Joule Thief

[MrMag]

dont think it matters lol 

i want to use power and a lot of it 

ist

Please explain what you mean about you don't think it matters. What doesn't matter??

[AbbaRue]

@All
Before trying any new core materials try running them across a magnet a few times and then see if they remain magnetized.
If they remain magnetized then you don't want to use them as a core material. 
If they don't attract a magnet at all then using them is probably no different  then using an air core. 

I went down to the beach on the weekend, still ice on the shoreline here in Canada
but some Canadians were out in shorts and short sleeve shirts after all it was 52 degrees out. 
Anyway, I brought a magnet with me wrapped in a plastic bag, and I moved it through the sand to collect some magnetite.
I collected about a pound of it in the short time I was there.
I used a hard drive  magnet which may be strong but it doesn't have a lot of surface area.
The next time I go I plan on bringing one of my 4 inch diameter ring magnets.
They sell them at hardware stores mounted in a steel base with a 1/4 inch hole in it, to mount a coat hanger hook.
I hope to collect a lot more magnetite next time.

You can mix the magnetite powder with fiberglass resin and hardener and pour it into a mold to make any shape core you want.
They call this a "Dirt Cheap"    way to make transformer cores. 
Any patch of sand should yield some magnetite if you run a magnet over it.
They call it "Riverbed Magnetite" and experts say it makes the best core material of all natural sources.
Google the subject to find out how much resin to magnetite to mix.
You don't need a lot of resin and it is quite cheap, a liter of it should make dozens of cores if not hundreds.
For a mold you could use wax and carve the shape in it, then remelt it to make a new mold if it gets damaged.
I'm not sure if the resin will get hot enough to melt the wax while curing though. Never tried it.
Or you could use some type of plaster or clay material. Drywall mud is quite cheap.
I would build a large mold with many cores in it so I only need to mix the resin and magnetite once.

Addendum: Here is a link on this forum on making magnetite cores. What an awsome forum we have here!
http://www.overunity.com/index.php?topic=3318.380

[altrez]

@Mk1

I made a new JT with more wire and a tighter grip around the toroid. I still can not get a pickup wire to out put anything. The JT itself will light 25 LEDS from one AA battery. So I know its doing something. I am just not sure why I can not get the pick up coil to work. My next step is to buy some better parts that others have had success with.

@ALL

Can someone please recommend a few places online to buy some good toroid's and good wire to wind them? I really want to get the pick up coil to work. I want to buy the best wire I can and the best toroids that I can find. I know that the pickup coil should work and I have hooked it up 45 different ways with no success. All of my JT circuits have worked even the first time I attempted it. Its just the pickup coils that I can not replicate.

Thank you all so much!!!

[jadaro2600]

Can someone please recommend a few places online to buy some good toroid's and good wire to wind them? I really want to get the pick up coil to work. I want to buy the best wire I can and the best toroids that I can find. I know that the pickup coil should work and I have hooked it up 45 different ways with no success. All of my JT circuits have worked even the first time I attempted it. Its just the pickup coils that I can not replicate.

Thank you all so much!!!

Try looking for toroids in the power supply of an old computer - if you don't have one - a burnt out CFL contains one in the base.

There are many places online to buy these things.  If you find a place that will sell you both, then it's probably a good place.

@Pirate
Are you LED's connected in series or in parallel?  ..in your videos that is?

[jeanna]

Can someone please recommend a few places online to buy some good toroid's and good wire to wind them? I really want to get the pick up coil to work. I want to buy the best wire I can and the best toroids that I can find. I know that the pickup coil should work and I have hooked it up 45 different ways with no success. All of my JT circuits have worked even the first time I attempted it. Its just the pickup coils that I can not replicate.

Thank you all so much!!!

Hi Altrez
Can you show us a picture?

Electronic goldmine has a nice choice of toroids. Others have also recommended other places, but they were more expensive - but not expensive, so you can look back a couple of weeks from now if you want.
I tried 5 types from the goldmine. I like the one that is called a filter really a lot. Also the medium toroid that sells 5/$1 or is it $2? Good size and good toroids.
Just don't get the one called high permeability. That one taught me that we want low permeability for the joule thief to work.
I am using telephone extension cord wire. It is about 22 or 24 gauge, comes 5 or 6 strands of different colors per extension cable. It works quite well and is relatively easy to strip.

My pickup or secondary coils are usually mag wire, but this needs to be well sanded at the ends. I had pretty good results using the telephone wire for secondaries too. The trouble with it is the plastic is so thick it is hard to get many turns.
I did a bit of research in january and found that the thickness of the secondary wire did NOT effect the ability of the secondary to function. (see page 168 and 171 for some of those results. So, I like using either the red 30 gauge or the green 26 gauge mag wire from radio shack.

@AbbaRue,
Thanks for this idea for getting magnetite for making our toroids. Are you on the east or west side of the continent? I may try some when the weather warms up some. (you must be in BC since the temperature was so 'warm'.) Are we looking for a non conducting glue or would sodium silicate or silicon gel work?

OK everyone,
I did some back reading today and I am about to make a MK2 or 4 using the toroid called filter. It is what I made the MK1 out of btw. (That part will be consistent.)

more when that is done.

jeanna