Lynx Joule Inverter

[gyulasun]

And it looks like the LEDs are actually "running" off of the charge that is pumped into the 100uF cap on the right, dribbled out to them in pulses by the chip?

Yes and  the 100uF cap is charged up from the collapsing field of the 1mH coil via the diode UF4005.  Pin 5, the open Drain of the chip is at negative ground when the inner MOSFET switch is ON, this pumps energy into the 1mH and when the switch is OFF the the cap can receive the collapsed juice.

[NickZ]

    Lynxsteam:
   I do have some Led bulbs (110v) and have combined them with also lighting the Cfls, or the  round Halo bulbs as well as other types of flourescents, and even the 60 watt incandescents.

  The led bulbs, as well as the ungutted Cfls, can easily burn out their internal circuit if the Ringer's secondary coil output is TOO HIGH. 
  Still looking for the perfect circuit to fully light the Cfls to full brightness, or close to it, without burning out the transistors.

   Your cross over circuit video was very interesting.  I'm still working on that one. Fourth day now, and the led indicator is still lit, on 1/4 to 1/2 volt, and about 300 mAs. If the on/off switch is turned off, the voltage climbs back the the starting voltage of  1.150 volts.  I'm still tuning it with different caps, etz... Once I get the best results, I'll change back to the 12v solar input, and a 12v battery as a source.
  I ran the cross over circuit off my solar panels today, but the 1.5v input battery and cap remained at 1/2 volt, and did not charge up,  while lighting the circuits's indicator led.
For some reason the addition of solar panel's input did not change or charge up the 1.5v D cell  battery or cap voltage. Even though the solar input source was 36 volts.

  Here are a few pics of one of my versions of the Ringer 3.0 on a 3 coil ferrite yoke, (with two secondary coils), that can be used together in series, or apart, as a second output source.
   

[Lynxsteam]

I abandoned my work with the crossover after for no apparent reason burning up two 2N2222.  No change, they just decided to fry.  I didn't see anything at all magnificent with that circuit.  I will leave that one to others to explore.  My main interest is practical lighting with few parts, reliable, and simple.  That is the reason for this thread.  To show people how easy and practical it is to run 120 v LED non-dimmable bulbs from 12-24 volts at low ma draw.  I am sure people will find interesting uses for the secondary.

Nick, you will find the right combination of parts to light your CFLs.  I know I had my best luck with the 3.0 version (collector connection) of the LJL, 15:1 ratio and heavy gauge well insulated primary.  You should be able to safely run 5 amps through the 2N3055 at 12 volts.  I prefer keeping amps below 3.  That means you are restricted to about two CFLs per transistor.  You can parallel the 2N3055 if you link the bases with a 1 Ohm resistor.  I have a large aircore with this setup and it will power a lot of lights.  Each 2N3055 is good for 60 watts.

Back to the Lynx Joule Inverter circuit, I tried many transformers and coils to light these bulbs another way.  One larger RadioShack transformer will run these just off the primary.  The others wont do.  A slide switch is best for on off to help the circuit start up.  If you just get a blinking bulb, strike the connection to get it to light or just leave it and it will fire up in a second or two.  Each bulb is a little different.

[NickZ]

    Lynx:
    In order to get back on the program...  To make your Inverter system, using my ferrite core transformer (below).
    In order to use this ferrite yoke (below), which now also has a 20 turn primary of about 14 gauge  insulated wire wound on top of one of the two secondary coils:
I would connect one end of the primary coil to battery +, and the other end of the primary coil goes to one end of the secondary coils, then continue to connect it the second secondary coil. Then, the end of the second secondary coil goes to the bulb, and after the bulb it goes back to the battery - negative terminal.
  Correct???
                       NickZ

   

[Lynxsteam]

First, I wouldn't waste a nice Torroid on this simple circuit.  But for just playing around and experimenting its fine.  On page two of this thread there are two schematics.  You can pick either.  You have picked one correctly.  My favorite is having the bulb between primary and secondary.

You can also just try the primary only, or secondary only.  Some transformers will work this way, some wont.  Steel laminate cores work well.  Ferrite cores are brighter and consume more power.  Keep in mind this will only work on bulbs marked non-dimmable.  You wont hurt anything in a dimmable bulb, it just wont work.  You wont hurt the transformer because the bulbs don't pull that much power.  I suppose if you shorted out the secondary for awhile that wouldn't be good.  If you see a big spark and no light you probably have shorted your transformer.  Momentarily no big deal.
I would look around and see if in your parts bin you might have a transformer. 
Once you get how easy this is, start looking for a nice balance between brightness and low ma draw. 

This circuit is voltage linear.  The higher the voltage the higher the amp draw the higher the brightness.  So if you want to, you can try a pot that can handle 5 watts and see how you can dim this non-dimmable bulb.  You can turn it down to candle light or up as far as the transformer will allow.