Joule Lamp

[Lynxsteam]

I have moved from the small 10" aircore to the 12" larger diameter aircore and now to a giant 24" long by 4" aircore.  Looks like this is scalable and worthy of more research.  The Giant aircore is intended for whole house lighting off a 12 volt battery.

With six 7.5 watt LED bulbs the amp draw is 1.2 amps at 12.85 volts = 2.7 watts each bulb and super bright!  My guess is I can add many more light bulbs.  Frequency with all 6 bulbs is 8.9 khz.  The first bulb uses 660 ma.  Then each additional bulb adds 102 ma with no apparent reduction in brightness.  So bulbs 2-6 are running off 1.2 watts. 

Remember these are the same 6 bulbs that consumed 120 watts off the house grid.  I get the impression these bulbs just need current and don't care what is pushing that current.  The amp draw off house grid for six bulbs was 1 amp, off the DC converter just a little over 1 amp.  Hmmm.....

[b_rads]

Lynxsteam:
Have you tried an AC Cap between the Air Core and the bulbs?  Slider2732 did this and I tried it on my more basic Joule Thief hand wound transformer and it seems to lower current draw slightly.  I don't remember the specs, but it was a mallory orange cap I salvaged out of a worn out garage door opener.  I have been sort of busy since returning from vacation and looks like it will be the weekend before I get a chance to get going again.  Have you noticed the the current draw jump back and forth from high to low with your setup?  I may need to replace the 3055.  Lighting single LED's with an AV plug is really cool.  Hold an led by one leg and get near or touch one of the output rails will bite (heat) you.  Have you formed an opinion yet about size, turns, etc.?  Loved the last VID, Thanks

Brad S   

[JouleSeeker]

 My son and I are setting up a place to run on solar + 12V batteries, completely off-grid.  So we are very interested in these developments -- thanks Lynxsteam, Lidmotor and all!

  I used the calibrated light-box to test various bulbs, as shown in the photo attached.  The bulbs at left, running at 120V off mains, deliver typically 55-70 Lumens/Watt.  The bulbs on the right are designed for 12V DC operation, and deliver about 30 - 65 Lm/W. 

The bulb second from the right is turned so that you can see some of the electronics components -- which were left exposed for this 12V bulb with six LED's.  Touching the back, I picked up a frequency of 304 KHz, so evidently the circuitry with this lamp goes from 12V DC to about 304 KHz AC -- probably using a blocking oscillator.  This bulb puts out about 62 Lm/W running on 12V DC.

I'm looking forward to seeing how many Lumens/Watt can be obtained with Lynxsteam's latest!  it is very impressive in the videos he has done, and I congratulate his progress here.

[Lynxsteam]

B-Rads,

Yes, putting a high voltage capacitor like a 100v 224J  metal film cap in series with either HV lead to the LED bulbs drops amperage 30% in one test I did with three 7.5 watt bulbs, 31 khz from 30 khz.  Brightness drops as well, but not by much, just judging by perception.  That may be a good way to boost lumens /watt.  I tried a 400v 104k metal film capacitor but the lights intermittently flickered, searched for a resonant point.  Not so pleasant.  The 100V 224J worked well.  I think because I target around 86-90 v running on these circuits.

For the smaller aircore (12" long) original the capacitor choice is a 500v .01uf ceramic.  The problem I find is the capacitor rating is touchy.  If the farad rating is off a little the bulb wont light.  If you get it right power drops by 30-50%, but so does brightness.  For a self adjusting circuit you should try to avoid dropping AC voltage with the series capacitor.  But the advantage if you do choose this route is that it is very efficient compared to using a resistor.

My amps jump around a little but not by much.  If more than 200 ma then maybe the circuit isn't finding a resonant point.  L Rand C have to stay somewhat fixed.  Could be a bad transistor  or even the surroundings.  I had one LJL transmitting to one nearby that wasn't hooked up and it blew the unhooked transistor and it got really hot.  So these will interact with surroundings.   If voltage on your battery is dropping so does amperage. 

I haven't found a perfect setup as far as turns and ratio of turns.

[NerzhDishual]

Hi Joule 'Lampistes',

I have not yet modified my primary coil as I ran out of more appropriate 'gauged' wire.

Anyway, a funny experiment:
You can slowly but steadily charge a cap without connecting it to the Circuit (CCT).
You just need 2 diodes, a kinda 'antenna' and to place this setup near the CCT.

If you,  however, use just one wire connected to the  HV side of the CCT, the charge
effect is faster.

This is not 'ghost charging', according to the spark when the cap is shorted by a  screwdriver!
I would not be so sure about "'ghost charging' or not" effect with a battery.
Perhaps with some patience?
Charging a non connected cap do not draw more amp from the CCT.

Very Best,
Jean