Joule Thief 101

[xee2]

A common question is, "how can I make a Joule thief that lights a fluorescent tube"? Well, there are many ways. I think this is probably the simplest.

[jeanna]

At this moment the only thing I want to add is this excellent picture made by makezine.
There is a pdf that you can download that goes along with their excellent video.
Of course it is the basic joule thief, not the kind most of us are now making but the first one everyone should make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTAqGKt64WM
I say watch this 3 times. (5 minute video)
1- all through
2- return to 1:09 and watch till the jokes at the end. Really focus this time.
3- return again to 1:09 and as you watch it pause and try to predict what comes next, and start making it. You can keep it buffered while you make it too.

jeanna

In this pic you can clearly see that the 2 wires are different colors, and you are connecting the end of one of them to the beginning of the other.
I believe this is the mistake most often made by first jt makers, so watch carefully.

[WattBuilder]

ALL,

Due to the different experience levels that one may have.
Those of you who are attempting to build this circuit or larger circuits.
Remember to take the time for    SAFETY FIRST !!!

Accidents due happen.
High voltage does KILL
Capacitors due EXPLODE

Make sure proper grounding is used.
Make sure your face is shielded if not at least your eyes.
It’s wise to have a buddy around just incase of emergency’s

Please take the time to research safety and there is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to safety.    Just ask.

Finally, remember to have fun!!!    Your building a really cool circuit.   

Howard

[sierraloewe]

Hey great topic!

Could somebody say something in regards to the wire gauge and turn count on primaries and secondaries?

Is it better to have a thicker wire gauge with fewer turns on the primary and thinner wire with more turns on the secondaries?

How might proportion affect efficiency?

Does it matter how tight or loose the wire is wrapped?

[jadaro2600]

Hey great topic!

Could somebody say something in regards to the wire gauge and turn count on primaries and secondaries?

Is it better to have a thicker wire gauge with fewer turns on the primary and thinner wire with more turns on the secondaries?

How might proportion affect efficiency?

Does it matter how tight or loose the wire is wrapped?

Loosely wrapped wires will make the torroids sing.  Having a larger number of winding on the secondary will create a larger voltage, the ratio on the primaries should be, but is not limited to 1:1, remember though that the current through the primary going to the collecter will be greater than the primary going to the base and thus the waveform on the secondary will be slightly offset ( thus it is more like pulsed DC than 'trued' AC.  ( innovation_station has found ways around this )).
- - - -
Rationalized Schematics and Alternative Designs ( by me, these have been tested and do work ).

edit:

I was going to post more, but these should do for now. Currently I'm testing deviations of the circuit; though I lack super or ultra caps, I'll be writing up instructions of my own some time for the resistor-less circuits.

The images below are old, each representation of the winding should have a shared core ( as a line between them, more like in the original post ).  My software is limited to Linux..and thus the output is hard to perfect.