Joule Thief

[stprue]

Why does 30 gauge always fail me?  Less then 5v and lots of effort and time!

[TheNOP]

meaning that the energy level at one time is not always the same as at an other time.
ex: 1uA per cycle at 1 Hz = .5uA per cycle at 2Hz

and AC curve, the max energy level is only at the peeks.

I assume these are 2 different separate things, related but 2 different sentences.

yes, they are different things, but at same time, closely releated to each other.

the first example is only to show you that there are multiples ways to get to the same energy level.

the other remark about the AC curve is what is more important.
in 1 cycle the current go from the lowest point to the highest points over a period of time.

what i meant by those 2 things is that 2 spikes of 50mA will actualy give you less energy then one cycle of 10mA 60Hz pure AC current.

one is a peek current value, while the other is .707 of 10mA for the real RMS value or is the actual RMS value since our tools are making that calculation for us. 

Your formula helped me make some examples

at 220r   I got 193uA/Hz. at 95V   that = 18uW
...
...
I just deleted the rest because I want to double check the decimals.

My assumption is that this provides me a basis for comparison between these coils. It is on a 1Hz basis that I am comparing them

So, if I have 18uw/Hz at 52KHz and 82uw at 35 KHz I can just calculate the watts per Hz and see what I have?

no
you can't calculate it like that unless the current and voltage you are measuring are true RMS values.
that is why we have problems with measurements accuracy when we are not measuring DC or 60Hz AC
see xee2 post

where the frequency help is that inductions and capacitive coupling are all about currents changes in a peroid of time.
the more the currents changes rapidly in a period of time, the more energy is transfered.

but there are limitations..., as with everything in this world...
you will be limited by the current reaction time.
that current reaction time is caused by the resistance, or impendance, the current is fighting against.

it is up to you to use that fact to your advantage.
you might want to deliberately limit the current this way.

or you can try to find ways to minimize that limit.
by finding how you can minimize the resistance.
or how to give more current flow time, so it can reach it maximum before switching it off.

i often said thing are complicated.
they are in fact a lots of simple things that are interacting with each other in ways that can become somewhat complicate.
there are as many possibilities that there are limitations.
the art is to work around them or at least minimize them for the specific application you are trying to develop.

[hazens1]

Found some new toys at Menards

I found the smallest CFL ever. 1 watt    Sells for $5 as a night light. Box says 1.6 watt, but the bulb seems to be the same as the replacement 1 watt CFL garden lights that I saw there also. Not much in electronics in this sucker. No toroid either.

I found a Solar 50 LED rope light $12 that runs off a single 600mah AA battery. Looks like they are using the solar panel as double duty (charging and light sensing) as there is no photocell to detect dark. Just cover up the solar cell and it lights up. Amazing, 50 leds on a single AA battery and solar in a neat little package that charges itself. I was going to invent this, but the Chinese already beat me to it    But there is always room for improvement 

Enjoy the pics. I'll be playing around with these in the near future.

[Mk1]

@stprue

Nice looking toroid , try something for me , i think there is a problem with the connection to the bread board , i have one just like yours and i usually need need to use the clipper cable between the pickup coil and rectifier to get good connection, or i solder a 22 gauge wire at the end so i could connect it properly to the board.

Mark

Also have you tested the toroid in other configuration ?

[xee2]

This was a test to try to find minimum voltage and current needed to light fluorescent tube. The tube is very dim at 137 mA.