ALDI's 400mm (16") inflatable glowing aqua orb - with schematic

When I bought this I knew the remote control light puck was going to be small. It seems to be a common thing with these devices. But the ball itself can accommodate a custom light and power supply, so it can be made better. Perhaps even modified to have a remote solar panel.
The circuitry did throw up a couple of surprises though. Notably the LED that was completely upside down.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- www.bigclive.c...
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators

[@chrishartley1210]

Perhaps you should check whether the battery in the "standard" remote is still good, it's not unusual for them to arrive with dead batteries despite the protection tab.

[@theonlywoody2shoes]

or upside down - I’ve had that on some quality Chinesium products before.

[@MangoPango1973]

​@@theonlywoody2shoesObviously you mean your new iPhone 16 Pro Max, the peak of Chinesium technology production?

[@draketungsten74]

I had that happen on an Apple remote once.

[@worldofrandometry6912]

Get one now. They are going up with inflation.

[@clivequinn8978]

It’s illegal to swallow those batteries, if you’re caught the police put you in a dry cell overnight and charge you in the morning.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bobair2]

Very good!

[@ianm1470]

I’ll get your coat lol

[@samuelfellows6923]

🙃

[@Rob-e8w]

You could also be charged with assault and .......

[@richcolour]

Cannot see the word 'schematic' without hearing it in Clive's voice.

[@ZeedijkMike]

Don't put a tea-candle in the little hole though 😀

[@atdzsny]

Or a pink banana.

[@ericfrazer4736]

definitely not after inflating the ball from the oxyacetylene tanks 😀

[@marcse7en]

​​@@atdzsny I love PVC, and that "orifice" could come in handy! 🤣

[@aerogfs]

The upside down led is for Australian market

[@jsalsman]

r/angryupvote

[@BRUXXUS]

Impressive how they managed to hand solder a component onto that PCB not not notice the RGB LED somehow stuck on upside down and turned 90 degrees... Or... maybe they did notice and just didn't care.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That went through my mind too.

[@samuelfellows6923]

The “Chineseum” craftsmanship of what is a “polished turd” - 😠

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Maybe they soldered the diode in to compensate for the voltage drop lost by the one not connected. :) In swedish is called crossing the brook to get water.

[@BromideBride]

Maybe it was toward the end of a thirty hour shift and had school the next morning.

[@mySeaPrince_]

​@@rimmersbryggeri Reading your Swedish comment reminded me of an old English saying.. I can't remember it all but it was something like.. 'Fording to fill a pail' If you don't know a Ford is a shallow but wide piece of a stream or river that is shallow enough to drive through.. a poor man's bridge (as bridges would have Toll's) and a Pail is a wooden bucket.. ... I'm now wondering if Affording has any connection 😻

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Two fresh 2032's could hit about 6.4V - I wonder if the MCU freaks out at that high a voltage, or the LEDs pull so much that the MCU browns out.

[@nickk6518]

B.C. You lied when you first said you were going to blow up the ball, unless you are saving it for Guy Fawkes night, I guess?!

[@mxslick50]

As deep as the hole was, that threaded piece was intended to be stuck up there after the light module so it could be pole mounted.

[@iainmulholland2025]

Remember, if the hole is too tight for the plug, lubricant is recommended...

[@charmio]

A tip for if someone does swallow a battery: CHOP and NCH research found ingesting honey after swallowing button battery reduces injury and improves outcomes. Apparently, it prevents local generation of hydroxide, thereby delaying alkaline burns to adjacent tissue. You still need to get to hospital though.

[@LuminalSpoon]

Don't go chasing water balls

[@markthintie5132]

@0:10 The classic remote control from China. I have these in Various devices in my Flat and they Always interfere with each others Devices :(

[@sometimesleela5947]

It'd be nice to see the output on a digital scope. See what the protocol is.

[@JessicaFEREM]

One of my fans interfere with the LEDs

[@SeanBZA]

Zener diode was there for reverse polarity protection, that it was a zener is merely that this morning at the big market the reel of recycled diodes also had in it some zener diodes, and a batch of same shape regular diodes, going very cheap. This one got a zener, coinidink that it was 6V2, the next one might have a 100V regular diode, and the next one a 3v3 zener diode, and the one after that a 500pF varicap diode, because they all come in the same case size.

[@RS-Amsterdam]

Okay..fill it with helium, light it and send it out so I can see from the Netherlands where you live 😂🎉

[@ManxAndy]

You’ll need a decent set of binoculars then…..lol it’s a good few miles from the IOM 👍😜🇮🇲

[@ZoonCrypticon]

Or fill it with hydrogen and remote-activate the electronic component...

[@RS-Amsterdam]

@@ZoonCrypticon love it 🤯😜 Then I can hear it too.🤣

[@peterevenhuis2663]

The zenner diode, helps to protect against static electric discharge and reverse installation from battery

[@thomasking5970]

Interesting tear-down; thanks! I'm a bit surprised you didn't tack that LED back in place. :-)

[@bigclivedotcom]

I did afterwards.

[@terrym1065]

Repair and modify please, it needs wholesomeness.

[@iangrice329]

Imagine seeing that blowing down the road 😂 The prisoner 😮

[@SharkoonBln]

I´m not a number.... :)

[@Dennan]

shit my dinner is not ready and clive video is here

[@bandit4550]

Next time, remember that you can just turn the remote control up towards the camera and see if there is signal/power as you know! 😊

[@arva1kes]

Bear in mind that these "3V" batteries come out around 3.25V as brand new. I just tested on my two separately purchased Sony and Panasonic ones - they are 3.315V and 3.328V respectively. I guess they shave off some of that capacity from these brand new batteries with that zener :P

[@Ben-says-you-are-AWESOME]

That wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting it to be. Although, it does have a whiff of 'straight to landfill' about it.

[@zsombor_99]

Well, what a cheap garbage, it seems they cant even install an RGB LED correctly! 😶

[@malcolmgibson6288]

Looks like Rover from The Prisoner, be careful

[@brabhamfreaman166]

0:38 For some reason, Clive visible sleeves had me imagine a black turtleneck, like a spy. Or a ninja. Whole different vibe from usual videos - “and this bit pulls away to release toxic gas”. I dunno, I feel alone now. 4:54 Whoa whoa WHOA you little trickster! We heard that, don’t just skip past it unelaborated!

[@richardwernst]

Now to figure how to reprogram the remote to change all those store window lights... :)

[@bigclivedotcom]

Just build a collection of the different types and try them all.

[@JoyClinton-i8g]

How much did it cost? It looks like FH8A51S6 is the part number for the 6 pin controller.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I think they were about £5 before they reduced them to get rid of residual stock.

[@christopher36091]

Are these sort of things made by people in their homes - a cottage industry - instead of in a factory?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Possibly a small family factory - but this looks mass produced enough to be a full size one.

[@samuelfellows6923]

A Chineseum crap factory

[@leturnisjazzbish655]

Looks similar to those led concert bracelets inside you inspected a while ago

[@petersage5157]

I have something with similar color-changing LEDs that is meant to go into another orifice. I give credit to "Turn on Your Heartlight" by Neil Diamond for the idea, as this is one way to many people's hearts.

[@nikspanakis]

Pick and place, pick and throw, what's the difference?

[@gorak9000]

The pick and throw machine is the budget option that doesn't have the camera / vision system to verify correct placement.

[@78trav]

That's some fine Chinesium ❤

[@alistercrowe8531]

I've been watching too much naval history KZbin lately, my brain automatically added "shell" after 16"

[@radry100]

A pool party where the whole pool is filled with these things set to strobe must be pretty sick.

[@lachlan1971]

You should've pointed the remote at the camera to see if the IR led was lighting up.

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

I'd be interested to see if the off-brand remote also caused the current to go up. Basically, is the 250μA including basic IR decoding in the micro, or is the micro firing up whenever any suitably bright IR light comes in? Apart from the LED screwup, seems like a tidy little circuit. The zener is an odd choice, but maybe these were made specifically for one company first, and one of their requirements was that they take rechargeable cells?

[@bigclivedotcom]

The IR receiver and processor remain active, but the processor may sleep and wake on detecting data.

[@ElvenSpellmaker]

Wow Jupiter was here, and now it's NASA CGI, sad! 😂

[@frankowalker4662]

I wonder what the stand by current draw is without the Zener Diode ?

[@edattfield5146]

I misread the title and was hoping to see a sixteen foot glowing sphere.

[@mfx1]

Another example of just because you can make something doesn't mean you should.

[@ProlificInvention]

Fill it with Hydrogen or Helium: everyone will think it's a UFO in the night sky 😆

[@gorak9000]

I wonder if the ball holds enough helium or hydrogen to overcome the weight of the whole thing. I had one of those indoor blimps that's a large mylar balloon with a tiny "pod" you attach to the bottom with the smallest battery ever and two little props. The balloon is HUGE compared to the motor pod.

[@ProlificInvention]

@@gorak9000 Good observation, and perhaps it wouldn't even with hydrogen. I had read a normal large balloon of helium can lift 14 grams, my only other reference point is I filled 8ft chloroprene weather balloons with helium and each one could lift around 10 lbs, but that is 264 sq/ft if I'm not mistaken.

[@jhonsiders6077]

I live northwest of a large military base it’s fun to send up balloons with the super bright glow sticks when the wind is heading their way . I wonder how often they do see them ?

[@marcse7en]

Did your ball have that lovely new PVC smell, Big Clive? ... I love PVC! ... Greenpeace say it's toxic, but at least I'll die happy! 👍😜 That "orifice" is handy! 🤣

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'll stick to industrial PVC attire.

[@tjsynkral]

What if I wanted to make that beach ball vibrate instead of light up…

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'm not sure it would vibrate very well.

[@dslynx]

Could the Zener diode be for protecting the electronics if the batteries are inserted backwards?

[@stevenfaber3896]

how waterproof would you say those cases are, it seems like a nice setup with a different battery for getting an outdoor lighting source

[@bigclivedotcom]

The little light puck is designed for submersion in water. They are also sold as vase lights.

[@fadate7292]

Got it: they wanted to show how Neptune looks from up close without entering its gravitational field...

[@guyh3403]

4:11 Stop changing colors of my ledstrip over here!

[@skyll4141]

you could fill it with helium and send it flashing into the night sky to make people think it's a ufo

[@ralphj4012]

I wonder if the IC doesn't like more than 6 ishV, so let's put a 6.2V zener in to teach those dastardly 2032s, some of which can be 3.3V when new.

[@arturtrzebinski2112]

Lol, that was a wild ride! LED upside down, zener diode draining batteries (two CR2032 have total of 6,6V if fresh!), high quiescent current! Whew, I sweated watching this video. 10/10 thumbs up.

[@erikdenhouter]

So you had a shy LED in there, it don't want to be seen. Still the amount of UFO sightings on the isle of Man has gone up since it it was lit by Clive. So being shy still draws attention (The wrecked psychology of a shy person...). That 6.2V zener is only draining the battery. A fresh 2032 can start with 3.3 Volt, so 6.6 Volt for the two, and the zener for 6.2V will start to conduct UNDER 6.2 V. This looks like a stupid thing.

[@phils4634]

Our local ALDI did a very nice rectangular rigid, floating solar "pool light" running off an internal (though easily accessible) 18650. Really bright output, and a pretty decent run time overnight too! Get yourself a nice Chinese LCR P1 transistor tester - they can decode the output from any IR based remote handset (host address and data). Also very neat for measuring ESR on sus. electrolytics (and of course testing transistors, etc).

[@NoobixCube]

With that zener diode there, if you put in, say, three CR2020 cells, the thinner cells allowing you to stack more, wouldn't that just short the cells out? It might protect the rest of the circuitry, though. The voltage would be 9V-ish, above the voltage of that zener, and it would thus allow current to flow straight to ground, wouldn't it?

[@NiddNetworks]

Quiescent = 250VA. Ouch, that's inefficient for 3 LEDs!! (I read it as VA because it was next to the 6V rail!! I know really... I just think I'm funny 😂

[@AmazedTransistor]

My boss would've slapped me if I would've let this circuitboard pass through the reflowing oven. Rightfully so 😂

[@Spooky_32]

That packaging looks like it's from some generic office software from the 90s

[@jeffdayman8183]

That's some quality workmanship on the PCB - well not exactly... anyway I was disappointed that you didn't see what the max psi was in the inflatable orb (and what the failure mode was). I'm a bit starved these days for over-inflation fail videos with various tire technicians getting launched. Could we hack this thing into a pond grade depth charge effect? 8^) Cheers!

[@iaov]

You find the craziest stuff Clive! I’m trying to imagine the meeting where the engineers sat around brainstorming on there next killer project. I wonder if anyone shouted “Eureka “ when this idea was presented. Anyways thanks for another interesting peek into the world of the almost useless ! You rock brother!❤

[@twocvbloke]

Totally not giggling at the thought of inserting a thing into the bottom hole, not helped by the LED showing it goes both ways... :P

[@jimmyrustler8983]

I bought a bunch of these just for the light! I plan to make some stands for antique Codd bottles and the like. I messed around with it on the power supply, works well at 5v 👍

[@manicman5961]

awww.. I wanted to see how fried that LED was by being attached upside down, but I get the feeling it wasn't really attached, so.. probably fine.

[@curtishoffmann6956]

Aqua orb! That thing that got Aquaman banned from all the water parks...

[@BarneySaysHi]

4:51 That reminds me of the Universal remote controls that you could use to set the volume to incredibly high in television shops. Or change the channel of random TV's when a football match was on.

[@alanguile8945]

It's not a globe it's a DISK!!! I'll go now......

[@terryhayward7905]

The remote control that you have is the same one that I have with my colour changing and dimming 240 volt lamps / bulbs

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

I didn't expect so much development, reviewing this pool ornament / play thing 🙂

[@elvinhaak]

Or fill it with helium to have it dangling and pointing the way during your festivities?

[@dcallan812]

its a bit cold now for dipping your ball in the water outside. It looks like my soldering 🤣 Once I got past 55 my arms are not long enough to read anything. 👀

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Fill with hydrogen, let go and watch for sidewinders...

[@Johnostrain]

Multicolor LED light + water = happiness

[@hugolandheer7008]

Could it be carbonated?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I did almost consider inflating it with CO2 or butane.

[@quarantene3072]

This is the same question that comes to mind every time I see a Big Clive video 😂

[@nowster]

Will it soft serve? Oh, sorry, wrong channel and wrong year.

[@quarantene3072]

@@nowster 🤣😂

[@DanielDan-rg9zw]

Aldiz nuts...

[@Jawst]

Lmao 😂 looks like it was assembled by drunk elves

[@wdavem]

This isn't a complaint but could you please show us the best color leds. The ones that hit the really good deep red green and blue, and ones that make good white together? I want to buy some.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It varies wildly between batches.

[@SLAPDOORS]

The most ubiquitous remote in the world haha I'm not too fond of it.

[@memyselfandeye1234]

Well I'd Be Very Deflate With That ... peace

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Great quality control there ALDI.

[@wisher21uk]

Great little light very effective Clive thanks 😊

[@AndrewJens]

I was expecting some B-roll footage of Clive and Ralph frolicking in a swimming pool with the glowing aqua orb.

[@bigclivedotcom]

We don't have swimming pools here due to the risk of hypothermia.

[@phonotical]

Looks a bit like a big eye, bit of a letdown, they'd have sold more maybe as a halloween decoration, gluing two together and sticking in a window or a hedge... Maybe zener is incase it got wet and trying to protect circuitry?

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

Or having patterns on the ball. A skull pattern for Halloween. Maybe some pool ball styling for bars.

[@78trav]

How many planets did you see?

[@chrisprobert6]

D'ya reckon laughing gas could float it?😅👍 Or the one that makes voice squeeky?

[@bigclivedotcom]

hydrogen or helium might work.

[@carlubambi5541]

Not a bad device. Fingerprint and all

[@Roethorn_pb]

1:35 That's "White" ? I'm red-green colourblind, it's like a lighter blue than the blue is that is confusing to me because the ball isn't blue?? Or is it like not quite white polythene - sky blue ish?

[@bigclivedotcom]

The white created by RGB LEDs is often skewed towards blue.

[@elvinhaak]

Is the Diode not simply there to protect against people putting batteries the wrong way in?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It could be. But would short circuit the battery.

[@jawjuk]

I quite want to leave a few of these dotted around Portmeirion...

[@snafu2350]

Hehehe! You evil person you! :)

[@rashton5730]

Aldi Raver necklaces 😅

[@kimsleep4111]

Fix that Flippin LED!!

[@chinanorthairguns]

It's a Loc-Nar.

[@harkbelial]

It's way better to putt a 220 bulb inside and throw it in the pool so that the water can prevent the ball from melting. Way brighter light and you save on batteries plus eco friendly.

[@BTW...]

Seriously? Maybe chuck a 220V fan heater in the pool if the water is a bit cold too.

[@harkbelial]

@@BTW... electricity is way too expensive for that and we are trying to be eco friendly. Just wait for warmer weather or man up and swim in the cold water, good for blood circulation.

[@frogz]

balls, that is all

[@harveyhart8348]

In a completely different genera.... How dose One send you a PCB I have that has no spares or replacements (numbers) ... and I need to have remedied.. ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sorry. I can't accept PCB repairs.

[@GriotDNB]

Yet anorher treat!

[@Uncle-Duncan-Shack]

I recognize that fingerprint, it belongs to HotChiFingi.

[@ericfrazer4736]

coulda sworn it was their senior QA engineer, "Sum Ting Wong"

[@cms9902]

High speed landfill

[@smalcolmbrown]

Thanks :)

[@michaelfisher9671]

Outdoor shot needed banana for scale

[@robertstrong6317]

Big Clive my cheap LED floodlight from eBay has stopped working... Can you please fix it for me

[@bigclivedotcom]

The most common failure these days is a dead LED breaking the circuit. They usually have a dark spot in the dead LED. It's not easy to fix them unless you have a latching LED which may be multi-chip, and a heated platen to preheat the aluminium core panel before soldering.

[@robertstrong6317]

So I plugged it into charge but on the plug itself the earth wire was not attached... Maybe this has done some destruction @@bigclivedotcom