I don't get it....what's the point? You're matching the inductor frequencies so they resonate so they can transfer the energy. But it's wasting energy, and it won't transmit far. You're likely operating at high frequencies which would allow a capacitor to act as a ground for the LEDs. Earth ground is best. The bread board itself has a decent amount of capacitance though. Nothing magical going on.
Mr. Lidmotor, since lighting is your forte, I have a few generic thoughts on LEDs for you. If you look at an LED datasheet you may see the graph of the "IV" curve, showing you the relationship between the voltage and current through the diode. As per any diode, the current starts to shoot up as you go above 0.6 V or 1.2 V depending on the LED.
There may also be a graph showing you the LED intensity vs. current consumption also.
It's that second graph that you should pay close attention to. I am assuming that you will see that above a certain current level, the increases in current consumption do not give you nearly the same increases in intensity. That is our good old friend, the "Law of Diminishing Returns" coming into play here. The conclusion being that you may not want to over-drive your LEDs to make them brighter because you may have to pay too high a price in current consumption.
Of course, nothing is stopping you from "pushing the envelope" if you want to.
For example, if you are pulsing an LED with short "on" spikes and leaving it off 95% of the time, you have the option of over-driving the LED to make it flash extra extra bright. The brief "on" current would actually burn up the LED if if was always on. But since you are spiking, your average power is low enough for the heat to dissipate out of the LED PN junction.
It may be that over-driving the LED with a 5% duty cycle (or 1% etc) will be "banging" away at the PN junction and may reduce it's life. However, that may not be significant for your application since LEDs last indefinitely if you are nice to them.
Anyway, that's just me going into engineering mode once in a while. My gut feel is that you may be able to get 50% more apparent brightness out of an LED by over-driving it. It's sorta like overclocking your PC gaming rig!! lol
Bill-- Try this one. There are similarities to the Joule Thief but it is very different and a facinating circuit. You need an MPSA06 transistor to make it work right. You can get them online (even on Ebay) for about $6 for 100. They also run in a JT circuit just fine. The 2n2222 can't handle this circuit. They burn up quick. The TIP3055 worked for me if I changed the coil configuration to the wrong way. Others have not gotten it to work at all. I have alot to learn about this circuit.
I have this large (3" diameter by 6" height or so) 6volt 22 Farad capacitor. I think that's the capacity since it had a large 22,000 number on it. Maybe I can charge it up and run a 12volt camera (150ma draw) for a while, or for some other project. I haven't checked the forums for the Stiffler but would like to hear more about the intended goal. By the way I enjoyed the Silent Running movie and your past vids, I saw the movie per your recommendation.
Ivecsey---- That capacitor is probably a 20,000uf (micro farad). That is a big cap but not a super capacitor. I would not run anything very long. Maybe an LED would work.
fcdoth--- The super capacitor that I used in this video was a 2.3 volt / 10 Farad. The discharge rate was varied from 25 milliamps up to 100 milliamps. It would run for miuntes not seconds-- minutes not hours. The voltage on the cap decreases at a steady rate. On other projects I have been using 2.3 volt / 50 Farad caps and they last alot longer. The advantage is that they charge up very quickly and can be recharged over 100,000 times.
another nice job.. are you planning to try charging another battery? also you might like to check out the "Valee Effect" if you haven't already.. your B field inductor set up looks similar..
jabrinka--- I checked out the "Valee Effect" and that is very interesting but different. I think that all I have here is a tuneable simple transformer and it is not the way an SEC is supposed to be configured. It was a "duct tape" way to solve a problem but it worked.
I don't get it....what's the point? You're matching the inductor frequencies so they resonate so they can transfer the energy. But it's wasting energy, and it won't transmit far. You're likely operating at high frequencies which would allow a capacitor to act as a ground for the LEDs. Earth ground is best. The bread board itself has a decent amount of capacitance though. Nothing magical going on.
horta1212 1 year ago
Good Kacher!
foxiprouter 1 year ago
Mr. Lidmotor, since lighting is your forte, I have a few generic thoughts on LEDs for you. If you look at an LED datasheet you may see the graph of the "IV" curve, showing you the relationship between the voltage and current through the diode. As per any diode, the current starts to shoot up as you go above 0.6 V or 1.2 V depending on the LED.
There may also be a graph showing you the LED intensity vs. current consumption also.
Drevtoobe 2 years ago
It's that second graph that you should pay close attention to. I am assuming that you will see that above a certain current level, the increases in current consumption do not give you nearly the same increases in intensity. That is our good old friend, the "Law of Diminishing Returns" coming into play here. The conclusion being that you may not want to over-drive your LEDs to make them brighter because you may have to pay too high a price in current consumption.
Nutshell version: Sweet spot
Drevtoobe 2 years ago
Of course, nothing is stopping you from "pushing the envelope" if you want to.
For example, if you are pulsing an LED with short "on" spikes and leaving it off 95% of the time, you have the option of over-driving the LED to make it flash extra extra bright. The brief "on" current would actually burn up the LED if if was always on. But since you are spiking, your average power is low enough for the heat to dissipate out of the LED PN junction.
Drevtoobe 2 years ago
It may be that over-driving the LED with a 5% duty cycle (or 1% etc) will be "banging" away at the PN junction and may reduce it's life. However, that may not be significant for your application since LEDs last indefinitely if you are nice to them.
Anyway, that's just me going into engineering mode once in a while. My gut feel is that you may be able to get 50% more apparent brightness out of an LED by over-driving it. It's sorta like overclocking your PC gaming rig!! lol
Drevtoobe 2 years ago
If I don't get the fluorescent lighting how I want it on this circuit, then the LED approach makes the most sense on this one.
Lidmotor 2 years ago
Lid:
Great replication with a few twists there. I have followed Dr. Stiffler's work but have not tried to replicate yet. Great job!
Bill
Pirate88179 2 years ago
Bill-- Try this one. There are similarities to the Joule Thief but it is very different and a facinating circuit. You need an MPSA06 transistor to make it work right. You can get them online (even on Ebay) for about $6 for 100. They also run in a JT circuit just fine. The 2n2222 can't handle this circuit. They burn up quick. The TIP3055 worked for me if I changed the coil configuration to the wrong way. Others have not gotten it to work at all. I have alot to learn about this circuit.
Lidmotor 2 years ago
I have this large (3" diameter by 6" height or so) 6volt 22 Farad capacitor. I think that's the capacity since it had a large 22,000 number on it. Maybe I can charge it up and run a 12volt camera (150ma draw) for a while, or for some other project. I haven't checked the forums for the Stiffler but would like to hear more about the intended goal. By the way I enjoyed the Silent Running movie and your past vids, I saw the movie per your recommendation.
lvecsey 2 years ago
Ivecsey---- That capacitor is probably a 20,000uf (micro farad). That is a big cap but not a super capacitor. I would not run anything very long. Maybe an LED would work.
Lidmotor 2 years ago
Hey, nice work.
Do you have any idea on how much time it can run out of the supercap?
fcdoth 2 years ago
fcdoth--- The super capacitor that I used in this video was a 2.3 volt / 10 Farad. The discharge rate was varied from 25 milliamps up to 100 milliamps. It would run for miuntes not seconds-- minutes not hours. The voltage on the cap decreases at a steady rate. On other projects I have been using 2.3 volt / 50 Farad caps and they last alot longer. The advantage is that they charge up very quickly and can be recharged over 100,000 times.
Lidmotor 2 years ago
another nice job.. are you planning to try charging another battery? also you might like to check out the "Valee Effect" if you haven't already.. your B field inductor set up looks similar..
jabrinka99 2 years ago
jabrinka--- I checked out the "Valee Effect" and that is very interesting but different. I think that all I have here is a tuneable simple transformer and it is not the way an SEC is supposed to be configured. It was a "duct tape" way to solve a problem but it worked.
Lidmotor 2 years ago
First comment, where can i get the schematic?
rroge5 2 years ago
rroge5---The circuit is posted at the Energetic Forum on Dr. Stiffler's thread--" High voltage from thin air"
Lidmotor 2 years ago