Joule Ringer!

[Nick_Z]

You are welcome. I would still use the same components, especially the rod and same amount of turns, and same type of 110v led bulb, on 12v., not 24v. If you keep a finger on the transistor, that will let you know if it is going to fry or not, before it does so. If it's untouchable it is not going to work for long.

Here is a picture of the 3 inch ferrite core from my old crt monitor. This should work as well as the rod, and it's free.
Slider: It may also be possible to just add more secondary turns to the same radio core, as I'm about to do, as just one layer is not much compared to the amount of turns that some transformers use to up the voltage.
But, having 3 of the 3 inch radio cores glued together for a 9 inch core might work well, also.
I don't quite understand why Skywatcher was not able to get his working, even without the ferrite beads it should work to some degree just from the windings as if it were an air core.

Totoalas: I can see you in the background, so, what do you think...

[br0ns0n77]

Thanks Slider for the info. If I'm using a regular 120v, 7.5w LED - would I need something else in the circuit? I suppose it's better to series 3-4 of those bulbs together than just one that doesn't require as much power? I'm sorry if I don't understand lol.. just learning this stuff and from what I saw on his setup, it was only a coil, transistor, battery - Seemed every bulb he was plugging into the circuit was working - I didn't see any type of mains bulb there? SOrry for buggin ya, but thanks for the info.

Glad to hear of you ripping a monitor apart Nick. One thing you could do, that I plan to, is to try something on the end of an SJR 3.0 coil.
Depending on your monitor, you'll have several large round ferrite inductors. Some will be magnetic, if you tap a screwdriver to them and, in themselves, are a great source for ceramic magnets.
On taking the plastic sleeving off, you'll find the wire wrapping around and then a seperate piece at the top, the magnet. So, we have a coil and a magnet on top straight from the factory.
Taking that magnet and sticking it on the end may improve SJR 3.0 coil performance ?

I agree, there are different ferrites and the permeability of most cable tube ones will likely be low. But, I had success with an SJR 2.0 with those and intend to try the SJR 3.0. Radio ferrites have worked best so far.
Really, there's nothing to stop a fella glueing a couple of radio ferrites together, for a longer coil. Firmly place together and glue around the join

@brOnsOn77 - you need to run tougher loads than the LED. If just an LED is on the output then it has no current limiting going on...which LED's do need. If you don't load the output with something like a mains bulb, the current used by the circuit is approx twice what it is when loaded. In my setup, it uses 150mA unloaded, 60mA loaded. The drop in your setup when loaded would keep the transistor a lot cooler. Always best to use a heatsink in any case and gently press the top of the transistor periodically to check heat.

[Slider2732]

Oh I'm sorry squire, I mistook 'LED' for a single 3V little thing LOL
If you're blowing full on mains type screw in LED bulbs then that's very cool ! But, you'll be overdriving the system no doubt, so throttle back on the power source. At a level, you'll find Lumen balance to input power and your transistor will thank you too !
You could try a large wattage resistor or two, a couple of diodes in series on the input or a number of other methods to drop the input power from a car battery (just 1, or 2 in parallel would work, but yes, not 24V)
JonnyDavro uses a LDR and i've used them myself...take a LDR from a cheap solar garden light and hook it to your ohms setting on a multimeter. Tape the LDR to the front of the bulb. The reading for mains powered should be where you want the brightness to be for your setup's output.
If no meter, then the LDR will work as resistance in a simple single 3V LED on a battery method, or in a Joule Thief type circuit.

[Nick_Z]

BrOnsOn77:

You are mentioning that when putting a "SMALL LED on 12v. And not a 110v one on 24 volts. So, which one is it that is blowing? The 110v one?
Quote:
"I had the same transistor setup and wiring from his schematic, but for some reason when I'm putting a small LED on a 12v battery with his setup, it's lighting them but blowing them as well as the transistor."

In any case don't use more than one 12v battery, for now.

[br0ns0n77]

Hey guys - sorry if I'm confusing you - I confuse myself a lot haha. The same exact circuit connected to one 12v car battery would power and burn out the small LED but would not light a regular 120v 7.5 LED. It WOULD however power a 100w incandescent bulb. Since that test, the transistor burned out, so I decided to reconfigure the circuit a bit, adding more thin magnet wire to the first layer to completely wrap the entire 4-5inch toroid. Then I wrapped the outside layer with 20 gauge insulated wire all the way around as well. I found a transistor in a CPU power supply and wanted to try that (so it's more configured like super joule ringer 2.0). I'm getting output, but it's like it isn't oscillating anything - the output seems the same as the input and it's warming the bulb, but no light. You'll see in the video below what I'm working with. Thanks in advance!

2012 10 01 21 12 16 913 - YouTube

[SkyWatcher]

Hi folks, Hi nick, yes the glued together ferrite bead core did work, heard it oscillate briefly when trying to light an un-modified 13 watt cfl, though when trying to light a 25 watt incandescent, it popped the transistor, instantly.
Yesterday, hooked up a ferrite e-core that was already wound with 24awg. and 30awg. secondary, was able to light up a 4 watt 125vac incandescent to almost full brightness and was able to get the 13 watt cfl to flicker, thought it did not sustain any continuous light.
Have no doubt a smaller cfl or definitely an led bulb would work just fine with this smaller e-core, though a bigger e-core would be ideal, then again, was using a low amp NTE2300, so it probably doesn't have the punch needed to ignite the bigger 13 watt cfl's.
Have a larger ferrite e-core from a salvaged zerox machine power supply, may wind that to see how it improves.
peace love light
tyson

[Nick_Z]

What you are calling your negative is actually the transistor base.
You should follow Jonny's advice. on wiring the device.
But, looking at the front of the transistor (not the back like you have it in your video), the left rail is the base, the middle one is the positive, and the right one is the emitter, (or negative). The blue outer wire is your primary, and the thinner inner wire is the secondary (or high voltage winding.). You may have them connected backwards, but it's hard to tell by looking at the video. You are shorting something out for sure. Keep you finger on the transistor, if it gets too hot in just a few seconds, turn it off.
You'll get it, but I'd buy another 2n3055, they're only a couple of bucks, the other ones may not work the same. I had no luck using the MJE 3055.
That's a nice toroid you have, where did you get it?

[Nick_Z]

Skywatcher:
Good to hear back from you. I have not had much luck getting the Cfls to light using the bigger transistors, although the smaller ones like 2n2222 have worked best for me. If I could buy the 2n3055, I would, but sometimes we have to make due with what we can get.

Here is an interesting video, below. Looks like a ferrite bead to me. I use a smaller bead core on one of my best Jtc, which I use nightly to light the bathroom.

Joule thief - YouTube

[totoalas]

hi Nickz
still no luck with the crt maybe ur right more strands ..im saving my 2n3055s for ts ss ssg charging two sla 4 ah frim 2 10 w solar panel
with 10m trifilar 23 awg
testing the coil if it has charging effect if placd under a rotor driven by a pc fan
my solar chargers are almost done with endurance test
with alum conversion
jr lights are all working well
next will be recicling of batteries
simple converters wish list this xmas
happy experinenting

totoalas

[br0ns0n77]

Hey Nick, here's a diagram of the setup I'm trying to accomplish which is based exactly like LS has his...

I have the circuit setup just like Lasersaber's except that I have a car battery and a 4-5in toroid. From what you guys are telling me, I need something else in the circuit like a neon bulb (not sure what that is) or resistors from the base.

If I use the setup in the diagram below, the transistor gets very hot and the positive terminal sparks when I try to connect it...

Thanks again guys for the help. PS.. Nick I got the toroid of digikey.com

What you are calling your negative is actually the transistor base.
You should follow Jonny's advice. on wiring the device.
But, looking at the front of the transistor (not the back like you have it in your video), the left rail is the base, the middle one is the positive, and the right one is the emitter, (or negative). The blue outer wire is your primary, and the thinner inner wire is the secondary (or high voltage winding.). You may have them connected backwards, but it's hard to tell by looking at the video. You are shorting something out for sure. Keep you finger on the transistor, if it gets too hot in just a few seconds, turn it off.
You'll get it, but I'd buy another 2n3055, they're only a couple of bucks, the other ones may not work the same. I had no luck using the MJE 3055.
That's a nice toroid you have, where did you get it?

[Dave45]

Im not sure since Im a newb but you may need a resistor between the secondary and base.

[Nick_Z]

Your diagram looks ok to me, but the transistor in the video may be wired wrong. That may have been why you fried the other two 2n3055.
If someone else has any ideas, just let us know.
I had no luck with the 2 MJE 3055 (TIP 31) that I tried, as mentioned, so I can't really suggest anything. But, I would try your circuit on one AA battery to get it working, lighting a single small led bulb, and go up in voltage from there. The transistor that you used in the video may not work for this.
Try a 2n2222 2n4017, 2n3906, or 2n3904, or similar you can get a pack of 15 at the Shack for a couple of bucks, to play with until you get it down.
Or just buy the w2n3055 and keep your finger on it while testing the circuit

Totoalas: Good to hear back from you. Now the 10 watt panels have come down in price and can be had for just $37 for two 10 watt panels (20 watts) That's the best deal yet, with free delivery.
Soon all the prices of solar panels will drop, as all the China based solar panel companies are going broke, Big time. That's good news for us.

[br0ns0n77]

Yeah I went and bought another 2n3055 today and hooked it up like the diagram. Gets hot and sparks on the connection.

Your diagram looks ok to me, but the transistor in the video may be wired wrong. That may have been why you fried the other two 2n3055.
If someone else has any ideas, just let us know.
I have no luck with the 2 MJE 3055 (TIP 31) that I tried, as mentioned, so I can't really suggest anything. But, I would try your circuit on one AA battery to get it working, lighting a single small led bulb, and go up in voltage from there. The transistor that you used in the video may not work for this.
Try a 2n2222 2n4017, 2n3906, or 2n3904, or similar you can get a pack of 15 at the Shack for a couple of bucks, to play with until you get it down.
Or just buy the w2n3055 and keep your finger on it while testing the circuit

Totoalas: Good to hear back from you. Now the 10 watt panels have come down in price and can be had for $37 for two 10 watt panels (20 watts) That's the best deal yet, with free delivery.
Soon all the prices of solar panels will drop, as all the China based solar panel companies are going broke, Big time. That's good new for us.

[citfta]

I hope you don't mind me butting in but I have an idea why the transistor is getting hot and the wire is sparking when you connect it to the battery. If you have the primary winding and the secondary winding connected with the phases wrong then when connect power you will force the transistor on as hard as it will go and it will not turn off. If you swap either the primary or secondary wires (NOT BOTH) then you will correct the problem and then when the transistor turns on the induced voltage in the secondary will turn the transistor back off. And then when it turns off the induced current drops off and it can turn back on to repeat the cycle. Just swap the wires of either the primary or secondary and see if the problem goes away.

Respectfully,
Carroll

[br0ns0n77]

Hi Carroll - you can butt in anytime man. I'm just trying to figure this thing out.

So I backed down on the battery input and used a couple of C batteries and some AA's in series. Seems I am finally getting some singing from the transformer, but only with an incandescent bulb - not lighting it though. I used a smaller 3.5v LED and it lit it brightly the way I have it in the diagram I posted earlier.

I tried switching the either set of the wires like you suggested and it made the LED burn, but it wasn't as bright and the transistor got much hotter, so I think I have the circuit correct in the diagram. I'm just thinking I have plenty of voltage, just too much amps.

If I go back to using the 12v car battery I would have to use some sort of resistor, which really defeats the purpose of the whole circuit in the first place right? I don't want to lose my amps burning heat on a resistor...

Thoughts?

I hope you don't mind me butting in but I have an idea why the transistor is getting hot and the wire is sparking when you connect it to the battery. If you have the primary winding and the secondary winding connected with the phases wrong then when connect power you will force the transistor on as hard as it will go and it will not turn off. If you swap either the primary or secondary wires (NOT BOTH) then you will correct the problem and then when the transistor turns on the induced voltage in the secondary will turn the transistor back off. And then when it turns off the induced current drops off and it can turn back on to repeat the cycle. Just swap the wires of either the primary or secondary and see if the problem goes away.

Respectfully,
Carroll