Joule Thief

[resonanceman]

To light the CFL you need to remove the electronics and go straight into the tube.

Xee

That  is what I thought they were doing ........I tried that first .......nothing ..


gary

[jeanna]

Hi Gary,
I am glad to see you here.

There is no problem with arcing. There could be if you let the diode stay in place after you cut the pos end.

My first time the diode crumbled in the snippers, so, I just cut it out completely.
I think it worked that way, I can't remember, unless I soldered a splotch across to short out where the other side of the diode would have been. That is what I think I did. That way the circuit keeps going around. and can produce the good effects.

Did you short out the little copper traces where the camera switch was? How did you arrange your switch?

Welcome!

jeanna

EDIT:
I just found in my notes. after cutting off the diode, I soldered a red wire to the place where the neg side of the diode had been, and that was my pos side of my circuit.

I didn't use it on a cfl, I used it on a 15 watt fluoro tube. So, the cfl you are using is likely a 27 watt, because that is what gives the =valent to 100watt incandescent bulb. I was able to add a 7 watt fluoro tube later, once that first one was on, and it stayed on too. But not a easily. I bet you are just on the edge of getting the light to light.

j

[jeanna]

Hi everybody,
Did this site just bog way down? or did I go to a bad website an hour ago? saloowww.
edit: I rebooted. Itsok now. bad website.

OK,

I can make double the lights by putting 2 jt's in what I believe would be called parallel. But when I put them in what seems a series way the lights go way down or off, depending on what I am connecting together.

Is anybody else having a problem putting 2 jts in series?

I may need help in case I am trying to connect them wrong.

BTW,, the lights are all running off the secondaries in each joule thief. I have 2 lights in 1 and 1 light in the other - it is soldered.

Also, the amperage draw also seems to be doubled with the 2.

Has anybody else tried to do this yet?

thanks,

jeanna

[Pirate88179]

@ Gary:

Here is the pic of my circuit connections in case it will help.  Others have hooked it up in a different way, which may be all the same, I don't really know.  I just know that this is the way I hooked it up and it works.  Mine is different from Josepino's design.  He even says on his page that the circuit will light a 4 watt tube, but no more.  That is why I call mine the "Modified Joule thief Circuit."

Jeanna is correct about the switch placement.  Possibly, you might have a short someplace while doing that.  It is not easy to solder to these PC's at all.  One glob of solder can bridge 2 or 3 circuit tracks very easily.

@ Jeanna:

I have not got to the point of hooking up several in series or parallel so, I can not be of much help here.  I am sure others can.

Bill

[xee2]

@ jeanna 

I assume that the two JT each have their own transistor. If that is the case, then the AC voltages from the secondaries can not be added in series or parallel effectively because they are not if phase since each transistor is oscillating at its own frequency. The best way to add them is to power both JT from the same transistor. Or, to rectify the voltages into capacitors and then put the capacitors in series or parallel. The DC voltages can be added.