These little downlight bulbs last a decent length of time, but always fail in a dramatic manner and take a fuse out. I wonder if that's partly because the electrolytic capacitor used to smooth the incoming rectified supply is pressed up against the control chip when the module is sleeved with heat shrink sleeving.
I'll be streaming on Twitch at the usual time tonight (UK 9pm Saturday). The schedule on Twitch will show the local time.
Best viewed on Twitch and you may need to refresh the page to start the stream.
https://www.twitch.tv/bigclivedotcom 2025-10-18 18:28:40 +0000 UTC View Post
I've seen various forms of corona discharge ozone generators, but this one uses very attractive neon filled corona tubes that sparkle with orange light inside during use.
It looks like some sort of sci-fi prop.
2025-10-17 23:37:47 +0000 UTC View Post
On a plus note, they've stopped putting crappy fan capacitors in these, so the chance of them exploding in flames is greatly reduced.
They've also cleaned up the LED circuitry a bit, and one of the units actually looks very stylish when lit, with Tron-like lines. One even has a flashing LED in it!
The circuitry h...
2025-10-15 00:26:52 +0000 UTC View PostI went out and cleaned the bulk of the mess off the garage bench today and the "fire extinguisher" had ejected a large amount of black debris over a large area.
Overnight that black debris had absorbed lots of moisture from the air and was now droplets of very wet black goo.
So the fire extinguisher module is not ...
2025-10-14 17:23:20 +0000 UTC View Post
A short of the peak of flames and stuff. Cos it's perfect "shorts" material.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yYkx0L9y15I
2025-10-13 23:08:08 +0000 UTC View Post
If I'd known this device was going to go off with such force, and leave a significant skidmark on my new garage bench, I would have done this test differently. I'm glad I didn't do it indoors now, but my ventilation system brought most of the smoke/vapour into the house anyway.
But anyway - let me blow up my workshop s...
2025-10-13 22:07:14 +0000 UTC View Post
So frustrating - the circuitry on these is nicely laid out and very standard, but they've skimped on the silliest things and made the product unsafe in doing so.
2025-10-13 19:52:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Let me know if you get bored of these unbagging videos. I've done quite a few recently, but they seem very popular.
When I edit the description with the links to the products I actually enjoy watching the full video again.
2025-10-12 17:31:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe stream will be on Twitch at the usual time (schedule is on twitch - but 9pm UK time)
Best viewed on Twitch, and you may have to refresh the page to start the stream.
https://www.twitch.tv/bigclivedotcom
2025-10-11 15:35:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The camera doesn't do the sheer volume of these things justice. They are very loud.
Although these are not the same style as the ones I was expecting, they use the same principle of creating loud bangs by discharging high voltage over a spark gap.
The circuitry is more complex than I was expecting.
I really enjoy making these unbagging videos, but I'll try not to do it too often.
This one features hats...
2025-10-08 19:40:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Having shown this in a recent video, I thought it would be a good idea to reverse engineer it too.
2025-10-08 19:38:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Such a cheap and simple device, but a very easy way to test if an inductor in a voltage regulator or power supply is "running". The unit detects the magnetic field using a tiny surface mount inductor at the end of the probe and lights an LED to show that there is a high frequency magnetic field present.
If you don't an...
2025-10-06 08:40:35 +0000 UTC View PostThere may be an MBC stream this weekend depending on whether the current storm has faded a bit. If it happens the stream will start about an hour earlier than usual.
If the weather is still violent it may just be a normal stream here if power is still on.
I was expecting the circuitry in these units to be based on the classic solar flasher chips with the integrated boost circuit. But they have taken a very interesting approach to the design.
The non-barbed version of these could also find use as wire-free tree lights to add some sparkle to temporary events.
One of many scam devices sold online. This one plugs between your charger and phone, and claims to condition the battery to increase its capacity.
2025-10-02 18:41:24 +0000 UTC View Post
The last mini bag was not so great (sack of joy 4), so I'm not sure if I'll even release it as a video. (I'll let you guys choose if it gets released) But this one is definitely fun. I even enjoyed watching the whole video again as I added all the AliExpress links to the description.
At some point I should be a compl...
2025-09-30 00:15:18 +0000 UTC View Post
This device is a Schumann resonator. A device popularised as being a healing or calming device because it can be set to oscillate at roughly the same frequency as an electromagnetic waveform that is produced between earth and the ionosphere. And rather conveniently that frequency is around the same as one produced by the br...
2025-09-29 17:42:12 +0000 UTC View Post
This small bag contained a few novel items, a very impressive USB powered pond atomiser and a slightly squirmy power supply. Oh, and minty crush pearls....
2025-09-27 15:32:59 +0000 UTC View PostHere's a link to the weekend live stream. Usual place and usual time - 9pm Saturday UK time. You can find the local day and time info in the schedule on Twitch.
Best viewed on Twitch, and you may need to refresh the screen to start the stream.
I was expecting very little inside this unit. Maybe just the USB-C enabling resistors and a dedicated flashlight chip. But in reality the circuitry is very weird and uses standard components and a very random chip.
2025-09-27 01:06:41 +0000 UTC View Post
This was a very destructive exploration, but I've now ordered a replacement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXD3zIXNgU4
2025-09-27 00:52:49 +0000 UTC View Post
In the last video I looked inside the full size Minecraft torch. Here's a teardown of its sibling, the mini Minecraft keyring light.
Not bad, but I would have preferred a bigger cell and an open LED port at the end for more useful torch functionality. I suppose I could hack one to do that.
It turns out that opening the rechargeable Minecraft light is quite destructive. There was broken plastic and a minor dent in a doorframe by the time I'd finished.
On a plus note, the circuitry is pretty good, although a higher capacity lithium cell would have been nice. But I think this was probably a clone (the list...
2025-09-22 04:29:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Yet another sack of goodies from AliExpress.
2025-09-21 15:21:40 +0000 UTC View PostUsual place and usual time (9pm Saturday UK time), with your local time shown on my Twitch schedule.
https://www.twitch.tv/bigclivedotcom
Best viewed on Twitch, and you may need to refresh the screen to start the stream.
2025-09-20 17:54:26 +0000 UTC View Post
After seeing the BBC run a media campaign against these devices, I decided to get some to take apart. The circuitry is actually quite impressive.
This is the full length version of the video. I also made a shorter version for those who don't like the full schematics. It will be released around the same time.
I showed this on the live streams, so here it is getting hacked and modified to take any LED you like and run from a convenient 5V supply.
2025-09-18 18:31:43 +0000 UTC View Post
I bought this little light thinking that it was probably just stealing the Philips name, but it looks like it is a product that is licencing the name like so many other zombie brands like Duracell.
On a plus note, they have done a decent job of giving this light some design and software features worthy of a posh brand.<...
2025-09-17 18:21:02 +0000 UTC View Post
