Big Joule Theif

[Tectalabyss]

Way to go everyone

Hi Everyone.
I've been reading for a while to get caught back up on thing's.WOW all of you are doing great! Thank's. Tec

[jeanna]

Big toroid availability and price

Hi everybody,

I have just received an email from the first distributor of large toroids I contacted.
They say they never quoted me a price on the large one since they never had it.
They have the 2 1/2 inch one which I recently used.
It is excellent but not strong enough... maybe for the big cfl. (But is for the 13w )
The one they have is epoxy coated and costs 12.40 so, in a way the 25 dollar minimum is easily met however the quote is for 3, so it is really around $36.
This is a retail sale and they will have them in stock soon.
So if you can get over the price surprise, I do recommend this.

=====
.....Concerning the cost and availability of OW-46113-TC (uncoated core), we do
not stock this core either, but we do carry ZW-46113-TC (and we will have
this core on Feb 05,2010). If you require the uncoated version, Dexter
Magnetics does have this core in stock. If you are able to use the coated
version, your price is as follows:

Part # ZW-46113-TC

3-24 : 12.4000
25-49 : 9.8700
============

I apologize for all this, and I hope this can help those who seriously want to make some with this.

jeanna

PS they also said the following:

With regards to OW48613TC, [The big gold] this is not a core that we normally stock. It is
available directly from the factory (but there is a high minimum order). [yup, I think $500 or $5000.]
This core is also available from Dexter Magnetics or Allstar Magnetics (they
are Magnetics other distributors).

With regards to the price, this core is a very large (and expensive) core
and it is unlikely that it will be available for the $2 range as the factory
distributor price is well above this range. If you only require a few pcs to
test your design, you may be able to request samples from the factory.

[jeanna]

I just figured out how to get a stand alone lamp stand that will work with any lamp that has an unmodified LoA bulb. The switch on this turns off completely and as there are 2 plugs available, yes, you can light 2 lamps. This is fully bright. When a second lamp shares the circuit with the other plug socket, this dims a small amount, but both lights are very bright and I believe all the spikes are being used (=fully efficient) with 2 lamps.

All I am showing here is what goes on the board and how it works.
To turn it off, the switch must be off, because the circuit is on even though there is no light.
That is because the transistor is on when the battery is in place not because there is anything connected to the secondary. Anything on the secondary is gratis.

No video today, just these 2 stills.

jeanna

[Lidmotor]

Chilliqueen replication

@ All
I went ahead and replicated Chilliqueen's last circuit and made a video of it. The main purpose was to see if I could remove the parts from the camera circuit board and then get them stuck back together into a running circuit. It wasn't easy. I went ahead and bought a desoldering tool to do it. It took 3 cameras to get it right. The first one had the wrong parts, the second one I broke the transformer, and the third one was the winner. The circuit is really nothing new but the method of removing parts and then reassembling them was new to me.

YouTube - Chilliqueen high voltage circuit using camera parts.ASF

Lidmotor

[Lidmotor]

No No NO That was good thing!!!

i really i didn't mean to sound bad..
i always try to bring alittle something different in on the table..
i just didn't what to reinvent the wheel..
so i am sorry for sounding like a prick..
maybe i just need more sleep

out

robbie

Hey that was really helpful. Not a negative at all. Actually the circuits listed on that thread we should all look at again. Lots of good ideas there.
My farvorite saying (that was posted on the wall of my 7th grade drafting class) is: " Learn from other's mistakes because you will not live long enough to make them all yourself."
As I get older I undertand those words more and more. Life is short.

Lidmotor

[kooler]

sorry

i really i didn't mean to sound bad..
i always try to bring alittle something different in on the table..
i just didn't what to reinvent the wheel..
so i am sorry for sounding like a prick..
maybe i just need more sleep

out

robbie

[Lidmotor]

Camera circuits ---been there done that

here are the tried and true diagrams or schematics of the camera transformers
.. more simple and alot with better results..
oh, 250 volts from a camera transformer is low compared to some of what you will see here..

Joule Thief Circuit Diagrams, Etc....

not trying to sound mean here but.. it seems like we build the same thing .. every year..
let me know if i am wrong

robbie

@ Robbie
You are sooo right about this. It has been done before. Over and over again. I have played around with the camera circuits also and it is old news. Just thought that Chillqueen's circuit was interesting in the way that he presented it and how he put the pieces together.
Thanks for the heads up on this and the link to the thread at OU where all the circuits are.

Lidmotor

[kooler]

@ Jeanna & All
Chilliqueen has posted a new simple circuit that produces 250v from one AA. It is your idea Jeanna of using a secondary on a JT but-----he did it using only parts from a disposable flash camera. The circuit we could use on our toroids if we want but I think that I will try to replicate the exact one that he shows in his video. It is an excellent HOW TO video and the only hard part will be getting the parts off the camera circuit board without damaging them.

YouTube - RLC Resonant Circuit - One Transistor

Cheers,

Lidmotor

here are the tried and true diagrams or schematics of the camera transformers
.. more simple and alot with better results..
oh, 250 volts from a camera transformer is low compared to some of what you will see here..

Joule Thief Circuit Diagrams, Etc....

not trying to sound mean here but.. it seems like we build the same thing .. every year..
let me know if i am wrong

robbie

[Lidmotor]

Chillqueen's newest HV circuit

@ Jeanna & All
Chilliqueen has posted a new simple circuit that produces 250v from one AA. It is your idea Jeanna of using a secondary on a JT but-----he did it using only parts from a disposable flash camera. The circuit we could use on our toroids if we want but I think that I will try to replicate the exact one that he shows in his video. It is an excellent HOW TO video and the only hard part will be getting the parts off the camera circuit board without damaging them.

YouTube - RLC Resonant Circuit - One Transistor

Cheers,

Lidmotor

[jeanna]

Yup, my guess is that it is the transistor.
One day I checked the mAdraw diff between the TIP3055 and the TIP31.
I try to use the TIP31 as a result of that test. (but if you use 12v you might need the 3055,)

I am not convinced about testing amps anymore.
I think the resistance required for the test materially changes the circuit and the result is meaningless. I am just beginning to no longer look at amps draw because of this, so I may switch back.

In a related test (to see how much of the draw in the circuit comes from the transistor), I took a rechargeable AAA and used the same cell of the charger each time and I made battery rundown tests on the exact same circuit with the same everything except different load from the secondary.
The final test was without any load at all.
All times the life of the battery was about the same. (within 6% of each other)
I do not want to repeat this too many times for the sake of my batteries. Not to mention... each time it took about all day.
But I think it is worth noting that the transistor is the big amps draw in a joule thief. That is, once you have removed the led from the basic jt led spot and use only a secondary.

===========
Now, to answer the q what can I do?
1- You will get higher frequency and lower voltage output to the secondary if you RAISE the resistance at the base of the resistor.
So, if you can stand the lower voltage, you can lower the amps draw from the battery this way.
2- It is fiddly but adding a cap across the base resistor can also significantly lower the amps draw.
You need a big box of caps to find the right one, but they do not need to be special, because at the base resistor spot the volts are still very low.

(Keep records because you will not want to repeat this each time. )

jeanna

[Mark]

Ok I just did quick test and unhooked 12 volt charging battery and input amps droped down quite a bit. But its still over 100ma. I have a 100ma and a 5amp meter so it pegs the 100ma meter and is hard to tell draw on 5amp meter when I unhook charge battery.

[Mark]

Hey Jeanna and Lid

Have either of you tried using a MLJ21194 transistor on the big toriod set up. I just hooked up a good meter and I'm drawing 500ma! What the hell! Is it the transistor or is there another problem? I'm playing around trying to charge 12 volt batteries with the spikes. Any advice.

Mark

[jeanna]

Hmm, I do not know.

I have a white lamp that made a video appearance to show how to modify the LoA bulb, and to add a switch into it.
It is off most of the time but the battery is in place and whenever I want a center-of-the-kitchen -table light, I turn it on.
It has been like this for weeks, so it really does go off.

Maybe this is relating to the charger instead of your switch?
What is that charger?
Somebody like jonny thought the charger was a battery with a joule thief right?
If that is true, then you have a toroid in 2 places, and maybe a cap in the charger too?
Are those chargers expensive?
Anybody game to open one up?
I can look in the thrift store next week.

This is getting really interesting.
I wonder if we can turn this to our advantage?
Thanks for doing that test,

hmm

jeanna

[kazm]

So Kazm,
My question is about the switch.
Since this is the unmodified bulb,...
Have you been able to turn off the light by the switch.?
I find, once it goes on I can only turn mine off by removing the battery.

Hi Jeanna,

Ran more tests today and have had no luck with the un-modified bulb or the modified bulb. In both cases when they battery is on but the socket switch is off, the battery is still actively being drained. I found a neat way to visualize this by using the 1-aa cell phone charger which has a red led indicator light on it which is lit when the battery is activated. As far as I can tell however this isn't related to the bulbs at all, it's just the way the JT works, i.e. as long as there is input from the battery there will be HV on the secondary, regardless of what's connected to the secondary (could be nothing). It's like the circuit itself is the load. You mentioned that "It is only happening with the unmodified LoA bulbs." so you seem to have gotten this working correctly with the switch using a gutted LED bulb...what am I missing?

Cheers,
kazm

[kooler]

bored

well
i wanted to see how low a led would go.. and i got bored so i went to work on it.....
nice research it was... now if i can do something with it beside a led????

YouTube - low ma joule thief part 2

let me know if you guys have any ideals

out