Testing and tearing apart some 12V LED neon-flex.

This is a fairly common material now. It's an attempt to match the super-smooth linear light output of neon tube without the fragility or expense. In many applications nothing will beat real neon, but for some environments like theatre or fairgrounds where the real thing would be too fragile it's an interesting alternative.
Here's a link to the UK listing I bought this from:-
www.ebay.co.uk...
And what appears to be the same sellers USA listing:-
www.ebay.com/i...
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.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

[@SK-se7ox]

This man has the voice of a documentary

[@stephensmith799]

Yes. Perfect for documentary making. Have a listen to Fife Robinson. He had a wonderful documentary makers voice

[@donleland9157]

OUTSTANDING video - great detail on the power mapping and breaking down (with fantastic focus, I might add)...and all with a mesmerizing voice and accent! I always wondered why we don't see the individual LEDs on these increasingly popular flex lights, and you showed us why! CHEERS!

[@neonfactory35]

You are the reason we have created our own factory of neon led sign. We got many clients from all over the world. Thank you very much

[@4468]

Oh I like the look of this stuff, the possibilities are almost endless!

[@BEdmonson85]

That coaster rocks! :D I hope the files do get shared. I'd like to turn it into a bigclive button.

[@wannabetechnician7451]

a sharp knife is surprisingly often the best way to cut stuff

[@Deathbyfartz]

Also works surprisingly well at keeping people at Corona distance lol

[@sheezy2526]

@@Deathbyfartz u NEED A short sword for that to swing around ur body

[@ripudamansharma5990]

@@sheezy2526 not if you're good at throwing knives.

[@daviddesrosiers1946]

I have some of this stuff, except the light is directed out both sides. It's marvelous. Thanks for the content.

[@Miata822]

Before I'm 4:00 in to the video I stopped and hit the Ebay link before the price went up. I know how this works.

[@hackbyte]

Maybe, instead of buying them on ebay .. you might want to look at aliexpress or so? ;) (Will at least take a bit longer to rise the prices over there... ;)) IMHO, YMMV, just some 2 cents. ;) Hacky

[@watchmylgbtvideo9115]

or you can find it, just type neon factory on google

[@ken9503]

Thanks for the vid bigclive. I usually don't make many comments but since this is about leds, I couldn't help think that those coasters made of clear plastic would make a neat night light.

[@MrSwosh89]

As always, thanks Clive! I am planning on using these neonflexes inside my pc case as they are like 1/10th of the cost of the "gamer" ones, lovely stuff, i just nees to make the final calculations on what I need, lenght, etc and my case shall glow!

[@BigRTKingKong]

Clive, I watched this a couple days ago and now this morning I got an ad on my Instagram for the very same product. Crazy how they know just everything.

[@lostjohnny9000]

This stuff looks chewy enough to resist propeller strikes on racing quadcopter gates. Flexible enough to make ASCII characters.

[@DubiousEngineering]

What an epic Thumbnail picture!! - Looks like a kettle element on full chat!! - Big thumbs up!! :-)

[@jlucasound]

The recessed "glasses" will actually help by allowing air to escape through the seam, so the coaster won't stick to your "glasses" when you pick them up.

[@jomarsh979]

I recently bought a strip and half of it is not working and now you’ve given me hope just to cut it off. Wish me luck because I have no clue what I’m doing but I thoroughly enjoyed your video. Thank you, cheerio

[@JLsoft]

"I can show you an end profile, because I took a picture of it earlier." Good chat message.

[@kristopf]

I hope the anonymous coaster designer reveals more. Of course I'd like to print some Official Big Clive coasters but also I'm really curious to learn more about how it was made. The finished result looks as good, or even better than many of the multi-material prints that I've seen. I hope they release a blog or video documenting their process!

[@apm136]

the shiny/gloss look is achieved by printing the side youll put your cup on on the bed, hairspray applied to a clean bed with the right first layer squish right gives a great smooth finish to the underside of your prints.

[@davidbartley2887]

Fantastic, thankyou, now I know everything about these strip lights!

[@JneBrr]

Wow this is the best tutorial I have ever watched. thank you so much

[@specialallsorts935]

A couple of (round) red LED'S for eyes in those coasters will look smart, that's another video bigclive can make, great video and those coasters are smart well done.

[@homebody0089]

If they made these with UV LEDs, I could get some of those cool posters and go back to when I was 15. Peace and Love to all today!

[@bigclivedotcom]

The black flock pictures? Strangely that's something that doesn't appear to be common on eBay.

[@Michael_Michaels]

14:54 I have a beautiful scar in my left hand caused by a similar prowess! 20 mm long and no stitching needed! 👌

[@JoeWilson-cw1rt]

I’ve never even wired a plug socket and have no knowledge of electrics, but I still find myself watching all these videos religiously.

[@TheMrMaxx]

A strip with WS2812B LEDs in this neon style form factor must look awesome.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I think that's available.

[@tehappon]

I only found ones with 60 leds/m. Double that and it might actually look nice.

[@agentblueuk]

I have some, it gives very pastel colors due to the diffuser

[@TheChipmunk2008]

This answers an actual issue we're dealing with now (sign that needs to be bright, visible, not fragile... and cheap.). Real neon doesn't satisfy cat 3 and 4. LED tape is cheap... but the really cheap stuff looks like a string of individual dots, even from a distance

[@kargaroc386]

I guess the best way to deal with that would be to incorporate the dots into the design so that it doesn't look out of place

[@NM-wd7kx]

@@kargaroc386 some dot matrix art diffused through a screen to advertise a retro style place sounds great

[@WmLatin]

Thanks again for yet another technology introduction- I have some projects in mind and parts coming from China! Always enjoy your videos...

[@S.ASmith]

i watched this a while back, and recently booked a lap of lights lap at silverstone... im using red LED rope light as underglow for my car when im out on track there with my little brother (the visit is a christmas present). 12V works great as car battery voltage is 12.88V typically, i think addressable LED rope light might be better for car underglow, wire it in to a switch with a LED controller, and press the switch to cycle modes or have a receiver behind the switch and a remote to change colours etc. I like the diffusion of rope lights, it's much better than almost all other LED strip.

[@asderferjerkel]

Just taking a look too for a lil art piece on my houseboat, always nice to find that clive's already covered them. Cars (and boats!) are nominally 12v-ish yep, but can be 10-14.8 with potential 30v spikes from the alternator. LED strips don't tend to come with drivers so you might like to power it via a DC-DC converter to give it a stable 12v. They're dirt cheap on aliexpress (I got a few from the seller szwengao, search 12v regulator) and work great for anything that might be sensitive.

[@S.ASmith]

@@asderferjerkel Yea I have a few buck converters to provide a stable 9-12V depending on load. I've hard wired in trackers and dashcams on sports/super cars a fair bit so it's pretty straight forward. I buy stuff on Ali Express but i think I brought mine off Ebay a while back.

[@fifth-scaleproductions8878]

"I'll just put this away , its quite a long length " 😂😂😂😂😂

[@raymondmucklow3793]

Well done on the coasters anonymous ? This tape looks labor intensive.

[@cambridgemart2075]

Tommorow's World, how I loved that show, especially when it didn't go to plan!

[@WaltonPete]

Yes, and Clive looks so much like Judith Hann!

[@therealxunil2]

I'd buy one of those coasters.

[@jacobwcrosby]

I love enabling the subs when watching a Clive film!! Every time he says 'neon' it is a different translation from Scottish-English: Nian. Nyan. Mean. Reunion. Noon. Me. Neon. Name. In That kind. AND I'M ONLY 2:00 IN!!! 😊😁😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@babyflurryheart9114]

It looks so cool

[@simont3686]

Nothing comes even neat the real glow of neon or argon signs! But for LED it's quite good.

[@simont3686]

@@memberwhen22 I have seen both in real life. The bent glass tubes with an arc going through them are just a whole other leauge. And you have to keep in mind that LEDs produce a lot of plastic waste. That is also a reason why i prefer mercury vapor, metal halide and all the other gas discharge lamps/tubes.

[@Isa-yb8zy]

most detailed review i've ever seen!!! amazing

[@cherrieaulait]

Oddly satisfying noise it made when you whipped it on the bench a bit at the beginning...! 😂

[@grabasandwich]

I just picked up 2 boxes of Twinkly Flex 7 ft strips. I normally don't like retail, but I had a $50 Best Buy gift card and they were on sale for $79 CAD (regular $129 but still overpriced I'm sure) so I took a chance. You are SO right about this stuff. I tried using the clips and double sided adhesive, but it's so rigid that it kept lifting them off of my kids' headboards.

[@ManWithBeard1990]

I don't envy the man whose job it is to wrap those little wires around the busbar. It almost has to be manual though, because if you went through the trouble of automating it you'd do it before the busbars were molded into the transparent plastic.

[@dashcamandy2242]

This "LED neon" stuff looks like a reasonable replacement for preexisting incandescent rope light sculptures. To whomever sent Clive the coasters - NICE JOB! I'd love to try 3D printing, but I cannot justify the expense of buying a printer and filament when I can't even wrap my mind around design. There's a massive mental block between having an idea and implementing that idea that I haven't been able to overcome. LOL

[@bigclivedotcom]

For full 360 degree viewing the LED ropelight might be a better option.

[@DCBpower]

For even illumination of very long runs, connect + at one end and - at the other. That evens out the voltage drop and all LED segments get the same voltage. The extra bus connection at one end is prefect for feedback voltage control. On long metal grounded vehicles connect one end to the metal chassis and the other end to power.

[@USDOTATF]

Hi Tim, I am creating a very long run in my apartment, could you go into further detail about even illumination. How would I specifically connect the positive at one end and the negative at the other? Thank you ver much in advance.

[@johnpossum556]

Should fit some rectangular LEDs in the eyes.

[@LuparaX2]

The coasters are pretty neat. For a project you could make the glasses light up.

[@noizeuk]

I used one of these for a very simple DIY ring light. I spliced on an old lamp cord with a switch and simple as that, you just saved 80 quid.

[@ericjackson7810]

Wow that coaster would make a fantastic insert for a wireless charging station!

[@tonygick9833]

awesome job explaining how it works, thank you for doing the video

[@addisme7561]

Watch out for the Big Clive, EBay effect, where the price unreasonably skyrockets to unreasonable amounts. 💶💵💷💸💡❓

[@licensetodrive9930]

OMG, it looks perfect for making some LED race gates for indoor micro quadcopters! The price is a little >ouch< though for making more than a couple, and you want lots of them.

[@bigclivedotcom]

At about £5 / $7 a metre it's cheap for what it is.

[@licensetodrive9930]

Yeah you're right, I've been used to bargain basement Chinese stuff for too long :) I did make some LED race gates for about £2 each using 2xAA powered 1 meter festive LED strings wrapped round garden wire, the effect is pretty good - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnOYeqGojct0htU Especially when you tape a diffraction filter over the lens, it gets 'trippy'... kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4SXY5V3f5ubitk

[@Kineth1]

Keep making neat stuff like that, I subscribed.

[@licensetodrive9930]

@Kineth1 I'm always on the lookout for interesting things to modify/make/play with. Did you see the gyroscope I designed & 3D printed to hold a micro quadcopter? kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3qwXqdniap3fcU

[@philiphaigh5434]

I do not no much but you are making it easier 👀

[@nullerrno]

Learn from my stupidity and don’t pull on it to straighten it out. I think the link between the bus and the pad broke and now there’s a dead half meter section in my 2 meter strip. But it’s fairly cheap so I bought another. This video turned me on to the stuff. It’s really nice. I got it in a 110vac version. Very convenient and certainly looks nice.

[@BarnsleyMan]

I bought 200m in 5m lengths to re do my non working xmas rope lights. Look great when painted with with glass paints.

[@Flymochairman1]

The 'Big Clive' coasters look like they'd make a neat face-plate for a couple of USB connectors in where the glasses are. No offence with the notion of stuffing USB plugs in yer eyes Clive. Interesting construction for railway modelling in mind. [Edit: Additional last sentence]

[@AliAAdib]

This video was really informative. Thanks so much!

[@ferrumignis]

Not seen this stuff before, thinking you could make nice big 7 segment displays from it.

[@ikbification]

The white plastic, will probably deteriorate and turn yellow under the influence of the light. I have a lot of clear flexi LED strips, and they have all yellowed.

[@nerdydev]

I saw a rgb version of this round the some waltzer cars runing off batteries. looked amazing!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I ordered a bit of the RGB stuff to check out.

[@phonotical]

I honestly thought you were going to use some of this in the coaster for the eyes!

[@nbtmx1]

Same here 😂

[@phils4634]

Wire wrap onto square section posts used to be a highly reliable method of connection back in the day.

[@victorthomas8363]

All respect to you Sir

[@TravisTerrell]

Coincidentally, Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools podcast featured these just this week! Nice to see a more in-depth look.

[@EnvAdam]

11:54 - Just had a funny thought "Dr. Clives electrical opperation theater"

[@pshq]

They were selling such LED neon stars in Biedronka stores (Poland) but they were smaller and the neon tape was two-sided.

[@twocvbloke]

It's pretty neat stuff, plenty of ideas come to mind as to what to use it for... :)

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

I think they have the bus bar wrapped with wires on it before they extrude it. They just make a slit and pull it out. Notice how the winding is perfect but the tail looks like it was dragged across a battlefield

[@longsleevethong1457]

I’m gona use this in my headlights. Custom lights

[@drteeth7054]

I'd buy a few of those coasters! And in those colours too.

[@brianevans1946]

Those coaster are very cool..

[@BedsitBob]

"It's quite a long length." Ooh Matron. 😁

[@joejane9977]

the best part of a sharp knife is it does not hurt as much as cutting self with dull knife. if knife is too sharp you wont even know you cut self until you see blood

[@bigclivedotcom]

After the random time delay before the blood appears.

[@joejane9977]

@@bigclivedotcom i normaly find the blood on something else and then go looking on self

[@bigclivedotcom]

@@joejane9977 Yeah, that does happen a lot. And the bit of your hand that's got blood all over it isn't always actually the bit that's bleeding.

[@mikestevens8012]

If your quick you can cover it bandaged before you see the bone , tie the compression while still covered by the buzzy haze of adrenalin...

[@milksheihk]

Those black marks look like the reg marks that bagging & tube(like toothpaste tubes) forming machines use for indexing where to cut & seal.

[@seanmangan2769]

I bet these are a hell of a lot more reliable than the little Christmas tree lights!

[@stevenl4422]

alot of people use EL wiring or electro luminescent , to produce a similar effect with low power consumption and comes in many sizes, its actually really cool seeing the led ones broken down though. but yeah figured ide note that because of the general effect

[@Meximagician]

I'm surprised it's so labor intensive, as opposed to just jamming half a staple or something into the bus bar and soldering the other end onto the pad.

[@chrisj835]

Love to use this stuff to make a giant 7 segment type display, imagine a clock display that takes up an entire wall. Big-Time?

[@laserhawk64]

Nice lights! The connector you're using is a standard 3-pin connector for (desktop) PC fans, by the way... its four-pin brother is for the PWM ones and comes in a couple variants depending on how you want the tongue part (which you cut off)...

[@ethanpoole3443]

It is a Molex KK type connector more specifically.

[@johnaquino7619]

Past 01:35 in this video it almost sounds to me like he's describing an LED rope light which has been modified, so the glow effect is more "solid" than the lighted dots you get with a standard rope light.

[@mrdovie47]

I got some from AliExpress that is just a 12 Volt LED tape extruded into the form, 5 X 13 mm with no other embedded wires. It has barrel connectors for 12VDC, but lights at 9VDC as well.

[@crazyaa5651]

How you manage to make it work?

[@mrdovie47]

@@crazyaa5651 I put a Pulse Width Modulator on my under cabinet lights to control brightness. I made a Joule Thief circuit that has 9 Volt output but has 13 Volt spikes also on the output and it lights very well.

[@kimgeraldoray]

your voice is soothing i love it

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

Great Video as always! As for the coaster @11:31, To whom ever made it, it is just fantastic! I would buy one, and I don't buy merch as a ruel.. As for a BigClive T-Shirt or something, I would buy one of those too, just this once mind ya!! .....lol

[@spikekent]

I love the Big Clive coaster, I'd really love to print one for myself. Hope the designer decides to release the stl's

[@MattWells0]

Would love to see this done with WS281x RGB LEDs

[@JimPugh2014]

I have some, its pretty good

[@thehappylittlefoxakabenji8154]

cool foxy like this I have a metal shooting star that had that incandescent rope light it failed so I snipped off the cable and threw away the rope bit I'm left with the metal frame so this will be an ideal replacement !

[@Tgbec]

Maybe some glow in the dark resin for the lenses on the coaster.

[@TheSandman614]

The big Clive coasters need Lazer eyes with some added leds and a watch cell.

[@mealex303]

A black and red would look great

[@GadgetBoy]

Wrapping those wires manually would SUCK.

[@nomadsurvival4952]

Cool you always find all the good stuff LOL...

[@DoRC]

Where stuff like this is made its probably cheaper to just pay someone to attach the wires completely manually than to develop or even pay for any sort of machine to make the task easier.

[@DANRADIATION]

Led future of light

[@DanafoxyVixen]

Its a bummer because real neon is very beautiful but already becoming quite rare.. this will probably end it.

[@bigclivedotcom]

In Glasgow real neon has become fashionable for architectural use.

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Great video Clive

[@korifallon8210]

Big Clive, I think you should make a video tutorial on how to use this to make a DIY faux neon sign!

[@zhunwin]

Thanks for the detail explanation u are a hero.

[@mtootm]

As a 3d printer owner I would love to print Clive

[@KACPER050599]

EL wire (or other EL components) also gives a nice, even light, but driver is more complicated

[@alec4672]

I would think the little pig tail wire is pre wrapped before its encased in the channel. Then they just heat up the little area where the pig tail is and pull the pig tail and a bit of the main bus wire out with like a dental pick then just trim away the excess plastic. Just thinking out loud though

[@Purple431]

I believe that you can get 5v versions

[@Darieee]

Btw .. how would acidy sanitary silicone work for sealing in those end caps? Being flexible could make it optimal ... it also reeaally bites into everything (and I’ve never seen it corrode anything or conduct even slightly)

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sealing the waxy flexible plastic is difficult. You really have to use a matching plastic and solvent glue or amalgamating tape.

[@dennisseuferling815]

I don't know if Adafruit ships internationally but I believe they sell this product here in the states. I feel like this was a featured product like a month ago.

[@dustysparks]

Any one else thinking about supersized 7-segment digits using this stuff? :) Wouldn't work as a Nixie-like device since the layers would block the ones behind.

[@beedslolkuntus2070]

You just popped that idea now....Wow

[@U014B]

You should fill in the lenses on that coaster with glow-in-the-dark resin.