The trashiest electronic channel on YouTube. We test and use affordable electronic soldering equipment and tools to build, teardown, modify (and sometimes destroy) random electronic stuff.
A British TV licence is NOT required to view my videos or almost every other video on YouTube.
Many of the builds and projects featured here operate at full mains voltage and carry a high risk of shock and fire. As such they’re really intended for either entertainment value or for those who do similar stuff.
The videos are generally uncensored and may contain tasteless jokes, profanities and even blood and electric shocks when things go wrong. So just like a normal workshop really.
So kick back, grab a beer and enjoy the ride.
From bigclivedotcom. I bought these testers purely because of the amusing packaging error. But it turns out that they have a very odd neon indicator bulb that looks custom made for the product. I get the feeling that the neon indicator is cost optimised using a fairly light style of manufacturing and seemingly using the…
From bigclivedotcom. A friend placed their first order on AliExpress and went for the "too good to be true" offers of a multi-terabyte SSD and an unrealistically high capacity power bank for a few dollars each. The powerbank didn’t show up, but the SSD unit did, but failed to work properly with his system. Here’s…
From bigclivedotcom. This light is actually really neat. The LED strip gives very even all round illumination with scope for customisation. The circuitry is also unexpectedly simple, but with one of those specialist ICs that are hard to identify and find. That’s a shame, since it’s a very handy one-chip solution for lithium based solar…
From bigclivedotcom. Unlike the post top beacon I looked at recently, this unit has the potential for a much longer run time due to the use of an interesting boost chip that allows you to set timing and the on/off ratio of the LEDs. The construction of the solar panel as strips of silicon on…
From bigclivedotcom. A 1990’s chaotic pendulum ornament with a dramatically different approach to the electronics compared to the WildWOOD pendulum featured in another video. Although the circuitry is vastly simpler, the power use of this ornament is still very low. If anything, the 9V battery it is intended to be used with is a bit…
From bigclivedotcom. Although these lights are claimed to repel mosquitos (some listing even claim that they kill them) in reality they are just a wavelength of light that normal light following insects are less attracted too. Mosquitos tend to home in on chemical aromas and the CO2 in exhaled breath. On a plus note they…
From bigclivedotcom. This is an electronic pendulum ornament that I bought while visiting America many decades ago. I’m not sure how many of these were made, but it definitely falls into the category of art and not a common gadget. Aside from being handmade from wood, it also has a complex magnetic pulse circuit of…
From bigclivedotcom. A surprisingly capable laser effect unit with four lasers providing two distinctly different effects. Two are for a laser aura effect and two are for a classic diffraction disk system. This unit also has an onboard battery and charging system, and can also be powered by a USB supply while charging. The circuitry…
From bigclivedotcom. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at one of these rechargeable fridge sterilisers. They work by applying high voltage between a row of metal spikes and rings, and the resultant ionic activity causes a slight airflow and temporary molecular modification of the air. Notably producing a medley of short lived molecules that…
From bigclivedotcom. These devices split water apart into oxygen and hydrogen to provide gas to a micro-torch for acrylic edge polishing and small brazing tasks. I thought I’d get one to explore, but then decided to see what the differences were between the two most common units sold on online marketplaces. I get the feeling…
From bigclivedotcom. A look at the 100A (LOL) version of the very common solar charge controllers. These are cheap and basic control units designed to facilitate the charging of a battery from a solar panel, and then control an output with protection against overdischarging the battery. On a previous video where I did a full…
From bigclivedotcom. These devices are actually very useful, but they have a huge problem. If used with some prominent brand power tool batteries they can over discharge them and potentially cause their chargers to reject them. There are two common approaches for battery discharge monitoring in power tools. Having the overdischarge circuitry in the battery…
From bigclivedotcom. I’m sure there are great vacuum seal bags that work effortlessly first time, but then there are the type that may require a little persuasion to start working. The secret is in understanding how the cost-optimised one way valve works, and how it may require a bit of priming to get it started.…
From bigclivedotcom. Do NOT leave items like this plugged in. There is no overheating protection and it’s possible for a processor crash or fault to continuously energise a heating element surrounded by plastic. Aside from the astounding simplicity, this unit is actually very functional. It has a very small PCB running a common vacuum pump…
From bigclivedotcom. I got this a very long time ago. It either came from a gadget shop or from one of the surplus companies that used to advertise in magazines. I’m pretty sure this unit predates the Internet era. Its purpose is to attract attention to a shop window display by waving a message or…
From bigclivedotcom. A very short version of the eBay undersink water heater video for those with less time for all the nitty gritty. Long story short – it claims to be 10L but holds 6L and has a risk of rupturing and flooding your home. Full video is here:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2ko2_6HZQ
From bigclivedotcom. The main advantage of undersink water heaters like this is that they store a preheated quantity of water for immediate delivery to the tap when it’s used. They do different sized storage tanks and also vented and unvented versions. There’s no waiting for the hot water to reach the tap. It’s there almost…
From bigclivedotcom. I’m not sure what the primary use of this material is, but it is marketed for protection against 5G radio signals and RF card-readers. It’s amazingly supple for its high conductivity. The texture is similar to lightweight waterproof clothing made of PU-nylon. It’s not waterproof though, and has a very porous weave making…
From bigclivedotcom. This charger is intended for LIR series button cells. It can’t be used to recharge CR2032 type non-rechargeable cells and despite many of the sellers claiming that it can charge ML2032 cells it is not recommended as they have a lower cell voltage than the LIR series. The unit does have the proper…
From bigclivedotcom. Just a quick video showing the inside of a fairly common inline one way valve for some liquids and gasses. This valve came from eBay. Its body is made of aluminium, but the interior is plastic/rubber, and will only be compatible with some liquids and gasses. It also does require a suitable reverse…
From bigclivedotcom. Having seen an interesting car fuse box which had been wired with discrete wires routed very accurately in a form, I thought I’d get one to take a closer look. But mine turned out to be very different, with multiple PCBs and a neat busbar system. This also explains why some vehicles can’t…
From bigclivedotcom. With the army-green colour and physical appearance, I think they are aiming this unit at outdoor recreation. But it would also have uses in off-grid applications. If actually used outdoors, the ambient airflow and direction would make the use of this device a bit unpredictable. It’s a USB powered heated pad insect repellent…
From bigclivedotcom. This is a module I found inside a microwave oven I was salvaging bits out of. I could guess what the filter components were for, but the purpose of the relay and resistors wasn’t immediately obvious. A bit of reverse engineering revealed that there are two separate circuits on the one PCB. A…
From bigclivedotcom. Sometimes you find a style of solar light that you really like, and it can be kept operating for a long time by customising it a bit. I’ve had this one for a very long time, and I’m sure I made a video about it in the past. This time around it’s getting…
From bigclivedotcom. Ignore the ridiculous figures the marketers quote – these devices only generate about 15-20kV. Note that these devices are not legal to own in the UK, and are classed in the same category as a gun. When I saw these being sold cheaply in America many decades ago, I just had to buy…
From bigclivedotcom. By request – putting milk and cream through a foaming soap pump to see if it makes frothy milk and whipped cream. These little pumps are very common in the automated foaming soap dispensers and can be bought cheaply online. They have a wobble plate style pump that sequences three diaphragms. One small…
From bigclivedotcom. This is a very common charge control system that allows 12/24V lead acid or lithium batteries to be charged by a solar panel. Although rated for 12 or 24V use I don’t recommend using it for more than a 12V system. It can accommodate lead acid, 3-cell lithium ion or 4 cell LiFePO4…
From bigclivedotcom. In the middle of a very frustrating reverse-engineer with lots of weird circuitry, I decided to chill out and modify some solar lights with custom brackets and different colour LEDs. Here’s the openscad script I used for the brackets. I could have made it parametric so you could just choose the internal hole…
From bigclivedotcom. A rare "mailbag" type video showing some stuff that arrived recently. The high impedance lithium cell clocked in at its stated 1200mAh on the button (1204mAh). With a near full charge the light passed 1.2A (1200mA) through the LEDs and the cell voltage dropped to 3.7V. The low intensity setting passed 330mA. The…
From bigclivedotcom. These things are intended for industrial applications where you need vibration to help move stuff in silos, sieves or chutes. They can also be used where vibration is needed to settle material like concrete in moulds/forms. It’s just what you’d expect. A chunky motor with an eccentric weight at each end. Getting it…
From bigclivedotcom. These are the type of lights you see on kiddy rides, some arcade games and fairground rides. This type is a simple 12V fixed colour variant, except for the RGB colour changing variant. Most high profile modern rides use something similar, but with a 24V addressable system for chasing colour effects. But these…
From bigclivedotcom. With the widespread ban on tungsten light bulbs, things that relied on their heat for operation has made them hard to find and expensive. Things like bulbs for lava lamps and glitter lamps. Although there have been other USB powered glitter lamps, they often used things like magnetically coupled impellers to swirl the…
From bigclivedotcom. The reason I specifically call these Chinese lights is because I think they are made for use in China on roadworks and other applications. But they do require a decent amount of sunlight to work, so I’m not sure what their ideal use would be. They seem to be for mounting on square…