Joule Thief

[jeanna]

@jesus and everybody wanting to use "sky-volts" and caps.

I am NOT an expert about caps, however there is a tweak that I do understand. Sparks (probably xee2) can supply us with the proper numbers, I suspect.

To review the pertinent parts,
When a cap fills, it fills very quickly to about 66% of its upper limit. (then continues slowly)
Also, when a cap discharges it drops its payload very quickly to about 33% of its lower limit. (then continues slowly)
So, the trick is to fill it up (which is easy and quick) then keep it cycling between 33% and 66% of its limits.

That poor high school teacher that had me in his drop in electronics class!!! I pushed and pushed. I had read Trinkaus' book and I knew Tesla had sparked his way to lots of power, and I wanted to light a led with a cap.

He finally helped me to set it up. I had a resistor in line with the cap to slow down the discharge. This worked like this. I charged it with a battery for a second then the cap would light the led for 25 seconds.

In an astable oscillator - the kind you make (not the 555 timer type) you control the filling and discharging of the lights with the resistor in parallel with the cap. You are aiming to keep the levels in the 33-66% range at all times.

So, for those wanting to catch volts from the sky, I think you want to fiddle with a resistor in parallel to the cap.

The cap fills because it is easier since there is no resistance, then at the critical point, it becomes easier to discharge than to keep charging and the energy comes out and flows down the circuit.

Bill has done something like this with his earth battery lighting the led using a supercap.(I think he skipped the resistor and used the L E Diode for the single direction fill then discharge)
Edit add: A diode will give resistance of the minimum voltage so that is enough to influence the energy to go into the cap.

So, all you need is the right cap and the right resistor.

You probably all knew this, didn't you?

I am personally afraid of this potential. It is probably OK, but the sky voltage changes so much from hour to hour, I won't do it.

Please be careful.

jeanna

[nievesoliveras]

@jesus and everybody wanting to use "sky-volts" and caps.

I am NOT an expert about caps, however there is a tweak that I do understand. Sparks (probably xee2) can supply us with the proper numbers, I suspect.

To review the pertinent parts,
When a cap fills, it fills very quickly to about 66% of its upper limit. (then continues slowly)
Also, when a cap discharges it drops its payload very quickly to about 33% of its lower limit. (then continues slowly)
So, the trick is to fill it up (which is easy and quick) then keep it cycling between 33% and 66% of its limits.

That poor high school teacher that had me in his drop in electronics class!!! I pushed and pushed. I had read Trinkaus' book and I knew Tesla had sparked his way to lots of power, and I wanted to light a led with a cap.

He finally helped me to set it up. I had a resistor in line with the cap to slow down the discharge. This worked like this. I charged it with a battery for a second then the cap would light the led for 25 seconds.

In an astable oscillator - the kind you make (not the 555 timer type) you control the filling and discharging of the lights with the resistor in parallel with the cap. You are aiming to keep the levels in the 33-66% range at all times.

So, for those wanting to catch volts from the sky, I think you want to fiddle with a resistor in parallel to the cap.

The cap fills because it is easier since there is no resistance, then at the critical point, it becomes easier to discharge than to keep charging and the energy comes out and flows down the circuit.

Bill has done something like this with his earth battery lighting the led using a supercap.(I think he skipped the resistor and used the L E Diode for the single direction fill then discharge)

So, all you need is the right cap and the right resistor.

You probably all knew this, didn't you?

I am personally afraid of this potential. It is probably OK, but the sky voltage changes so much from hour to hour, I won't do it.

Please be careful.

jeanna

Thank you @jeanna.
You know, I am a visual person and to understand a new principle I need to look at some schematic. If you have any or any link that has them please post.

Jesus

[gadgetmall]

@gadgetmall

You could try a variable cap to tune so it will give more output if you tune it!
Could we pickups the Rf from the jt maybe delay a cycle ?and feed positive feedback to jt coil.

@ist

Nice video , we need to change the cap to? again?

you know i will tear the rest of those very old am radios and get that varicap out of it . i got some cool ferrite rods out of em . I have been wanting to try that varicap with a jt for a while . . Thats a good idea . for a while before all the stations go digital including radio . which is the Fcc plan for our future . I wonder why ?  Neuk fallout wont pass vhf uhf signals  ?NOPE!. as far as i am concerned with digital tv it sucks big time . It puts every one back on rabbit ears or an outside antenna. at least in this part of the country . some places it dosnt work at all even with an outside antenna .but the old system works fine . something smells of one world government here.

[jeanna]

way too high you know dont you . remember the best Jt on the internet is 14 ma . ours or the one i modded  is 0.81 less than 1 ma running 4 white leds . looks like you had it at 11 turns ..

I had 5 +12 turns then the secondary was 120 turns. It is an attempt to be in proportion to the fuji circuit.
It didn't work.

Yes, I agree it is way too high. I am now following your lead with the 50T, 50t wound toroid. see my results so far. they are very good.

I was trying to see what direction to go to raise the volts and keep the amps per light down. I was surprised (xee2 was not surprised)  that I could no longer run many lights in parallel when I had added so many secondary turns. In fact those lights are pretty dim.

I still am trying to raise the volts and keep the amps down, but I saw your comment - thank you, and I am first replicating then I will think where to go after that. Maybe series them to raise the volts? Anyway, I am catching up!!

thanks

jeanna
EDIT:
btw, I just grabbed that soldered circuit yesterday to try something out. It is one where the led is in place but doesn't light. I have seen that in those like that that the volts use of .7 per led is there even though the light is off. That is the reason to remove it once the circuit has proved to work. - j

[innovation_station]

This wont go no where because you are back to pulling more current that the bulb uses on the grid you got to watch the input current . that is what is important on a jt . not light a cfl like i do with a fugi like toroid for 12 ma . That is the mark you got to beat !

lol

gadget i have a bunch of stuff to teach you my friend 

this will go across the universe 

i dont so much care on the input with what i will do ok ...

if it uses miliamps ... that is all i care what will be done with it is what detrunins your return ... 

sparks if verry correct


ist