Simple Inverter

[Flumen]

Dupe, thanks - I'd be interested to know how you modded the circuit. I recently bought a Fuji disposable quite cheaply online - first will use up the film!
Skywatcher, I look forward to seeing how you go about finding a low voltage solution. This is also something I would like to do. I have some movement detectors (PIRs) - I'd like to set them up to light hallways, cupboards etc. when movement is detected.
Cheers
Flumen

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, Hi flumen, well a little bit of light in the tunnel as far as using a lower voltage to light cfls (gutted or non gutted) or led bulbs.
It is a challenge to use between 1 to 3 volts to efficiently power these setups. Though the first usable results are with 3 AA nimh rechargeable cells in series for a loaded voltage of 3.2 volts at 650 milliamps (2 watts), powering the 10.5 watt led bulb (60 watt equivalent) to a nice useable light output, using the simple inverter circuit.
The simple inverter is using two TIP3055 NPN's and 500 ohm resistance at each base, using a ferrite flyback core with 2 layer secondary (310 turns-30awg.) and 1 layer on top of 24awg. bifilar.
Though have been able to also light a gutted cfl using 2 AA nimh in series to ok light level with standard joule thief using a secondary.
Many experiments to be done yet.
peace love light
tyson

[Flumen]

Tyson, this is very cool. At your convenience please post some diagrams (in time) so that newbies like myself can at least copy and play around with it.
Must say again, I am so happy with the 12 volt circuit - the way it reliably turns on. Really appreciate it, man.
Hey! Anyone else out there?
Flumen

[Nick_Z]

Guys:
I'm now working on getting more than one oscillator running off of the same input source. Be it from solar, wall adapters, or 12v batteries.
The point is to see just how much light can be produced by combining my yoke core coil along with the 4 bead ferrite core. Each inverter has it's own circuit, similar to the LS 3.0 design, but with different transistors. Such as the 2N3055, or TIP 3055T. Both transistors seam to work well.
The yoke core has two secondaries windings, one on each 1/2 of the yoke core. So, using only 1 of the 2 secondaries will light ungutted Led, or Cfls bulbs. While using both secondaries to light gutted bulbs.
I'm feeding the output of the first inverter into the secondary of the second circuit. So, combining the two inverters together. I do have an earth ground connection, which can sometimes help.
Some interesting things happen...
So, at this point the idea is to see just how much light can be produced, regardless of the input source used, by combining two or more inverters together using the same input source.
As running more than one Clf bulb off of the same oscillator is NOT the way to go. And, also, the same oscillator core can't be used on the gutted Cfls, as when using the ungutted ones. As that will burn the internal circuit of the ungutted Cfls, as well as the 110v led bulbs.
Of course the Led bulbs are best for this purpose, but I am still working on getting the Cfls to produce decent light without heating the transistor, or ringing to high heaven.
I'm slowly getting there, and will upload some pics, soon.

Nick_Z

[totoalas]

Guys:
I'm now working on getting more than one oscillator running off of the same input source. Be it from solar, wall adapters, or 12v batteries.
The point is to see just how much light can be produced by combining my yoke core coil along with the 4 bead ferrite core. Each inverter has it's own circuit, similar to the LS 3.0 design, but with different transistors. Such as the 2N3055, or TIP 3055T. Both transistors seam to work well.
The yoke core has two secondaries windings, one on each 1/2 of the yoke core. So, using only 1 of the 2 secondaries will light ungutted Led, or Cfls bulbs. While using both secondaries to light gutted bulbs.
I'm feeding the output of the first inverter into the secondary of the second circuit. So, combining the two inverters together. I do have an earth ground connection, which can sometimes help.
Some interesting things happen...
So, at this point the idea is to see just how much light can be produced, regardless of the input source used, by combining two or more inverters together using the same input source.
As running more than one Clf bulb off of the same oscillator is NOT the way to go. And, also, the same oscillator core can't be used on the gutted Cfls, as when using the ungutted ones. As that will burn the internal circuit of the ungutted Cfls, as well as the 110v led bulbs.
Of course the Led bulbs are best for this purpose, but I am still working on getting the Cfls to produce decent light without heating the transistor, or ringing to high heaven.
I'm slowly getting there, and will upload some pics, soon.

Nick_Z

Nice idea one primary source with multiple jts

totoalas

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, thanks for the replies.
Hi flumen, here is a couple pics of the simple inverter circuit running the 10.5 watt led bulb with 3 AA nimh in series.
With fresh charge, the loaded voltage is at 3.6 volts-700 milliamps or around 2.5 watts.
It puts out a nice amount of light.
Uses the flyback core as shown and same specs as previous post, except using 2n3055's here, though TIP3055's work just the same.


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peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Skywatcher and All:
Your inverter circuit and lamp looks nice, and with useable light.
I'll also be getting some of the 7.5w Led bulbs soon as possible. But, in the mean time I do have a 2.7 watt 110v led bulb to work with. It's so easy to get good results using just the led bulbs, and no ringing to boot.

The picture below is my dual inverter system. Using both yoke core and the bead core together, running on 12v, down to as little as 8v. They are lighting a gutted 25w Cfl, as well as an ungutted 13 watt warm white Cfl/halogen bulb. At times I can get them both to really crank out some light. But my old worn out battery just doesn't drive them well.
Sometimes if I touch one circuit to the other just right, the light output doubles, but I think that I really need more like 15+ volts to do it justice.
When I get this working better I'll make another video, in a day or two.

Nick_Z

[SkyWatcher]

Hi nick, thanks for the reply and sharing.
Nice setup you have going there, do you have the secondary outputs of both inverters in series and the separate bulbs in series also.
Yes, the led bulbs are nice, though not very cheap, though did pick up a
feit 2 watt warm white led bulb today, says 150 lumens on box, it runs a little more efficient maybe than the bigger 10.5 watt philips bulb at these lower voltages.
At 3.9 volts loaded, it is drawing 490 milliamps or around 1.9 watts and putting out almost the same light as the larger bulb and a tad warmer color.
It will light the bulb using one AA nimh cell to low brightness, so maybe if some secondary turns were added or less primary turns, it might put out some good light for a little while at least using only one AA.
Next experiments will be with the meissner variant, though may need less secondary turns, as the spikes will probably not be good for these led bulbs.
The smaller 2 watt led bulb may work well using just the flyback from primary, across collector and emitter, we will see.
peace love light
tyson

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, am having some decent results so far.
Using the standard joule thief circuit using secondary coil output, with the same ferrite flyback core/coil setup used in the previous simple inverter setup.
Am able to light a 9 watt gutted cfl to about the same brightness as the 2 watt led bulb is at, using the same circuit, though it has start up issues getting to its particular output for now.
The 9 watt gutted cfl needs 3 AA nimh in series to do so, the way the inverter is setup now, at 3.7 volts loaded at 600 milliamps or 2.22 watts.
Though the 2 watt, non-modified led bulb needs just less than 1 watt for the same or a little brighter light output and only uses 2 AA nimh's in series, at 2.45 volts, 400 milliamps or .98 watts.
Of course this circuit could also only use 1 AA if modified to do so, though think that might push the AA cell to much, amperage wise, for long cell life.
And the light output with the 2 watt led bulb, is actually a useful amount. Probably equivalent to a 15-20 watt incandescent, will post a picture of it in the same lamp shown earlier, when it gets dark again here.
Of course this bulb spreads the light out in all directions more, compared to the 10.5 watt led bulb.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

Both of my secondaries are connected together but they are going through a gutted Cfl, to do so. Otherwise I get some big sparks going. That Cfl does not light, but will allow both inverters to work together. There is improved performance this way.
I think that to light my set up to full output I'd need more voltage, like 15 to 18v, or so. Two solar panels in series might work well also, as they need the voltage to kick them into the higher output. At times both bulbs light very bright, but the ungutted Cfl will then get hot, even with a heatsink.
I would stick with trying to get decent light using at least 12v, as the small batteries will just get drained quickly, and solar panels output 12v. Lasersaber's 3.0 circuit runs on 15v.
The main point is to separate each Cfl to run from its own oscillator/inverted, but they can be connected to the same input source. Connecting the secondaries together along with connecting both inverters input in parallel, give some interesting results.
Each bulb is different so I have to try several of them to see what works best. But, using the higher voltages to obtain the higher light output always produces the ringing when using Cfls. I don't think that we can get away from that, unless we use Led bulbs.
The idea of using the 7.5 watt led bulbs, is only cost effective if they can be lit to full brightness, otherwise the 2 to 3 watt leds can be used.
For me the important factor is the light quality, as I can't stand the white bulbs. And the warm white Cfls are more yellowish than the warm white leds. I still like the incandescents best, and a small 7 watt incandescent bulb is still my favorite light for these set ups, and works well. It also combines well with another white Cfl to give a better quality light output.

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, Hi nick, thanks for the reply.
Your explanation seems clear to me, so the bulb loads seem to matter when set up the way you describe.
Maybe will try your setup soon, using either 2 separate ferrite bead cores or a bead and a half TV yoke.
Assuming when you say, (the ringing) you are speaking about the non-modified cfl's causing the frequency to drop lower.
The purpose of experimenting with the lower voltages, is first for the fun of experimenting and second, for short time span use, like emergencies and times when people may only need a few hours of decent light for whatever purpose.
This way, all one needs is a couple AA's lying around to have useful light.
And yes, the Meissner variant and the simple inverter can easily and efficiently light even this 10.5 watt non-modified led bulb to full brightness.
Also, just so folks know, placed this feit 2 watt led bulb in the bathroom fixture, run off the grid power, to compare against a 25 watt incandescent and the led bulb puts out a little bit more light than the 25 watt incan. bulb, was pleasantly surprised by that.
Here is a couple pics of the joule thief circuit with secondary using same coils as before, 2 AA nimh's in series, some parts shown are not used (just bypassed Meissner parts).
The base resistor is 370 ohms using a TIP3055 NPN at 2.45 volts loaded, 400 milliamps or .98 watts.


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peace love light
tyson

[Flumen]

Good info guys, thanks for sharing!
Tyson, yes, the low voltage circuits would be useful in emergency/power cut situations. Especially lighting small CFLS - because of the spread of light. I have an old cellphone battery I'd like to experiment with at some stage, but as Nick_Z says, it probably wouldn't last too long.
Cheers, again. Watching and learning.

Flumen

[Nick_Z]

I picked up a couple of used 12v 7ah batteries that are still useable, so I'll be experimenting with higher voltages on my inverters. I've connected them both together in series, and now the Cfls are much brighter. Still getting some heat from the transistors though. I may need to put a resistor or some caps into it to control the heat.
I wish the I had a regular car inverter to compare the results with.
I'll upload a couple of pics in a day or so.
NZ

[SkyWatcher]

Hi flumen, thanks for the reply.
Well as far as using the low voltage, bear in mind, these AA nimh using here are being charged by a very high frequency air core pulse charger, so probably don't have the same output ability as a more hot charge.
Though lighting the 2 watt led bulb, using the 2 AA nimh, gives a good 4 hours of decent light and the AA's have a 5 watt hour potential.
Hi nick, thanks for the reply.
Will be returning to 12 volt or higher experiments, though hope these few lower volt tests were of value to anyone.
I've found, the best circuit to power the non-modified cfl's, is the simple inverter, dual transistor setup.
Using just the single half of a TV yoke works very well and the ferrite bead also.
Think the reason why the simple inverter works best compared to blocking oscillator type circuits, is because i think in most cfl's, our voltage input is being used to fill a capacitor with DC voltage to then power the pulsed DC step up transformer.
Which is why the Meissner pulsed flyback output setup runs the gutted cfl's so well.
The first battery pulse into primary coil, which induces field of secondary coil, then this secondary field collapses and igintes the cfl, then the standard transformer step up ratio at the secondary coil is used to power the cfl bulb, being around 120 volts with a 10:1 step up ratio.
Then as well, the collapsing field of the secondary coil is also used by the bulb to ignite and contribute more light ouput.
Then we also have the primary coil collapse, that needs to be absorbed somewhere, preferablly the bulb by induction, otherwise, it's just another factor to cause heat within the internal circuitry.
Also, think the capacitor used on the trigger coil in the Meissner circuit, helps to absorb any remaining energy from the primary coils collapsing field and use it more constructively to drive the transistor.
Just a few thoughts.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

It's probably not a good idea to be trying to light dead Cfls or the regular ones with these circuits, as they are really not very energy efficient, compared to the Led bulbs. It wouldn't really matter is if it weren't for using batteries, but with batteries discharging fast using inefficient bulbs, it just may not be worth the effort. I do get more light and less heat using the leds bulbs, so in the future I'll probably just be using them, for now I'll do what I can with what I have.
I still prefer the light from the Cfls over the leds, as they spread the light all around, and don't blind you as much when you look at them.
I've ordered some solar cells to build my own solar panel, 40 3 by6 inch solar cells. Almost 2 watts output from each cell. I'll have that going in a couple of weeks.