Joule Thief

[NickZ]

   Guys:
   An important consideration would be: can you get the same amount of Light using Leds on the Jt , than with a CFL light bulb.   If so,  is the higher voltage needed?  Or can a useable amount of light be produced with lower and safer voltage using Leds.? 
   CFL bulbs put out a quality of light that I don't particularly like, as also do the Cool White Leds. Neither of the commercially made lights bulbs (Led or CFL) can be dimmed. But, if used along with the Jt, the bulbs (both types), can be dimmed. This is important (for me).
  It would be great to see a Jt that can light up a 50 watt regular bulb, or even a 25 watt bulb, even for a minute.
I know that little flash light bulbs can be lit, but how about a regular 25 to 40 watt regular 110 volt, using a 12 volt Jt?  Has anybody seen that done?  Is it even possible, so far?
                                           NickZ
   
 
                                                         

[crowclaw]

   Guys:
   An important consideration would be: can you get the same amount of Light using Leds on the Jt , than with a CFL light bulb.   If so,  is the higher voltage needed?  Or can a useable amount of light be produced with lower and safer voltage using Leds.? 
   CFL bulbs put out a quality of light that I don't particularly like, as also do the Cool White Leds. Neither of the commercially made lights bulbs (Led or CFL) can be dimmed. But, if used along with the Jt, the bulbs (both types), can be dimmed. This is important (for me).
  It would be great to see a Jt that can light up a 50 watt regular bulb, or even a 25 watt bulb, even for a minute.
I know that little flash light bulbs can be lit, but how about a regular 25 to 40 watt regular 110 volt, using a 12 volt Jt?  Has anybody seen that done?  Is it even possible, so far?
                                           NickZ
   
 
                                                       

                                                       
  @NickZ Well so far the basic JT circuit is very limited in the amount of power it can deliver. Led's lend themselves ideally to these circuits because for a given amount of useful light output, the current demand can be very low...as can the source voltage. Typically under 3volts and lower. By stringing the led's in series the current remains the same, but as each led requires it's operating voltage then the more added the greater the voltage required. When you concider greater power demands for household filament lamps etc, then you need high voltage of course but also a higher operating current, hence voltage inverters using switched mode techniques. Lastly an unmodified CFL has it's own unique in built circuitry which is designed for use on either 110v 60Hz or 230v 50 Hz supplies! if you remove the internal driver circuits and leave just the CFL tube connections you will by careful tuning get it to light. The brightness may not necessary be ideal!! however I posted this photo here some time ago of my modified CFL lit up as you can see. Hope this helps you. Kind Regards Merv.

[NickZ]

  @ Crowclaw and All:
   Thanks for the reply.  If one was to make a very powerful Jt circuit, and then be able to reduce the HV and bring up the current instead, using a transformer.  So, lets say you have a Jt that can output 1000 volts, and you then convert that down to 120 volts (or to 12 volts), but now with higher amps. How many amps would you get? Has that it been done by anyone?
          NZ

[Pirate88179]

Nick:

Pardon my saying so but I think it is a fool's errand to try to light an Edison based bulb with a JT.  There is way too much energy wasted in the form of heat for one thing. (Remember the easy-bake ovens from a while back?  Bake a cake with a light bulb)  You want light but are paying for heat as well.  A lot of heat.

As Crowclaw has stated, the LEDs lend themselves to be lighted from this circuit.  I can get way more light out of a bunch of leds, for a longer period of time than I ever could a cfl, or floro tube for that matter.  I just wanted to light a cfl so I could say that I could.  All of my efforts from now on will be with the leds.

Bill

[NickZ]

  Bill:  Thanks for your reply. That is what I thought, concerning the Leds compared to CFLs.  But I thought that I'd ask in case someone had been able to light even regular 12 volt car bulbs with the Jt.  I've seen the Tros youtube videos where he is lighting three small flashlight type bulbs. He does not use toroids coils. I though some one else may have been able to light a regular bulb.  You never know...
   Bill: Do you think that a possible solution to the Jt circuit losing resonance can be overcome by maintaining a fixed input voltage.  Possibly the easiest way to do this is, using a solar panel that charges and maintains a big run battery that serves as a steady input source for the Jt.  What do you think?
                             Nick