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Author Topic: Joule Theif problems. Please help.  (Read 15150 times)

chrisburrows

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Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« on: January 04, 2012, 10:29:50 AM »

Hello,

I've been trying to make a joule thief to light a CFL globe from a AA battery but just can't seem to get it to work.

The globe lights up, but flashes instead of just staying constantly lit.

Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hl3vL0p8Sk

The circuit is from a no-name camera brand called Super Snaps. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Chris.

Karlklille

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2012, 12:16:10 PM »
New to this so can't help much but interested to know how do you manage this. I will definitely learn something good from this.





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chrisburrows

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2012, 01:37:57 AM »
It is really very simple. Or at least it should be...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4Qo68HvxoE

But I just can't seem to get mine to work. If anybody knows why, I'd love to hear about it.

Thank you in advance :)

Pirate88179

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2012, 02:50:27 AM »
Do you have a video on how you modded your camera circuit?  I was only ever able to to get the Fuji AA circuit boards to work. Possibly, your board does not have the Fuji large transformer?  If the light goes on and off it may indicate the board is utilizing too much resistance, like we saw on the simple JT circuits using variable resistors to tune them.

Bill

chrisburrows

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2012, 05:11:09 AM »
The only modding I did to the circuit was to solder the flash switch down. I am not using a Fuji camera circuit though. Just the circuit of a cheap no-name camera.

Do I need to take out the circuit for the CFL? I just tried that then but now nothing happens. I may have damaged the globe doing so though. There were 4 wires inside the globe (2 groups of 2).  I'm not exactly sure what I was supposed to do with these...

joe

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2012, 01:19:05 AM »
Chrisburrows,

What you need is a fudji disposable camera with the red led (the led that tell the capacitor is full and ready to use) on top of it.

Some of those Fudji cameras have pale led on top of it. (different circuit than the one with the red led) They won't work.
Good luck!.

Pirate88179

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2012, 02:46:53 AM »
On the CFL, I always removed the bulb and, you have 2 wires on each end of the tube, simply use one (either one) on each side and it will work.  I think you need to use a Fuji AA board as they have about 400 volts output when you cut the diode lead.  That will light a cfl decently, but not as bright as the 1,000 volt Jeanna circuit.

Bill

Arnookie

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2012, 08:19:44 PM »
Hello,

I've been trying to make a joule thief to light a CFL globe from a AA battery but just can't seem to get it to work.

The globe lights up, but flashes instead of just staying constantly lit.

Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hl3vL0p8Sk

The circuit is from a no-name camera brand called Super Snaps. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Chris.

I think you will find that your problem is with the circuit you are using. I would recommend you stick to the fuji circuits. Hope that helps you out. :O)

sm0ky2

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Re: Joule Theif problems. Please help.
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2012, 03:43:17 AM »
@ chrisburrows
 
the bulb has 4 leads, because there are basically two wires running through it.
on either side one is + and the other is -
then the electricity goes back the other way by lighting up the other pair of end-connections
its designed to operate off our A/C wall socket.
 
There are basically two ways to do this,. some people argue over which is better, i prefer to stay indifferent at the moment. so i'll share both on equal ground.
 
1) use 1 wire from each end.
or 2) twist the ends together and use both feeds simultaneously.
 
single and double cathode operation
 
as for the circuit -- listen to Bill, hes one of the Most Thievenest.