Joule Thief

[Pirate88179]

  Totoalas:
   I have used this type of capacitive current/voltage source that is coming from the AC grounds.  But, that source is useless when the AC power is out. As there is no stray capacitive link to do anything with.  You will not save much by doing this, in my opinion.

  I am harvesting 110 volts from the house telephone connection, and converting that to DC. using AC/DC adapters.  The telephone company will always keep that going, even in emergencies, and power outages. As they will then run back-up generators.  I would not think twice to use that source in an emergency situation.
 
                                                              NickZ

Nick:

Funny you should mention this....I have just tested my phone jack (I have no house phone, just cell) and i got 70 volts DC.  Not much power but, I'll bet a decent JT circuit could run a bunch of stuff from that.

The only drawback i see online is that if, you draw too much, the phone company computers see that as an "off hook" situation and cut the power to the line.  Within reason, i think there is a lot that can be done here.  It is free and available during power outages.  What more could we ask for?

Bill

[totoalas]

I workef in a tel co way nak in 86. And they know this also... They reduce the size of fuse to eliminate illegal extension and lifetime ban if caught..

One line man need to connect the ground but its all concrete in the house so he put it in the flower pot the owner complained that his tel is not working if he dont water the plant   lol

another lineman because of laziness put the ground to the chain around the the dog collar
the dog barks whenever the telephone rings

[Lakes]

I workef in a tel co way nak in 86. And they know this also... They reduce the size of fuse to eliminate illegal extension and lifetime ban if caught..

One line man need to connect the ground but its all concrete in the house so he put it in the flower pot the owner complained that his tel is not working if he dont water the plant   lol

another lineman because of laziness put the ground to the chain around the the dog collar
the dog barks whenever the telephone rings

LOL!!(I really did laugh out loud at that!)

[b_rads]

I workef in a tel co way nak in 86. And they know this also... They reduce the size of fuse to eliminate illegal extension and lifetime ban if caught..

One line man need to connect the ground but its all concrete in the house so he put it in the flower pot the owner complained that his tel is not working if he dont water the plant   lol

another lineman because of laziness put the ground to the chain around the the dog collar
the dog barks whenever the telephone rings

OMG - ROFL   
Feel so sorry for the dog - hope there were no teenagers living there.

[NickZ]

   Bill:
   The telephone line here gives about 115 volts on AC, and only half that on DC. And you are right, that that source although restricted in current output, can still run and charge cell phones, Ipods, tablets, and of course batteries, and oscillators.  It is best to use that source only if your regular phone line is not working, (like due to lack of payment). But, it may also work while the phone is on, although I personally have not tried that. It will certainly light one of the 110v low wattage Led bulbs, when running off of a simple oscillator/inverter like Lasersaber's 3.0 circuit.

  @ Totoalas:  Now I know why my dog has been barking so much, lately....
  Maybe I should go back to using solar???  Ha!

   NickZ