On one hand this cheaply made light is impressive because of how they've managed to strike the tube with the same component that limits current through it. The tube is also run on AC which is also good.
But as always with these types of mini-light, they start the tube cold-cathode style which causes rapid electrode damage. And any loose connection causes arcing and instantly visible electrode sputtering stains inside the tube. This is made somewhat worse by the very sloppy electrical construction which ensures bad connections.
Very interesting to see how they cut corners and got a low component count with standard parts though.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- https://www.patreon.com/bigclive (extra streams and channel interaction) Or alternatively:- 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 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q2Mqelx32w
This is one of the many relay modules available on eBay, that is designed to interface your Arduino or other processor to higher loads.
There wasn't much information with this module, but it appears you can select whether the inputs respond to a negative or positive voltage.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8qpmMuW-xc
Although this detector came from Temu (not a sponsor) it is widely available from many online sales platforms.
Its purpose is to help you locate concealed cameras in your home or temporary accommodation.
It does that by firing out a bright ring of red light, which you can then view centrally for retro-reflections from lenses. The use of a dichroic glass filter is unusual for something like this, and quite a nice touch.
The circuitry is very simple, since the unit relies on the skills of the user to differentiate what might be causing a reflected pinpoint of light. It's intended for use by someone knowledgeable about what they are looking for and the areas a secret camera might be covering.
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I've previously made lamps like this by gluing a test-tube into a lamp base with two part resin, but it was always tricky keeping the tube straight and fully pressed in against air pressure while waiting for the glue to cure.
This approach uses a simple 3D adaptor to make it easy to fit the tube over the electronics, while providing extra insulation that extends down into the base and allowing pressure equalisation if something fails in the tube. (Noting that there's always a possibility of broken glass if something fails as with traditional lamps.)
The circuitry is a simple classic capacitive dropper, and I ended up managing to fit in about 26 RGB slow colour changing straw-hat style LEDs. Note that it's better to use the slow change RGB LEDs instead of the fast flashing ones as there will be a high open circuit voltage across a flashing LED while it's not lit and that might damage it. You could also use standard LEDs for continuous illumination. The light only uses about 1W of power, so it's more for decorative use than room lighting.
Here's the text file that you should hopefully be able to copy and paste into openSCAD.
//Test tube lamp to base adaptor. Big Clive 4th Jan 2020.
difference(){
union(){
//We start by adding solid objects to make the overall shape.
//Larger upper cylindrical section that goes into base.
//25mm (12.5mm radius) to fit existing lamp base.
translate([0, 0, 0])
cylinder(h = 10, r1 = 12.5,r2 = 12.5);
//Smaller cylindrical section that goes into lower base area.
translate([0, 0, -10])
cylinder(h = 8, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 10.5);
//Slight taper section between two cylindrical sections.
//(Mainly for support during printing.)
translate([0, 0, -2])
cylinder(h = 2, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 12.5);
// Squashed sphere to create rounded rim.
translate([0, 0, 12])
scale([1, 1, 0.33])
sphere(r=15);
}
//Now we're removing bits from the solid object.
//18.5mm (9.25mm radius) hole through middle for test tube.
translate([0, 0, -14])
cylinder(h = 50, r1 = 9.25,r2 = 9.25);
//Slight inner recess at top to hide oozed glue.
translate([0, 0, 9])
cylinder(h = 10, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 10.5);
}
openSCAD is a script based CAD system that lets you build printable objects based on adding and subtracting just a few solid objects like cubes, cylinders and spheres. It sounds simple, but in reality it can create very complex objects, and because the file is a simple script you can change parameters easily to tweak a model to your own requirements.
Half of the script above is comments I've added to make it easier to understand.
An excellent starting guide for openSCAD:-
https://cubehero.com/2013/11/19/know-only-10-things-to-be-dangerous-in-openscad/
The main openSCAD website for downloading the free software is here:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNucN3ZW8Vg
eBay is full of weird and random industrial modules. I saw this one, and since I couldn't find any data about it at all, I decided to buy one and reverse engineer it.
Even after working out what it does, I'm not sure of the exact application. I think it may be intended as part of a sterilisation system for rooms, where a limit switch on the door breaks power to the circuit, and it has to be reset manually upon leaving the room.
The relay circuit is particularly special for its use of a cheap, small and rugged component in place of a traditional hot-running mains voltage component.
The high voltage circuit is using a VERY non-standard approach to minimise components.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwHy-YfopL0
This video has two short scripts included in its description that will allow you to 3D print a massive range of sign characters in many fonts and sizes. It's almost worth getting a 3D printer just for this project.
To use the scripts you can download a free piece of CAD software called openscad that lets 3D objects be designed with a scripting language. When the scripts down below are copied and pasted into openscad it will let you create custom characters and then generate your STL files.
You can download openscad here:- https://openscad.org/
Once you've changed the variables to your chosen character and sizes, you can press the button with the box and hourglass to render it, and then the STL button to save it. Have patience - large curved characters will take longer to render. The animated bar graph shows that openscad is building your sign character.
The version 3 scripts are MUCH faster than previous ones because most of the work is done in 2D and then extruded to make the full height character. Most will be rendered in just a few seconds.
I'd recommend playing with the scripts to create small 50mm (2") high characters first to get a feel for it. I used standard PLA and it produced excellent results.
The only limit to the size of character you can make is the size of your printer build plate and your patience, as big characters take a lot of time to print.
In the scripts there are several variables you can adjust:-
Letter = the character, symbol or number you want to make.
Style = the desired font, that must be spelled and capitalised as in the font list.
Size = the height of the character in millimetres.
Depth = the depth of the housing in mm - deeper is better for LED diffusion.
$fn = the resolution of curves. It can usually be left as 100.
Walls = the thickness of the side walls. Half of that will be a groove for the front plate.
Base = the thickness of the base. While experimenting 0.4 is thin and fast.
Face = the thickness of the front face.
The face making script has one more variable called "fit" that nudges the sides in a bit to make fitting the faceplate into its channel easier. A value of 0.5mm will shrink the face 0.25mm on all sides. This compensates for any "squish" as the printer lays down the first layer.
All variables must match between the body and face to ensure a correct fit.
Have a play and let me know what you think of the results.
I specifically avoid using intrusive mid-run video adverts, which means I don't earn as much from my content as other YouTubers.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
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Here's the first of the scripts. It generates the body of the sign:-
//Sign body maker V3 - bigclivedotcom
letter = "A"; //Sign character to make
style = "Arial"; //See "Help" and "Font List"
size = 50; //Size of character (height)
depth = 10; //Depth of sign character
$fn=100; //Curve facets - higher is smoother
walls = 2; //Side wall thickness
base=.4; //Base thickness (-1 for open back)
face = 1; //Face thickness
//Don't change variables below here
sized=size-(2*walls);
difference(){
linear_extrude(height=depth)
minkowski(){
text(letter,sized,style);
circle(walls);
}
//Lip for front face (half wall thickness)
translate([0,0,depth-face])
linear_extrude(height=2*face)
minkowski(){
text(letter,sized,style);
circle(walls/2);
}
//hollow core of letter
translate([0,0,base])
linear_extrude(height=depth+2)
text(letter,sized,style);
}
Here's the second script. It generates the face for the sign:-
//Sign front-face generator V3 - bigclivedotcom
//All variables must match the sign body sizes
letter = "A"; //Sign character to make
style = "Arial"; //See "Help" and "Font List"
size = 50; //Size of character
$fn=100; //Curve facets - higher is smoother
walls = 2; //Side wall thickness
face = 1; //Face thickness
fit = 0.5; //Slight shrink of face for easier fitting
//Don't change variables below here
sized=size-(2*walls);
linear_extrude(height=face)
minkowski(){
text(letter,sized,style);
circle((walls/2)-fit/2);
}
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7AAI3ltN68
Slightly weird circuitry. This took longer to reverse engineer than expected, but yielded new information on the thermal sensing of Hakko-style soldering irons.
The default temperature of 500C (932F) is quite dramatic for a soldering iron, but there is a way to hack it to a lower temperature if desired.
The circuitry is a bit weird, in that the main control chip may have a stand-alone comparator section, but also monitor its activity externally and override it to shut the iron down. At least, that's my first guess at what's happening. Alternatively it could be ensuring the MOSFET is forced off in sleep mode, although the sleep current draw is very low at about 1uA.
The hack to set a lower bit temperature or allow it to be adjusted is to remove the zero ohm link shown and either solder a fixed value resistor in the two outer holes of the bypassed preset position, or put in a 100 ohm multi-turn preset. If using a single turn potentiometer I'd suggest a value of 56 ohms. I tested with various resistors and got the following results:-
Existing zero ohm link 500C.
10 ohms 460C
22 ohms 410C
33 ohms 360C - common standard electronic soldering temperature.
47 ohms 315C
56 ohms 277C
100 ohms 77C
The construction of the soldering iron seems quite robust, and the default bit temperature will probably make it ideal for automotive wire repairs or fast soldering.
The iron wins lots of points for using the very common soldering iron bit sold in bulk on eBay.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPJJBa6-TVQ
It's always interesting to explore different types of LED lamp to see if they can be hacked for longer life by reducing their power.
This lamp CAN be hacked, but it's not quite as easy as some of the others.
If tacking a standard resistor on in place of the existing surface mount ones, keep in mind that the lead should not touch the metallised lamp coating, and should be shaped to allow the plastic lens to be refitted.
When I said "dooby" it's a reference to the super-efficient Dubai lamps. By decreasing power dissipation of the LEDs the lifespan of these lamps can be increased greatly. At very low power the lamp could last thousands of times longer due to the greatly reduced thermal stress. The LEDs also operate at much higher efficiency when under-run.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
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One of my bench lights started intermittently blinking off and on, and before it got too bad I decided to swap the driver in it, since it was the most likely issue.
If left longer the blinking would have got more frequent until the light was pulsing continuously.
If attempting a repair on a similar light, ensure the power is turned off and check the integrity of the earth/ground connection in the light. In this style of light you can use a lower power driver with a higher power LED. I use a 20W driver with a 50W LED.
My bench lights actually have a fairly easy life, since they are on a PIR sensor so that they turn on automatically when I approach the bench and turn off if I'm away from it for a few minutes.
It's hard finding a good quality driver with proper electrical noise filtering that actually fits in one of these floodlight cases. I opened a few lights, found a couple of suitable drivers and then chose the one that looked better quality.
The driver that failed is explored in another video.
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Another video filmed on the fly while travelling. Is the black background good or bad?
These are classic LED MR16 bulbs bought from Poundland as a generic example of their style.
They are designed to replace classic tungsten halogen downlight bulbs, but usually lack the intensity and rich full spectrum of the traditional bulbs. They make up for it by running with much lower power and heat. As always with the generic LED bulbs, they will probably be driving the LEDs to the edge of failure to guarantee future sales.
My thoughts about the mystery "B" component are that maybe it was a backup option with two diodes in series in case one failed, or as an option for two different diode packages with a link in place of the unused one. The component that is there tests as a zero ohm link.
Others have suggested that it might be an SMD ferrite bead, which also makes sense.
I'll guess that the capacitor across the LEDs is partly for smoothing and reducing transient spikes of current. The other one to the zero volt rail is possibly for protecting against switching transients or reducing RF noise.
Bulbs like this can be used with fixed voltage 12V DC LED drivers, traditional 50/60Hz halogen lighting transformers and battery power sources. But they are not recommended for use with electronic halogen transformers, as they put out an "equivalent" 12V supply as a series of higher voltage pulses that work well with traditional halogen bulbs, but will potentially damage LED bulbs.
The electronic halogen transformers also require a minimum resistive load to operate in a stable way and may pulse or flicker the output if used with a low load.
Some bulbs like this may also accommodate use at 24V.
A hunt for the unmarked chip showed similar functionality to the AL8862, but it could also be a UM1350, MP2489 or one of many other similar devices. It's common for manufacturers to copy standard pinouts so they can offer their components as a cheaper substitute.
These bulbs would be useful as off-grid work lights.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap8Y6pqSYI0