Joule Ringer V4 and practical applications

[conradelektro]

It might be off topic:

I observed that a very low power Joule Thief type circuit

- connected to ground
- or connected to only one pole of a bigger battery
- or just placed near a device which is itself connected to the mains
- or which is touched by hand
- or all this things in combinations

picks up power from the 220V 50 Hz mains.

When investigating this strange behaviour I came up with the attached circuit (see drawing, DSO trace and photos) which allowed me to measure the power picked up from the mains. It is about 70 µA at at least 100 Volt in my set up (which is not a Joule Thief, just an Avramenko Plug).

With a longer cable the effect becomes of course more pronounced.

When doing these "ghost light experiments" with a Joule Thief type circuit try to find the frequency of your mains (or a harmonic) by measuring at the right places in the circuit (e.g. over the LED).

When running a longer wire through your house to a ground connection or to a big metal object one picks up power from the mains by inductive coupling or reactance (also through your body as a ground).

Greetings, Conrad

[TinselKoala]

@Conrad: not OT at all I think. You are clearly illustrating the power available in the capacitatively-coupled "groundloop" caused by the mains EM field, which fluctuates around the Earth ground potential at 50Hz (or 60 for me) at the p-p value of your line voltage, and the true Earth ground. I think. Scoping the Earth ground directly with the scope probe, as  'signal' itself, with the scope probe's reference at the chassis ground (or mains neutral)  can also be revealing.
Thanks for sharing, it will make a nice addition to my arsenal of unexpected -- but expected -- effects.

So far, though, in my circuits, I think that this energy isn't actually powering the light, but "only" providing the "tickle" that allows the low-voltage transistor to oscillate. This lets the stored energy in the reservoir cap be boosted in voltage by the JT oscillation in the inductor,  and thus power the light itself. I think.

It's too bad we can't color the electrons Red, Blue, Green, etc. Then we could sort out where each contribution is coming from and where it goes. If we could see them, that is. If they even exist at all ....

[conradelektro]

@Conrad:

So far, though, in my circuits, I think that this energy isn't actually powering the light, but "only" providing the "tickle" that allows the low-voltage transistor to oscillate. This lets the stored energy in the reservoir cap be boosted in voltage by the JT oscillation in the inductor,  and thus power the light itself. I think.

@TinselKoala: Yes, the term "tickle" describes it nicely.

The "tickle" probably feeds just enough current and Voltage into the base of the transistor to make the transistor switch through.

If one wants more than a "tickle" one has to create a rather high capacitive coupling with the mains (e.g. a long cable or placement near a 220V device preferably switched on).

I could produce spikes of LED brightness in a very low power Joule Thief by placing the circuit near my 220 V  table light and switching the table light on and off. The spark in the switch caused a little power being induced into the Joule Thief circuit (in addition to the run down battery driving the Joule Thief).

Greetings, Conrad

[TinselKoala]

@Conrad: I get the same triggering effect if I put my 4x NE-2 JT operating near the LS circuit and move it around or switch it on and off.

[Eighthman]

I have a question about the Joule Ringer Crossover device that might be critical.  There appears to be a magnet connected to the inductor.  If so, this setup might be similar to the Maccanti patent (WO 9840960).  This patent claims overunity from applying fast high voltage spikes to a coil surrounding a permanent magnet.

I've been trying to find someone who has replicated the Maccanti device. Perhaps this is it.