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Author Topic: Joule Lamp  (Read 343923 times)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #75 on: June 03, 2012, 06:27:13 PM »
This video is simply to demonstrate the raw power the AirCore is capable of.  This circuit is not intended for incandescent bulbs, however, with some modification I think small appliances could be run from this circuit in addition to LED bulbs.  There is a slight ringing that can be heard with two 40 watt bulbs.  That is from the secondary pulsing against each turn.  For those of you experimenters that have played with AirCore inductors you will understand the significance of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6vhP2iUk6s

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #76 on: June 03, 2012, 07:24:08 PM »
Another excellent vid, Lynxsteam-- very informative.
Thanks.

NerzhDishual

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #77 on: June 03, 2012, 10:57:27 PM »

Mr LynxSteam:

Thanks again for all your clear and precise explanations and for your very simple circuit.
So, no (apparent) capacitor, no diode, no resistor, just 2 air core coils and this
very famous old 2N3055!

Yes: I sometimes have to manipulate the switch to get the CCT running.
This adds to the strangeness of the circuit.
--------
Gee, incandescent bulbs now! Nice work.
--------------
For my part, my poor (first) replication works with 6 watts small fluorescent
'tubes'  (I do not want to use these deadly bl' CFLs).
I can use 2 wires, one wire, and even no wire, should I first 'trigger'
the tube by connecting it -for a short while- at the 'cool' end of the HV.
BTW: a couple of days ago, It worked only when plugged at the 'hot' HV side. :P

So: the behavior of this device is very inconstant and seems depending upon
my mood and perhaps the planets positions, the Dow Jones rate or the weather?  :D
------------------
I have noticed that:
According to my IR thermometer(and my finger), the 2N3055 does
not really get hot (about 36° Celsius).
I'm drawing about (less than) 0.4 amps (under (more than) '12' volts).

According too to my finger the hot side of the HV wire is indeed very hot.
Now, strange enough, according to my IR thermometer this hot side is finally not
so hot (about 24° Celsius). So what I'm feeling are not 'real' calories? :o

When 'singled wired', a Leds bulb (or just one led)  blinks!
When fully wired a leds bulb just stops the CCT.

A small neon bulb is OK, whatever the way you plug it (even shorted).

My FM radioset does not like this CCT.

I will try different primary? (few turns)  and  also will build a more serious secondary( lots of turns).

Very Best,
Jean
 

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #78 on: June 03, 2012, 11:38:09 PM »
Jean,

Everything you describe sounds about right.  For CFL's reduce number of primary turns a little and spread them out.  For LED's double your primary turns from what you have.  The CFL's take about 200 vac to get started and then voltage drops as does the Frequency.  The LEDs don't like voltage that high.  They like about 90-130 vac.

The heat you feel from the HV wire is what I feel if I accidentally touch it.  It is very high frequency high voltage and it feels like intense heat on the skin.  High frequency high vltage is much safer than lower frequency high voltage.  I have been shocked before on regular house AC and I can assure you it feels different.  It makes your body oscillate at 60 hz and is very unpleasant.  Maybe don't touch the High Voltage!

If the circuit doesn't want to start its because there is too much residual voltage on the primary.  Touch the positive primary lead to the negative lead to bleed off the capacitance.  I do this with the negative lead attached.  When it is in in this condition and wont easily start test the negative and positive with a meter and see what the open circuit voltage is.  That alone will bleed off the capacitance.

The fluorescents wont fire off when just hooked up to the emitter side of the HV.  They can start when hooked up to just the coil side.  With one wire move your hand up the tube once it lights and watch the light follow your hand.  You become a part of the circuit.  Classic Tesla coil stuff!

Try a 400 v 104k metal film capacitor across the HV in parallel with an LED bulb once you get this going better.  It in effect will boost brightness and lower frequency.  Try different HV metal film capacitors and see what the effects are.  Once you get the aircore setup how you want it you wont need the capacitor.  But its fun.

NerzhDishual

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #79 on: June 04, 2012, 01:35:22 AM »

Mr LynxSteam:

Thanks  for having taking your time for this -once again- very precise
 and precious answering. I have saved and printed it out.

So, you too, felt this strange 'heat'.
For my part I purposely touched this wire. :P

I will try your tests and 'primary' modifications.

BTW: I owe this thread, at least, some pictures.
So, more to come ASAP.

Thanks again and very Best,
Jean


Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #80 on: June 05, 2012, 12:35:42 AM »
I have moved from the small 10" aircore to the 12" larger diameter aircore and now to a giant 24" long by 4" aircore.  Looks like this is scalable and worthy of more research.  The Giant aircore is intended for whole house lighting off a 12 volt battery.

With six 7.5 watt LED bulbs the amp draw is 1.2 amps at 12.85 volts = 2.7 watts each bulb and super bright!  My guess is I can add many more light bulbs.  Frequency with all 6 bulbs is 8.9 khz.  The first bulb uses 660 ma.  Then each additional bulb adds 102 ma with no apparent reduction in brightness.  So bulbs 2-6 are running off 1.2 watts. 

Remember these are the same 6 bulbs that consumed 120 watts off the house grid.  I get the impression these bulbs just need current and don't care what is pushing that current.  The amp draw off house grid for six bulbs was 1 amp, off the DC converter just a little over 1 amp.  Hmmm.....




b_rads

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #81 on: June 06, 2012, 03:57:09 PM »
Lynxsteam:
Have you tried an AC Cap between the Air Core and the bulbs?  Slider2732 did this and I tried it on my more basic Joule Thief hand wound transformer and it seems to lower current draw slightly.  I don't remember the specs, but it was a mallory orange cap I salvaged out of a worn out garage door opener.  I have been sort of busy since returning from vacation and looks like it will be the weekend before I get a chance to get going again.  Have you noticed the the current draw jump back and forth from high to low with your setup?  I may need to replace the 3055.  Lighting single LED's with an AV plug is really cool.  Hold an led by one leg and get near or touch one of the output rails will bite (heat) you.  Have you formed an opinion yet about size, turns, etc.?  Loved the last VID, Thanks
 
Brad S   :)

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #82 on: June 06, 2012, 06:59:30 PM »
 My son and I are setting up a place to run on solar + 12V batteries, completely off-grid.  So we are very interested in these developments -- thanks Lynxsteam, Lidmotor and all!

  I used the calibrated light-box to test various bulbs, as shown in the photo attached.  The bulbs at left, running at 120V off mains, deliver typically 55-70 Lumens/Watt.  The bulbs on the right are designed for 12V DC operation, and deliver about 30 - 65 Lm/W. 

The bulb second from the right is turned so that you can see some of the electronics components -- which were left exposed for this 12V bulb with six LED's.  Touching the back, I picked up a frequency of 304 KHz, so evidently the circuitry with this lamp goes from 12V DC to about 304 KHz AC -- probably using a blocking oscillator.  This bulb puts out about 62 Lm/W running on 12V DC.

I'm looking forward to seeing how many Lumens/Watt can be obtained with Lynxsteam's latest!  it is very impressive in the videos he has done, and I congratulate his progress here.

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #83 on: June 07, 2012, 01:10:58 AM »
B-Rads,

Yes, putting a high voltage capacitor like a 100v 224J  metal film cap in series with either HV lead to the LED bulbs drops amperage 30% in one test I did with three 7.5 watt bulbs, 31 khz from 30 khz.  Brightness drops as well, but not by much, just judging by perception.  That may be a good way to boost lumens /watt.  I tried a 400v 104k metal film capacitor but the lights intermittently flickered, searched for a resonant point.  Not so pleasant.  The 100V 224J worked well.  I think because I target around 86-90 v running on these circuits.

For the smaller aircore (12" long) original the capacitor choice is a 500v .01uf ceramic.  The problem I find is the capacitor rating is touchy.  If the farad rating is off a little the bulb wont light.  If you get it right power drops by 30-50%, but so does brightness.  For a self adjusting circuit you should try to avoid dropping AC voltage with the series capacitor.  But the advantage if you do choose this route is that it is very efficient compared to using a resistor.

My amps jump around a little but not by much.  If more than 200 ma then maybe the circuit isn't finding a resonant point.  L Rand C have to stay somewhat fixed.  Could be a bad transistor  or even the surroundings.  I had one LJL transmitting to one nearby that wasn't hooked up and it blew the unhooked transistor and it got really hot.  So these will interact with surroundings.   If voltage on your battery is dropping so does amperage. 

I haven't found a perfect setup as far as turns and ratio of turns.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2012, 12:13:59 PM by Lynxsteam »

NerzhDishual

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #84 on: June 09, 2012, 01:13:40 AM »
Hi Joule 'Lampistes',

I have not yet modified my primary coil as I ran out of more appropriate 'gauged' wire. :P

Anyway, a funny experiment:
You can slowly but steadily charge a cap without connecting it to the Circuit (CCT).
You just need 2 diodes, a kinda 'antenna' and to place this setup near the CCT.

If you,  however, use just one wire connected to the  HV side of the CCT, the charge
effect is faster.

This is not 'ghost charging', according to the spark when the cap is shorted by a  screwdriver!
I would not be so sure about "'ghost charging' or not" effect with a battery.
Perhaps with some patience?
Charging a non connected cap do not draw more amp from the CCT.

Very Best,
Jean
 

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #85 on: June 09, 2012, 03:50:29 AM »
Lots of things you can do with this circuit.  You can also run your positive lead to the Joule lamp through a Torroid, 20 turns and have an isolated secondary of 200.  Off this isolated secondary you can power another bulb, CFL or LED, or even back charge the source battery.  I was able to reduce amp draw on one LED bulb by 20% back charging.  In effect its just diverting energy, but its interesting.

Here is my latest test with the Utilitech LED warm 7.5 watt bulbs.  The watt reading off the house grid was done through a watt meter and it is calibrated.  Please try this yourself and see that these bulbs consume more power than stated on the package, note that my grid voltage is 120 v and that may cause a higher amp draw.  The lightbox is a foil lined cardboard box with a 6 volt PV panel mounted 4" above the bulb lens.  The watt readings for the LJL is done by simultaneously noting battery voltage and amp readings off digital multimeters.  The bulbs are not moved throughout testing.

Note that in this testing the Deep Cycle 12 volt battery was between 12.87 and 12.89 volts while the lights were running.  This is due to the battery having been charged by an outdoor solar panel  for several days. 

I am discovering there are a lot of variables in how many bulbs in parallel, frequency, voltage, amp draw, brightness, two tiers of brightness... Notice in both cases the two bulb input wattage is more than twice the input wattage of one.  But in the house grid test, 2 bulb output wasn't as substantially higher than 1 bulb, as in the LJL case.


JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #86 on: June 10, 2012, 04:53:46 PM »
  Those are impressive results with the LJL, Lynxsteam. I like the approach of comparing directly with results from the house grid.

 Very well done.

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #87 on: June 10, 2012, 08:35:49 PM »
Thanks Joule Seeker, I am sure your test equipment is much better than mine.  I look forward to pushing the envelope for better performance from these circuits guided by your methodical and empirical approach.

I notice a lot of talk about the efficiency of the 12 volt LED bulbs.  That makes sense because they are designed for twelve volt DC.  What we are trying to do here is use AC which works better for whole house lighting as the voltage drop is much less with AC on long runs.  To get the same whole house performance from DC, very heavy gauge wire would need to be run and that costs $$$$.

It is also possible to design a SJR 2.0 to run one bulb very efficiently, but again my aim with this thread now, is to find an efficient way to run multiple bulbs, either permanently in a home or as a solar powered backup.  I find with the SJR 2.0 E-core that it is really good up to a certain number of bulbs (4-6) and then it self adjusts and wont put out more power.  My small E-core maxes out at about 5 watts.  You could simply have an E-Core mounted in each room with a battery.

The larger LJL Aircores I am experimenting with have hit 40 watts and I still need more bulbs to find the limit.  I also find paralleling more than five bulbs on a circuit is about right.    Down line paralleled bulbs after the fifth appear slightly dimmer.

If the AC is split into branches at the LJL it works better. 

I also think keeping this circuit as simple and foolproof as possible is the best way to go for under-developed countries.  Hopefully the price of LED bulbs will come down in price like digital watches did in the 1970's.

b_rads

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #88 on: June 11, 2012, 04:55:00 PM »
Interesting those conversations of the going directly to dc lights has come up.  My wife does Arts and Crafts, Festivals, etc., and many times is outside without power.  I am building a simple system to provide some light for this purpose.  The light modules are rated at 0.9watts, however they are only pulling 15mA from my battery.  I should be able to power several of these modules on this system.  This should make a nice backup system for home as well as a functional outdoor light system. 
 
LED Lights
< $1.50 each
 
Solar Charger
$11.99 on sale – local pickup
 
12V 5AH Battery
$14.26 local pickup
 
My observation of the 3 different dc to ac inverters I have built.  Lynx Air Core – super easy, reliable, easy to start, very flexible.
RS 12V 450mA – Tricky for me to get started. 
Hand wound transformer with trigger coil – most efficient for a single bulb, most difficult build of the three.
 
Brad S  :)

NickZ

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #89 on: June 11, 2012, 06:52:12 PM »
  Brad:
   Thank you for that recommendation, it does seam very practical. 
The Led company from Hong Kong also have other bulbs with higher outputs, but with relatively the same W/lm.  I've posted the link below.
  It looks like those one watt led bulbs placed in the different wattage bulbs, are the way to go, and especially at $1.50 or so, per watt, or less. As that is what just a single regular led (little ones) cost here. Magnetman was able to find the small ones on E-bay for just $4 per hundred, or so.
  Although totoalas had mentioned that the 5 watt panels were costing only $30 (including shipping), I had not found them at that price, until now. (link below).
5watt solar panel Monocrystalline cells 12volts | eBay
 

  The bulbs shown below also are very economical, and are 12v as well. Same company.
  It's going to be very hard to beat that market. Might as well join them, instead.
 
   
12V/110V-220V 3W MR16/ GU10 Warm/Cool White SMD/RGB/SpotLight Lamp Bulb Lighting | eBay