Joule Thief

[Artic_Knight]

@all

I have tested my 900kV stun gun on a 48inch tube and it works! Its only about 1/8 of normal brightness. This brings me to my next question. If in fact the stungun's transformer is producing 900kV what hope do we have of ever lighting a 48" tube with a JT to full brightness?

-Altrez

frequency my friend frequency. do you by chance know of the frequency of the stun gun output?

[Thaelin]

   Just a bit of theory here on my part. I have been watching from the back side for a long time as I felt that I had little to offer. The more I have seen, the more I keep coming up with the idea that the frequency is going to play a part in how well the tube will light up. With normal setup on FL's, it runs on 60hz. Does the length of the tube fall on one of the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or full for wave length. Do we need to find the right frequency so the nodes will make an exact fit for the length of the tube used? Just a thought on my part. At the moment I am still trying to get the circuit to light up anything at all. Did blow a transistor so far (3055).
   Think I will setup a transistor with the gate to my signal gen and see what frequency will make the FL's I have fly.

thaelin

  I have a few burnt out full spectrum tubes that I want to use here for back lighting. Just want to get the most out of them. I do intend to use 12v in the end but at very low ma so it will last a long time.

[xee2]

@ stprue

That is some great work as usual.  Xee is there any winding method you are using.  I do not seem to see any if there is, which is pretty cool considering the performance.  What type is wire are you using?

Wire is smallest I can get that is plastic coated. Mostly 24, 28, and 30. Radio Shack has best wire in my opinion called "insulated wrapping wire" 30 gauge solid insulated but it doesn't seem to be available in more than 50 foot lengths. Winding is as shown - generally back and forth in solenoid layers. But not very neat.

[xee2]

@ mikem_2au

I am not sure what a CCFL tube is. But there are several CFL tubes posted. Thanks for info on MJE3055T. Can you use paint to modify one of my circuits to show what you are doing?

[jeanna]

Thanks Jeanna.  Did you get those from Gadget's posted source or Xee2's source?  Maybe they are all the same.  Probably come from the same factory in China anyway.  That is a good preliminary report, thank you.

Actually, I think the link gadget posted said $1ea and Xee2's link was 50 cents.  So, I think I already have my answer.  Thanks.

Bill

I got them from xee's posted source. um battery station, something.
I think gadget's link was to the manufacturer and I don't remember any price on that site, just a little information.
It also showed other products beyond the tiles. I like the idea of an acrylic sheet that can be cut to shape. (the crazy artist in me gets all excited about stuff like this.)

They are surprisingly bright with very little input.
It is very foggy this morning and I put a couple in the window for 15 - 30 minutes. I didn't even need to get into a dark room to see it brightly glow. In the window it looks a dull greenish color, then just to the side of the window the whole tile becomes a brilliant glow.

I think gadget and maybe ist should buy them to sell on their websites- they must be pretty cheap to be able to retail them for 50 cents.

jeanna