Joule Ringer!

[NickZ]

  Gadget:
   Thanks for the information on the new rod.  There is something wrong with the info on the amount of turns, I believe it to be 60 turns for the primary, and about 600 for the secondary. If you look at his video, you can count the turns of the red primary wire, and is it a lot more than just 20 turns. He mentioned to totally cover the single layer of 28 gauge secondary the full width of the rod. Not just 200 turns, which would only be a couple of inches.
  So, we need more information to replicate this properly.  There is more than one mistery to this circuit, and we need to discover them. Everyone is frying eggs on their transistors... and he doesn't even use a heat sink.
  Try adding a couple of diodes on the base. That is how I got the HV to light the Cfls.  This circuit can shock the living Sh!t out of you, so be careful.
                                                     Nick

[gadgetmall]

Yea . no diodes don't work . resistors don;t work  caps don't work . It will almost fire an unmodified cfl not quite . It lights any led unmodified bulb . light all filiment lamps but no HV , tomorrow i am going to visit  my mom so i won't have time tomorrow but i am going for the gusto on the other rod . I also have tried winding the outside both ways just in case . there is no difference either way .you just have to go to one end or the other for the bulb connection and the pos . Yea he didn't count them like i said i have his rod and if he used 28 wire then yea its 600 plus turns from ens to end. i tried 24 and no where near the end . then tried heaver 20 . it took 350 turns . that is not enuff either . but it sure will carry the current . see yall later .

[TinselKoala]

The circuit I posted earlier, with a 2n3055,  will flash a 13 W unmodified CFL about once every two seconds, running on less than 1.2 volts input. Just take out the NE-2 and hook the CFL across the diode. Try both polarities.

[gadgetmall]

I am building one like your too Tk . thats surprises me . It is right on the verge of firing that cfl . I bet of you hit the bulb with a blow dryer and get it hot it might fire right off .

I now have finished one rod to my liking . it will also run from a 1.2 volt battery and light led bulbs and make filaments glow .
I just posted a video of it running on just 5 volt caps(ultra of coarse) lighting anything i screw in in . It fires a clf FULL bright and hot just like house current would . http://youtu.be/8_0OsJUNlgw This is a major improvement from LS 14.5 volts . And this is Real world power that can kill you from a few batteries . This One is a keeper . I also have an extra 350 turn secondary on this one .. I wound another one too and put twp layers of secondary one on the other . I taped the first one then continued with the same wire back to the start then tapped it . and then wrapped it with house wire . this is my small one . She blew three darn transistors on anything over 5 volts . I blew an expensive Darlington power tab also . This is why i hate working over 1.2 volts . need more neons for protection . this 6 inch one will be my 1.2 volt power house .
In the picture is a microwave 130 volt oven bulb glowing off 1.2 volts with my 6 inch radio rod.MAx volts is 3 volt dc running TIP3055 with a neon to protect it .

http://youtu.be/8_0OsJUNlgw

[TinselKoala]

I got a major improvement in current (way lower) and also general performance by putting in, first, a 220 R in series with the base, and now I'm using 1K and parallel 60 nF in series with the base. Here's the circuit I'm using now, and I just made a video, showing lighting a 110 V incandescent.

I am using more input voltage than you are at this point for the CFL and incandescent, but my neon NE2 will burn using a 1.2 volt AAA battery very nicely.

With 20 VDC from my power supply I can light the 110 V 15 W bulb but very dimly. Using the same 20 V I can get the bulb lit up brilliantly, and in series with the NE-2/diode !!

Also, with no load and 20 V input, I can start an oscillation that is perfectly sinusoidal and apparently over 1000 V p-p, and this lights up the CFL---- but with only one wire connected. I can't get the CFL to light with both wires connected !! What am I doing wrong, or right, or something ? I also haven't managed to blow a single transistor yet.... but I am getting plenty of hot RF burns on my fingers again.....

You all have probably covered this ground before... but it's pretty neat stuff to be able to light a NE-2 on less than 1.2 volts, I think.

The oscillation that lights up the CFL and makes my fingers burn isn't a normal transistor triggered oscillation. It doesn't seem to matter what I do at the base, during this oscillation. The fact that it is perfectly sinusoidal, rather than a pulse like normal, makes me think it is a resonant feedback oscillation rather than a triggered, transistor-switched pulsation.