Joule Thief

[Pirate88179]

@ All:

Here is a pic of an AC DC transformer I took apart today.  This one used to be for an old cell phone I had.  I have a bunch of these left over from portable phone bases, etc.  I remembered last night that I saw a youtube video about a year ago where some guy made a stun gun out of one of these.   So, I opened one up and there is a nice transformer here, as well as some other components we might be able to make use of.  I can't read any of the markings on the transistors until I remove them.

I'll bet a lot of us have these things laying about.  I don't know if this will help or not.

Bill

[Pirate88179]

@ Wilby:

Thanks for the tip on toroids in the computer power supplies.  I have about 4 of them laying around here.  Yes, I agree $50.00 is high.  We have a junkyard in town a buddy of mine just told me about.  He said there is all kinds of electronics gear tossed away down there.  I will check it out.  Look at the great stuff Jim was able to get doing this. Yes, I agree I can build a little bigger JT and compare that to the small one to see if/how much better it is before even thinking of getting a $50.00 4" one.  Thank you.

@ Jim:

Thanks for the compliment on my latest toroid winding.  I did not get it from a monitor wire but it is very similar (if not the same) as the ones used there.  These 2 beads came out of an old TV I junked about a year ago.  I just took off all the parts I thought I might want to use someday, I am glad I did.  Nice job on the multi-coil JT!!  Your lights are very bright indeed.  Yes, you can easily burn out an led....how do I know this? Ha ha.  They smell something terrible when they burn out too. (It probably emits some highly toxic gas)  Keep up your great work.

@ Goat:

Yes, I saw your post and I appreciate that warning.  I had read that somewhere before.  I am glad you reposted it just in case someone here did not see it the first time.

@ Artic Knight:

I have 2 10 F super caps coming in this week!!!  I can't wait to use them with our circuits.


@ Jeanna:

Good luck with the AAA board.  I have not messed with mine at all but I still have it here.  I went back to try to reply to all of the posts I missed and saw your tubes and leds photos again.  That is some very good light there.  It seems a lot of us are getting very good light levels from these little AA bats.  If you are able to get anything from the AAA board, let me know and I will try to replicate it.  When my breadboard gets here I want to try some of these other transformers and transistors to see if it will work better, or as good, as the Fuji.  They may not even work as good....who knows?

Great work all!!


Bill

[Mk1]

@electricme

I saw your comment on lighting 2 led , one is dimer , Have you used a npn and npn one connected collector to positive bat side and other to neg side.And some how make sure you don't send back current in the coil in the wrong direction because it will decrease efficiency , Ok now
you got the 2 jt running properly bias what do you get on pickup coil once rectified ?

Also if a pnp and npn the pick up coil should giving out ac as mine dose.

I am really happy you invested some time in building this thing out of faith .

I have started posting my results on this site around the 14 of December but ignored .

Great work !

[jeanna]

I am quoting myself here to help with continuity.

3 pics should follow.
1- just under the hood
...  see pg 75

3-The board itself in place. NOTE the battery is in the reversed position on this board with respect to the camera case. (reversed from the AA board.)

Jeanna

EDIT: I see only the number 2 pic is transferred. I will keep fiddling, but this number 2 is the important one, as long as you make sure the green layer is lined up as when it is closed.! sorry.. I will repost when it is ready.

[Pirate88179]

@timmy

Always check ac en dc reading this will help you understand faster, i am pretty sure you ad 1.5 vac before adding the diode.Also connecting led in series lets you how powerful your unite really has.In parallel you don' need more then 3 volt to light multiples.

@all

I have made some jt with germanium transistor and got switching at lower amps, therefore decreasing current taken from battery on each cycle
adding longevity to battery.

@ MK1:

Using the germanium transistor, have you been able to quantify the longevity to the battery yet?  I have made no tests in this area.  I do have some very good rechargeable AAs that I was planning on using to test and compare longevity on different set-ups.  I figure if I used the same battery, fully charged, I could get an idea about which type of set-up last longer.  Do the germaniums handle higher power and dissipate heat better than the 3904's I am using? (my guess is yes, not too hard to beat the 3904s)

I have been sort of waiting to do this type of testing until I can add my supers caps into the circuit.

Thanks.

Bill