bigclive

Reverse engineered panel indicator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHN4Tzb0yPs

It was so intriguingly minimalist that I couldn't resist reverse engineering the little panel meter indicators and trying to deduce what chip they used.  (Looks like a PIC microcontroller.)

I also did a little hydrogen pop for our entertainment.

Really neat panel voltage indicators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmO1y1ISuak

This is a nice idea.  It's basically a panel indicator with a digital readout that shows the supply voltage.  One of these on each phase would be useful for supply diagnostics.

Anti-aging water hydrogenator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBOOOw85M3Y

As quack products go this is another well designed unit that does actually put on a good show and kinda creates clouds of micro hydrogen bubbles.  It's supposed to create an anti-aging elixir and cure all ills, but in reality I'm not sure what positive effect drinking the water would have.  It will almost certainly contain some of the electrode material too,...

Slightly dubious USB rechargeable camping light.

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

Not a completely dodgy light this time, but just a little bit dodgy regarding the minimalist charging circuitry.  (Well....none.)

Take two of the UV video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpRMud6EFtE

Thanks Guys 'n' gals.  I really appreciate your feedback on pre-release videos.  I was rushing due to the time constraints of trying to make a video in the very brief time I had back at "the bench" while caring for my mum while Ralfy (my brother) is away at a Whisky festival in Glasgow.

I had a second take today, but this is one of those videos that ab...

Dodgy UV tubes on eBay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r50lgEnGAsw

I'll probably re-record this video in a shorter version.  I'm spending most of my time at my mum's home while my brother is away and it means I don't have much time to make videos at my normal work bench.

This one was rushed and needs to be made shorter with some more technical data and clarification.

How a circuit breaker works inside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbyTHlx4tQM

I'm going to have to confess that the close-up in this video is not quite as sharply in focus as I'd like it to be, but you can still see the details enough to see how the breaker works.

The majority of breakers like this have two trip mechanisms.  A thermal one for low overloads and a magnetic one for high overloads like faults.

You can actually pull...

High voltage Jacob's ladder with Gabriel electrode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv-6YgbDoyI

I decided to dig out my Jacob's ladder and get it working again.  It seemed logical to make a video about it.

Pink pills and non-exploding lights. (mostly)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scwXVXZ5aI8

Having already tried the blue nooky pills I thought I'd try the pink lady version too.  I was expecting the ingredients to be the same, but they're more like a vitamin pill.

I was also checking out some Poundland USB lights that might have an issue in some sets.  Then I tried blowing up the LEDs anyway.

Bonus Patreon footage 2.

More flash paper.  This time shipped wet in larger sheets.

I may not have allowed this to dry completely, so it may burn faster once properly dried.

Bonus Patreon footage 1.

I recorded this test for a forum I'm on to test cheapo Chinese flash paper.

Flash paper is basically paper that has been submerged in a nitrating solution (nasty stuff) and then thoroughly washed.  It should be shipped and stored wet to preserve it and keep it in a safe state.  Once dried it can be ignited and disappears almost completely with a bright yellow flash.

This stuff was shipped dry (naughty!) and burned slower than it should.

Inside the chunky mains indicators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur9-l3UKFXw

I'm not sure what happened with the previous video.  It went public and sent a link to all subscribers unexpectedly as soon as it uploaded.  This video seems to have uploaded and stayed private OK though, so you guys get first look.  It also means you get first dibs on the indicators on that listing before the stock gets wiped out and the price goes thr...

Second time lucky....

Everything went wrong while making this video.  From two sections being recorded vertically instead of horizontally, to an arduous conversion and joining session, then finally to add insult to injury YouTube blipped and released the video as public when I had uploaded it as private to allow me to edit the text.  This also meant it got released to everyone and not the usual Patreon preview first.  But here's the official Patreon preview before I release it again properly.

240V lithium DIY.

It's rare I post a picture.  (The video took too long to process to upload tonight.)  I'll be uploading this video soon, but in the meantime can you guess what it is?  It was a custom build for the video.  There's only one of these in existence.  That's a lithium battery cable tied to the back of the PCB.

A look inside a generator transfer switch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=babtv00R-Nc

Yet another very pleasing industrial component from eBay.  This time it's an automatic motorised generator changeover switch.

I've doodled the schematic, and it's quite clever how they keep the two different electrical supplies completely separate.

Making a mess of glass and mystery liquid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR3aAi-fNJA

On a quest for a particular style of American overall I discovered that it is popular with mechanical trades including fire sprinkler fitters.  So that led on to hunting down some sprinkler heads online and inevitably I had to test the little glass vial with heat to see how it bursts.  The answer is violently and very messily.  The bench now has new sta...

The approved version of the TI promo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIlk8j8Ng2E

This is the approved version of the Texas Instruments power management promotional video.  It misses off a little history which shows how much TI influenced the dawn of the electronic revolution.  And that includes the very first electronic games and calculators, so a lot of the older electronic engineers will get "the feels" for an era that launched their c...

Inside an unusual LED floodlight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFi2dpLmhKI

This is a weird one.  Pretty much just a pressed heatsink with a COB LED and lens on it.

Patreon extra content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvFvCOkmLd8

I can't release this video for general viewing as it was the first version of a promotional video for Texas Instruments, but was declined because it contained non-advertiser friendly references to explosives and atomic bombs. 

I recorded a more sterile version that left out the history ramble and it will probably get released for general viewing.  When...

Cheap industrial contactor teardown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqNnWa0CHw0

This is a very cheap contactor from eBay.  I'd guess it's commonly used in Chinese factories, and it's ideal for low cost prototypes or home workshop use.

Pound land rook/crow circuitry.

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

I'm not sure what sort of bird this is supposed to be.  A black spooky one that makes crowing noises when it detects light disturbance caused by moving people.  This is a full analysis of hat circuitry and then a very low tech mod with LEDs.

This video is also a test using a different audio setup that may remove a bit of the boom from my bassy voice at...

Inside a trioxinator hair growth stimulator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jFlBR0uEXU

This is just one of many miracle cures for hair loss.  None of them really seem to have an effect, mainly because the main target of male pattern baldness is a completely natural thing.  It's part of being a man.

That said, this is a very well engineered variant on the traditional violet wand type of unit from the early days of electricity.

Those...

Inside Poundland's Halloween 2017 stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXfE585CjoI

Halloween is approaching and Poundland has their stock in.  They've also got some of their Xmas stock in, but that's for later.

I took a couple of their items to bits, a battery operated LED projector with rotating gobos (actually cost £5) and a £2 battery powered stroboscope.

One is good and the other is a bit crap.

Inside a digital 80kW power saver.

Yeah, it's another quack item with grossly inflated figures.  Nice meter and case though.

Hurricane Ophelia calling by.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0nNybmMXLM

I'm not sure how to rate this storm.  We have a lot here at this time of year and this one didn't seem too bad.

Inside an inflatable solar camping light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0N9ocCsfrs

On one hand this light is quite nice, but on the other hand it's got a very silly manufacturing flaw that was probably done to save a bit of cash.

I actually quite like it other than the flaw.  The intensity is quite good and the diffusion of the inflatable housing works very well.  It's worth getting for the module alone.

Inside a diamond tester.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItYATEb6-U

For such a cheap device this thing is really quite sophisticated.  It measures thermal conductivity of gemstones with a simple probe.

Poundland viagra and a suppressor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEn_1aNoNV0

Yeah.  There is no depth to which I'll plunge, so taking dollar store Viagra and doing a teardown of an interference suppressor it is then.

Inside a water level pressure transducer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-0KGbd91_I

After I took apart my new washing machine to show what was inside, a few washing machine service engineers mentioned that the water level sensor wasn't a diaphragm activated switch any more, but was a transducer that sent pulses back to the controller.

So I got a used one from eBay for us to take to bits and see how it actually works.  It's quite neat.

Inside a water globe air cleaner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6yuQ8NZvMk

Not very high tech this time.  This is a nice simple device that claims to clean the air in a room by passing it through a stream of fine droplets of water.  The way it works is quite neat.  Just a spinning disk with fins on it to move the air and a slightly tapered shaft that draws water up to the disk by virtue of the spinning throwing the water again...