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Author Topic: Joule Lamp  (Read 343919 times)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #15 on: May 12, 2012, 06:20:14 PM »
That "wiki" writeup explains a lot and very well.  The setup I am using is very much like a tesla coil and acts like it.  Its kind of a Hybrid borrowing from the JouleRinger 2.0 in that it is oscillating with the help of reverse biasing.  However, the fact that the CFL will light with the AV plug off a single wire and not connected at all shows that indeed frequency is very high.  It also shows that the circuit will oscillate without any direct connection back to the base.  In this configuration I am sure the radio interference may be a problem.
I am hoping more people will explore this circuit and shed more light and possibly make some break through improvements.  An air core coil has advantages and disadvantages over a ferrite transformer.
This circuit will light LEDs but to do it well is going to take some experimenting.
I don't have an oscilloscope or a meter that will register the output accurately.  I'll see what I can do.

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #16 on: May 13, 2012, 01:45:45 AM »
That "wiki" writeup explains a lot and very well.  The setup I am using is very much like a tesla coil and acts like it.  Its kind of a Hybrid borrowing from the JouleRinger 2.0 in that it is oscillating with the help of reverse biasing.  However, the fact that the CFL will light with the AV plug off a single wire and not connected at all shows that indeed frequency is very high.  It also shows that the circuit will oscillate without any direct connection back to the base. ...

  Yes, it was a good write-up, and you have a good point regarding the evidence for very high frequency, which implies Tesla-coil action.  Which is exciting to me -- and I congratulate your progress on this!

  I have now dis-assembled two CFL's, and have looked closely at the two wires on each end of the fluorescent tube.  Clearly, these were not Intended to be tied together, yet this works for your device -- to get them to light. 

 You note that " the fact that the CFL will light with the AV plug off a single wire " -- makes me wonder if you just used one wire, if it would light up as brightly as your method (your how-to vid) of joining the outlet-wires together on each outlet-port of the bulb?  or perhaps better, join the "like wires" together in pairs, and see if this increases the light output.
- Steve

PS -- also, I'm pleased at the electronics parts in the guts of these CFL's -- all that for 50 cents!  (at a local store, on sale)


SkyWatcher123

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #17 on: May 13, 2012, 06:53:51 AM »
Hi folks, Hi lynxsteam, I found a 2n3055 in my parts box and fired up my setup again, it lights the bulb at a decent brightness, though I am using a 1-1/2" diameter secondary tube 30awg and 52 turns of speaker wire, i think its 20 gauge.
I have no way of telling the amp draw or the voltage on the battery under load, because the circuit must be interfering with both meters.
When I place volt dmm across 12 volt battery, even at 500 volt setting it doesn't read anything except to say HV.
peace love light
tyson :)

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2012, 07:19:25 AM »
   Great to learn more about Tesla coils, and tuning them for resonance conditions.

This site has a straightforward method for tuning:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~tesla/html/tuneacoil.htm

Note that the primary coil should be at one end, which is at a node on the secondary.   Attachment quotes from the above, to explain why resonance-finding is important. 
One can move the tap on the primary coil to find A resonance, but this might not be the best = the fundamental or primary resonance.   It seems this is basically what you did, lynx -- moving the tap on the primary coil to get the best lighting.   I'm thinking that a bare copper wire would facilitate this, making it easy to move the tap with a small alligator clip for instance.  Again, you may miss the primary resonance...   

Hmmmm... lots to think about here.

Basically, I understand the secondary is an antenna, receiving signal from the primary winding.  As in a radio, one has to do some tuning to maximize the pick-up signal.  A 1/4-wave antenna for the secondary appears to be best.


SkyWatcher123

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2012, 10:12:47 PM »
Hi folks, here is my replication of LynxSteams joule lamp.
It is 11" tall 30awg wire secondary tower coil, 1-1/2" diameter pvc.
with 48 primary turns of I think 20 gauge speaker wire.
13 watt gutted warm white cfl.
12 volt battery input.
2n3055 transistor with heatsink.
No resistors or diodes are used.
Transistor/heatsink does get rather warm, though that can be adjusted by moving primary up or down.
I do not know amperage or even voltage on battery under load, as meters become non-functional.
Though I can get an idea of battery load by observing battery voltage recovery after disconnecting circuit.

Here is a video clip showing cfl lighting up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAyAUUAyR70
peace love light
tyson ;)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #20 on: May 13, 2012, 10:34:38 PM »
Super Joule Ringer 2.0 Comparison

Below is a link to a video showing some testing I did with the Super Joule Ringer 2.0 (SJR 2.0) and the Lynx Joule Lamp (LJL).  The SJR 2.0 is very impressive with LEDs.  Amazing! actually compared to the LJL and a standard 12/120 inverter.  But not so good with CFL bulbs.  I think it takes a very high frequency to light CFL's and the ferrite core starts saturating in the SJR 2.0.

The LJL is Ok with one LED bulb but the power output doesn't adjust so as more LEDs are added the power is divided.  The LJL is great with high frequency and pretty good with CFL's but lacks the power to light more than one or two bright enough to be useable.  The video also shows just how forgiving the closed circuit LJL is with tuning, and effects of adjusting turns, and coil spacing
.
Perhaps this air core coil can be made more useful with a few added components, maybe an adjustable capacitor.
Anyway, hopefully these experiments will lead to some ephiphany.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFULp1Ceofg

SkyWatcher123

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #21 on: May 14, 2012, 12:32:56 AM »
Hi lynxsteam, thanks for sharing the video.
What do you think of my replication of your joule lamp.
Also, do you or anyone have any idea why you can measure amps with your dmm and mine just goes haywire and no reading is measurable, thanks.
Also lynxsteam, have you tried placing a volt meter across your battery while the circuit is running, I'm curious to know if you can read the voltage, as mine just shows either HV or it shows like .2 volts jumping around.
Though it's a 12 volt battery, so I wonder if it is doing harm to the battery.
peace love light
tyson :)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2012, 03:59:14 AM »
Very Nice!  I like the differences too.  The only way to find improvements is to make some changes.   Your bulb seems to be very bright.

Ok, sorry I didn't respond to your multimeter questions before.   No idea why your meter is not reading correctly.  I get DC voltage readings off the battery while the circuit is running.  Resting voltage on the small 12 volt battery pack might be 12.52, and while the circuit is running it may drop down to 12.35.  With no bulbs on the secondary output side I get 243 volts give or take.  If I brush up to the output side of the circuit with a finger or hand it feels like a hot burning sensation.  Not a shock but like intense heat.  It is something to avoid.

Things for you to try:
Get your meter working
Then try different primary turns looking for best brightness, lowest amp draw, best spread of the primary spacing.

SkyWatcher123

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #23 on: May 14, 2012, 05:05:09 AM »
Hi lynxsteam, thanks for the reply and the kind words.
I will have to sort out this meter thing so I can know what difference any changes make.
Yes the 13 watt cfl is fairly bright, I would say it is probably close to 70% of full brightness.
My battery is 12.55 volts noload, then when connecting the circuit for a few minutes and disconnecting and checking voltage right away, it is around 12.43 volts and climbing slowly back up to around 12.53 volts.
Just to give some indication until I get the meters sorted.
peace love light
tyson :)

conradelektro

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #24 on: May 14, 2012, 01:45:27 PM »
Super Joule Ringer 2.0 Comparison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFULp1Ceofg

@Lynxsteam:

I just looked at your comparison video. Thank you for showing your tests, that really helps. It demonstrates, that LaserSaber did find out something new indeed and that it is his special transformer. Your air core results agree with my air core experiments.

I still have to do some experiments with my CoilZilla, but at the moment ordinary daily life chores keep me busy.

It seems that an air core of the size as you (me and some others) used can not transfer more than a few hundred milliamperes because inductance is not high enough (the air core saturates). The CFLs (just the tube) start to light nicely with this limited power.

The transformer proposed by LaserSaber has a huge inductance which seems to do the trick when the step up rate is rather low (12 to 110 Volt for the LED-lamps in contrast to 12 to 600 Volt for the CFLs).

Greetings, Conrad

cyber19

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #25 on: May 14, 2012, 03:47:29 PM »
It would be nice if one of you would try the primary on the INSIDE tube either air or around a couple different types of metal rod.

b_rads

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #26 on: May 14, 2012, 05:06:27 PM »
@Lynxsteam:
Due to yard work and Mother’s Day, did not get a lot of time to work on this project.  I have all parts and do have L2 wound on ¾” schedule 40 PCV cut to 9” length and wrapped with 8” 30gauge magnet wire.  Found the sleeve, same as you showed, cut to 9”.  I wrapped it with 20gauge bell wire, 42 turns with a tap every 3 turns.  I really like the board setup as it looks to be more conducive to testing.  Will mount mine on a board as well.  I am attempting to be as nearly identical to your setup as possible, to eliminate any chance of failure.  Hopefully, I can finish this evening and get to some testing.
@SkyWatcher123:
Your video is very encouraging.  I first wound my L2 nearly identical to yours.  Mine is 1 3/8” diameter and 11” in length.  Did you wind L1 directly onto L2 or use some sort of sleeve so you could move L1 up and down to find your sweet spot?  How tightly did you wind L1?
@cyber19:
Those are some nice suggestions to try.
@conradelektro:
Did you get CoilZilla to fire?
 :)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2012, 05:30:21 PM »
I think the only way to get the same performance as the E-Core ferrite transformer is to get bigger.  There is only so much energy we can store in a 8.5" long 30 awg wire coil, whereas the ferrite core can store up and give back a lot of energy.
By the way, I tried placing the 26 turn primary at the middle and it works very well.

Looking back I was just intrigued with the one transistor circuit and wondered if it could work with an air core.

I hope some of you explore this area and see if there is anymore optimization.  My coil seems to max out at 6 watts output.  That's Ok for one light, but to be competitive with the Super Joule Ringer 2.0, we need to get to the point where we can light more LEDs or the same more efficiently.  The "bar" is set high.

Today I will wind a secondary much larger with 20 awg and use 10 gauge insulated for the primary and see what I can get.  I will also use a 10:1 ratio to compare output to the E-Core 10:1 transformer.  Fun, fun, fun!

SkyWatcher123

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2012, 07:06:32 PM »
Hi folks, Hi brads, I wound the plastic coated speaker wire directly over secondary coil and just used the ends and tied them together to give the coil a little tension and it is movable up or down to find sweet spot.
Hi lynxsteam, those tests sound like a good idea, though I was having trouble just getting 24 awg to oscillate on the secondary, maybe you will have better luck.
I still have no conclusive amperage measurements yet.
peace love light
tyson :)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2012, 11:09:08 PM »
Success!  This design is scaleable.   
Below are pictures of the components for a 13" version.  The secondary is 20 awg essex magnet wire wrapped on a 1-1/2" PVC pipe 13" long.  There are 336 turns.  The primary is 12 awg home type stranded electrical wire wrapped on a 2" Pvc pipe 13" long, 33 turns spaced evenly across.  The circuit is the same reversed biased 2N3055 and the battery is 12 volt.

The lights came right on.  No discernible drop in brightness 1-4 bulbs.  Amp draw for four bulbs was 1.6 A.  That's 19.68 watts to light four 7.5 watt LED bulbs.  19.68/30=65.6% of the power.  The brightness was actually better than the small SJR2.0, but this circuit was designed to reach 25 watts and I don't think my small E-Core transformer is designed for that.  Which design is better?  Hmmm....  The limit for both of these designs is the reversed biased transistor.

I am no electrical engineer, so I hope maybe someone can make some improvements.  It is simple though.  Any thoughts on the amp limit on the reversed biased 2N3055?  No need to make this bigger than what the transistor can handle.