Ron Cole's Bipolar Switch

[John_Koorn]

This thread is for discussing Ron Cole's Bipolar Switch from 1989 that was posted on John Bedini's web site.

[John_Koorn]

I have built a prototype of the circuit and have it running, however I am still tuning it.

I built it the same as the above circuit, the only exceptions being:

-: Replaced 10V zener diode with LM7812
-: Repalced 2N4919 with MJE2955T
-: Replaced MJ15022 with MJL21193G
-: Replaced MJ15003 with MJL21194G
-: Replaced 2N6306 with MJL21194G
-: Replaced 4N26 with H11D1

All other components are as listed. Currently I'm using a 12V 50W halogen bulb as the RL.

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone else who has replicated this circuit.

John K.

[Faraday88]

I have built a prototype of the circuit and have it running, however I am still tuning it.

I built it the same as the above circuit, the only exceptions being:

-: Replaced 10V zener diode with LM7812
-: Repalced 2N4919 with MJE2955T
-: Replaced MJ15022 with MJL21193G
-: Replaced MJ15003 with MJL21194G
-: Replaced 2N6306 with MJL21194G
-: Replaced 4N26 with H11D1

All other components are as listed. Currently I'm using a 12V 50W halogen bulb as the RL.

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone else who has replicated this circuit.

John K.

Hi John,

What about the Switching Frequency? same as what Ron used..?? Why are'nt we using MOSFETS here??
with My understanding, there are certain Operational parameters which also have to changed in making this rig up work to it full potential
this is very similar to the Latest Teslagenx Large Comparator unit in one of its iteration of usage.

Rgds,
Faraday88.

[Gary Hammond]

Hi John,

I have built a prototype of the circuit and have it running, however I am still tuning it.

I built it the same as the above circuit............

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone else who has replicated this circuit.

John K.

I built this five or six years ago when I first saw it on John's old web site. This was before I even tried building the bicycle wheel SSG, and before I had an oscilloscope or any digital meters. The only Bedini circuit I had built before this was to modify a computer fan, which ran really well and still works fine.

I couldn't figure out what kind of load to use at the time. Did RL mean "resistive load" (like a light bulb or resistor) or "resistance & inductance" of a specific ratio (like a motor)? Near as I could tell, using an analog multimeter, it was switching but not able to run a small "slot car" motor. I didn't really understand it and lacked the equipment to analyze it properly. I still have it laying around on the bench, but did steal one of the large caps out of it. I may have to put it back together and revisit the project!

[John_Koorn]

Hi John,

What about the Switching Frequency? same as what Ron used..?? Why are'nt we using MOSFETS here??
with My understanding, there are certain Operational parameters which also have to changed in making this rig up work to it full potential
this is very similar to the Latest Teslagenx Large Comparator unit in one of its iteration of usage.

Rgds,
Faraday88.

Hi Faraday,

Regarding the switching frequency, all I'm going off is what the diagram says - between 10Hz and 500Hz. However I'm going off the assumption that the frequency needs to be tuned to a sub-harmonic resonant frequency of the battery - as this is what Bill & Ray reported way back when.
I have seen some "interesting" things happen as I tune the circuit - such as the light bulb going from very dim to a lot brighter, with no noticeable change in current draw but haven't yet achieved what I think I should be looking for.

As for MOSFETs, yes it probably can be done but I want to replicate as close to the original as I can so I can study any effects. Mind you, Ron's circuit seems to switch pretty darn well with arrangement he has and I know in talking to John Bedini that he was a master of switching circuits.

Not sure I agree with you on the similarity to the large comparator, as it is primarily a fill 'n' spill device. I'd have to say this is closer to a Tesla Switch.

John K.

[John_Koorn]

Hi John,



I built this five or six years ago when I first saw it on John's old web site. This was before I even tried building the bicycle wheel SSG, and before I had an oscilloscope or any digital meters. The only Bedini circuit I had built before this was to modify a computer fan, which ran really well and still works fine.

I couldn't figure out what kind of load to use at the time. Did RL mean "resistive load" (like a light bulb or resistor) or "resistance & inductance" of a specific ratio (like a motor)? Near as I could tell, using an analog multimeter, it was switching but not able to run a small "slot car" motor. I didn't really understand it and lacked the equipment to analyze it properly. I still have it laying around on the bench, but did steal one of the large caps out of it. I may have to put it back together and revisit the project!

Hi Gary,

Yes, RL is "resistive load". The bulb I'm using is good as I can see the effects pretty quickly.

I'd really recommend using a scope (doesn't have to be fancy) so you can ensure the circuit is switching properly. Run it at low frequency first until you're satisfied it's working correctly.

Test the output of the 555 timer, then make sure the optos are working right, then the transistors after the optos. After you're satisfied, scope the RL and you should see an AC square wave.

Your tuning is the 555 frequency (the resistor between pins 2 & 7 and the capacitor between pins 1 & 2) and the 10k pot as shown in the diagram.

5 gold stars to who can tell me what that does

John K.

[Faraday88]

Hi Faraday,

Regarding the switching frequency, all I'm going off is what the diagram says - between 10Hz and 500Hz. However I'm going off the assumption that the frequency needs to be tuned to a sub-harmonic resonant frequency of the battery - as this is what Bill & Ray reported way back when.
I have seen some "interesting" things happen as I tune the circuit - such as the light bulb going from very dim to a lot brighter, with no noticeable change in current draw but haven't yet achieved what I think I should be looking for.

As for MOSFETs, yes it probably can be done but I want to replicate as close to the original as I can so I can study any effects. Mind you, Ron's circuit seems to switch pretty darn well with arrangement he has and I know in talking to John Bedini that he was a master of switching circuits.

Not sure I agree with you on the similarity to the large comparator, as it is primarily a fill 'n' spill device. I'd have to say this is closer to a Tesla Switch.

John K.

Hi John,

Thanks for that little briefing on the subject.. Yes Bill Nelson Switching was in the Microwave range (i remember Tom bearden's writings on Battery Back popping ), Secondly
about the type of the Switch for Tesla Switching, JB says that we waited for the right kind of SWITCHING DEVICE to come by (which was until the MOSFETS that made their appearance), as far as INVERTED POTENTIAL SWITCH goes either of them fit into the bill, its only the drive aspect where the MOSFETS are better of..
I shall share by replication soon with the group on this very schematic..
Rgds,
Faraday88.

[John_Koorn]

Hi Faraday,

Thanks for reply. I'd be very interested in your replication with MOSFETs and I'll certainly give it a try.

Would be great to compare notes.


John K.

[Gary Hammond]

Hi John,

Well, I dug out my old circuit from the pile on the bench and reinstalled the missing cap and 2n2222 transistors. Fired it up with the scope attached, and was able to balance the square wave pulses 50/50 at 109 HZ.

I had used as many of the originally specified parts as I could obtain at the time I built it. I did, however, subsitute a fixed resistor for the 10K pot in the schematic. And used two 5K pots on the 555 timer instead of two fixed resistors to control duty cycle and frequency. I'm not using the auxillary 9 volt battery, but instead the main battery is powering the chips directly and is regulated by the 10 volt zenier as also shown in the schematic. The current draw for the timing circuit is 34 ma regardless of load through the caps. And the frequency is very stable as well.

I played around with three different loads to start. The battery is a 5.5 AH SLAB that was standing at 13.1 volts initially. After tuning and trying various loads the battery is setting at 12.95 volts with a total current draw of 60 ma.

Load 1 .....The slot car motor as load ran at part speed, but was pulling the battery down too quickly. I didn't take any other measurments with this load as I wanted to conserve the battery.

Load 2 ......The 25 LED TeslagenX panel was allowing 46 ma @ .516 volts through and dimmly lighting up. With this load the cap voltages were one at 8.16 volts and the other one at 8.24 volts on the scope. Battery voltage was 12.93 with this load. (Total current draw on the battery was 80 ma.)

Load 3 ......The 5 LED TeslagenX panel was allowing 27 ma @ 5.47 volts through and lighting up much better. With this load the cap voltages were both at 4.96 volts. Battery voltage is 12.95 and total current draw from the battery measures 60 ma. This load seems to give the best balance between all the voltages, so this is the way I'll let it run for a few days to see what happens to the battery!

[RS_]

Hi all,

MOSFETS are VERY hard to get to work in this R.C. bipolar switch, and the Tesla switch, because it is hard to bias the gate voltage high enough, so that they turn on correctly. Transistors work much easier because they are current turn on and not voltage turn on.....

have built both of these circuits way back in the day.......... and they do work........

[John_Koorn]

Hi John,

Well, I dug out my old circuit from the pile on the bench and reinstalled the missing cap and 2n2222 transistors. Fired it up with the scope attached, and was able to balance the square wave pulses 50/50 at 109 HZ.

I had used as many of the originally specified parts as I could obtain at the time I built it. I did, however, subsitute a fixed resistor for the 10K pot in the schematic. And used two 5K pots on the 555 timer instead of two fixed resistors to control duty cycle and frequency. I'm not using the auxillary 9 volt battery, but instead the main battery is powering the chips directly and is regulated by the 10 volt zenier as also shown in the schematic. The current draw for the timing circuit is 34 ma regardless of load through the caps. And the frequency is very stable as well.

I played around with three different loads to start. The battery is a 5.5 AH SLAB that was standing at 13.1 volts initially. After tuning and trying various loads the battery is setting at 12.95 volts with a total current draw of 60 ma.

Load 1 .....The slot car motor as load ran at part speed, but was pulling the battery down too quickly. I didn't take any other measurments with this load as I wanted to conserve the battery.

Load 2 ......The 25 LED TeslagenX panel was allowing 46 ma @ .516 volts through and dimmly lighting up. With this load the cap voltages were one at 8.16 volts and the other one at 8.24 volts on the scope. Battery voltage was 12.93 with this load. (Total current draw on the battery was 80 ma.)

Load 3 ......The 5 LED TeslagenX panel was allowing 27 ma @ 5.47 volts through and lighting up much better. With this load the cap voltages were both at 4.96 volts. Battery voltage is 12.95 and total current draw from the battery measures 60 ma. This load seems to give the best balance between all the voltages, so this is the way I'll let it run for a few days to see what happens to the battery!

Hi Gary,

Glad to hear your circuit is working. Curious to know if you have a rectifier before your loads you have tried, as they are all DC loads.

John K.

[John_Koorn]

Hi all,

MOSFETS are VERY hard to get to work in this R.C. bipolar switch, and the Tesla switch, because it is hard to bias the gate voltage high enough, so that they turn on correctly. Transistors work much easier because they are current turn on and not voltage turn on.....

have built both of these circuits way back in the day.......... and they do work........

Hi RS_,

I've noticed the same with the Tesla Switch - cannot get it to work for the life of me with MOSFETs. However, I'm definitely not a MOSFET guru either.

I'd love to see how Faraday got his to work with them.

John K.

[Gary Hammond]

Hi John,

Hi Gary,

Glad to hear your circuit is working. Curious to know if you have a rectifier before your loads you have tried, as they are all DC loads.

John K.

The LEDs are rectifiers themselves. So no, ......no additional rectifiers. Since it's pulsed, square wave DC, I don't think any rectifiers are needed. It also runs the small DC slot car motor just fine (directly, no diodes) except it's too big a load for the battery I'm using. And the run voltage on the battery has dropped from 12.95 to 12.85 in the past six hours with the 5 panel LED board as load. So, ............ no magic here!

Edit: I see I made a wrong assumption here! The LEDs were blocking any reverse (charging) flow and giving only a draw down on the battery. The wave form was all below the battery voltage this way. Once I changed to an incadessant bulb the wave form increased and a portion of it was above battery voltage. This would indicate some charging effect. Please excuse my ignorance - I'm kind of a slow learner!

[Gary Hammond]

Hi RS,

Hi all,

.....

have built both of these circuits way back in the day.......... and they do work........

When you say they work, do you mean that you got them to keep the batteries charged?

[RS_]

Yes, both of these circuits will charge the battery's while running a very small load....., with small SLA's and a small auto tail light for the DC Load....... on the TS I tried every size tail light bulb i had handy, (Lots!!) only the one bulb size worked with that size battery.... did not work with bigger SLA's and no other size or type of load (DC Motor's, SG's, etc....)
The RC bipolar switch had a different size bulb it liked, but was not as bad, as couple of sizes worked, and other sizes of batteries worked .....

don't remember the freq i ran them at that worked, but i tested them over a very wide range......

I used the same set of my 4 opto PCB's for both of these TS and RC-BP builds. and now all the caps and batterys were used else where for other projects.
On the Ron Cole Bipolar SW, i even had it filling 3 caps in parallel and dumping them in series back to the battery. tryed 4 caps but never got that to work for some reason, and other projects came along.....

The set of PCB's for that project are here in a draw some place