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Author Topic: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.  (Read 158537 times)

in3d

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #75 on: March 26, 2010, 11:04:00 PM »
Hi Jeanna,

   I know from reading that magnesium in water produces hydrogen ... which scared me when I first read it because I made a few cells and left them in my house ... makes me happy I don't have gas, but I talked to a friend who's an electrician and he said it wouldn't produce enough hydrogen to be dangerous. But I'd still be curious how much hydrogen would be made. Perhaps put a balloon over a water cell? Hmm.

   Anyway, so far, no explosions :-)

Shannon

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #76 on: March 27, 2010, 12:01:49 AM »

   Anyway, so far, no explosions :-)

Shannon
Good.. no explosions.
Mg ribbon is used as a fuse for fire-works because as a solid  it burns when lit like wood, only unlike wood it shoots sparks.
Do you remember sparklers?
I think they have a different composition now, but when I was a kid, they were made to burn magnesium.

OK, this is the overprotection of corporate lawyers. I am glad to think that.

I was working with the crystal cell for a while and regularly made H2 bubbles because I was using Aluminum with sodium silicate in the mix and there were bubbles which I would pop with my kitchen igniter. (it was almost as much fun as snapping a spark from a camera capacitor  ;) .)

OK, so I won't worry about this because while I am not a cautious person, I am not stupid and have zero wish to hurt myself.

jeanna

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #77 on: March 27, 2010, 02:15:30 AM »
OMG it works!
I feel like little Annekin
"IT'S WORKING! IT'S WORKING!
Here is a still pic.

jeanna

Thanks to Freepow for sharing that his earth battery required a zero resistor at the transistor base.
As soon as I shorted across the base resistance, the light went on.

BTW, this is my germanium transistor joule thief.
I have been using this to test the recharged batteries.
I guess I need a new joule thief!  ;D

edit
More fiddling and it works just fine with 1k ohms!!
« Last Edit: March 27, 2010, 05:06:13 AM by jeanna »

Doug1

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #78 on: March 27, 2010, 12:12:16 PM »
Is that a beef roast for 1.99 a pound under that planter?

ElectricGoose

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #79 on: March 27, 2010, 01:28:53 PM »
[quote A=Doug1 link=topic=8540.msg234848#msg234848 date=1269688336]
Is that a beef roast for 1.99 a pound under that planter?
[/quote]

OMG Doug...you must LOVE ur roast mate!  ;D  But serious, that's a awesome price on the Sunday Roast Tucker.  So I ask, wheres the beef?

Oh Jeanna, can you post a little schematic of what you are doing with the circuit?  Have you tried trusty silicon 2N2222a (or other), or was it necessary for you to go Germanium to drop the forward voltage tax?  If so what did you use (AC185-NPN)??

Thanks guys.

E-Goose

stprue

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #80 on: March 27, 2010, 02:58:10 PM »
OMG it works!
I feel like little Annekin
"IT'S WORKING! IT'S WORKING!
Here is a still pic.

jeanna

Thanks to Freepow for sharing that his earth battery required a zero resistor at the transistor base.
As soon as I shorted across the base resistance, the light went on.

BTW, this is my germanium transistor joule thief.
I have been using this to test the recharged batteries.
I guess I need a new joule thief!  ;D

edit
More fiddling and it works just fine with 1k ohms!!

To work in harmony with nature is an achievement!  Awesome job Jeanna...inspirational   :)

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #81 on: March 30, 2010, 12:06:56 AM »

Oh Jeanna, can you post a little schematic of what you are doing with the circuit?  Have you tried trusty silicon 2N2222a (or other), or was it necessary for you to go Germanium to drop the forward voltage tax?  If so what did you use (AC185-NPN)??

Hi E Goose,
I was away this weekend.
When I returned the light is still ON!!!!!

I fixed up a basic jtc schematic to show what this is.
I had made this to work an EER last summer.
It didn't so it was in the shoebox.
But this schematic reflects what the circuit is. You might see other things there, but this is what is being used.

In a quick trial on saturday, I tried a jtc which uses a TIP31. This did not turn on. I didn't fiddle with it any more but I will now and let you know.

For now, this is still working 70 hours later.
hmm, pretty good compared to a AAA, or AA

Here is the schematic.

jeanna

Pirate88179

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #82 on: March 30, 2010, 01:12:29 AM »
I love it!  Jeanna's Mushroom/Philodendron circuit.

Excellent work Jeanna, as usual.

Bill

ElectricGoose

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #83 on: March 30, 2010, 01:36:11 AM »
Hi E Goose,
I was away this weekend.
When I returned the light is still ON!!!!!

I fixed up a basic jtc schematic to show what this is.
I had made this to work an EER last summer.
It didn't so it was in the shoebox.
But this schematic reflects what the circuit is. You might see other things there, but this is what is being used.

In a quick trial on saturday, I tried a jtc which uses a TIP31. This did not turn on. I didn't fiddle with it any more but I will now and let you know.

For now, this is still working 70 hours later.
hmm, pretty good compared to a AAA, or AA

Here is the schematic.

jeanna

Thanks Jeanna, ur a honey for that kind assistance!

Hmmm,  ??? I already have the supercap at the front like you are doing acting as a resevoir (but it's draining) and I thought you might be doing something special with the circuit itself (wiring) but no, therefore it must be my transistor drinking too much as suspected.  I shall buy a germanium number and see if I cannot dilly the pickle.

Kindest

E-Goose

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #84 on: March 30, 2010, 02:12:00 AM »
I love it!  Jeanna's Mushroom/Philodendron circuit.

Excellent work Jeanna, as usual.

Bill
;D ;D ;D
Thanks Bill.

@E-goose,
Actually, it is not necessary to have that cap in there. And, it may even drain as you are supposing.

------------
All,
I just tried another circuit and this one has 2 secondaries (a very early circuit. I think I called this the berry, but maybe that is a different one)
It uses a 2N3904 silicon transistor and a string of trim pots that add up to something less than 1k... I think.
I will make a drawing and post it in a moment, but first I want to post this pic of it... the Mushroom Philodendron er...Cu,Mg EB with 2 LIGHTS!!


Rapadura

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #85 on: March 30, 2010, 02:35:27 AM »
This is what I call a environmentally friendly energy source!!!

Great work! I hope it can be scaled up more and more, with more plants and more LED's!

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #86 on: March 30, 2010, 02:50:20 AM »
Ah, Rapadura, this is what is sooo fabulous about the joule thief.

Since this does work with the 2N3904 and with 2 secondaries, I happen to have a circuit that lights 30 leds from this much as a starter.

I do not have those circuits free at the moment, but this is free er well, I found it in the shoebox being ignored... ;)

anyway, since the joule thief circuit can be used as a pulse generator driving a secondary (aka pickup ) and since it matters not to the battery how much is on the secondary, it will be enough for any kind of jtc that works with the little transistor, so the "world light" with the tiny orange toroid which lights 42 leds is a good example. While it is not a reading light it is a lotbrighter than a night light.

I actually do not know the limits, so there will be more and more tests coming from this corner.
I see a lot of others doing this too, and I am smiling!  :D

Here is the schematic for the circuit in the above picture with 2 lights. [note, there is NO memory cap here!]

jeanna

ElectricGoose

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #87 on: March 30, 2010, 06:36:00 AM »
Ah, Rapadura, this is what is sooo fabulous about the joule thief.

Since this does work with the 2N3904 and with 2 secondaries, I happen to have a circuit that lights 30 A from this much as a starter.

I do not have those circuits free at the moment, but this is free er well, I found it in the shoebox being ignored... ;)

anyway, since the joule thief circuit can be used as a pulse generator driving a secondary (aka pickup ) and since it matters not to the battery how much is on the secondary, it will be enough for any kind of jtc that works with the little transistor, so the "world light" with the tiny orange toroid which lights 42 leds is a good example. While it is not a reading light it is a lotbrighter than a night light.

I actually do not know the limits, so there will be more and more tests coming from this corner.
I see a lot of others doing this too, and I am smiling!  :D

Here is the schematic for the circuit in the above picture with 2 lights. [note, there is NO memory cap here!]

jeanna

@Jeanna

I didnt think the EB had enough volts to switch on the 2n3904  ???   What is the voltage current delivered by the 'planter cell' Jeanna (non load AND under load)?  The wierd thing is, I have made hybrid batteries out of all sorts of things that have enough juice to light up a 3 volt led (dimly) but will NOT turn on the transistor.

What am I missing here?

E-Goose

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #88 on: March 30, 2010, 08:23:58 PM »


I was never able to get this or the germanium based transistor to switch on either.
Bill did with his big block of Magnesium.
Then Lasersaber did with his magnesium ribbon.

Copper to zinc is not enough to start up the germanium transistor even though the meter would suggest that you could.
I will try the germanium jtc outside with my C-Zn EER again just to prove that it won't work.
I never did go back and try it with zero resistance at the base, and I want to do that.
Last summer, I thought it was working, but I was seeing the neighbor's spotlight reflecting from the jtc led, so this is the first for me.

My meter is telling me I have 1.44v across the Cu-Mg potted EB.
I do not know how many mA, but it is at least a few, or the 2N3904 would not turn on.

To begin to understand what I am doing, it is essential to separate the jtc with and withOUT a light at the transistor.

With the led at the C-E of the transistor the jtc is the real thief.
When there is no led across that C-E junction, the jtc with a secondary is a pulse generator, and uses way less mA.

I think.
I mean, I think this is the reason.

A magnesium firestarter is a good and safe source of magnesium.
It only starts a fire when it is crumbled into magnesium dust.
I think if you attach a copper wire to the mg firestarter, the best galvanic voltage will be happening where they meet. I always had it in the middle of the copper lead, not realizing the difference. (I was a very green beginner when this all started! ;) ).
How to do that?? I do not know.

There are a lot of questions in my mind and therefore many more experiments to continue to make.

jeanna

jeanna

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Re: EER Joule Thief using an earth battery to start a joule thief.
« Reply #89 on: March 31, 2010, 12:33:07 AM »
Here is my newest video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BER7FTW1FfA

thanks to lasersaber and Shannon for making this latest success possible!

jeanna