Joule Thief

[xee2]

@ jeanna

Thanks xee2,
I must be asking such a simple silly question that it is hard to answer.

I get this information about the battery, and I thank you for it, because it is the important information.
It is more important than how many hours your particular light was lit.
But, in fact that was my last question.
How many hours did the light stay lit with the big toroid with the 2T,10T,and 80 turns secondary?

The only tests I did on the 3.38" toroid were the low vlotage tests and the tube was only lit for a few minutes at a time while I was taking the data.

Have you duplicated the 2B-10C-80P 3.38" toroid? It would take you less than an hour. You do not even have to count the pickup coil turns. The pickup coil is 17 feet of wire total with one foot at each end for leads. That will give you close to 80 turns. I thought that you had done this but now I am not sure.

[xee2]

@ jeanna

If your want to run a fluorescent tube for a long time I would suggest using a lot of turns on the pickup coil so that you will be able to generate the 400 volts needed to light the tube with a lower battery drain. There may also be other ways to control battery drain, such as using base capacitor, but this is an areal I have not investigated for tubes.

[jeanna]

If you are talking about the white thing, it's a cap...If you are talking about the black thing it's the bridge rectifier 1amp@1000volts and really small!

My biggo to me anyways has a primary no secondary if you are talking about the collector coil and base coil let me know!

I was talking about the black thing... the bridge. OK so you are using a full bridge for this.

Your biggo primary is the hazens style stuff.
The MK1 turns which I believe are what is filling the rest of your toroid is the secondary(pick-up) coil.

So, are you not connecting anything to the wire that covers the entire toroid? (the one that I am calling the secondary and MK calls the pick up?

I think it is really important to get the terms straight in the beginning. It saves misunderstanding later.

jeanna
edit
Are you saying that the whole gold part is collector coil and emitter coil?

[jeanna]

@ jeanna

If you want to run a fluorescent tube for a long time I would suggest using a lot of turns on the pickup coil so that you will be able to generate the 400 volts needed to light the tube with a lower battery drain.

Yes,
That is what I thought and why I asked you to time it and tell me how long the thing is useful to a human being who would like to see something during the dark hours. Just a practical question, not a scientific one.

I made a coil which produces 450 volts and lights a tube for 4 to 5 1/4 hours.

I thought you were telling me you had made one that could run for 10-20 hours and I wanted to actually see this and not back into it, as well, I wanted to know how it was made. Most of this was answered except the how-long-does-it-light-a-light question.

Thanks,

jeanna

[xee2]

@ jeanna

Yes,
That is what I thought and why I asked you to time it and tell me how long the thing is useful to a human being who would like to see something during the dark hours. Just a practical question, not a scientific one.

I made a coil which produces 450 volts and lights a tube for 4 to 5 1/4 hours.

I thought you were telling me you had made one that could run for 10-20 hours and I wanted to actually see this and not back into it, as well, I wanted to know how it was made. Most of this was answered except the how-long-does-it-light-a-light question.

Thanks,

jeanna

The only test I did to see how long a fluorescent tube could be lit was the test I did for you using the 2" toroid. That test ran 12 hours on a half dead battery. Sitting and watching tubes is not something I have an interest in doing. And I do not understand what you are asking me to do. If you want me to repeat a test you have done please post the circuit with your results and explain what you want me to do. I thought you wanted me to demonstrate that a tube could be lit for 12 to 20 hours and I think I have done that.