Joule Thief

[jeanna]

@All,
I want to pass along a reference to a site with lots of info on induction coils.
I call it Barry's coil gun site. Maybe that is the name.

This page:
http://www.coilgun.info/mark2/rlcsim.htm

Is a page with a java  applet that gives you the simple curve expected from 4 parameters in an induction coil.
Voltage, Resistance, Capacitance, and (um is it inductance?) Henries.

So, with this simulator, you can move the sliders and watch the curve change. There are also numbers like Hz values too.

I think it is air core, but, I find I understand it and I am informed by it more each time I visit the sliders.

Our joule thief circuits are much more complex going both ways etc and having a core, but, for whatever reason, I am passing it along. Maybe someone with more knowledge can use it to help me sometime!

jeanna

[electricme]

@Jaenna,

I highlight the page, up at the top ... the URL
then once back in the reply message box,
I click the globe button and then
paste it into the center where the cursor is.

Remember to move the cursor out of the brackets when finished.

Thank you Jeanna

jim

[jeanna]

Hi everybody,

I think Gary really hit on something yesterday.

He said "loosely coupled" and "interlaced with the primary". If he didn't say those exact 2 things, I heard them that way.

So, today I tried to put 2 pickup coils together to add to the effect (inspired by jim's success yesterday)  and DARN! the same thing that always happens did again. The voltage either stayed the same or went down. I did NOT get the effect Jim got at all.

I am trying to work out the deal with the high flux toroid here, so when it went completely out, I wasn't so terribly surprised.

I am also using one of my new germanium transistors from gadget. Man, that is sweet. It just takes so little to turn on it makes a really big difference.

I will switch back to a 2N3904 in a while, I just needed to help this high fluxer along. I also have to have a 103k cap in there too. ---This is a stubborn little toroid!

So,I suddenly remembered what Gary said and what it made me think.

I have some toroids which work.
They work really well in almost all conditions.
They are all on the little tiny tor-23 or the filter.

What the tor-23 ones have in many cases like the berry or xtree or zebra with Kynar, is that the way I wound the pickup is I wound 3-4 turns all in a bunch in between each turn of the primary.

I did this now,

Comparing 2 wires that total 14 turns made to connect in parallel,  with one wire of 14 turns made by bunching the turns together, the difference is that by bunching them every single turn adds to the previous one.
None diminish the total.

With every turn the frequency goes down a little bit and the voltage goes up a little bit.

So, in this case... neatness does NOT win. 

I do not think it is a neat thing.
I think it is what Gary said... loosely coupled and bunched together instead of very neatly packed together.

Perhaps the bunch is like a multistranded thicker wire for just that place??

Anyway the results are good. Maybe you (everybody) should try this with a dozen turns and compare them to 6 plus 6. I think the dozen will win if you bunch or group 3 turns in between a pair of primary turns. Do it and lets talk about our results??

jeanna

[resonanceman]

Today I spent  some time putting together a board  to run  a 3055

in general  it  lit  up  my LED array  much  better than  a 2222
I  am not sure about how much current it was drawing  ......I could not  get it to work  with a meter  set up in the loop
I  switched    the meter I have been reading    battery  current with for a month now .........and  couldn;t  get it  to light  with the meter hooked up .'

I  tried another meter ........same thing . 


With my  clamp meter it read  1.40 A   but  I  don;t think the clamp  is accurate

I remember  someone  saying  that   sometimes  neon lights  are used to protect the base of these  transistors . ......I took that to mean they could stand pretty high  voltages .
I tried my  18 V battery and   saw  smoke .
I fried something .....

I can't  get it to work now ......maybe tomorow  I  will  find  what  smoked.


Can someone explain  what to look for  on the data sheets   to find the min  and max  that  the  base can  take ?


thnaks

gary

[Pirate88179]

Here is a video I made tonight of the Earth Battery and the Fuji Joule Thief running 400 leds outside in my garden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agqKEed7AOI



@ Gary:

I just have always heard that the 3055's draw more power or need more power to run.  I don't have any figures on that however.  the lowest turn on volts transistor I have used is still the 3904, but, Gadgetmall sent me a germanium transistor that will work way below anything I have seen so far.  I just have not tried it yet.

Bill