Big Joule Theif

[totoalas]

Solar JT and Variants

Hi to all
Ps check Mopozco TROS on Youtube and Farmhand for solar charger regulation /voltage swapper energetic forum and auto lightswitch by Groundloop
Maybe you extract more juice from these circuits

cheers

totoalas

[Watson]

Guys:
I'm working towards a 12 volt solar Jt circuit that will run off a 12 volt battery, that is being charged and kept up by an 18 volt solar panel-charge controler, and yet the Jt circuit will have the add ability to feed-back to source (at night) if needed, to keep the system further charging, and lighting 24/7. Eventually leading to a self running Jt system that does not require the solar panel, and can run direct off of a single (self recharging) run capacitor. That is the idea, and goal.
Right now we have been without water for 4 days where I live, intermitant electric power, most roads are closed, and thousands of people flooded out. And the biggest storm in a while here is not over, Yet.
So, an emergency back-up 12 volt solar system, that can be connected to a Jt circuit to make it all work more efficiently, to light ones home, is what I'm working towards.

PS.
Check the 10 watt Leds bulbs (700 Lumen):
10W HIGHPOWER WHITE STAR LED 700 LUMEN 12V USE - eBay (item 250176044368 end time Nov-27-10 08:08:41 PST)

I'll bet they can be made to light off of strong Jt circuit drawing much less that the 10 watts.
NZ

I think if I lived where you li e, I would move.

I've bought hundreds of LEDs from Hong Kong sellers, and without exception, all of them have lost most of their light output after a thousand or so hours of operation. I have not seen or teated the LED you linked to on eBay, but judging from my past experiences, i would say that it, too, will not put out its full light for more than a few hundred hours.

JTs are not made to run from a 12V supply. All you really need to do is use a Velleman-Kit K8071 1W/3W Power LED driver. This kit must be assembled. I've assembled them, and they are a bit tricky to assemble because the parts have to be installed a certain way to get things to fit nicely. The circuit will give you a lot more efficient light output compared to a LED with a just a current limiting resistor.

Best of success on your emergency backup system.

[electricity]

JT for large CFL

@ Nick,
I have been thinking of the same thing, I want to light my work shed with some gutted large CFL, several of those 100w puts out nice light at full brightness.

@All
What will be a good JT circuit to light a bank of gutted 100W CFL off a bank of 12v 220ah deep cycle batteries with solar charge.

What is the draw on these at full brightness with good JT. I see that some small JT light up 13w CFL to full with 0.3 amps x 1.5v

I have found a large 5" OD, 1.75" ID, 2.25" H cone ferrite core from TV deflection yolk with 2 windings of several hundreds windings.

Thanks

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, thought this was a better thread to post this in. Maybe some have seen this effect before. Last night I was testing my small self oscillator circuit that is the same as the 'big boy variant' that I think ashweth posted awhile back. Well using 1.2 volt nimh input, I took a 45uf-370vac capacitor connected with the flyback diode and let the cap charge up and then shorted the capacitor and noticed on the input amp meter that the amps dropped from 48 milliamps to around 20 milliamps when shorted and if the cap is shorted or the diode is dead shorted back into the primary coil that it's still 20 milliamps.
I think I recall maybe others noticing this effect or maybe it's normal to these circuits, though it sure seems like it might be useful for a cap dump circuit setup where an oscillator is used to bump voltage up. Let me know your thoughts on this folks, thanks.
peace love light
Tyson

[NickZ]

Guys:
Thanks for all the replies.
@Electricity: I would use Leds instead of the CFLs. But, thats me, I don't really care for the light from the CFL bulbs. Warm White Leds, maybe a better way to go. Good luck with your solar Jt project.
NZ

[NickZ]

@Watson:
Thanks for the info on the led driver circuit. I checked it out, seams like it would work better than the Jtc. But it also looks like it's not as economical to use (650 mA). If the source voltage consumption is not of any concern (as when using a solar panel), then that led driver unit would be great to use. Small pcb circuits like that, especially when made in China, can be cheaper, and work better, to buy than they can be made. Same goes for the Led bulbs from China. The US led lights bulbs are still expensive to buy.
@Totoalas: I'll check on the mentioned links and info and I'll get back with you on it.
@ SkyW: Did you have good results using the 1 watt Led bulb test on the Jtc?
Has anybody tried the 10 watt leds bulbs (below),on a Jtc
10W HIGHPOWER WHITE STAR LED 700 LUMEN 12V USE - eBay (item 250176044368 end time Nov-27-10 08:08:41 PST)

[pentiger]

Hello everyone,

I am reading that it's possible to run joule thief with 12v, but when I try to run it with even 6v it doesn't work and the transistor gets so hot I cannot even touch it. I wish I was able to connect this 6v rechargeable I have, that I can recharge with a solar panel. I would like to connect 120v LED bulb Shop Feit Electric 40-Watt Equivalent Indoor Soft White LED Light Bulb at Lowes.com
The bulb works great and gives beautiful light and if someone has an idea how I should approach this circuit using the 6v or smaller voltage battery I would appreciate the help.

[Inquorate]

Joule thief evolved?

Just a little update on what i've been working on

YouTube - Joule Theif Evolution; The Eternity Light Project

it's good to be back

[Tectalabyss]

Just a little update on what i've been working on

YouTube - Joule Theif Evolution; The Eternity Light Project

it's good to be back

Great to see you back I watched your video great! Hows the little one doing ? Tec

@PenTiger I tried a few more times with the 12 volt JT no luck maybe someone here can get it to work ? Tec

I am still Running tests with my 12 volt backup led light and sofar I am very pleased with the results I and running two 20 led modules each with a 47 ohm 1/4 watt resistor for a total of 40 leds I will have more when I receive my shipment of 5mm white leds.I can run them in series has long as I don't go over 4 so on my pc board I have a + pos rail and a - neg rail with the resistor on the - neg rail. this allowed me to add has many leds has will fit on my small pre-drilled board. Tec

[pentiger]

Great to see you back I watched your video great! Hows the little one doing ? Tec

@PenTiger I tried a few more times with the 12 volt JT no luck maybe someone here can get it to work ? Tec

I am still Running tests with my 12 volt backup led light and sofar I am very pleased with the results I and running two 20 led modules each with a 47 ohm 1/4 watt resistor for a total of 40 leds I will have more when I receive my shipment of 5mm white leds.I can run them in series has long as I don't go over 4 so on my pc board I have a + pos rail and a - neg rail with the resistor on the - neg rail. this allowed me to add has many leds has will fit on my small pre-drilled board. Tec

Thanks Tec, I did have some luck with 70blue leds from 6v battery and transistor TIP3055 with radiator (it gets hot) but it doesn't last long only couple minutes.
I hoped it would be couple hours but unfortunately not. Maybe if I had a larger coil with secondary winding, like Jeanna had. I don't know how long her's lasted.

I will test it again and maybe post some pictures or video.

pentiger

[Tectalabyss]

Thanks Tec, I did have some luck with 70blue leds from 6v battery and transistor TIP3055 with radiator (it gets hot) but it doesn't last long only couple minutes.
I hoped it would be couple hours but unfortunately not. Maybe if I had a larger coil with secondary winding, like Jeanna had. I don't know how long her's lasted.

I will test it again and maybe post some pictures or video.

pentiger

Hello Pentiger.
I have found two coils that may be what you are looking for BGMicro dot com has them. you can unwind them and wind them to your liking or to Jeanna's to see if you can make it run off 1.5 volt's first. hope this helps Tec

[NickZ]

@Electricity:
Have you done anything with that HV TV core, yet?
Why waist Jt output on CFLs? They are not the most economical way to go... Leds use 1/2 (or less) current power. And are cheaper to buy.
I've been building my own Led lights sets by combining color bulbs to suit my needs. Its possible to have the right kind of light quality needed, even from Leds bulbs, (with dimmers pots). One thing that commercially made Led lights do not provide for, is dimmers.
The best bang for the buck may by the 10 mm White Leds, 100 for $11 at Ebay, or the ones sold at Radio Shack, but their 10mm led bulbs are only 10 degree viewing angle, (but 28.000 in intensity). Those are especially usefull for intense spotlight lighting. Very strong but limited 10 degree spread. Possibly grouping them would work fine, as together they would have a much wider spread with no shading.
I've been making my own light combos using some red and blue color bulbs in with the white ones, and have been able to make a more acceptable warmer led color for lighting inside my house. Jeanna mentioned that the warm white leds are not as bright as the regular white ones. I don't know about that, but I imagine they are easier on the eyes.
Anyways, it's all fun...
NZ

[pentiger]

Hello Pentiger.
I have found two coils that may be what you are looking for BGMicro dot com has them. you can unwind them and wind them to your liking or to Jeanna's to see if you can make it run off 1.5 volt's first. hope this helps Tec

Thanks, these toroids are a god deal, however today I received a 3.07 inch toroid from ebay and I will try it first.

I am winding it as I type. I would like to fit around 300 turns. I'll let you know.

pentiger

[pentiger]

I did 320 turns on my new toroid and I still have some space. I wonder if I should keep going to 400 turns. Also how many turn should I do on the primary?

Thanks.

[pentiger]

Hello, I finished my Big Joule Thief, and I am not satisfied. At 2.5V input I got 65V at 6V input I got 550V and was able to light a CFL from the secondary 360 turns. It lasted very short. What am I doing wrong?