EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.

[jeanna]

I guess last summer I went the wrong way.
I got some advice and added resistance to the base.
Since both of you have removed the resistor, I think that is what I shall do next as well as add a straightened out roll of bare copper wire to the north.
If that adds a promising amount, I will get some mag ribbon. (soon, that is. I will get it in the summer anyway.)

@lasersaber,
Gadgetmall introduced us to those leds. They are called straw hat leds.
If you have them on and the light shines onto the ceiling it looks like light going through a straw hat. It is pretty and it also gets the light going sideways some.

And, yes, they are very dim because they are in series.

They have a couple of protective caps in the circuit which gives the bulb some other properties... like you can get it to light a nite light's worth on almost no energy.
I took a pic last night of mine running on 0.5v from a near totally dead AAA, and it was the same brightness as yours.
So, this is what you are doing.
If you removed the caps you might get one to light and of course as many more as you like in parallel to that first one...(well, I think.)
But then you would have to resolder the leds.
I am very encouraged by this.
It was warm today and maybe there will be time to plant a few wires tomorrow!

thank you,

jeanna

[lasersaber]

Jeanna,

Based on some experiments I did last weekend, I think that if you just add copper wire to your North end you will see almost no effect.  It may seem like that is all I did, but you have to remember that I had mag ribbon running on my south end from the start.  A few days ago I took the same mag ribbon and put it in a coil and buried it on my south end and my milliamps dropped to under 10 milliamps.  If I run that same ribbon out straight heading south my milliamps climb back up to normal.  I just received my bulk order of mag ribbon.  I would like to send you a roll for free in appreciation for the help you gave me on the joule thief.  If you'd like that, pm me your mailing address and I'll ship it out soon.

Soon I will post some graphics showing exactly what I have done on my earth battery.  I think you already understand what I have done, but the graphics may help others who are just starting to build these.

[jeanna]

Thank you lasersaber.
I am glad to know which end makes the bigger difference.
I have 2 EER's
1- a plain EB with Cu and Zn dipped nails

2- a longer more complex one with carbon welding rods and zinc dipped nails.
I am pretty sure that there is a little magnesium in the dipping solution. I think the hardware store guy said this, but ??
I actually do have some zinc coated wire which I bought for another reason and I can try that on the south end... when it stops raining.
It might be several months before it is both dry and warm enough to think about touching metal outside.

Please keep going and let me know.
Do you need a supplier for leds?
Are you looking to solder them yourself?
There are 2 different sources from china that sell 100 super brights for 8.99 on ebay no shipping.
jeanna

[lasersaber]

I would be interested in the seller link for the LEDs.  I bought a LED flashlight at WalMart the other night just to take it apart and get the LEDs out of it.  I got 36 bright white LEDs for $19.99 out of that light.  100 for under $10.00 sounds like an amazing deal.

[jeanna]

http://cgi.ebay.com/500-White-5mm-LED-Light-Lamp-14000mcd-12v-Free-Resistor_W0QQitemZ160323580646QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item255407b2e6

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http://cgi.ebay.com/New-50-white-10MM-LED-light-Lamp-12V-DC-Free-Resistor_W0QQitemZ160346314979QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item25556298e3

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http://cgi.ebay.com/100-Bright-White-5MM-LED-Light-Lamp-12V-Free-Resistor_W0QQitemZ160346336245QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item255562ebf5


the price has changed to only include shipping on the order of 500. It is still less than $10/100

The legs are shorter than others.
At first this made it a little awkward, but I am used to it and it is not a problem.

Last year hazens had a name for us, but I don't find them. But I didn't see these guys from a regular search either.
I will see if hazens source is anywhere on my computer.
----------------
different company

http://stores.ebay.com/Wellton-Superbright-Led-Store
these guys have diffused leds
and
very wide angle but the price is double.

The throwies are made from diffused leds. Oh I am sooo tempted.!!

,
jeanna