Joule Ringer!

[FRC]

240 volt

The CFL in the video was a 240 volt. I am using 120 volt Philips 13 watt spirals.
The circuit looks basically the same in the video as the one I have. The video is
not using a Joule ringer setup. There was not a cap/resistor or coil/diode addition. Still would like to try the flyback circuit if it could be located.

FRC

[aaron5120]

whichmodel

Trouble is, its the Fuji AAA QuickSnap that I have. Do you know which model has the AA ?

FRC

The trouble is the AA model is already ceased for production. Fuji figured it out to make the AAA version more efficient. so she quit producing the AA version. Try ebay to get the older version. Or some other disposable cameras which are not Fuji. But you will get less chance for success following that path. The AA Fuji version is a must for a primetime successful experiment,my friend..

[FRC]

The circuit is a AA battery model, the AAA model does not work.

Trouble is, its the Fuji AAA QuickSnap that I have. Do you know which model has the AA ?

FRC

[aaron5120]

CFL with Fujicircuit

Has anyone been able to light a CFL with less modification to the original Fuji AAA circuit ? I have been playing with the circuit, getting shocked numerous times. I want to leave the circuit intact, (until I can get another one at least) so I can use it for a cap pulse delay type application. The "Xenon flasher circuit" gave me the idea. Just do it backwards, bigger cap instead of smaller. Also, I have been trying to find Xee2's flyback circuit that Lidmotor refered to,
(since I got a flyback out of an old computer monitor) can't seem to find it
anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

FRC

FRC,
Here itis,as you requested..
YouTube - Running a 240v lightbulb of one AA battery. Very real and very usefull. With full how to. 100% real
The instructable is very clear to follow. The circuit is a AA battery model, the AAA model does not work.

[FRC]

Anyone ?

Has anyone been able to light a CFL with less modification to the original Fuji AAA circuit ? I have been playing with the circuit, getting shocked numerous times. I want to leave the circuit intact, (until I can get another one at least) so I can use it for a cap pulse delay type application. The "Xenon flasher circuit" gave me the idea. Just do it backwards, bigger cap instead of smaller. Also, I have been trying to find Xee2's flyback circuit that Lidmotor refered to,
(since I got a flyback out of an old computer monitor) can't seem to find it
anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

FRC

[Michael John Nunnerley]

@ all

You can take this as you like but a FL works on the ionisation of the gas inside, this requires HV and this HV can be reduced by heating the gas, this is how a FL works. Now if you put sufficient HV then you do not have to heat the gas "resistances in FL", so as I have said if you have enough HV then the FL will light to full.

Now what I would like to see is if you connect the FL in a different way so as to pass the maximum HV through the gas without the battery "cap" seeing a CURRENT draw. Think about what Dr. Stiffler does in the sec system, you can put a HV on the input but ground it to the source without the source seeing a complete loop, I say complete, it is needed a partial loop so as to maintain a zero current draw from the source, the source will see an input "return" and an output "flow" but are equal. Now I do not know if there is energy coming in from the "ambient" as I have not done any experiments on theses circuits, they may just be very efficient low enery circuits.

For excess energy you need to see a ZERO current draw, less than zero you will not measure with an ammeter, only Zero to a negative sign.

Mike

[raff]

@lasersaber,

on your latest video, there is this other coil<the loooong one/aircore?> (apart from the bifilar) and the ferrite core trafo, is it connected with the actual circuit?



-Raff

[kcarring]

Yep, I had basically the same experience with the original camera board transistor. Also blew most of my IRF640 Mosfets too but at least they lasted a while. Adding resistance to them seem to make things inoperable or almost no light output. I think it needs fine tuning and patience to work just right.

Yes, I'll keep playing with it using garbage and then when something runs properly, I can examine what's going on from there before I use any bought transistors.

I also have a 12v air fan/ionizer that I gutted out, that has some HV coils, might prove interesting for this circuit.

I don't quite understand how a fluorescent mathematically constitutes a "load" that is calcuable in this circuit, that's a bit beyond my current knowledge but it's all good learning!

I am curious as to what people would consider the min. bifilar in diameter / guage / windings, and also.. if a bifilar has say 3 times as many windings as another, (same guage/diamter air core) - how does this effect things. Does the bifilar create the HV, and therefore a person shouldn't wind any more than needed as to not botther going hundreds of volts over what is required for the CFL? Thanks

[ewizard]

Hiiya!

snip

** About 20 minutes after this post I went through my junk circuits, and I actually found a D2504 - from a cam board, plugged it in and the 15 watt bulb went VERY bright (on 6v) then promptly died, and I don't know... maybe blew the transistor?! Wierd.


** Tried several transistors from the camboards themselves, and most worked, bulb lit up nice, but everytime, a few seconds later... poof, game over. Quite strange, I'm pretty sure it's wired right... maybe I've got the wrong cap? hmm i dunno. same end, everytime. Each time I start, I empty the cap first, disconnect the battery, replace the trans, then start over, and when I connect the battery it arcs and sticks a bit... and that's with an emptied cap...

Yep, I had basically the same experience with the original camera board transistor. Also blew most of my IRF640 Mosfets too but at least they lasted a while. Adding resistance to them seem to make things inoperable or almost no light output. I think it needs fine tuning and patience to work just right.

[kcarring]

too little resistance

Ok thanks guys.

[whacky0]

It should be ok at 12V with a minimum 50k-100k base resistance with a parallel capacitor, try a 0.1uF or 0.01uF. I find without a cap in there the cfl will want to burn bright, even with 30M ohm and no parallel cap.

[skaght]

@kcarring

My guess is you are frying the transistors because of the 10k resistance. you need much higher resistance values, otherwise you get too much current. start around 10 meg ohms and work backward from there!

[kcarring]

5720?

Hiiya!

I was playing around with lasersabres circuit tonight and I don't have all the right parts, and when looking at his diagram in the video, given that it is more of a picture than a schematic, on the transister.. I take it the emitter is going to ground, and the other two... which is the base, and which is the collector? The C5720 and D2504 - are these from the disposable cams?

I couldn't get a MPaA06 to run this circuit, nor a 2222 but I had it (barely) going on C2320 out of an old power amp. My bifilar is a stock Bedini SSG wind, (450?)and my cap is 80v 15000 uF but it's about 20 years old.

I measured about 320v AC on my middle leg (on the side of the transformer that has four legs) and a 15 watt CFL tube lit up dimly, but when I disconnected the battery, she died in about 10 seconds. Mind you I was only running 6v. Did he run 9v?

I didn't have those diodes so I used a 10k variable resistor that seemed to work ok.



Then something went wrong, now I have nothing.

Do these little transformers die easy?

Still trying.

Thanks for any critique.
Cheers

** About 20 minutes after this post I went through my junk circuits, and I actually found a D2504 - from a cam board, plugged it in and the 15 watt bulb went VERY bright (on 6v) then promptly died, and I don't know... maybe blew the transistor?! Wierd.


** Tried several transistors from the camboards themselves, and most worked, bulb lit up nice, but everytime, a few seconds later... poof, game over. Quite strange, I'm pretty sure it's wired right... maybe I've got the wrong cap? hmm i dunno. same end, everytime. Each time I start, I empty the cap first, disconnect the battery, replace the trans, then start over, and when I connect the battery it arcs and sticks a bit... and that's with an emptied cap...

[mikrovolt]

Here is a quick update video showing my latest build running in a few different configurations. Sorry about how dark the video is, before I uploaded it to YouTube it looked much better.

Video link: YouTube - Joule Ringer with home made transformer.

This is the transformer most of us have been anxious to see !
In the meantime I was reading about saturation and reluctance and alot of
things alot of us would get discouraged by the complexity in transformer building so I want to congratulate you on the good work.

I can see that it is possible to get an E core wind it up and that the new transformer will not have the limitations with that of the small fuji transformer.

I have read that in simulation a zener diode acts as CFL but at much higher voltage if someone wanted to derive (back engineer) frequency and voltage for a particular CFL. However the Joule ringer is too exotic for standard simulators. The making and tuning is best follow lasersaber's methods.

Look forward to see more Joule Ringers and the progress. great job

[conradelektro]

Coils of the motor running from the carbon-magnesium battery?

Lidmotor,
Try this circuit out see how low you can get it. I have had it running for, 4days now , if the ground was not frozen I would plant it the ground.
YouTube - Earth Light, The Easy Way
John B

John, thank you for describing the Joule Thief circuit very clearly in your YouTube Video and post.

I am intrigued by the motor running from the carbon-magnesium battery. Such a nice build. I guess the coils and the reed-switch are all in series? Do the coils have a core, or are they just "air coils"?

Greetings, Conrad