Joule Thief

[jeanna]

Well folks I finally did something different.

I lit a neon today.
!!!!!

I should go back and try some of those other toroids with this new neon from radioshack. I went there the other day on the way outside chance that they got some in and they had these 2 in red enclosure all set up for a car or something. I stuck the 2 secondary leads through the plug holes and up went the neon. ---proof--- 110-125 volts it says on the little light.

Ah this is a good feeling. I know I lit the fluorotubes and the gazillion leds, but I wasn't able to show that I had a toroid that could reach the voltage that the scope declared. Now I have.

However...
That darn string of leds doesn't light. It works in the house socket, but still not with my secondary.

The newest totals are...
177volts               131 volts
10.2KHz               17  KHz
182 ohms            943 ohms   
31.8mA                27.1mA

I tried a cap or 2 in the parallel to base resistor spot and the volts went down.
with a 104 cap
13.5KHz
145 volts
182 ohms

Also, I did split the primary in the MKx2 way for this and the volts might have gone up 2 volts.

This toroid is so large that it is heavy and a little hard to handle.
It seems to have enertia. Maybe not. Maybe just eddys, but it seems heavy and slow.

So, who knows the answer to this is the U value a high or low number when it is high flux?

thanks,

jeanna

all the details
3.38" toroid from allelectronics
2N3904 transistor
1kpot at 943 and at 182 ohms
3T,4T,240T MK1 style toroid
no caps
no diodes
1.26v NiMH AAA

[TheNOP]

funny i thought the spark gap WAS a resistance? the equivalent in todays day as a Diode. forwards or backwards the diode has a point of threashold where it breaks down and allows the current to pass same as spark gap and this can be read as a resistance which falls under teslas "suitable resistance"

there is a voltage threshole(dielectric breakdown), but it does not replace a diode.
a spark gap as the same property and effects then lightning bolts.
study them and you will know how, why and what a spark gap do.

[xee2]

@ jeanna

I lit a neon today.
!!!!!

Great! Try using your 2N3055 transistor. Also, the base resistor caps are to lower the current not to increase the voltage.

EDIT: If you increase your collector coil to 10 turns you should be able to light a fluorescent tube.

[TheNOP]

i suggest you try it!  drop a magnet down a copper pipe. hey it dropps REALLY slow. drop it down a copper pipe that allows the electricity to flow hey it dropps at a normal rate.

have you ever considered on a DC generator bridging a cap accross the generators output terminals? you should,

explain to me how you can collect eddy current at the output terminals when that current is in the housing.

i am not saying that the effect you are writing about is not real, far from that.
i am simply saying that eddy currents is not the cause.

to really know what is happening, when there is a capacitor at the output, you should look at Lenz's law instead.



i am curious on exactly how you allow the electricity to flow in your pipe experiment.

eddy currents in generators is from the resistance of the copper passing the magnetism only because there is resistance in electrical flow. now if there is a Iron Core to this coil then that adds a whole different Variable. one which we can guess the answer. were stuck with the resistance.

in a strait copper coil inside a magnetic field all eddy current resistance can be eliminated and only ball bearing resistance remains (or other friction) i have proven this to myself, if you dont believe me then try it!

eddy currents is a special case of induced currents, it circulate in a conductive material and loop on itself.

the rest is said to be an induced current.
same word "current" as if it was comming from a battery because that current is not different if it is induced by a mag field or by a battery.

[TheNOP]

If you increase your collector coil to 10 turns you should be able to light a fluorescent tube.

more turns on the collector, less to the base is working for me.
to some extent..., the number of turns for each coil depend on my core material.

the transformer ratio seem to be base on the base's coil rather then the collector's coil