bigclive

Poundland wind turbine

An odd and unexpected variation on the classic garden whirly ornaments.  It's a VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) version that seems to be based on the classic Savonius turbine.

In the video I took the rivet/eyelet out and flattened the thing so we could see how it had been formed.  There's also a link in the description to start a long Internet journey into the world of vertical turbines.

ht...

Weekend stream

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8VYcBocL4

Quiet Patreon Stream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-K-1ko-u6s

Just a quick fixing video

A faulty UVA blacklight lamp from a UK based seller with uninspiring customer service.

I reckoned that if I was going to open it to see if it was an easy fix, then I should at least make a video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD9MfjzHi3I

Kia Sportage ionizer teardown

This took a very long time to reverse engineer.  It has a lot of discrete components, and fortuitously no microcontroller.  That means it can be made to work without a need for a serial data connection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gPXrbC7XSA

Updated disco light power circuitry

They've managed to cut the manufacturing cost of these disco lights even further with a neat little onboard power supply.

The most useful part of this video is the exploration of the cute 5V buck regulator and the hack to get a custom voltage from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba4YoZEuhwM

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK6ot_a4Na4

"48W" UV resin curing light teardown

I really must stop starting these videos so late at night.....

This unit is a mass produced beauty product that has good use as a high speed resin curing device for bench use.

Despite using the ubiquitous 8 pin microcontroller they have managed to cram in several button selected timing functions and automatic infrared beam triggering.

For the cost the unit is actually quite impressive.

http...

New stream link

https://www.youtube.com/live/XnOVUvsr220

Patreon stream link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJber9zEQHQ

Is it a good idea to carbonate Bud Light?

I'd say this was definitely not a successful venture.

Fortunately I decided to put a towel down to catch the inevitable mess when it went wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzLQ75dxXkE

Doogee S98 Pro review

I've been using this as my main phone for 6 weeks now, so I feel I can make an accurate review of it.  The good news is that so far it's not given any issues at all.

The integrated 256 by 192 pixel thermal camera is the main feature, and makes the current price for such a capable phone extraordinarily low.  Almost half the cost of the Cat S62 with its inferior resolution thermal camera.  This phone also seems to have a very good technical specification.

2023-05-04 03:20:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Not my video - but one of the best I've seen

For those of you who might deal with refrigeration or air conditioning at work (or in your own home).  This video will give you a much deeper understanding of what is going on in a simple compressor based refrigeration system.

Kudos to the guys that spent the time making this animated demonstration.  It's superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihFvHsx3868

Most minimalist charger yet

Yet another eBay delight.  A super minimalist charger that has reduced the component count and PCB size to the very minimum.

I've mixed thoughts about this one.  It will work, and to be fair it is hackable for custom current.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKcxJJPJdIs

Supercomputer lamp

I'm on a roll today with many experiments and two build videos.

Here's the second build video, showing the construction of a supercomputer lamp, using a classic eBay/AliExpress lamp kit with some customisation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-78uHYc2wDI

Making (and burning) a custom heating pad

This was another project that went off at a tangent and ended up being quite interesting.

It lets you make low power customised heating pads that run at low voltage.  They could be used to keep stuff from freezing up, and maybe even be solar powered.

I also felt the need to test it to destruction by increasing the voltage/power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LnAwo1BGus

Weekend stream

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3oJncn9wWc

Patreon stream link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNwjIKDZ7qk

Interesting, but flickery mains COB strip with terrible dimmer

This strip has a very smooth and even glow along its full length due to the use of a COB based strip with a diffuser in front.  It's ket down by being mains voltage with no smoothing, so it flickers a bit too much for comfort.

It also has a very inappropriate dimmer, which was interesting in its own right.

It is hackable though, and could be used with a little bit of custom circuitry to set a lower intensity with no flicker at all.  (Cap dropper with smoothing.)

I ...

Cool little LED vehicle bulb/lamp

I was expecting this neat little lamp to use a simple resistor current limiter, but in reality it has a linear regulator made with standard common components.

Quite a neat and educational little circuit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkioyCFfy34

Website refresh

I've finally got around to fixing some issues with the bigclive.com website.

All image links to the old photobucket archives are now pointing to my own hosted space, so the watermarks have gone.  (There's a very annoying story behind those watermarks.)

Adverts have been removed from the pages completely, just like the site originally started off.

It's now HTTPS which means I should be able to link from YouTube descriptions to files without triggering a security warning....

Computerised power saver plug

This is the most ludicrously complicated fake power saving plug I've come across.

It's literally switching a 1uF capacitor on and off with microcontroller based circuitry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx4xMe286KI

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ObvhUs1HDw

"Vintage" fan based aroma unit

I bought one of these a VERY long time ago to see how it worked, but decided to make a video about one when I discovered it being sold on eBay as a used unit.

The circuitry is quite interesting, because it appears to use a dedicated chip for timing the fan operation from a very low supply voltage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrScKSXMmV8

Patreon stream link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uChwMiRKMRc

Big HEPA unit teardown

I bought this generic floor-standing HEPA air filter unit purely so we could take it to bits.

It's actually a bit too big, even for the second bench that is intended for larger items.
The fetching pink background is a silicone bench mat that was sent by Scott of the  Defpom channel.

By far the most exciting bit of circuitry was the bit that goes "ping!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_...

Fake power saver revisit

I've made lots of videos about these units.  Mainly so that YouTube keeps putting them out there to try and stop people being scammed.

This one has a very nice case, which is a shame as it's hobbled by the completely non compliant earth pin, which could cause damage to some sockets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r8y9DRGTaE

Trash cider vs water distiller

It seemed like a good idea, but really wasn't.   I put a full 2.5L bottle of cheap 7.5% ABV cider through the water distiller until the output reached 40% ABV.

Biggest surprise was the equivalent amount of vodka in a bottle of cider.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXBHKj40uxw

Which IKEA Smahagel video will get most views?

I'm about to drop all three of the IKEA Smahagel reviews early as our little experiment on video length popularity.  Which do you think will get the most views?

Neat little cold cathode driver

Yet another UVC video (sorry!).  I've got a bug at the moment, so I probably sound a bit husky in this video.

The most notable thing about this set is the small inverter that can also drive short neon or argon/mercury tubes.

The actual UVC tube seems nicely made, and rather disturbingly there's a picture on the listing of a massive pile of them being hand tested by a Chinese operative.  I'd presume that area of the factory must be very sterile.

I have tested the po...