Electromagnetic pendulum (pulse movement)

I would like to make a cost effective (without using large circuit and micro controller and all) electromagnetic pendulum for my wooden clock (so the second wheel will move according to pendulum swings). So i found a simple tutorial from this link (http://www.trainelectronics.com/Pendulum/article.htm). But unfortunately it's not swinging properly pulse wise. Can anyone figure out my problem like am I missing any components or need to increese battery power or coil turn something like that? Working solutions will get appreciated.

Note: I'm a beginner to electronics. Here is my circuit details.

  • Battery - Duracell-2 (1.5 V)
  • Components used - As said in tutorial (You can see the circuit from tutorial link)
  • Coil - 500 turn (28 gauge)
  • Input voltage - 3V output voltage- 0.8 V (observed in multimeter)
  • Round neodymium magnet

Observed Output

The LED glows only when coil not connected to the circuit.

Expected Output

  1. Swinging pendulum pulsewise

  2. Blinking LED when magnet cross coil

Click here to see my circuit and breadboard.

by aboosidhu
May 26, 2018

I used to be employed by a clock & watch company in the 1960s. We had two-coil single transistor types and I had to make a single coil type. As I recall, it used a similar circuit but with a capacitor in place of R1. It was fairly lively! About 20uF, I think.

by mikerogerswsm
May 26, 2018

No Answers

No answers yet. Contribute your answer below!


Your Answer

You must log in or create an account (free!) to answer a question.

Log in Create an account


Go Ad-Free. Activate your CircuitLab membership. No more ads. Save unlimited circuits. Run unlimited simulations.

Search Questions & Answers


Ask a Question

Anyone can ask a question.

Did you already search (see above) to see if a similar question has already been answered? If you can't find the answer, you may ask a question.


About This Site

CircuitLab's Q&A site is a FREE questions and answers forum for electronics and electrical engineering students, hobbyists, and professionals.

We encourage you to use our built-in schematic & simulation software to add more detail to your questions and answers.

Acceptable Questions:

  • Concept or theory questions
  • Practical engineering questions
  • “Homework” questions
  • Software/hardware intersection
  • Best practices
  • Design choices & component selection
  • Troubleshooting

Unacceptable Questions:

  • Non-English language content
  • Non-question discussion
  • Non-electronics questions
  • Vendor-specific topics
  • Pure software questions
  • CircuitLab software support

Please respect that there are both seasoned experts and total newbies here: please be nice, be constructive, and be specific!

About CircuitLab

CircuitLab is an in-browser schematic capture and circuit simulation software tool to help you rapidly design and analyze analog and digital electronics systems.