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Author Topic: Joule Lamp  (Read 344855 times)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #90 on: June 11, 2012, 07:17:12 PM »
Great Links B-rads, Nick Z!  Tough to beat those LEDs for $1.50, and I have used that solar charger, it is very good and well worth the $$.

Seems like the forks in the road are these:
1.  DC power 12 v, no mods
2.  DC pulsed 12 v - to see if power draw can be dropped without damaging bulb circuitry
     I think an aircore or transformer could be used in much the same way as LaserSaber's design but with about a 1:1 ratio of turns, and rectify the output for 12 v bulbs.  If we can pulse or chop the DC it might reduce power draw and still give off the same light.  The flyback will be high voltage but perhaps a capacitor can smooth the ripple.
3.  DC/AC convert for powering multiple bulbs using the AirCore (my main interest)
4.  DC/AC convert for powering multiple bulbs using E-Core or RS transformer (that area is being covered pretty well over at EF)

I am glad my house grid watt draw was looked at by someone else.  It was puzzling to me that a 7.5 watt bulb would pull 15-20 watts off 120 v AC.  Unfortunately my other watt meter isn't showing a screen.  I will use a clip on amp meter.

I am excited about the many improvements I have made to the Aircore.  I just want JouleSeeker to confirm if I am right and the results are significant.  I can't wait to share the changes, just want to make sure.  He should receive the newest LJL Wednesday.  Then I made another significant change after shipping to him.  I wish you guys lived next door, we would have this done a lot quicker.


NickZ

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #91 on: June 11, 2012, 08:50:23 PM »
  Just thought to add, that the 10 watt solar panels are only $10 more than the 5 watt ones. So, they are even more cost effective, and can be used to light more bulbs.
 
  10watt solar panel Mono crystalline 12v charge batteries Rv marine | eBay

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #92 on: June 12, 2012, 04:43:45 AM »
The weirdest thing!

My watt meter, which I have used often and I trust, doesn't register CFLs or LEDs correctly.  But correctly with a DMM amp setting?

For a 14 watt CFL I get 40 watts on the watt meter, with an amp meter I get .115 amps x 120 volts = 13.8 watts
For the Utilitech Pro 7.5 I get 16 watts on the watt meter, but .072 amps X 120 v = 8.64 watts
For the Phillips 3 watt LED I get 8.4 watts on the watt meter, but .022 amps x 120 v =2.64 watts
For a 40 watt incandescent I get 37 watts on the watt meter, but .315 amps x 120  v = 37.8 watts  close to the same!
For a 60 watt incandescent I get 59 watts on the watt meter, but .502 x 120 v = 60.24 watts close to the same

So why does the watt meter register motors, incandescent and the toaster correctly but not CFLs or LEDs?  Does the circuitry in these bulbs mess with the inductive sensor on the Watt meter?

SeaMonkey

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #93 on: June 12, 2012, 07:54:03 AM »
The various types of AC wattmeters have limitations to
their accuracy.  Particularly when dealing with non-
sinusoidal waveshapes and reactive circuits.

The Wikipedia article
is fairly comprehensive.



b_rads

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #94 on: June 12, 2012, 03:50:10 PM »
@SeaMonkey:
Great to see you here and your input is most welcome.  For those of you who have not had a chance to interact with SeaMonkey, he is a very valuable contributor.   8)
 
Last night a thunderstorm ripped through and knocked out the power for a little over three hours in my neighborhood.  My first true test of several of the lighting systems I have built.  Master bedroom and bath lit by the small 12v 5AH and 4 of the SMD modules.  Family room lit with the LJL and 4 - 7.5 watt LED bulbs.  Kitchen and dining room used various mini joule ringers and joule thief lights.  12 Volt battery with 200 watt inverter powered box fan and laptop.  After much lighthearted teasing from the missus, I was a hero for about three hours last night.  What a wonderful feeling to know I have choices in a situation like that.
 
Brad S   :)

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #95 on: June 12, 2012, 07:40:12 PM »
Welcome Sea Monkey.  Thanks for the wiki link.  I learn something every day at least.

B-rads, that is very cool.  I will admit, when power goes out at my house I start the whole house gas generator and it is noisy!  I shut it off at night and we have no lights so we use candles, flashlights, oil lamps to get to bed.  This is a great option now to have a quiet source of whole room lighting where we need it. 

Did you get the last thing hooked up before the power came back on?  I bet you were busy.  That's what good husbands do.

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #96 on: June 12, 2012, 09:11:52 PM »
The weirdest thing!

My watt meter, which I have used often and I trust, doesn't register CFLs or LEDs correctly.  But correctly with a DMM amp setting?

For a 14 watt CFL I get 40 watts on the watt meter, with an amp meter I get .115 amps x 120 volts = 13.8 watts
For the Utilitech Pro 7.5 I get 16 watts on the watt meter, but .072 amps X 120 v = 8.64 watts
For the Phillips 3 watt LED I get 8.4 watts on the watt meter, but .022 amps x 120 v =2.64 watts
For a 40 watt incandescent I get 37 watts on the watt meter, but .315 amps x 120  v = 37.8 watts  close to the same!
For a 60 watt incandescent I get 59 watts on the watt meter, but .502 x 120 v = 60.24 watts close to the same

So why does the watt meter register motors, incandescent and the toaster correctly but not CFLs or LEDs?  Does the circuitry in these bulbs mess with the inductive sensor on the Watt meter?

Our power was out this morning -- I can sympathize, b-rads.

@Lynx -- I tested an LED bulb and a CFL bulb with TWO watt-meters and also compared with V*I (current determined by a clamp-on ammeter).  Everything looking in agreement here:


For a 13 watt CFL I get 15.3 watts on the watt meter, with the clamp-on amp meter I get .12 amps x 123 volts = 15.7 watts; decent agreement within measurement uncertainties.
For the Utilitech Pro 7.5 I get 8.0 watts on the watt meter, and 0.06(5) amps X 123 v = 8 watts.

I'd check your watt-meter.  Note (photo) that I used two watt-meters, one plugged into the other, so I check one against the other. 

kooler

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #97 on: June 13, 2012, 01:51:08 AM »
hello,
jouleseeker isn't the clamp meter suppose to be on the black wire. ???
good work everyone..

NickZ

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #98 on: June 13, 2012, 03:14:50 AM »
   @ Sea Monkey, & Kooler:
   Good to see both you guys here, also.  Been missing your low draw your circuits lately Kooler. Hope that your health is ok, now.
                                                     
   NickZ
                                             

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #99 on: June 13, 2012, 03:23:23 AM »
@kooler --  the white wire is the "return" wire in this case.  I checked -- both wires (black and white) carry the same current, as one would expect.  With two LED bulbs, I just measured 0.14A on the black wire (and on the white wire, same) at 122 V = 122 x 0.14 = 17 W, and I get the same reading on the watt-meter, that is, same within small measurement errors.

PhiChaser

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #100 on: June 14, 2012, 06:19:04 AM »
Last night a thunderstorm ripped through and knocked out the power for a little over three hours in my neighborhood.  My first true test of several of the lighting systems I have built.  Master bedroom and bath lit by the small 12v 5AH and 4 of the SMD modules.  Family room lit with the LJL and 4 - 7.5 watt LED bulbs.  Kitchen and dining room used various mini joule ringers and joule thief lights.  12 Volt battery with 200 watt inverter powered box fan and laptop.  After much lighthearted teasing from the missus, I was a hero for about three hours last night.  What a wonderful feeling to know I have choices in a situation like that.
Great story B_rads! It made me smile. Good stuff... ;)
Happy experimenting,
PC

JouleSeeker

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #101 on: June 15, 2012, 01:12:47 PM »
I completed the calibration runs, for one, 2,3,4,5 and 6 bulbs in the light-box.   These were the Ultra-tech LED bulbs used by Lynxsteam, so that the tests followed what he used.   The calibration factor varies somewhat with the number of bulbs.   No surprises there.

Running on the grid, these Ultra-tech bulbs put out about 450 Lumens at 60 Lm/W (when running at 7.5 W each, at about 110 VAC).
 
Lynxsteam sent me a new "Lynx Lamp" for testing, about 2" in outside diameter and 17" long, wound on PVC pipe as he has mentioned earlier.

At 12V, here are results I obtained:

# bulbs   Amps     Power In    Lumens  Lumens/Watt
1             0.53          6.4 W         134          21
2             1.03        12.4             392          32
 3             1.13        13.6             455          33
4             1.21        14.5             487          34   
5             1.26        15.1             539          36      --at 25.8 KHz
 6             1.38        16.6             580          35

  We see that the amp-draw nearly doubles going from 1 to 2 bulbs, but then decreases more slowly as one adds more bulbs -- as noted by Lynxsteam.  The Lumens/Watt efficacy peaks at approximately 5 bulbs for this "Lynx Lamp" (he wound it!).

I also inserted a 20cm long x 0.9mm diam ferrite rod into the PVC and found and found:
5             0.92         11.0            574          52  -- at 12.1 KHz

So the efficacy went up from 36 to 52 Lumens/W, while the frequency dropped.
 (I have done better in terms of Lm/W before this.)
 
I inserted a second ferrite rod, and the efficacy went down to about 25 Lm/W -- that surprised me.

So the results are interesting, but nothing spectacular yet.  Lots of fun, though!
My especial thanks to Lynxsteam for sending the "cranberry" version of his Lynx-Lamp for testing! 

I also tried lighting two CFL's with this, and they lit up, one more brightly than the other.  Total light output was around 300 Lumens once warmed up a bit, but drew 1.76A for the two @12 V.  This translates to 21 W and about 14 Lm/W.

Lynxsteam

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #102 on: June 15, 2012, 02:39:21 PM »
Thank you Joule Seeker for conducting this testing.

I am disappointed, I really thought I had managed to decrease power draw and increase brightness.  Joule Seeker's testing shows that it is easy to get fooled judging by eye.  And my imprecise PV lightbox method was erroneous.
We know that induction in Aircore transformers is much less than in a ferrite core.  His experiment with adding a ferrite core boosting output to 52 lm/watt is a clue as to the direction to go in.

The advantage to the Aircore is only in its simplicity of parts, scalability and its reliable startup. 
If I can find some silicon steel tubing with a thin wall similar to a cheap mop handle I may give that a try.  Otherwise using a ferrite core or being stuck with efficient lighting of a couple bulbs is where I am at.
I am not so interested in a couple bulbs.  That has been done quite well.

Other areas to explore would be:
Looking for the best places to tap the primary for maximum efficiency.
finding some readily available core material that can be used to increase the Aircore's induction.
Or using iron floral wire simulating the E-Core by looping through the Aircore tube.  Or by using enameled floral wire as part of the secondary.
I have also wondered if common hardware magnets could be heated slowly in an oven to 850 F and thus could render them as nice core material.

All this said, it is still possible to use the Aircore and just settle for an acceptable amp draw and brightness.  As is, the LJL Aircore works as if the bulbs are on a dimmer drawing 1/3 the power of mains 120 vac.

Other thoughts on areas to explore, or what your goal is?

PhiChaser

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #103 on: June 15, 2012, 05:54:22 PM »
I am going to build a couple aircores in the coming week or two and wanted to try an idea. I'm not sure it has been done, or if it has been tried I haven't found it yet...
Has anyone tried filling up one of those aircores with stacked power toroids? The ones I have will fit nicely in 1" CPVC pipe. That pipe will be wrapped with the secondary and some sort of 'adjustable' primary most likely.
Any thoughts on what types of results to expect? Is this likely to work better than just a plain aircore?
Thanks for the great thread and all the 'research' guys.
Happy experimenting,
PC

NickZ

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Re: Joule Lamp
« Reply #104 on: June 15, 2012, 06:55:02 PM »
   Guys:
   Thank you for taking the time and effort to do these tests, and report them.
   What the above test shows me is that by using two small and fairly cheap 10watt solar panel ($40 each), or a single 20 watt solar panel, one can light a small house, shed, mobil home, etz... For Free.  So, not bad at all.
   I think what this will all boil down to is using ferrite, as we had thought. But, PVC and insulated house wire is available anywhere, sometimes even for free, or nearly so.

   Phi:  Toroid cores are not all the same, and the cheap iron powder toroids that are commonly used as chokes, don't work very well. Maybe try to find a ferrite transformer, or some real ferrite toroid cores, or beads. But, the Lynx system will work even without the ferrite rod, or toroids, in anycase, but,  even the yellow iron powder toroid cores may help some.

   I'm now using the tiny 1/2" toroids that come in the CFLs, as those do work very well, and can even light a gutted CFL bulb, as well as leds.  They will work fine on Jt circuits, Exciter circuits, etz... Drawing almost nothing, especially when connected to the garden lights solar panels.
 HitmanMob1 has shown on his videos, how he was able to light 8 led bulbs, plus charge his laptop, using just 6 tiny solar panels from the garden lights, and a small transformer, and 6 volt battery. There is more to all this than voltage and current, as also the "frequency" used must be making this all possible.

   NickZ