Joule Ringer!

[Lynxsteam]

I updated the circuit schematic for my Tesla Lamp.  The trigger coil wasn't doing anything so I got rid of it.  Its the HV feedback off the bulb that triggers the base as in Laser Saber's JRV2.0.
I tried a power transistor, switching 3055 and the results were about the same but slightly dimmer.  I replaced the LED with a leaking diode 1N4148 and the bulb runs brighter.  Also, the primary runs the full length of the secondary.  500 turns secondary, 25 turns primary.

The nice thing about a small signal amplifier transistor like a 2N2222 or 2N4401 is the CFL will light dimly with 2 volts and get brighter as the voltage goes up.  Or conversely, as the battery runs down the circuit still gives off light. 

There is nothing spectacular about this device.  But what I like is that you can make one very simply with no exotic components and run it off a wide range of DC voltages. 

http://youtu.be/fZtHdDWrM6E

[conradelektro]

The nice thing about a small signal amplifier transistor like a 2N2222 or 2N4401 is the CFL will light dimly with 2 volts and get brighter as the voltage goes up.  Or conversely, as the battery runs down the circuit still gives off light. 

Thank you for showing your tests. Going through my collection of components I found the 2N4401 and the 2N2222, so I will make some tests with them.

At the moment I am building a new coil based on a plastic evacuation pipe with a diameter of 162 mm. For the secondary I will use two times 200 meter of silk insulated copper wire 0.3 mm2 (opposing coil halves, each halve about 380 turns). And for the primary I will try plastic insulated copper wire 1.5 mm2 as used for electrical installations (also opposing coil halves). The intention is to cover the secondary as much as possible with the primary, hence this massive wire.

Testing different ratios of turns (primary/secondary, the long secondary will be left unchanged because it is the more difficult to wind) I hope to be able to find a step up factor suitable for a 12 Volt power supply and a 220 Volt 9 Watt or 5 Watt LED-lamp.

The tubes of the CFLs (built in circuit removed) need at least 600 Volt. The LED lamps should work nicely with 220 Volt. The LED lamps should give the most light for a given wattage, even better than the CFLs.

Greetings, Conrad

[b_rads]

I updated the circuit schematic for my Tesla Lamp.  The trigger coil wasn't doing anything so I got rid of it.  Its the HV feedback off the bulb that triggers the base as in Laser Saber's JRV2.0.

http://youtu.be/fZtHdDWrM6E

Thank You for the updated schematic.  I attempted to replicate this last night and after watching your new video, I see some things I did wrong.  I used 1" PVC - (Outside diameter measures 1 3/8") and wound 30g magnet wire 11".  Do I need to remove some of this wire?  Also I noted that the L1 is not tightly wrapped.  Does this need to be loose?  And Finally, the CFL that I gutted (13 watt) has two wires on each side.  How does this connect?  Sorry for all the questions, this is a newbie asking.

[Lynxsteam]

Nice Build!  No, you didn't do anything wrong just need to make a few adjustments.

Your taller secondary probably has a lot more wire than mine so you will probably need to increase your primary windings to 30-50 and then adjust from there.
I do this by starting with an plastic insulated wire from the positive lead around the bottom of the tower and winding up.  Keep it a little loose and wind to the top.  There will be space between turns.  Keep the end long for now so you can add more turns if needed.  Temporarily connect this ending L1 wire from the top down to the emitter of your transistor.  Use an alligator clip. 
Make sure your HV (high voltage) wire is clean of insulation a 1/2" back.  Heat and sandpaper til you get to copper. 
It matters that the correct ends off the secondary go where shown.
On the CFL twist the two leads from each tube together with the correct HV wire.  After the HV passes through the CFL it goes down and connects to the Base of the transistor with a 12" or so piece of 30 awg wire.
It matters which way the diode goes.  Make sure the positive mark is towards the base of the transistor.
Mine will start right up with 2 volts all the way up to 15 volts.
You will probably be able to light more CFL bulbs than I can, but you will push the transistor to its ma limit.  The 4401 is good for 500 ma, the 2222 is good for 680 ma.  Start testing with 6 volts and work up and down testing.  Hopefully you have a couple spare transistors because we all burn them up testing.  Once you get it working and adjusted, solder and glue gun everything tidy.

[b_rads]

Nice Build!  No, you didn't do anything wrong just need to make a few adjustments.

Your taller secondary probably has a lot more wire than mine so you will probably need to increase your primary windings to 30-50 and then adjust from there.
I do this by starting with an plastic insulated wire from the positive lead around the bottom of the tower and winding up.  Keep it a little loose and wind to the top.  There will be space between turns.  Keep the end long for now so you can add more turns if needed.  Temporarily connect this ending L1 wire from the top down to the emitter of your transistor.  Use an alligator clip. 
Make sure your HV (high voltage) wire is clean of insulation a 1/2" back.  Heat and sandpaper til you get to copper. 
It matters that the correct ends off the secondary go where shown.
On the CFL twist the two leads from each tube together with the correct HV wire.  After the HV passes through the CFL it goes down and connects to the Base of the transistor with a 12" or so piece of 30 awg wire.
It matters which way the diode goes.  Make sure the positive mark is towards the base of the transistor.
Mine will start right up with 2 volts all the way up to 15 volts.
You will probably be able to light more CFL bulbs than I can, but you will push the transistor to its ma limit.  The 4401 is good for 500 ma, the 2222 is good for 680 ma.  Start testing with 6 volts and work up and down testing.  Hopefully you have a couple spare transistors because we all burn them up testing.  Once you get it working and adjusted, solder and glue gun everything tidy.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.  I have several of both transistors you mentioned.  I will attempt to get this running this evening - with some luck.  I hope to be able to run this off the USB port on several devices I have.  5 Volts off my 12 Volt battery that is solar charged would be nice, or even my laptop USB.  Correct me if I misunderstand this calculation - Volts X Amps = Watts.  6 volts X .2 Amps (200 mA) = 1.2 watts to light a 13/14 watt CFL.  If light output is similiar, this sounds pretty darn efficient to me.  Thanks again,
Brad S