Big Joule Theif

[pentiger]

Hi and thanks. I was thinking the same, that the toroid has low permeability.

Anyway I tried what Vaporizer and Tec suggested. I added a LED inline with a 10k resistor, because I burned one with the resistor.

I am still running it with 3v and it looks promissing.

I will keep you updated.

Pentiger

It lasted 45 minutes in this setup. The transistor was hot all that time. I now run it with 1.5v and I still have the same voltage (with some tuning)

This may be the setup. I removed the 10K resistor that was inline with the LED.

Pentiger

[pentiger]

Ok. Yes it should work. As I said, the resistor will limit the whole circuit current draw for extended run times, not just protect the Base from having the 1K to low. If the core is painted, I'd say the transistor is damaged from no LED on the E-C connections. It's probably been damaged and even though working, its not doing well. If it's hot, that means current is being used to create it. You have eliminated abt all but that. If you replace it without the LED, you'll likely damage the next one. My best suggestion at this point. If the transistor is damaged, adding the LED to it now won't prove much as the secondary seems to be putting out low from what you posted. It may light, but that doesnt confirm the condition of the transistor. Just that the circuit is working, but maybe not well from what you describe.

On my 1st 1 had issues like this and found it was just better to fall back to basics and then use a new transistor. That solved my problems and then as I substituted old parts back in a good circuit, the bad one was easily found.

Thanks, I will try this last setup I posted before and then I will try and replace the transistor.

[synchro]

A.p.m. -j.t.

I connected my flash mod neon to my Joe Tate Ambient Power Module and measured .02 amps from the ground antenna on a draw of .16 on the 1.5 volt AA. It would take 8. 4 cap 4 diode modules to run the light with no battery.

[cikljamas]

@ cikljamas,
It's easy to misundersand sometimes what is said in type. Without a "j/k" I had to assume you were serious. I apologize for taking what you said wrong. I have seen many get mad and much drama over things like this. We don't need that here. All is good.
Glad the cfl mystery is over! The picture I posted of the 9w "U" bulb had a neon and cap in the plastic part between the pins. I cut the bottom off to remove them. All you want from a floro is the wires coming from the glass tube or it wont work. Sometimes you have to look with some style bulbs. The bigger "straight bulbs" seem to have nothing in the ends and can be used without removing anything.

Thank you very much Vaporizer for all these details, it help a lot someone
like me who has not experience at all with these stuffs...

Has anyone tried this :
YouTube - Water Battery - Quest For Free Electricity Part 1

I think it would be great to take two glass of water and use that power
for one of our small JTs ?

I m going to try this tomorrow anyway !

Cheers !

[NickZ]

@Vapor, Pen, and All
I agree with the solution of changing transistor and resistor to see if the current ones are not working right. The leds and can be lit and also last a while even when just running straight off of the battery. But if the Jtc lights with one AA, and last all night, then it's probably is ok. If it lasts a week or two, you know it's ok.
The magic is in getting it to light a bunch of Leds for a long time. I'm looking into the Captret Thread to see if a Jtc can be made to work off of, what? Capacitors, and dead batteries???

[Tectalabyss]

Captret & JT working together

Hello All.
I made the simple captret this morning it worked so I tried adding my JT to it. sofar they are working together.I dont see how since I have the pos + from the JT going to the Neg - on the captret? The battery is slowly building up the led are very bright Fingers crossed.Pictures included below. Thanks Tec

[Vaporizer]

Hi Tec & all.
I looked up The Dr's page on the captret.

http://67.76.235.52/capret.htm

I haven't read much on it at all, but I'm struggling to see any significance of the circuit. Is it supposed to raise the battery voltage? On the Dr's page I can see where the cap could get voltage to it , but its flowing through 2 different resistors lowering the current(the LED being one). If the LED does indeed pulse "vlf" as the Dr noted, it should pulse charge the cap, but there is no evident indication of the voltage being raised to a higher potential that I can possibly fathom. Pulsing the cap in this configuration can cause the cap to react differently than normal. Like a battery, but it should not get a higher voltage than the battery. If a potential diff in voltage across the cap is causing the cap to react like a battery, it will develop gas and possibly blow if the reaction is large enough inside the cap.

All in all, I'd have to say pass on this one. If you do play with it...keep that cap in an open top container in case it does pop & flash.

[Tectalabyss]

Thanks for the update

Hi Tec & all.
I looked up The Dr's page on the captret.

http://67.76.235.52/capret.htm

I haven't read much on it at all, but I'm struggling to see any significance of the circuit. Is it supposed to raise the battery voltage? On the Dr's page I can see where the cap could get voltage to it , but its flowing through 2 different resistors lowering the current(the LED being one). If the LED does indeed pulse "vlf" as the Dr noted, it should pulse charge the cap, but there is no evident indication of the voltage being raised to a higher potential that I can possibly fathom. Pulsing the cap in this configuration can cause the cap to react differently than normal. Like a battery, but it should not get a higher voltage than the battery. If a potential diff in voltage across the cap is causing the cap to react like a battery, it will develop gas and possibly blow if the reaction is large enough inside the cap.

All in all, I'd have to say pass on this one. If you do play with it...keep that cap in an open top container in case it does pop & flash.

Hello Vaporizer & All.
Thanks for the warning I've seen The big can type go boom and it not pretty we used cap banks at work to help with the amp draw on the soft start for the big hp motors and when they went you had better take cover Ha.My setup is running has been since this morning no heat from the 2N3904 transistor or any where else yet.I tried hooking this same battery to my JT and the first thing to pop was the transistor. I just dont know any Ideals ??? Thanks Tec

[Vaporizer]

Hi All,
The link Nick posted Jule Thief is very interesting when looking at just the math portion IMHO.
I was glad to see the example used the same wire dia for both. If looking at the ratios of windings, L1=4, L2=8, L3=4. So, we have a 2:1 or 3:1 from the primary to secondary depending if you use L1 added to L2 for the math. It results in 7v per L3 turn drawing 80ma from the battery.
Example 2 L1=10, L2=20, L3=4. Now we have a ratio of 5:1 or 7.5:1 with a result of 4v per turn on L3 drawing 45ma.
One would initially think example 2 would give a higher output using conventional thinking with straight math. It does have a better ratio for stepping up. It appears the longer wire length, which has more resistance, highly influences the output. No doubt permeability of the core plays an important role here too influencing efficiency.

I think I have a way to do this test running all the combinations pretty quickly and simply. I'm going to give it a try and if it works I'll post the method with pics.

The original JT schematics showed a 1:1 ratio(L1, L2), turns varied, but it seems it was more of a "proof of concept" showing it would work. If one plans to not use a secondary this information is still crucial for determining what you want to do with the E-C load. You may want to run 1 or a few LED's in a flashlight for a long time, or you may be looking to use many LED's. Knowing this will determine how you wind for the situation you want to acquire.

Hopefully this makes sense to more than just me!

[Vaporizer]

Hi Tec,
I noticed one thing right off after reading your hookup description. "pos + from the JT going to the Neg - on the captret", That doesnt match the Dr's configuration schematic. I would think the JT + would go to where his 12v + is.
Am I missing something?

[Tectalabyss]

Theres the rub ?

Hi Tec,
I noticed one thing right off after reading your hookup description. "pos + from the JT going to the Neg - on the captret", That doesnt match the Dr's configuration schematic. I would think the JT + would go to where his 12v + is.
Am I missing something?

Hello Vaporizer & All.
I was hoping you could tell me ?? when I tried hooking it up the other way it wouldn't work? If I run it straight to the battery it pops the transistor.If I run it this way the leds are very bright no heat and the battery start's climbing. I just don't know ??? Today has been a good clear headed day so I took advantage If tomorrow is as good I will try and draw a diagram of my mess and post it. If not as soon as I am able. Thanks. Tec

[Jbignes5]

Of course it doesn't match...

Hello Vaporizer & All.
I was hoping you could tell me ?? when I tried hooking it up the other way it wouldn't work? If I run it straight to the battery it pops the transistor.If I run it this way the leds are very bright no heat and the battery start's climbing. I just don't know ??? Today has been a good clear headed day so I took advantage If tomorrow is as good I will try and draw a diagram of my mess and post it. If not as soon as I am able. Thanks. Tec

Do a simple experiment for me. Hook the captret up alone. Once you get it running with the led over the pos and neg of the cap let it run for a bit. Afdter a small time measure from the negative of the battery to each post of the captret. You will be surprised to find out that each combo of negative (o) on the captret to the other posts have a positive potential on each. Meaning (o) to + of the captret and (o) to the negative. Although the negative is lower in potential then the positive they both have positive potentials. The trick there is the negative of the cap is induced from the positive. Thats because the case to positive is the driver and the (o) to thew negative is the load connection. This induces a flow in the (o) to negative of the capacitor and I do think it is free. But the flow is weaker then the batteries flow. The JT is the way to utilize this weak flow.

[Tectalabyss]

You are correct

Do a simple experiment for me. Hook the captret up alone. Once you get it running with the led over the pos and neg of the cap let it run for a bit. Afdter a small time measure from the negative of the battery to each post of the captret. You will be surprised to find out that each combo of negative (o) on the captret to the other posts have a positive potential on each. Meaning (o) to + of the captret and (o) to the negative. Although the negative is lower in potential then the positive they both have positive potentials. The trick there is the negative of the cap is induced from the positive. Thats because the case to positive is the driver and the (o) to thew negative is the load connection. This induces a flow in the (o) to negative of the capacitor and I do think it is free. But the flow is weaker then the batteries flow. The JT is the way to utilize this weak flow.

@Jbignes.
First let me say thank you.I did the test you were right.I also found that if I changed the setting on the variable resistor on the JT it would also change the voltage draw on the battery. I don't have the right equipment to check this setup the right way.But this has been a fun learning experience and still more to learn.Thanks Tec

[Jbignes5]

You are welcome...

@Jbignes.
First let me say thank you.I did the test you were right.I also found that if I changed the setting on the variable resistor on the JT it would also change the voltage draw on the battery. I don't have the right equipment to check this setup the right way.But this has been a fun learning experience and still more to learn.Thanks Tec

One thing to note as well. If you parallel the captrets this flow gets stronger as well. I have done up to 8 captrets in parallel and it give a good amount that way. If turning up the JT decreases the battery then parallel a few more captrets in there and I bet you wont have problems.

By the way I have a few trannies that I need help with in getting my own circuit up and running. I know they are 1200 volts capable. The model number is c4632. Would those work in the JT? They came from a professional monitor that was burned out. If someone could tell me if they are right for the JT that would be very much appreciated.

[Tectalabyss]

I'll Try that

One thing to note as well. If you parallel the captrets this flow gets stronger as well. I have done up to 8 captrets in parallel and it give a good amount that way. If turning up the JT decreases the battery then parallel a few more captrets in there and I bet you wont have problems.

By the way I have a few trannies that I need help with in getting my own circuit up and running. I know they are 1200 volts capable. The model number is c4632. Would those work in the JT? They came from a professional monitor that was burned out. If someone could tell me if they are right for the JT that would be very much appreciated.

@Jbignes.
I'll try that and see.On the transistors I am not sure I've tried some very old and some new one's If you know you JT is working Ok then you can try the C4632's with a 1.5 AA and go up from there.and if the work great.Hope that helps.someone here will know for sure. Thanks Tec