bigclive

The big pink one

As featured in a couple of live streams, here's the teardown of the pink lamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_szNduBTqE

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XoiDJzSFE

And now for something non-electronic

A random tangent just for variety.  A look inside a few of the Dolce Gusto drink pods.

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

Vintage (ish) neon power supply

A rather unusual power supply intended to be an affordable way to drive short decorative argon/mercury neon tubes.

This module and a sequence of fortuitous events sent me on a wild ride of custom neon tubes and equally custom bases to power them.

It's not perfect, but it is relatively simple and the bare PCB versi...

Patreon stream link

Here's the link to the quiet Patreon Stream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq31ZCfxbFU

One for the 3D printing geeks to try

Jakob got in touch and shared his very sophisticated project for creating custom LED neon-style signs.   I thought you guys might like to explore it:-

https://gitlab.com/kobaj/neon/-/wikis/Help

Beer vs Sodastream

This video may sound quieter than normal, as my audio processing software refused to work with the video.  It occasionally does that.

What I didn't record was me trying to drink the beer directly from the sodastream bottle afterwards and being very glad I was in my kitchen and not at the computer when I did so. &nb...

Weekend stream

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8AkB2FF3v4

I'll try and stay awake this time!

Super-simple LED lamp

I think I featured this in a video before, but only released it on Patreon.

Here's the full version for general viewing.

It's one of the most minimalist LED lamps I've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhcOlbLlNCg 2023-01-28 00:26:35 +0000 UTC View Post

Quiet Patreon Stream

Here's the link to the Patreon live stream.

Coming at ya via 5G death beams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um2ySboY8jg

Fixing a faulty tachometer

Veterans of electronic repair will be very familiar with this fault.

Clue - The unit was pretty much short circuiting the battery.

First real-world use of my new Infiray P2 pro thermal camera, and it found the fault instantly.  Louis Rossmann sometimes uses a squirt of isopropyl alcohol to do the same job. &n...

Tequila - will it carbonate?

Yet another ESSENTIAL scientific test for the betterment of society as a whole.

It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10ynDnjav9k

Fake carbon dioxide meter

Fortunately this fake CO2 meter does have a real function.  It detects parties based on the ethanol content of the ambient air.

It could possibly be used with other sensors if they were suitably adjusted to be within its range.  But the small 3.3V regulator may limit the amount of current the sensor's heater c...

Impressive 5V festoon lighting string

This string is actually very impressive for running at such a low voltage.  Unlike the 24V version, this string does use fairly standard replaceable low voltage lamps.

It has lots of potential for use as a solar or general off-grid set of lights that put out a useful amount of light.  It's probably a cost effe...

Weekend stream link

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taK9PwxnMgk

Moisturising selfie light

Quite an odd thing.  It's a rechargeable ring light that clips onto your phone for all-round camera illumination, but also has the option of spraying a mist of water out the front.

I think this might be one of those products where they just decided to throw in extra features.

2023-01-21 02:55:29 +0000 UTC View Post

Strange 24V festoon lighting string

This string of lamps is very unusual in that they consist of screw on plastic covers with a single 24V LED filament on a connector inside.

I doubt spares will be easy to find, but people like us can make a new LED arrangement to replace the existing one.

It makes this set of lights quite customisable.

2023-01-20 05:24:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon stream link

Here's the link to the Patreon stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdgAey_Kh5o

Inside a cheap AliExpress fluorescent ballast

Two videos about electronic ballasts in a row, so my apologies to those who don't find them interesting.

It's useful to see the circuitry used, since it could provide inspiration for similar circuitry in other applications.

It's notably similar to electronic halogen transformers, neon sign power supplies and the n...

Should this video be in two parts?

Should I have made a video about each item, or just leave it as one video?

And is the subject material too repetitive?  (Although it's a while since I made a UVC video.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SzIn0Sfqes

Weekend stream

Here's the link to the weekend stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi4-5NqMJXU

Glitter lamp customisation

This video involves 3D printed components, so it will only appeal to some people.  But there's also a decent amount of useful information including the cryptic way to find calcium nitrate on eBay, where the actual chemical name seems to have been flagged.  Because OBVIOUSLY we're all making explosives!  (It's n...

Quiet Patreon Live Stream

Here's a link to the Patreon stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYPx6w0Ni5U

I don't normally watch the counter....

But it was so close that I had to.

Cute Chinese-grade mains connection box

I love this little thing because it basically gives the middle finger to most electrical safety standards around the world.

It's a mains voltage connector designed for testing equipment.  But with its non polarised plug, single pole switch and random live/neutral assignment to the low voltage speaker terminals, it ...

Shady AliExpress LED loom

If you don't mind messing around with 300V across small unshielded connectors then this loom can be used to chain up to 100 LEDs in series (50 on 120V unless the voltage multiplier version is used.)

Other than the dubious choice of using these looms in all-metal ungrounded lights in the past, I'd guess they may have app...

Weekend stream

The weekend stream link:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nj_o9MmZco

Aldi/Ferrex finale

The final video in the series unless I find a weird variant.  This PCB was also a complete mind bender to reverse engineer due to its clever shutdown system that results in a very low quiescent current in standby.

It took two nights to reverse engineer due to the very unusual circuitry.

My apologies if this s...

Quiet Patreon stream

Here's the link to this weeks Patreon stream:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDXHw4xMPTk

ALDI 20V mechanical exploration

This didn't go to plan.  The chuck screw seems to have major threadlock on it and wasn't budging in either direction.

I did manage to get the electronics out though, so I can look at reverse engineering one of the 20V control PCBs now.

2023-01-04 05:57:39 +0000 UTC View Post