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. A look at the cheapest set of icicle/meteor lights I could find on AliExpress. They do work, but the power supply is maybe just a bit basic. However, they are easy to adapt to use a USB power supply of known quality. The circuitry in the meteor strips themselves is pretty streamlined. I’m…
From bigclivedotcom. Since the dawn of electricity, it has been used for genuine medical reasons and some less "medical" reasons. In the Victorian era they made ridiculous claims about the healing power of electricity, and there was a huge industry in medical shock coils and the very stylish high voltage violet ray and violet wand…
From bigclivedotcom. This unit is literally evolved from the many battery operated electric shock therapy machines that the Victorians used to treat many "ailments". And just like in the Victorian era, they are being used for providing people with a most invigorating and healthful experience. These can be used with a wide variety of electrodes.…
From bigclivedotcom. A random backstage snippet from a previous show. We have large gas burners (whooflers) on a castle and on this show we also had mobile video wall risers (elevated stage sections) that were danced on during the show. If my press ups look a bit shallow, it’s because the plastic covering the video…
From bigclivedotcom. Not as exciting as a UVC spectrometer, but a tiny fraction of the price. Although, this meter still cost £80 due to the extremely specialist nature of the sensor. Its intended purpose is for monitoring the output of UVC tubes for sterilising applications, and it has a peak sensitivity at the 254nm mercury…
From bigclivedotcom. An odd and suspiciously cheap 100g roll of solder on AliExpress, that I decided to test. The alloy isn’t indicated, but it is flux cored, with quite an aggressive flux. The Chinese text on the reel actually says "stainless steel solder" and it does actually work on stainless. Not sure how strong it…
From bigclivedotcom. A very cheap, mass produced movement sensor that is intended for switching lighting on when people are present. It seems to have a fixed 20 second delay, that is re-triggered by continuing movement. I’d guess the main use would be as a corridor lighting controller. It’s only suitable for low lighting loads. Modules…
From bigclivedotcom. A novelty soap dispenser that literally poops out foam soap when you place your hand under the pigeon’s butt. I think this must be in fashion at the moment, as it was notably more expensive than other foaming soap dispensers. ($40 from AliExpress.) It actually uses a battery of four AA cells for…
From bigclivedotcom. It’s important to note that this glue gun cannot sense a low battery and will potentially overdischarge Makita batteries. The Makita batteries that are shockingly crude inside. It appears the bulk of the circuitry may just be DRM as opposed to actually monitoring individual cells! Ironically, the clone batteries have much better charge…
From bigclivedotcom. The main difference between this $3 power saving plug and the really expensive ones is the price. They’re the same thing being hawked by scammers with various sob stories about being invented by young kids who defied a buyout of their technology by "big oil" so they could make the world a better…
From bigclivedotcom. This unit is the modern LED equivalent of a classic flea trap that uses a small tungsten bulb to lure fleas onto a sticky mat at night. It’s interesting to note that some of the traditional style are being shipped with LED bulbs. The question is… Is it just the light that lures…
From bigclivedotcom. The earliest crane games were fairly honest. They preset the grab strength, and with skill you could get the claw to lock onto a prize. But then the geeks came along and started winning all the prizes, so they introduced a percentage based system. Most modern machines let you set a threshold based…
From bigclivedotcom. These plug in time switches are so generic that it’s actually viable to just buy a new one. But for those who like the challenge of repairing something, it is viable to repair many of the issues that occur with them. It’s also worth mentioning that the same issues are associated with much…
From bigclivedotcom. I can remember buying this from one of the big UK component suppliers, because i was intrigued by a fluorescent tube being run directly from the mains supply with nothing more than three resistors. The main resistor is for limiting current, and the other two are for limiting current to strike electrodes at…
From bigclivedotcom. Warning! This video has been classified by YouTube as "restricted" and "not suitable for most advertisers" due to its content! Can you work out why? Today I learned that what we call diamante in the UK is called rhinestones in the USA. This device has a heated tip (about 200C!) that is used…
From bigclivedotcom. This emergency lighting module from AliExpress, has quite novel circuitry to allow it to have a lower current storage mode and a very decisive end of illumination shut-off. As with many of these units, the circuitry is traditional discrete stuff with no fancy ICs. The main power supply is a capacitive dropper, which…
From bigclivedotcom. Have a great Christmas and an exciting new year.
From bigclivedotcom. If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube’s advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty. #ElectronicsCreators
From bigclivedotcom. One of the flurry of new LED filament bulbs that are aimed at the E12 (C7) style Christmas and party lighting strings. This one is interesting because it has a curved LED filament. Let’s analyse one with AvE’s mighty X-ray hammer and take a closer look. This was another AliExpress purchase (not a…
From bigclivedotcom. These little lights are being sold in ASDA (and possibly Walmart too) as part of the George range of Xmas lights. Each pack has six of these lights which are powered by a single CR2032 button cell. Although they last a decent amount of time, they do get dim quite quickly, and it…
From bigclivedotcom. Pre-Christmas randomness with sibling rivals Ralfy and Clive, and maybe the kitties if they’re not out galavanting through the local fields. No plans – just going in the direction it goes. Might be good, might be rude, might be terrible. And for those of you spending Christmas alone – remember that it’s actually…
From bigclivedotcom. A look at an interesting grow light with a mixture of cold white, warm white, red, violet and infrared LEDs to ensure that when you put it above your herb garden, the plants grow slowly with the complete lack of actual sunlight. The main reason I got this is to see how they…
From bigclivedotcom. This unit was suspiciously cheap for a reason. When I first tried to use it, the motor would just jolt and the battery power would cut off. The initial inrush current to the motor is so high that the inadequate batteries supplied with it detect it as an overload and cut out. When…
From bigclivedotcom. One of a series of neat little fixed-colour strip lights with internal rechargeable lithium cells, that let you add a splash of colour in the background of a video or live stream. It appears to be based on a flashlight control chip, and has some annoying flashy modes. It also has low enough…
From bigclivedotcom. These kinetic pictures were all the rage in the early 2000’s until there was a recall issued in 2004 due to them posing a fire risk. The official recall documents point to the poor quality of the wiring, construction and flammability. I’m not sure what bit posed the fire hazard – whether it…
From bigclivedotcom. A typical set of industrial grade Christmas lights, as used on trees, lamp posts and frames around your city at Christmas. This set has an annoyingly different plug format to most others, which means it requires their specific adapters and accessories. These cluster lights are perfect for spiralling around a lamp post to…
From bigclivedotcom. Every winter the scammers start pushing these products on eBay, amazon, and other ecommerce sites. They claim they can keep your vehicle frost free and often have fake side by side pictures showing a snow covered and snow free car. In reality, these are car air fresheners. If you want one, then searching…
From bigclivedotcom. Aside from the whole Elf on a Shelf franchise being a bit suss, this accessory takes it to a whole new level of squirminess. It’s basically a fake CCTV camera that you can mount in your children’s bedroom and then tell them that they are being observed by elves at all times. I…
From bigclivedotcom. All revenue from this video (plus a bit more) will be sent to the IOM young farmers charity fund. You can also donate directly here:- https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/iomyoungfarmers-2024 Another huge Christmas tractor run that shows how big the agricultural industry is on the Isle of Man. This section of the tractor run had to be…
From bigclivedotcom. This is a common cheap digital soldering iron that can be powered by higher power USB power supplies, or a standard jack-style power supply at up to 24V. It uses common T12 bits. There’s no real manual for these irons, and the software may vary between units. But here’s an attempt at a…
From bigclivedotcom. let’s look at an insect trapping plug that doesn’t try to zap them with electricity, but instead lures the insects to a replaceable sticky surface. This is a technique that has found favour in food processing areas due to the older high voltage zappers spraying bits of disembodied flies everywhere. The construction of…
From bigclivedotcom. I wasn’t expecting this to actually be a proper 365nm blacklight device, so when I tested it, it was a very pleasant surprise. Definitely NOT the sort of thing you want to shine on hotel beds. One of the biggest effects for me was seeing my hi-viz clothing glow brightly without the usual…
From bigclivedotcom. One of the nice things about AliExpress (not a sponsor) is that it gives access to interesting industrial components. Better still – cloned components that are much more affordable for personal projects that don’t carry risk. (But use the proper components and tools for work that carries liability.) A recent find was a…
From bigclivedotcom. I don’t have anything to do a proper UVC output test on this light. But it does make the UVC test card phosphor glow, so there’s definitely some short wave UV in there. The UVC spectrometer would have given a wavelength and power level, but it was only on loan, so I had…
From bigclivedotcom. A fairly typical looking modern ceiling light. But this one does have serviceability if you buy some spares. It’s also fairly easy to hack for lower current. One slight screw-up in the video. The resistor I thought was 1.5 ohms was 15 ohms, so it was being used to fine tune the surface…
From bigclivedotcom. Time to carbonate a classic American whiskey to see how it goes. I felt obliged to wear the hugely outsize American overalls for this video, to match the blue collar image that the Jack Daniel’s adverts imply. The JD No7 was chilled well before carbonation, and took quite a lot of CO2. It…
From bigclivedotcom. It’s hard to say how long these scam devices have been around. They were originally sold by travelling salesmen with "trick" display cases. They were also sold by mail order in newspapers and magazines, complete with fake testimonials enthusing about how wonderful they were. In reality they do nothing – and they even…
From bigclivedotcom. Given the pressure that is required to install press studs, plastic is not a good choice for a crimping tool. Unsurprisingly, this one doesn’t fare too well. But what do you expect for $2 shipped. The plastic press-studs on the other hand are very good, and their crimping tool is excellent. Search keywords…
From bigclivedotcom. I got this control gear, mainly for the ballast, so I wasn’t too bothered when the rest of the gear had a rough trip through the postal system. It gives me an excuse to open a power factor correction capacitor (also used for motor applications) and see what’s inside. The older (longer lasting!)…
From bigclivedotcom. This video also covers the way WS2812B single wire addressable LEDs work, and why they are horribly demanding of processor time unless it has a dedicated serial driver built in. It’s notable that the high speed data requirement means that this unit has two microcontrollers. One for time and infrared functions, and one…
From bigclivedotcom. It has been pointed out that the watermelon symbol is currently being associated with war somewhere. I don’t watch the news. This is just a completely innocent video featuring an LED-neon watermelon. A faulty LED neon-style ornament with a very common problem caused by the way the internal LED tape is manufactured. There…
From bigclivedotcom. These UVC germicidal lights will hurt you. If you expose your skin or eyes to 254nm UVC it will cause temporary damage, which can result in waking up in the middle of the night feeling like you’ve got sand in your eyes. It does pass though. It’s very similar to what welders experience…
From bigclivedotcom. Just so you know – the power saver plugs sold with various stories about how a young kid invented it to help humanity, are all scams. They don’t reduce your power bill, and may pose a risk of fire. You can buy these things from Chinese sellers for around $3.