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I've been working and studying on building a *working* tesla switch. I've read through and studied everything I could find on it. I have a PDF file with diagrams of some suggested designs, including one supposed to be of the one Mr. Bedini built that actually worked and maintained the battery charge while running a load.
I've tried a couple tests, like manually hooking up the batteries in the right configuration and running a load, and it seems to do what it's intended to. BUT with that, the switching is very slow, like the 2-3 minutes it take me to rewire it. So obviously I can't put the caps on teh front because that blocks DC current flow (at least as I've seen them configured in diagrams).
I played around with using an arduino robotic controller to turn things on and off, which works pretty well. I did a test where I just switched a regular light on/off using it, by going through a opto-isolater, and then switching a small transistor, and then using that to switch a larger one. The big transistor was rated at 25-30 amps I think. So then I tried using a car halogen bulb that pulled like 8 amps., and the big transistor started getting too hot, too fast. So obviously I'm not switching it on completely, or maybe I just don't "get: something else. I think I used a 10 w, 38 ohm resistor to feed it. I did a spreadsheet and calculated the "magnification" the transistor provided, plugged in the amps I figured I needed, and then determined the resistance to use, and then ran a range for the battery voltage changing to min and max values to try to make sure the outliers wouldn't fry the transistor.
I wanted to ask Mr. Bedini about the Tesla switch at the conference, but didn't want to be a bother, since it was pretty busy time. I spend hours going over the diagram of the one he did. I think I kinda get what he was doing, it seemed like the switching circuit would feed some power back into the batteries because of the power provided to switch the transistors, which that power would then be taken from the output power, which is only the current passing from one battery to the other anyway, so that would have allowed it to maintain voltage. Not that my opinion means anything, but it seemed extremely clever. But the diagram I had didn't have any specs on the components used, and I know that one was designed for not lead-acid batteries.
I had kind of an inspiration a while back while looking at the circuit, and that is on the BACK side, the configuration is very similar to the battery chargers, in that there is a switch, and immediately after that is the rectifier diods, that feed to the Positive poles on the two batteries on each side. So the thought was, why not put a coil there, basically just like on the SS SSG's I've built, the current flows on the back side, just like the front. That was one of the tests I did when the batteries where manually setup, I just put a current meter on teh back end, and basically however much you drew on the front would be how much flowed in the back. So if you have a coil, and then shut it off really fast on one side, it's going to pulse through the diods the positive poles of both batteries when that mag field collapses. So for the 4 battery configuration, you'd need 2 coils, one or the other would pulse when you switched the configuration. I don't know if I stumbled upon anything good here or not, but it just seemed to make a lot of sense in my head. If it's a breakthrough for anybody, I want to share my ideas with all of you who have openly shared your ideas with me.
But I kinda need some help on actually implementing it. I'm pretty sure my arduino setup will be able to do the switching, but I could use some suggestions for transistors, and resistors, size of the capacitors in front. My thought here is to make a system capable of powering a 250 watt inverter, which at 12 volts is about 20 amps. If I went to a 6 battery system, I could drop the amps to 10, which might make it a little easier to do, but adds switching and wiring complexity.
I just really think it's going to be important some time in the near future to be able to run a few things around the house (like a fridge, and a water pump) for a while. I can't afford to replace everything electrical in my house, and spend 30k on solar panels, and neither can my family and friends. But we might be able to afford a few batteries and some wire and parts to make a Tesla Switch. I love the SSG chargers, and I've had really good success with them. But there is all the battery switching, and messing around with watching voltage, water, rest periods, etc.. I think about it this way, if my grandma needed help, what could I give her that she could manage herself? Tesla switch is the only thing I know that might get close, and provide a sustained power output. Especially with the arduino, it can monitor voltage levels, and either speed up, slow down, or shut off the system depending on the output voltage, etc..
I don't know if the Tesla switch is a forbidden topic, or something. It seems to me like it would be really really awesome, and I'm not afraid of the MIB's. Msg me in private if you want.
Thanks in advance.
--
Aram
P.S. OK, I am a little afraid of the MIB's but I'm more worried about the control the system has over people who rely on the power company for almost EVERTHING.
I've tried a couple tests, like manually hooking up the batteries in the right configuration and running a load, and it seems to do what it's intended to. BUT with that, the switching is very slow, like the 2-3 minutes it take me to rewire it. So obviously I can't put the caps on teh front because that blocks DC current flow (at least as I've seen them configured in diagrams).
I played around with using an arduino robotic controller to turn things on and off, which works pretty well. I did a test where I just switched a regular light on/off using it, by going through a opto-isolater, and then switching a small transistor, and then using that to switch a larger one. The big transistor was rated at 25-30 amps I think. So then I tried using a car halogen bulb that pulled like 8 amps., and the big transistor started getting too hot, too fast. So obviously I'm not switching it on completely, or maybe I just don't "get: something else. I think I used a 10 w, 38 ohm resistor to feed it. I did a spreadsheet and calculated the "magnification" the transistor provided, plugged in the amps I figured I needed, and then determined the resistance to use, and then ran a range for the battery voltage changing to min and max values to try to make sure the outliers wouldn't fry the transistor.
I wanted to ask Mr. Bedini about the Tesla switch at the conference, but didn't want to be a bother, since it was pretty busy time. I spend hours going over the diagram of the one he did. I think I kinda get what he was doing, it seemed like the switching circuit would feed some power back into the batteries because of the power provided to switch the transistors, which that power would then be taken from the output power, which is only the current passing from one battery to the other anyway, so that would have allowed it to maintain voltage. Not that my opinion means anything, but it seemed extremely clever. But the diagram I had didn't have any specs on the components used, and I know that one was designed for not lead-acid batteries.
I had kind of an inspiration a while back while looking at the circuit, and that is on the BACK side, the configuration is very similar to the battery chargers, in that there is a switch, and immediately after that is the rectifier diods, that feed to the Positive poles on the two batteries on each side. So the thought was, why not put a coil there, basically just like on the SS SSG's I've built, the current flows on the back side, just like the front. That was one of the tests I did when the batteries where manually setup, I just put a current meter on teh back end, and basically however much you drew on the front would be how much flowed in the back. So if you have a coil, and then shut it off really fast on one side, it's going to pulse through the diods the positive poles of both batteries when that mag field collapses. So for the 4 battery configuration, you'd need 2 coils, one or the other would pulse when you switched the configuration. I don't know if I stumbled upon anything good here or not, but it just seemed to make a lot of sense in my head. If it's a breakthrough for anybody, I want to share my ideas with all of you who have openly shared your ideas with me.
But I kinda need some help on actually implementing it. I'm pretty sure my arduino setup will be able to do the switching, but I could use some suggestions for transistors, and resistors, size of the capacitors in front. My thought here is to make a system capable of powering a 250 watt inverter, which at 12 volts is about 20 amps. If I went to a 6 battery system, I could drop the amps to 10, which might make it a little easier to do, but adds switching and wiring complexity.
I just really think it's going to be important some time in the near future to be able to run a few things around the house (like a fridge, and a water pump) for a while. I can't afford to replace everything electrical in my house, and spend 30k on solar panels, and neither can my family and friends. But we might be able to afford a few batteries and some wire and parts to make a Tesla Switch. I love the SSG chargers, and I've had really good success with them. But there is all the battery switching, and messing around with watching voltage, water, rest periods, etc.. I think about it this way, if my grandma needed help, what could I give her that she could manage herself? Tesla switch is the only thing I know that might get close, and provide a sustained power output. Especially with the arduino, it can monitor voltage levels, and either speed up, slow down, or shut off the system depending on the output voltage, etc..
I don't know if the Tesla switch is a forbidden topic, or something. It seems to me like it would be really really awesome, and I'm not afraid of the MIB's. Msg me in private if you want.
Thanks in advance.
--
Aram
P.S. OK, I am a little afraid of the MIB's but I'm more worried about the control the system has over people who rely on the power company for almost EVERTHING.
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