Hi guys, I think what we got is is not too big of a problem.
One thing you might want to try is to put another diode on the other side of the circuit backwards. As some one had said to use a bridge rectifier this is true. what is happening by using one diode, you are creating a pulsating Dc. The diode is only conducting on the positive cycle,passing Ac to ground thru the capacitor, and shorting out the circuit. Please try this a let me know what happens.. :lol: