with healthy one brand new component...
Fuse and diode protection is written on that meter, and fuse is untouched,
diodes are untouched too, but meter is dead, so what is broken in there
after all ???

neons and circuits in the lights base that need removed or they won't work.
.

Do not get that...Some picture would be of much help !

Thanks and cheers !

[Vaporizer]

@ pentiger,
After seeing a vid, I guess that one I have is a Kodak. They arent supposed to be as good as a Fuji, so actually I feel better to get what I did out of it. lol
I read somewhere they werent worth using, Fuji was. The drawings for the Fuji show 45ga wire on the output. That is so fine, I can't imagine it lasting long under a big load.
The transistor in my pic is a TIP31C. When I upped it to 2 AA rechargeables @ 2.25v it cooked the original transistor in just over 10 seconds from heat. The TIP31C handles it well. It may not be the best one for the circuit. I have some 2N3055's I need to try and a few others. then order what is best.

The toroids I have in all my pics so far came from ebay. I just searched and found 3" & 2 3/8" dia. Pure luck. I almost have one of the 2 3/8" wound to test out. I saw a vid of someone lighting a 13w spiral very bright, but they said continuous use fried the transformer(Fuji). That doesnt meet my need for power outages. They were using it with 3 AAA rechargeables from a phone pack. Raising the input voltage is an easy way to get more out since its multiplied through the circuit. Making a better circuit, thats tougher for sure. I'd like it to do well on a AA or AAA. In an emergency, I can be flexable. lol
Sorry you lost yours. What failed?

@ Nick,
In reading all that I did, the link you posted was maybe the 1st from him that actually showed anything. Most I saw were posts of great things & claims, but never any details others could use. I thought he was doing this as a business and was tooting his horn, but keeping it proprietary.
The L1 to L2 ratio I havent figured out yet. The ratio to the secondary is a simple step u transformer. The more winds the higher output voltage, but the higher you step it up the less current it has. The BJT started with a 1:1 L1, L2 which I thought odd as people posted scope shots of a higher voltage. The little thought I I have give it so far seems the trigger voltage fires the circuit from part of the coil and the collapse comes back from it and the other portion of the coil. This should be where the increase comes from. Say 3 winds L1 fires it and 10 total (L2 7 winds) collapses back. Without controlling the base or loading it somewhere, E-C, with something it should continue to increase till failure.
I totally agree with you on the transistors. All of the same number will not be the same and once hot to the touch, they are never the same, but still work to some degree. I still occasionally swap one to see if I damaged it.
Adding the cap does help, but it did increase my current draw. A .047 won't pass dc so it has to be getting ac from the E line and shuttling it back to the base for use. That would increase the saturation and increase the brightness.

@ cikljamas,
I wasn't trying to discourage you from cfl's. I like the way they light.....lol
I have been reading that LED's are so much more efficient is all. Don't kill your meter trying to measure the output coil. It may show 220v and have 600v spikes that are to fast to read resulting in meter death. The "straight" flouro tubes are ran just as they are. The compact ones have caps, neons and circuits in the lights base that need removed or they won't work. I dont think current has much to do with lighting florescent lights the way we are. The higher the voltage the brighter they get. All I can think is the high voltage excites the vapor in the bulb so it floreses the phosphor coating. Excite the gas more, brighter light.
The previous post of the 9w "U" compact had a cap & neon in the base I had to remove. I have a 22w round "halo" florescent that the same circuit lights with no mods(it is a normal 120v AC), but it was dim due to my low output vs its size.

@ xee2,
I've read a lot of your work and its been great. Thank you for sharing. Nice ladder on 9v. TV flybacks can normally pack a lot of current and 30,000v under normal operation. 6000v doesnt surprize me at all. Lighting a cfl with 10ma does though and it somewhat confirms my theory on exciting the gas to a higher potential.

[NickZ]

Guys:
I made a new Jt today using a one inch toroid with a secondary. My first one with a secondary. Connected it to a TIP3055 transistor, and was able to not only light 20 Leds nice and bright, but also a couple Neons, between the C and E rail, at the same time. First time for me lighting Neons. I also added an extra capacitor (0.047mf) between the E and Base rails which added about 15 percent more brightness. I tried connecting all the available leds that I had, onto the Jt, and it light them all (about 40 or so). Probably could have light many more.
The transistor was getting hot, but when I added the extra capacitor and a neon or two, it helped to help keep it running cooler.
If I could get more fit more windings on the secondary, and also use two AAs, I'll bet that it would light a CFL. It won't light it with just one AA. Anyways, I had my first minor shock from that Jtc today, so I must be doing something right.
My analog meter when off the scale... then later would not move at all while the leds and neons are bright. I'm still trying to figure it out. Pretty neat though, can't wait to try those big coils, like the one in the picture on my last post. Looks like a 5 or 6 inch toroid.
NZ

[xee2]

@ synchro

Easy flyback circuit >>> YouTube - 9V battery Jacob ladder

NOTES:
1. correct transistor part number is MJE13007
2. pin numbers will depend on the flyback you use (pin numbers on schematic are for the flyback I used)
3. I got the circuit idea from Kooler
4. circuit will light fluorescent tube from one AA batttery with only 10 mA (decrease resistor value to get brighter tube)
5. WARNING - high voltage can be dangerous, this circuit is only for those who can work safely with high voltages (output voltage is about 6000 volts)