Harmonic Percolator oscillates with a battery or when unplugged from power.

[antiuser]

I built a HP according to the schematic attached. Q1 is a 2N404A with hFE of 56. Q2 is a bog standard 2N2222. Used a 100k for R3. Sounds great when plugged into my bench supply, but the moment I turn the supply off, it goes to screech town. Screeching stops when I discharge C4. If I try to power it from a battery it just self oscillates from the get go.

I know the HP is one of *those* circuits with all this mythology built around what components were used and whatnot. I'm using an electrolytic instead of tantalum for C4, would that be the cause of the oscillating? Are my transistors too high gain? I replaced Q1 with the lowest gain Ge PNP I could find in my stash and all it did was weaken the fuzz - would still oscillate with a battery or when unplugged from power. The 2222s are the lowest hFE Silicons I have. Just wondering if someone out there with more experience would have some advice.

[PRR]

Screech always suggests layout. Output leaking back into input.

Show your work.

Yes the different action for different power is odd, but sometimes it is not worth figuring-out.