Joule Thief

[sm0ky2]

i took dudes advice and hooked up a 2k trim-pot in place of the base resistor, so i can adjust it now.

[xee2]

@ sm0ky2

Here is a trick that is used to get high voltages for atom smashers. Charge up 2 capacitors in parallel then put them in series. That will give you twice the voltage. So you could have a switch that you put in one position for parallel charging overnight and in anouther position for series capacitors to run JT. Then you would have a 1.2 volt power source from a 0.6 volt EB.

[innovation_station]

im building this 50 turn coil i started this morn .. 

9 coils of 50 turns output is 100 - 150v so far  x 9  with 914 switching diodes a rectifiers ..

9 of them 36 diodes ..

next are the caps i want to see if i can get 9 feeds dc in caps from a REAL SIMPLE  coil

all 50 turn coils are RS 30 gage magnet wire

primarry jt is 2 turn cat 5

ist..

4401 transistor ill finish the bridges then  post a pic ..   

[sm0ky2]

while the trim-pot was a GREAT idea,...

it gives me much frustration.

the 4401 transistor cuts on at 0.71v
3604 chimes in right around 0.74v
my EB gives me 0.66v with no resistor

[jeanna]

i guess i dont have any 3055s, so i have to go transistor-shopping to find something that will turn on with .6v

I had the most trouble with the 3055.
It was extremely hard to get it to turn on.
Even now, I only use on the big 3 1/3" toroid for use with very high voltage and low frequency (5.6KHz) oscillations.

My toroids are quick. I get from 50-200KHz in a simple bifilar wrap done just like the makezine video. No fancy stuff.
that is with a
2N3904 or a
2N2222
Either one is great.

I do not know why so many people start off using the 3055.

There are certainly times to use it, but the 3904 and 2222 are perfect switching transistors for this job.

It might be a good idea for you to get some toroids that you know something about.
I say this for purely selfish reasons.
My big thing (after finding out how things work) is to spread this to everyone for free and soon.
In my idea, the easiest way to do that is to make it simple and easy to start up.
So, since so many folks have settled on the 5/$1 and you can get other toroids at electronicgoldmine.com while you are there, I suggest getting a pack of them and look around. there is a minimum order there, but for the reasons of being standard, it is a good place for you to go shopping.

They probably have supercaps too. A supercap got Bills simple led to light without any jt. Not me, yet. ..

jeanna