Joule Thief

[Pirate88179]

Quote from Spinner:

"As you may have noticed, the author never claims OU."

Yes, and I never did either.  I started this topic to learn about the joule thief and I have been learning a lot.  This is just a tool that I believe can be used in other systems to possibly achieve ou.  I will be using this with my earth batteries, which to me is already free energy, and some supercaps.

I find this topic very educational as I never knew there were so many variations utilizing different transistors and different size wire and ferrites.  I have a lot to play with now for some time to come.  I really appreciate all of you that posted all of the great information here.  Thank you.

Bill

[spinner]

...remembering that if you put them in a charger, they often charge up again, whatever it
says on the side of the battery.

Hi, Paul!
Yes, It's possible to "recharge" non-rechargeable batteries... Kind of..

The truth is, while one can "revitalize" the battery to even a nominal voltage, such battery is actually not charged (at best it can give some 10% of the original capacity).
Simply because the electrochemical process with common type batteries is not reversible (chemical energy is converted to electricity, but you can't do it in reverse - converting electricity to a chemical potential).

Be carefull if you will experiment with this - charging an "non-chargeable" battery is a hazardous business (the label on the battery is saying so!)
I can confirm - I mistakenly put a NiMh and an alkaline AA battery to charge overnight - luckilly, no fire, only melted plastic, acid fumes and a mess in the morning...



Freezer provided a link :
>>
The Alkaline Battery Charger.
This is the battery charger that can revitalize standard alkaline batteries up to 10 times--verified after rigorous testing by the Hammacher Institute--enabling you to re-deploy previously useless alkaline AAAA, AAA, AA, C, N, D, 6- and 9-volt batteries. It can aso re-charge rechargeable alkaline manganese, titanium, NiCd and NiMH batteries. It uses a sophisticated microprocessor and proprietary charging technology to sense battery types and their conditions prior to charging. It can charge up to four batteries at one time, regardless of the type or size. A built-in voltmeter measures the strength of each battery prior to re-charging and displays the increasing voltage level with four LEDs; charging times vary depending upon the type of bat tery and its current level of charge. Plugs into AC. 2" H x 8 1/2" L x 5 1/2" D. (2 1/4 lbs.)

Item 75357 ................... $69.95
Available for Immediate Shipment.
<<
It says this device can revitalize alkaline batteries up to 10 times...
If the device would really work as claimed, it would be available in any store...

Any experience with this device?

[Yucca]

Most chemical  to electricity process I know of is reversible because it usually involves simple ion transport through electrolyte.

This guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDwMxISYojM

Says:
The main difference between alkaline cells and NiMh or NiCd is the physical seal. NiMh and NiCd are both alkaline cells also, the electrolyte in both types is alkaline. In fact alkaline cells usually contain NiCd or NiMh electrolyte sludge.

I myself have achieved almost full capacity from used alkalines by charging REAL slow using a current limiting supply (set to ~20mA). It also helps if you put a Stiffler SEC avramenko output (same polarity as charge source) ontop of the main charge current, it seems to help encourage the reverse ion flow by shaking the electrolyte a little.

A crude method of recharging alkalines at home is to take a normal NiMh charger and put it on a time switch set 15min on 45min off cycling for 24 hrs. But beware you may find some brands that leak more than others. For example I have found Duracell to have terribly leaky seals using this method and awoke to find a small blue pool of crud on the bathroom counter top. I wouldn't worry too much about doing this, from my experience the worst you can do is get electrolyte leakage on your charger so use flyleads and clips and put the cell in a soap dish or something for troublefree recharge experiments.

Yucca.

[spinner]

Quote from Spinner:
"As you may have noticed, the author never claims OU."

Yes, and I never did either.  I started this topic to learn about the joule thief and I have been learning a lot.  This is just a tool that I believe can be used in other systems to possibly achieve ou.  I will be using this with my earth batteries, which to me is already free energy, and some supercaps.

I find this topic very educational as I never knew there were so many variations utilizing different transistors and different size wire and ferrites.  I have a lot to play with now for some time to come.  I really appreciate all of you that posted all of the great information here.  Thank you.
Bill

Hi, Bill!
My posts in this thread were just replies to a discussion about "The Joule Thief" circuit.
The only point I was trying to make was that it is not OU, and that today one can find a modern equivalent integrated circuits with much better performance.  Sorry, my "professional deformation"... (God knows when was the last time I worked with a single transistor circuit...)

I admitted later that the "Joule Thief" has some real value like a very good educational/experimental aspect. I allmost forgot how fun is it to play with such circuits...

Good luck and a lot of fun with your experiments!
(And - if this means anything - I'm firmly convinced that someday someone will find a new way...)

Cheers!

[Pirate88179]

@ Spinner:

Can you give an example of an easily obtainable ic that does the same, or similar thing as the joule thief?  I would agree that, by its modern design and use of better materials, it should be more efficient.  I would like to play with some of these as well just to see.  Hopefully, it will be something simple like a 555 timer ic and not some chip with 10,000 other things built into it.  I have never seen a video of someone lighting leds with a single AA bat. using an ic but, if this is indeed possible (and not too complicated) I would like to try it and then make a video.  Thanks.

Bill