Joule Thief

[Pirate88179]

@ Hans:

Welcome!!!

As posted above, I ordered my solar cells so...we will find out.  I believe it will work, at least to a point.  I don't know if it can cross the line and become self running or not but I believe it will run for a very long time no matter what.  Thanks again for your idea.  If what you just posted is true, then the batteries would give out "more" energy than they are rated for for a short time and then die.  These JT circuits, in most of the variations we have here, will run a large number of lights on a "dead" battery for a good long while, and will run many lights on a new battery for a waaaay long time.  At least, this has been my, and many other folks here, experience.

But, it still may very be something inherent in the battery itself that the JT circuit exploits in some way and it may not then work with solar or NS battery. (earth battery)  I am going to try it to see for myself on both of the above power sources.  If nothing else, I will learn more, ha ha.

I am glad you posted here Hans.  This is a very good groups of folks and everyone helps everyone else, which is as it should be.  G'day.

Bil

[Mk1]

@all

The coils in the joule thief , when switching on and off it is creating a magnetic pulse in the ferrous core, when the electricity is in that state the power is so far only limited by pickup coil design , I also think that using some iron wire for the coil in the joule thief circuit , cancel some how the amount of amps needed to run the circuit and bring it to the lowest possible .

The question is what is the limit of the magnetic current.

[hansvonlieven]

G'day Bill,

There is a simple way to test my theory about the Joule thief and its relationship to chemical reaction.

Take a dead battery (not one that has been exhausted by a Joule thief though) and heat it up. Make it quite hot to the touch but take care not to explode it. Make sure it is properly heated through, not just the surface. Wrap it in some insulating material to keep the heat in as long as possible. Now connect the battery to your LED's and see how much power there is and for how long. The heating up will have the same effect as the Joule thief if my theory is correct as it will re-initiate and speed up the chemical process.

Good luck

Hans

[hansvonlieven]

LOL

I just noticed, Stefan has pissed the rating system off. 

Hans

[xee2]

@ jeanna and anyone interested,

I went back to the store where I bought the LEDs two years ago and they were selling something that looked the same for $1.95 each so I bought two to see if they worked the same. They light up in the same circuit but are not as bright. They are 5mm green super bright 15,000 mcd 45 deg. Anyone who wants to get some can call Anchor Electronics at 408-727-6393 or fax 408-727-4424. They are in California and have a $20 min order. No web page or email. I suspect that there are other LEDs that will also work at these low currents.