Fun with Joule Thief Powering a Compact Fluorescent Light

Demonstrations and testing of a joule thief circuit powering a compact fluorescent light (CFL) as requested by many who watched my "How to Make Joule Thief Light a CFL - Jeanna's Light" video. I show:
- how the light brightens using more batteries, including a 9 volt battery
- what effect the potentiometer/variable resistor has
- voltage and frequency measurements made using an oscilloscope at various points in the circuit
- using a solar cell to observe the light from the CFL, along with any flicker
- how to use a PNP transistor in the joule thief circuit instead of the NPN transistor
- testing how long the batteries last i.e. testing battery life, including mounting the transistor on a heatsink to solve a heating problem
- measuring current
- testing for interference with AM, shortwave and FM radio, analog TV signals and an LCD screen

More of my Joule Thief videos:

How to Make Joule Thief Light a CFL - Jeanna's Light
   • How to Make Joule Thief Light a CFL -...  

How a Joule Thief Works
   • How a Joule Thief Works  

Make a Joule Thief for Zombie Batteries to light an LED
   • Make a Joule Thief for Zombie Batteries  

To watch the "How to mount/attach transistor to heatsink (2N3055)" video:
   • How to mount/attach transistor to hea...  

To watch the "How to take Piezoelectric Igniter from Lighter for Spud Gun":
   • How to take Piezoelectric Igniter fro...  

And for my webpage about joule thiefs, go to:
http://rimstar.org/sdenergy/joule_thi...

For Todd Harrison's fun electronics, DIY and more channel, go to:
   / toddrharrison  

To follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/RimStarz

http://rimstar.org

5 Cents Back - music by audionautix.com