Bubble wand with unusual bubble generator.

Most bubble machines use a rotating disk or drum of standard ribbed bubble wands to produce a continuous stream of bubbles. This unit is very different in that it produces the bubbles by bubbling air through the liquid and then stripping bubbles off the top with an airflow around the perimeter of the top of the bubble generation cone.
A further search on eBay found that there are similar looking bubble wands rethemed and sold as Disney merchandise. Here's a starter eBay search link:-
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...
Further investigation shows that the original wands seem to have a common battery contact displacement issue which may be responsible for the occasional failure to start. Adding a foam pad to the battery compartment lid helps greatly.
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.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

[@classicmacintosh]

Only Big Clive would buy an additional bubble wand 'as a backup'. What an utterly brilliant person you are! There aren't many people who could make a video about a child's bubble wand interesting, but you do.

[@tomparmenter8665]

I know I think I might order one! No two

[@rich1051414]

Big burley man: "Oh, that one is my backup bubble wand" You can't make this shit up.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Ed Neil Lots of concerned parents and teachers would buy a backup wand in case the kids loose or break one. Now childless men who stay away from children without being told to, that's a different story.

[@johnpossum556]

Even Marilyn Monroe never needed "backup bubbles" !?

[@dsloop3907]

He can use it with the Fanny Flamebutt (sic)

[@Vokabre]

Summoning the cat in seconds after turning the wand on is a nice undocumented feature.

[@Spectral_Penguin]

+1 wand of feline summoning

[@martinwhitaker5096]

It's a real shame we'll never know the person behind these designs... product packaging needs credits in the same way films do!

[@rich1051414]

The engineer who designed this is working a bit under his paygrade me thinks xD

[@RobertSzasz]

Look up the patents

[@dsloop3907]

I purchased a child size pool table that was made in India, (1meter x 600mm, it had the maker's name, address, and the date it was made. Clever design, the legs folded up and it was only 75 mm thick for storage.

[@marks47]

Talent tends to get poached by competitors in a lot of industries. Apple made their engineers sign NDA's for many reasons, including this one. They fight tooth and nail when someone starts head-hunting the "wrong" employees.

[@hamjudo]

@@dsloop3907 A decade ago I worked at a resale shop that sold tools. Chinese made tools that had the factory address embossed into them in both Chinese and English were almost always significantly higher quality than tools with just corporate names and logos. It doesn't cost much to emboss an address, so I expect that those that market low quality tools have already started or will soon begin putting names and addresses on their products too. I fear that even if this sign of quality still works, it won't work for long.

[@MrUnderwurlde]

"Mummy, did you see my bubble wand anywhere?" "No dear, when did you have it last?" "Yesterday, when I showed it to uncle Clive"

[@neaar4217]

Having these is another huge step towards the Magical Girl Clive performance we always wanted.

[@mathuetax]

I think I woke up my neighbours I laughed so hard!

[@madichelp0]

Pretty Clive

[@scruffydarealog2632]

I would watch that video religiously every week until I die

[@MD4564]

ROFL ROFL ROFL Couldn't put it better myself.

[@SuperAWaC]

super frothy clive

[@SigEpBlue]

These are fun to take on road trips. Right up until a soap bubble gets into the driver's eyes. Then it's even more fun.

[@Neffers_UK]

I'm really impressed by your cat-garden. That scratchy hoop, shade, sunlight, many places to hide and poop, large leaves to chew and chuck up, and then there's you, who brings random entertainment. I'm not taking the piss btw, I am a cat person.

[@twocvbloke]

I love how the cat's like "YAY!!! BUBBLES!!!"... :D

[@NanoCottage]

Just needs a laser pointer adding for additional cat craziness!

[@danthemancasey]

Its like a bubble, Jacob's ladder! A conical Venturi pressure differential surface tension bubble ladder!

[@--Zook--]

Never in my 43 years did I think I would be excited to see a guy reverse engineer a bubble wand. But here I am.

[@dashcamandy2242]

You know they make catnip bubble juice, right? Between catnip bubble wands and your various disco/LED lights, you could throw one hell of a rave for the neighborhood kitties. I did not expect the correlation between bubble juice and veterinary lubricant... LOL

[@sonovoxx]

As an inveterate tinkerer I was hounded by my kids years ago to build various bubble machines, and all of them fraught with one problem or another. This... this is a superb design, and a million miles away from anything I was considering. Nice!

[@allysonwilkins149]

This was a lifesaver! My son pulled out the silicone tubing from our Disney wand and with your help, I was able to figure this mechanism out. Thank you!!

[@Francois_Dupont]

its a marvel of engineering, having both the fan and pump on the same motor and the overall compactness of the assembly is a sight to see.

[@joseph9770]

This is what I love about this channel. You have a device that was cleverly engineered and otherwise would have probably never been admired from this perspective.

[@mentatphilosopher]

So, as you do, I went looking for a patent on that cone part to find an explanation of how it works. What I found was that mankind has spent far too much effort in finding ways to generate bubbles.

[@martinpickard6043]

I watched 'Pop', a one hour documentary on the science of bubbles on the BBC a few years back, by the awesome 'Bubble Physicist' Dr Helen Czerski. From Champagne, via Laundry, to Ocean Weather and all inbetween.

[@seannot-telling9806]

Clive I hope your having a better day today. Bubbles do help. One thing I keep in my tool box is a bottle of bubble juice. It serves two purposes. One it is good for finding air leeks in compressed air systems and two it good for goofing off and blowing bubbles at coworkers.

[@stevejames3510]

Same I don't like bubbles.Im a gas fitter😂

[@seannot-telling9806]

@@stevejames3510 Bubbles in your case would be bad. Compressed air not so bad at least no KBOOM!

[@MatthewScammell]

0:32 - "Let's take it to bits and see what's inside", he says with the cat being in full shot!

[@28YorkshireRose12]

Ah Waitrose..... A high quality supermarket where even the bananas stand to attention as the customers enter the store - I would expect the quality of the device to be good! Quite an interesting little thing it is too. Now, as for us kids who grew up on a council estate, we made do with a bit of wire bent into a loop, and a cup, half filled with washing up liquid and water. It was just a matter of getting mixture right. It was never as good as proper bubble fluid, but it was cheap, and it kept us happy for an afternoon - this was the mid 1960s!

[@jeffcook3747]

So sorry to hear of your friend and fellow YTer's passing. He was so young

[@ericbaker350]

I am actually astonished that they used a peristaltic pump in a child's toy, This is a very well engineered toy! :D

[@muh1h1]

Its these random videos i subcribed for!

[@johnbouttell5827]

0.36 You had me worried there. I thought you were going to take the cat to bits.

[@jazbell7]

I did too, even had my cat on the bench with tools handy, ready to copy the procedure.

[@Radfordperson]

It's OK, the cats have got Clive under control, like they always do with people.

[@johnbouttell5827]

@@Radfordperson Cats. You got to love them.

[@evensgrey]

@@johnbouttell5827 Yes, or you'd see them for the horrible, cruel, sadistic little monsters they are. But they're so very cute and fuzzy! And, well, who the hell likes mice anyway? (Fun fact: Cats normally eat mice ALIVE. They beat them unconscious and swallow them whole. A housecat will often just beat a mouse unconscious and then wait for it to wake up, then beat it unconscious again. They will repeat the cycle until they find something more fun to play with, the mouse escapes, or the mouse dies. If the mouse was hungry to begin with, it might even die of starvation. Mice need to eat rather frequently.)

[@hgbugalou]

I love the fact that you still are fascinated by toys and such at your age. I'm the same way and I feel like I'm not an adult sometimes with my childish curiosity. I'm glad there are others out there like me.

[@phils4634]

That's a fairly complex moulding for both the bubble generator and the motor support / airflow generator. Add in obviously silicone tubing with a decent gear train, and it is not unreasonable to say that this little "toy" was the product of some very decent engineering. Lots of salvageable, "other function" parts in that little gadget!

[@chrisdado]

You should open a toy shop. 'Clive's Best Toys'.. All warranties pre-voided ;)

[@AgentTasmania]

Chris Dad Toys assured to teach your child about electricity

[@chrisdado]

@@AgentTasmania Sicko deviant alert

[@superdupergrover9857]

The cone is simply brilliant. The air that goes around the cone increases in velocity and therefore decreases in pressure, literally sucking the bubbles out from inside the cone on the way out. The slots? Don't know what they do exactly, but I guarantee you those holes are about getting the bubbles to behave properly.

[@mikecowen6507]

I'm going to say the slots are for "centering air" to keep the bubbles from sticking to the sides as they are ejected, which prevents making foam.

[@brianargo4595]

It would not surprise me one bit if the slots are there simply to decrease the adhesion of the film from the walls of the cone, so you don't end up with a foam pump.

[@NicDade]

The reduction gearing looks like it's designed to allow tuning of the liquid/air ratio.

[@bluef1sh926]

Only Big Clive starts a video about pink bubbly wand with words "it's a very clever device" 🤣

[@rich1051414]

It actually is quite clever inside, though, weirdly enough.

[@SueBobChicVid]

This was the best 10 minutes of my day. Thank you.

[@NanoCottage]

I wonder if you could combine this with a smoke machine to make smoke filled bubbles by letting the fan draw it in?

[@bigclivedotcom]

You do get bubble machines that fill the bubbles with smoke. This one might not work so well because it has a high outer airflow.

[@PsiQ]

...or butane gas.. and a laser..

[@ajuc005]

@@PsiQ one of the funniest (and most dangerous) experiments is hydrolysis of soap+water solution and then burning the bubbles

[@Stoic_Lizard]

Facinating. Who knew a bubble blower could be so interesting in design. I didn't think there was much potential to be creative in designing one of these things, but here ya go.

[@robstorms]

Very clear Clive. Please do the double slit experiment next.

[@xenonram]

Throw some 14500 Li-ion batteries in it. I bet it'll really produce.

[@flytrapjohn]

Do you think Clive will do this modification?

[@evensgrey]

@@flytrapjohn That depends on how bored he is and how much he wants to get another video out that day.

[@flytrapjohn]

@@evensgrey 👍

[@StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

This sounds like a fun project. You'd probably want to remake the gear that drives the pump, and heatsink the motor, but it sounds doable. ...Or you could just make sure the batteries stay happy and see how bad of a seizure the mechanism has. Either way's fun.

[@MadHatter123456]

I always imagine a big, bearded fella wandering inside the dollar-store and buying kids toys :)

[@peterg.8245]

I wanna see the behind the scenes with Big Clive running through his garden playing with the cats. Just add pink tutu and some flashing RGB and there’s a new beard club mascot. Also insert joke about salty black licorice...

[@rimmersbryggeri]

I believe we used to make the liquid from water washing up liquid and glycerin.

[@bdf2718]

Clive has plenty of that to make his own nicotine-free e-liquid.

[@thadgiannetti790]

Backup bubble wand to top of prepper list

[@bren106]

*A loose community of (mostly) grown-arse men watching a video about a child's bubble making toy. And the strange thing about it is none of us see it as strange behaviour.*

[@charlesdorval394]

Sounds about right. hehehehe

[@MrThomasisashit]

I've just watched it with subtitles..and none of it made sense...its was still brilliant. Goodnight all.

[@Shiruvan]

someone adult actually designed and produced it mkay

[@josephcote6120]

I may have no choice about growing old, but I'll never grow up.

[@bren106]

@@josephcote6120 Me too, as long as my daughter continues to tell me "grow up father" I'll know I'm on the right path.

[@ElectroXa]

I love when you reverse engineer toys 😂 thumbs up👍 👍

[@TR2000LT]

*toys*

[@suckitnsee9996]

That's an impressive little bubble machine! Time to supercharge it! 😉

[@Kalanchoe1]

must run it on the mains!

[@suckitnsee9996]

Hand held smoke machine, only works once! Haha

[@TerriblyCinemaddict]

We need Big Clive "Brute force and Ignorance" merchandise. LOL

[@wolfgangmcq]

Big Clive "X-Ray" brand hammer...

[@whitehoose]

When I was a boy my Nan topped me up with Stardrops or a couple of drops of fairy. Stardrops was thinner but made better bubbles and didn't burn your eyes quite as badly when you headed the bubbles. Happy days!

[@RFC3514]

If you run out of "bubble fluid" and don't have access to exotic lubricants, dish soap + glycerine works fine (if you get the mix right, you can even make bubbles that will land on your hands without popping).

[@johnpossum556]

JOY dishwashing soap and glyerine work especially well. I made some gargantuan bubble rings out of some wire inserted into turned chair legs for my niece and nephew. They had loads of fun with that!

[@mariabbentancourt4097]

Which is the mix?

[@RFC3514]

Depends on the type of soap; experiment.

[@ZebbMassiv]

That would be pretty cool if you could take apart four of these wands , 3d print a housing, bigger battery bank and larger fluid tank so you could attach it to a bicycle.

[@Dius276]

Thank you for this break down. All the princesses will be happy!

[@DubiousEngineering]

I just had a magnificent lunchtime break ... enjoying the tear down of a bubble wand and resting on the Bed in the back of my freshly DIYed camper van... thanks 🙏Clive!! :-)

[@duchi882]

*I'm a grown up* But I still find the urge to play with these

[@dextrodemon]

bubbles are often recommended for mindfulness, they have an almost universal appeal if one can get over doing something silly.

[@hughbrackett343]

I hadn't thought about it before but blowing bubbles with a regular wand requires you to control your breathing and focus on what you're doing.

[@sugar_cube_tootsies1136]

Torc Handsomeson yup

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

I'm often impressed by the engineering that goes into inexpensive toys. Ultimately, the margins are razor-thin, so they're betting they can sell enough units to recoup the up-front engineering, moldmaking, etc. I'm sure they'd love to have more reliable payoffs, but it seems the nature of the business is you have to risk a lot of money and hope for the best.

[@brettsuydam]

Such a cool looking cat!

[@pesho9971]

The return line is not only for returning liquid,its also used as a breather tube for the reservouir so that it doesn't get under vacuum since the seal is airtight

[@Milamberinx]

I was looking for someone saying that. It's the multi-purpose fan driven tank return tube!

[@cherrieaulait]

Interesting machine, personally I've always got on better doing it the old fashioned way... open it up, get a hold of the long stick & dip it in quickly to cover it in the bubble juice, pull it back out again & then just gently blow it outside in the garden until every last drop has been released... get some funny looks from the neighbours mind! 😂

[@flytrapjohn]

Genius design I wonder how big this could be made. Thanks for sharing Clive.

[@phayzic4039]

Hes forever blowing bubbles, and not the michael jackson kind.

[@Shaun.Stephens]

I'm sure that the three slots are for introducing more air into the bubble generator. Also I don't think that second pipe is primarily a return pipe. I think it's main purpose is to stop a vacuum forming in the reservoir and in fact even introduce some positive pressure to aid the peristaltic pump. That it doubles as a return pipe is just a bonus.

[@levigoldwing1536]

J-lube is a man's best friend. With the right mix....fun time is anytime

[@demoniack81]

BigClive the type of guy to have a backup bubble wand.

[@AcornElectron]

Waitrose? You’re making too much KZbin money Clive, you’ve lost touch with the common man 😂🤣

[@bigclivedotcom]

I did feel out of place. Ironically the local supermarket (Shoprite) is a hybrid that sells brand name stuff for normal people, Waitrose stuff for the rich people and Iceland stuff for the trash like me.

[@Sigira0]

@@bigclivedotcom you're no trash Clive. You'd better believe it ;-)

[@martinpickard6043]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@Milamberinx]

One person's trash is another's treasure.

[@MrHack4never]

At first I thought that this was powered by lighter gas, good to see that they use an safer design

[@bigclivedotcom]

Hmmm. Fire bubbles!

[@mgunter]

who needs a laser to play with a cat when you have 'fucking bubbles'

[@StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

You have mastered reverse clickbait, and it works. KZbin feed was all like, "HARDEST METAL ON EARTH" "FORGING SOLID GOLD WHOAMGBBQ" "This bubble wand's kinda neat."

[@VariXx]

I wasn't expecting to see this but I'm not disappointed.

[@eidodk]

This will be my go-to excuse in the future.. "I don't know, i used brute force and ignorance"

[@hydrocarbon8272]

I'm certain that cone is creating a venturi effect (reverse). The faster-flowing air outside the cone drops air pressure there, so the bubble is formed from the higher pressure inside. Once the bubble passes the slots it fills the bubble further (like NACA ducts), possibly suctioning the next bubble too. A carburetor works in reverse [air direction] to pull fuel into the cone, but this thing has a pump to overcome pressure created from reverse flow.

[@singeslayer8367]

Cats enhance every big clive video they appear in!

[@Fifury161]

0:33 - "it's an interesting thing, let's take it to bits", for a moment I thought you were talking about the cat!

[@bdf2718]

He wasn't?

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Very interesting. Viewed this only because I wanted to see how the bubbles were formed - very ingenious concept indeed :-)

[@hanneko3389]

Big Clive taking something to bits, a cat, jlube, and fisting references all in one video. My life is now complete.

[@siralexander3359]

what a cute kitty ^w^

[@TR2000LT]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@denniswoycheshen]

I found a bubble gun that works much the same but is completely manual. It has batteries for some stupid LEDs, but the pumping action of the trigger makes a small pump work to bring the liquid up to the "wand". Excess liquid just drips down directly into the container. But yeah these are neat devices. :)

[@alexmarshall4331]

Clive..forever blowing bubbles..pretty bubbles in the air👍💎👜

[@jaylittleton1]

The works appear small enough to conceal behind an ample beard. Naw, that would just be frivolous.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'm not sure that a bubble machine directly in the vicinity of your eyes would be a good idea from a soap ingress perspective.

[@jaylittleton1]

@@bigclivedotcom Yes, one would need mind the wind. I wonder how "no tears" baby shampoo would do to make bubble solution?

[@jaylittleton1]

And now I've had the thought of a unit beneath a kilt.

[@mikecowen6507]

@@jaylittleton1 Ah, now the solution found under a kilt is sometimes called "miracle suds". When mixed in the proper environment, it has been known to produce tiny humans.

[@Murgoh]

Now I'll have to get one of these AND a kilt. I already have a bagpipe.

[@gustavgnoettgen]

Interesting! So much effort but not too much... interesting balances inside that thingus

[@southwestkittyit]

So clever. I totally appreciate this as well ☺

[@hayleyb.3454]

These things are a plague at Disneyland Paris (went last weekend). Was really curious how the heck they worked. Thanks for reading my mind!!

[@hughieandrolf]

Fascinating "...I bought one as a backup" As one would expect of any item of mission critical technology. ;-)

[@6F6G]

A kitty with a tail on the Isle of Man? Must be a tourist.

[@boonedockjourneyman7979]

You are a genius. After watching this three times, I can't stop laughing. Well done.

[@xeroinfinity]

very neat design. thanks for sharing the bits

[@reposhizz]

I'm (mostly) a chemical engineer. The slats are for, I believe, a sort of critical volume assistant-not the technical term. Essentially the slats have to be close enough that the surface tension-of a small bubble(important)-can catch more air and grow beyond the critical volume. It's basically the same reason that raindrops are-from initial, mathematical observation-technically impossible. It's due to the power of 2 vs. Power of 3 relationship of area vs volume.

[@TattiePeeler]

I like the idea that someone sat down and designed this toy with CAD software of some sort. A few hours, a day or two ..?

[@UKMonkey]

To get the ratio of the gears of bet it's had a few iterations... And more than a couple of days. And if they're selling them in waitrose (a supermarket aiming at premium goods) then they won't be sold cheap...

[@TattiePeeler]

@@UKMonkey, I was just thinking that, after posting. Someone had to CNC the reverse molds for injection molding, then quality control, EU safety standards for the plastics and paint etc. Designer for the outer packaging, branding.. I wonder are there, 'asset packages' for toy makers, like say, for designing games in the Unreal engine. Just pick what you need and integrate it to your product. This is occupying my thoughts more than I'd care to admit.. 😁

[@psammiad]

Love how unfazed you cat is. Good grief I bet she's seen some things that'd make your toes curl.

[@Ash-cc6om]

I appreciate you making content. Don't stop. Thank you

[@RWBHere]

For those who grew up in Britain, with complete innocence, and who are old enough to remember - Bill and Ben bathing: Bill: 'Flubalubalub!' Ben: 'Ahh, yes; it _is_ half past seven!'

[@sparkyprojects]

My guess is that it operates like this: Air makes small bubbles in the bottom of the cone, once a bubble is big enough and high enough up the cone, the slots come into play to further inflate that bubble, the air on the outside make the bubble release as it forms a vacuum over the top surface It would explain why the slots are equally spaced. The drain comes into action whan there's an excess or whn the device stops.

[@arfski]

Bubble solution?! When I was a kid, it was Morrisons washing up liquid!

[@Godzilla941]

My mind has gone from "oh wow, a carburetor for bubbles!" to "I wonder if this can be turned into a flamethrower" with the appropriate plastic-compatible volatile flammable liquid and the addition of a high-voltage "Ignitor module" on the front... >:-}

[@evensgrey]

The moment I saw it in action I thought "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" This thing looks and operates about as much like the Mini Moon Stick from Sailor Moon as both the laws of physics and the laws of trademark allow.

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Great video Clive

[@saiskanda]

Can we get a bloopers compilation video sometime? 😛

[@charlespatt]

I can't imagine this being first designed to be a toy. I more expect someone designing some sort of medical device then thinking "hey, my kid could use this to make bubbles".

[@jesseasher7520]

I think this should be upgraded. I think its capable of producing more bubbles at a higher speed!

[@stewartcaldwell5299]

My guess is that the slots operate as a pneumatic regulator between the cone and the outer channel (which acts as a "waste gate").

[@kwils6685]

I think it's funny, most people would have never heard of JLube before but some people (not veterinarians) would be thinking "Wow it can be used to make good bubbles too?"

[@TheFlyingBusman]

Big Clive is like a box of chocolates. You just never know what you’re going to get next.

[@boarder2k7]

It looks like the slots allow air in after the bubble has started to speed formation of the larger bubbles. If it relied solely on the small hole at the bottom they would take much longer to form than how it appeared to work in your garden.

[@750kv8]

I can see the planned weak point of this cunstruction. The motor isn't sealed at all, its shaft goes through a large hole, so every time the button is pushed, the liquid gets onto it instantly. It's meant to fail very soon.

[@nachodadsgarage1159]

I just bought one of these for my kid last weekend and love it. Now that I can see how it works I want to put an atomizer on the air intake and see if I can make one blow vape bubbles.

[@SilverTopFlyer]

it was a long hard day I hope you are feeling better. like you said ....things will be ok