This sign was made for me by a chap called Tom who 3D printed the base, laser etched the panel and fitted a section of USB powered remote control RGB strip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpyxuf30pYc
It's very neat.
2018-10-26 11:24:55 +0000 UTC View Post
This meter has been sitting here for a while, so it seemed a good idea to take a look inside, given the current paranoia about them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G32NYQpvy8Q
They do have that one thing that makes them less desirable than an old whirly-disk meter.
2018-10-22 23:48:34 +0000 UTC View Post
This is one of those videos that turns out so relaxed and ambient that it might make you fall asleep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftEEBbTwFgM
As such, I'd suggest it as a bedtime video.
2018-10-20 04:08:09 +0000 UTC View Post
It's the latest version of the movement detecting toilet-rim light, and now it's rechargeable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLRsuTcBv3Y
This unit did make me wonder if anyone has built a power bank into a toilet rim yet, so you can charge your phone while you browse the Internet on the toilet.
I bet the Japanese automatic toilets have USB ports on them.
2018-10-18 20:49:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Just a picture in this post. For John who was asking how to identify if the capacitive dropper LED string drivers have been supplied with the wrong voltage PCB.
Although all the cases are marked 220-240 the boards inside two of the 12 I have here were for 110-120v.
In the picture the top one is for 120V (two electrolytics forming a voltage doubler). The bottom one with the single electrolytic capacitor and four diodes is the 240V version.
2018-10-17 05:02:04 +0000 UTC View Post
While making this video I casually mentioned a club event I used to attend in Glasgow. It was the first place I saw the OSRAM circolux fluorescent lamps, and I immediately hunted some down because I thought they were very interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmvvMlfb1E
Then while preparing the second part of the video I casually did a search for the event and discovered it had hit the headl...
2018-10-16 19:32:05 +0000 UTC View Post
If you ever have a problem with overheating on a traditional transformer, motor or tungsten lighting application you can sometimes reduce dissipation by nudging the supply voltage down a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEFVNFyG9po
That can be done by using an ordinary transformer to adjust the voltage up or down by the output voltage of its secondary.
The slight blip in this video where I was g...
2018-10-13 01:37:02 +0000 UTC View Post
A very cheap smoke detector sold on eBay that does not contain the usual dedicated chip used in many commercial units. This one uses the ubiquitous 8 pin chip, and we may have sussed out what it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOCrG0mOMW4
I'm guessing the main reason for using this particular microcontroller in your products is that it costs 3 cents. And that's in quantities of ten and mor...
2018-10-12 01:57:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Big grand title, but perhaps not quite as special as it tries to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiyvGtjSk1E
I get the feeling that this is just a mish-mash of advertising words taken from random products, including the ones that claimed to produce a trail of CO2 by lighting special plastic with an LED. (Highly unlikely.)
2018-10-10 22:25:57 +0000 UTC View Post
These are SO annoying. The novelty wears off very quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9utv54IGs
Like many other Halloween novelties they can be a bit loud and repetitive, especially as they appear to be sound activated. But they can be scavenged for bits.
2018-10-09 02:36:46 +0000 UTC View Post
I was sent a couple of these lamps to see if I could work out why there was a fairly high failure rate of new lamps. (The lamp is probably manufactured in China.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs2AU7NTpiQ
Interesting fault that has taken out various components inside.
2018-10-06 23:31:13 +0000 UTC View Post
This video will be of particular interest to those of you who have seasonally used snow and smoke machines that will inevitably not want to play ball when you dig them out this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz5MP76EuZc
The bit that often fails is the pump, and it's really quite easy to disassemble and repair (or just replace completely) if it fails.
2018-10-04 02:17:34 +0000 UTC View Post
A longer than expected video where we sample mysterious chemically flavoured alcoholic potions and answer questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoG22MnFG4o
There seems to be a noise gate on the microphone of this phone (cuts audio off below a threshold to avoid hiss) and it may have been affected by the air modulation of a strong storm outside.
2018-10-02 18:57:13 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm guessing this might be on eBay as some kind of grow light, but it almost looks like it's intended to retrofit into an existing floodlight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBdqRigjgkM
Quite neat. Not really suited to open access where fingers can get into it, but also not really suited to enclosures that restrict airflow. It also has that common quirk with driverless LED arrays where there ...
2018-10-01 04:24:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes, the brand really is called Fuxin. Not sure if this is a cheeky clone of a real brand or if they just decided to save some cash by putting out a fake product.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AQ5c9Emeow
I did look at a similar lamp in the past and it had a little potted tube inside it. This one doesn't.
2018-09-29 22:58:27 +0000 UTC View Post
It's the new pimp-daddy of all the Poundland powerbanks. Boasting a slightly inaccurate 4000mAh cell capacity and enough space to fit a covert camera with real cells to run it for weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJ2H7fS8hQ
2018-09-28 02:34:35 +0000 UTC View PostWhat do you guys think of the Manx beard club videos? They're basically two friends who I meet up with every couple of weeks for some beer, and we occasionally make a random video.
One of the things we thought about doing was a questions and answers type video while we partake of very dubious alcoholic potions. Some things to note:-
Kevin works as a lineman with the islands power distribution company.
Juan is a local town commissioner and works in the offshore banking i...
2018-09-27 17:30:31 +0000 UTC View Post
CPC discovered the video I made about the slightly disappointing emergency light and took a sample into their own test facility, then removed them from stock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xmXuZ9XDs
Although they test their own branded products in-house they don't test all items supplied by UK importers because they expect them to supply goods built to UK standards.
The original video will not b...
2018-09-27 17:07:49 +0000 UTC View Post
The bit of the shitty camping light schematic that I missed:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyO0fAKUJmQ
(Thanks for spotting that Robin.)
2018-09-27 01:47:10 +0000 UTC View Post
This is probably one of the least appealing solar and USB rechargeable camping lights yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXgQx6u_9I4
The circuitry is.... cheap.
2018-09-26 00:42:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Not what I'd normally expect from a UK based supplier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKFOOPf1Ukk
I wonder how many of these have actually been installed "professionally".
2018-09-23 23:24:10 +0000 UTC View Post
It seems to simple. Just a classic illuminated wand toy sold in pound shops and dollar stores around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70MW5Topubk
But it actually has a strong technical connection to a vintage theatrical lighting effect called a Linnebach lantern.
2018-09-23 01:59:09 +0000 UTC View Post
They've done it again! Last year they brought out a dodgy charging lead styled as a string of lights. Many of them had a fault where the first LED would get the full brunt of 5V with no current limiting and often fail instantly with a loud crack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkv2pEqf5VI
This year they have a similar set with just six lights and an even worse fault.
2018-09-21 23:48:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Another ioniser/ionizer video, but with a twist. This unit worked OK at first but then suddenly died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE7f6aHlx9A
The circuitry is both terrible and intriguing.
Most likely fault is an insulation breakdown in the resin potted section.
2018-09-19 23:53:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Just before coming back to the Isle of Man from Glasgow I made a couple of videos, mainly to make my luggage look less bomb-like when I went through the airport. (They still went through it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO6sgHMBNyw
This was a card wallet/power bank that is designed to screen your contactless cards from being read by a skimming device.
2018-09-17 23:10:55 +0000 UTC View Post
This is quite an unusual ioniser (ionizer) due to the use of a metal grid that is actually charged with opposite polarity to the ioniser needles to provide a preferential dust settlement area compared to surrounding walls and furnishings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7QFJgTjzcc
The two sections of the PCB actually had the same value of capacitor fitted (10nF 630V) but with a different pin spacing on t...
2018-09-17 03:26:35 +0000 UTC View Post
A look at the new £2 Power Geek 2200mAh power bank from Poundland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VSwMfDANMY
The background noise is yet another storm passing by. Such is life on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea.
2018-09-16 04:24:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Suggested by John Harrison, this is a test and a look inside a USB powered wall hook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze8jifMh034
It's actually a lot more complex inside than I was expecting.
2018-09-13 23:54:47 +0000 UTC View Post
These devices are basically solid state dehumidifiers for sealed control panels. With just a 3V supply they absorb moisture in one side like a dessicant pack, but then electrically transfer it to the other side and vent it to the atmosphere silently with no moving parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vabq-s62IVM
I set up a little test enclosure with their small bush-version that fits into a 12mm (...
2018-09-12 02:41:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Back at my usual bench and it feels like home already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBrLeOVBCaE
This video was recorded on a Moto G6 play (the G6 version with the highest resolution camera.) Audio is a bit odd. I wasn't expecting it to be stereo-ish. I'm now getting serious about a proper camera setup or at least a phone that does the job to a high standard.