Joule Ringer!

[Nick_Z]

I'm still working on the cross over circuit, now using a D size 1.5 volt battery in parallel with a 4700 microfarad cap, as the input source. If I can replicate the self running cross over, like Gadget is now doing, then I'll go back to upping the voltage to light bigger bulbs. I can't afford to blow any components right now, testing this new circuit. But, I did light a 7 watt incandescent bulb today on just 1.5 volts, on that circuit shown in the picture, that I sent two posts ago.

There is a video made showing how to light the 5 watt ungutted Cfls on 12 volts, running the 3.0 circuit, using the small e-core transformer that comes in them. Here is a link. It was made by Djoko. And is also shown a couple of pages back on this same Joule Ringer thread.

SJR 3.0 Mini E Core - YouTube

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, thanks for the reply and information.
Have a couple of the gutted circuits from cfl's laying here.
They both have the small ferrite e-core, though one has surface mounted small transistors and the other the typical small signal transistor size.
If your idea, intent is to use 12 volt input, then thin gauge magnet wire would probably be needed.
Not sure how much heat would be created by that, if we wanted to drive the gutted cfl at a decent brightness.
Have you tried using those small ferrite e-cores yet.
If not, certainly sounds like something to experiment with.
Been watching what gadget is doing with the crossover ringer, have many pnp transistors, will probably try his modification sometime here.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Yes, that's what I'm finding also. That to obtain full brightness from the Cfls can only be done by frying the transistors at over 12v.
There are many 12volt Cfl bulbs out on the market that can be used directly on a 12v battery/solar panel set up. So we know that it is possible, as they are being sold. That is one solution, although at $7 to $10 per 12v Cfl, it is not a cheap solution, yet.
May as well use 12v led bulbs like the 7.5 watt utilitech by Feit at $10. Even then at 450 lumens, it's not a great deal, as you need at least two bulbs, to get the amount of light that a single 13 watt Cfl gives. So, no matter how you look at it, led bulbs are twice the price, per watt. But, the gutted re-cycled Cfl bulbs are free. So, for me, right now, FREE is where it's at... even though they output less than 100% their original brightness.
The thing is that each used Cfl will need it's own transistor/coil, as several Cfl bulbs can not be daisy chained up from the same circuit, without losing some output power. This can be done by reusing the same E-core transformer and transistor that comes in the original Cfl bulb's circuit. As some times its just the caps that pop inside the bulbs. Yes, No?

Nick_Z

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, thanks for the information.
Taking a break on the air coil ringers for a moment.
Was able to get the gutted 13 watt cfl to probably 95% full brightness, though the heat in the transistor is not acceptable and after running the lower draw mode for awhile, it just was not stable enough for continuous use.
Wiring up a 4 ferrite bead now, to try with the ringer 2.0 and if it does not work as hoped, can always use the Meissner circuit with it.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Here's a picture of my current cross over circuit. It uses a TIP 3055, and a 2n4017 transistor, and a 1n4148 diode between the secondary coil and the transistor's negative rail. 6 AA power pack, powering my ferrite rod transformer, and lighting 10 leds. There's a big ceramic magnet under the ferrite rod transformer.
Will keep this running all day to see what happens. So, far I see nothing special about this set up, as it's already draining my batteries.
Nick_Z

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, the picture is bloomed a bit, though it is bright for 410 milliamps, 12 volt input.
If the cfl bulb connections are swapped, then it draws 1 amp and almost full brightness.
This is why this drawn circuit is being shared, because of some oddity with this air coil ringer.
If you swap the primary connections around and the secondary, it somehow oscillates in a different mode and the cfl stays cool and is much whiter than normal, though in that cooler mode, it seems that probably much stray high frequency voltage radiation is being emitted and not absorbed into the cfl, as meters go haywire and touching connections can burn skin, though no pain really.
Here is circuit and description on changing coil connections to alter circuit operation.
Also plan to build another air coil ringer and try probably double the secondary turns and see what happens.


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peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Your Cfl looks nice and bright, good going...

Gadgetmall made a smaller version of the 3.0 using only 2 of the ferrite beads, and was able to light leds real well on just 1.5 volts., and other bulbs as well. So, even just two beads will work ok.
My goal is to really light those Cfls full brightness, regardless of the draw, but so far I have not been able to do it. It looks like it may take a huge Exciter to really light them up. Or just accept a lesser output, as what is being obtained.
Another option is to buy the 12 volt florescent inverter circuit, or 12v CFls, and use that instead. They only cost a few bucks, and can work directly off of solar panels, without HV
I'm working on the LS cross-over circuit now. If there is some magic in that circuit, it's not easy to find it. But, there are some unusual things about it, so I'm giving it a shot.

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, thanks for the post and information.
Your findings are pretty much what has been seen from the experiments here as well.
Rewound that 16 gauge speaker wire primary, with just the one strand, without the other one as a spacer and it did not work so well, though the reason has been found it seems.
Had a lamp extension cord laying around, didn't check the length, though it is 16 gauge also and has the thicker insulation.
So used that for the primary, 3 full layers, 54 bifilar turns with one strand not used, functioning as a wire spacer, though do not think that the spacing is really needed based on the recent finding.
Hooked up the circuit to 12 volts and the 13 watt gutted cfl lighted up right away, though it was whiter in color than it should be and not that bright, though very cool to the touch, which is a very usable light as well.
Though the odd thing is, decided to try and switch the primary connections around and also the secondary and it lit the cfl just like it did before, with the speaker wire, meaning, connect the secondary to cfl one way and it lights at 50-70% at 410 milliamps and hook it the other way and it lights to maybe 70-90% of full brightness at 1 amp input.
Soo ,at least we're having some consistency here, which is what was hoped with the testing of these air coils.
Also, the reasoning behind using multiple layers, at least for the primary, was to get a lower possible peak amp draw, which keeps the transistor cooler.
Here is a couple pics of latest coil setup.



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peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Your current set up is very similar to mine. Only that you are using higher secondary turns to light the gutted Cfls. The ferrite cores are better for standard Cfls, and air core work best of gutted Cfls.
Yes, that is why the bulbs run cooler, when using the air cores, but the transistors can still heat up on 12v or higher voltages to actually light the Cfls to FULL brightness. If you connect a standard Cfl to that your circuit, you may burn the internal components.
I had the 25 watt standard Cfl running on what looks like 100% Ac brightness, but it lasted only 3 minutes and popped it's circuit. This was using about 19 volts.
So, I still have not been able to light the many Cfls that I have, like my 65 watt CFL bulbs, to anywhere close to their normal AC brightness levels, without frying their Ringer circuit transistors (TIP 3055T), or 2n3055, or the internal Cfl circuit, on the ungutted Cfls
I use the small 2n2222 for Exciters circuits, as they give better performance at lower voltages, but will also cook when using 12volt or higher input sources.
I'm still working on all of this... and am very interested in finding a solution for bright useful lighting. I'm not too concerned about the draw.

Joule Ringer- 4 inch ferrite bead core lighting a 13 watt Cfl bulb - YouTube
Nick

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, thanks for the post reply, will have to see what is inside one of those dimmers.
Of course seen lynxsteam's work, was the inspiration for this variation air coil.
Though his versions use only one layer of higher voltage secondary and primary.
Really impressed by the performance of this air coil joule ringer 2 variation, had it running for around 6 hours last night with rock solid, good light output, with very little heat anywhere, even bulb had low heat, probably because of the higher frequency.
And all that from a smaller TIP42 pnp, wonder if a smaller signal transistor will work, maybe a couple in parallel, we will see.
Not trying ferrite in this setup, as it is strictly air coil, though a friend is donating a broken 25" TV soon and will have some ferrite and things to try other experiments.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Thanks for showing your latest circuit.
You might also want to try to place a ferrite rod into the center of the core, if possible. I've tested my circuit with and without a one inch, or the bigger 3 inch ferrite rod, for tuning of the core. It does increase the brightness of the bulb.
As with any Exciter, the more turns on the secondary, the higher the output.
Higher voltage is not always needed when using the ungutted Cfls, and their internal circuit are damaged by a voltage/current input that is too high.
The gutted Cfls can be dimmed by lowering the input current. A regular AC house light dimmer will also work.

"Lynx Steam"- has several very good videos of his Joule Ringer type solar system set up, you might want to check those out, if you haven't seen them already. He is using a big air core, but when a ferrite rod or two was placed inside the core, the output voltage and current were increased to even higher levels than when using the AC from the grid as the input source. His record setting lumen/watt levels are something to keep in mind.

Lynx Joule Lamp - Working Light Test - YouTube

[SkyWatcher]

Oh and it is using a TIP42 PNP transistor

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, Decided to try and build an air coil transformer to power these gutted cfl bulbs, using the joule ringer 2.0 circuit where base goes to emitter, following in the footsteps of the lighting burnt filament fluorescent bulb thread started.
Only downside is, not sure how to dim the bulb with this circuit, compared to the meissner oscillator lamp have been working on.
Otherwise, to these eyes, it is performing a little bit better than the ferrite core the meissner lamp is using.
Only odd thing is, is that when the high voltage secondary from the base is connected one way, then it draws around 410 milliamps at 12 volt input for around 60-70% full brightness, which for the light output it is giving, beats the ferrite solenoid core, which draws around 600 milliamps for the same brightness.
Then, when the wires are switched around on the cfl, the bulb goes to almost full brightness, at around 1 amp.
Maybe since the filaments in this particular bulb are good, it is causing this difference, either way, works very well and at the 410 milliamp draw, transistor and heat sink is luke warm.
The air coil former is taken from a large permanent ink marker, 1" diameter X 5" long.
4 layers of 30awg. magnet wire, for 1600 turns, then placed on top of that, 2-1/2 layers of 125 bifilar turns of 16 gauge speaker wire, though only one strand is used, so that means a spaced apart 62 turn primary.
Reason bifilar was used, because this was meant to be powered by the meissner circuit, though did not work.
Will unwind the bifilar and use a single strand and see how that changes anything.
Here are a few pics of a 13 watt gutted cfl running, first pic is at 1 amp input, second pic is at 410 milliamps.


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peace love light
tyson

[jonnydavro]

Hi Billxx.Thanks for posting your circuit and pics,that is a nice brightness and colour .
I was wondering about what type of transformer you were using and the fuji seems like a very good choice especially for cfl bulbs .
When i was experimenting with fuji transformers with lasersabers jouleringer 1, I also found the fuji transistor performed the best but there will be others you can try as the fuji one's are easily blown.
I do recall Slider made a list on transistor performance in regards to his wireless experiments and it may be worth having a look at that.It is buried somewhere on this forum so best ask him where.
Looking forward to your pwm experiments and thanks for sharing.Jonny.

[Billxx]

jonnydavro,

Here is the circuit diagram of the project with the RC circuit to the transistor base...

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As you noted, this circuit is tuned to the Fuji transistor/transformer combo. I substituted the Fuji transistor with a 2N4401 and, while it worked, the 2N4401 didn't perform same, not as good, as the Fuji transistor.

Well, I'll move on to the 555 PWM circuit with the Fuji transistor/transformer and maybe consider changing to another transistor/transformer combo too, I don't know.

Billxx