Electricity Saving Box Scam (The WORST I've Seen) - Krazy Ken's Tech Talk

[@ComputerClan]

Enjoy the new episode! More rare & retro tech and scam-busting coming soon! Subscribe and stay tuned. 🔔

[@FlaminXred]

9:20 | "so i went ahead and bought one, just kidding, i bought two." You bought 3!!!!!

[@ComputerClan]

@EricPlayz I’ll gladly shout you out for $100, if you’re serious. Throw it at my Ko-fi or Patreon. ko-fi.com/computerclan Patreon.com/KrazyKen

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

If you get a lot of comments from people complaining that you cover stuff others have already done, not all of us even know who all of those other people are, not all of us are in deep in the tech Tube side of this platform (I just made that term up on the fly, lol). I watch your channel as more of edutainment and as such, I'm not really seeking out other similar channels because this isn't a genre I'm passionate about. So, as my only point of reference, I appreciate you doing these videos, even if "so and so already talked about it!" 😊

[@Amorousstake4]

@@ComputerClan Refrigerators nowadays use "DC MOTORS" after a full bridge rectifier and get a 5 star energy rating, consuming less than 50 watts

[@ComputerClan]

@@Amorousstake4 Super! That makes the Electricity Saving Box even MORE useless! My fridge is from 1998, so I believe it's still AC.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

As a general rule of thumb, if Nikola Tesla is mentioned in the marketing material and you are not buying an electric motor that runs on AC, it's guaranteed bs

[@Derekzparty]

I dunno ... If they only mention Nikola and are selling electric vehicles it could also be a scam

[@QualityDoggo]

or something wireless

[@dogwalker666]

Exactly

[@marcogenovesi8570]

​@@Derekzparty Yes, both Nikola and Tesla car manufacturers are scams

[@iwinrar5207]

@@QualityDoggo like Verizon wireless.

[@VraerynDaDragon]

"These KZbinrs already covered that!" Never understood why people would actually say this. Are KZbinrs not allowed to talk about the same thing? Unless someone is being plagiarized I don't see how multiple people talking about one thing is a problem.

[@SavvySage]

As I see it: Plagiarism and “Putting your own spin on it” are two different things.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

If it's a scam, the more the merrier, spread the word

[@ComputerClan]

I just put those scenes in there so I have ammunition for when people say "XYZ already covered this." Believe me. I STILL get those comments. x_x I don't really care because engagement is engagement, but the ammo is nice. : D

[@johnandrews9433]

@@ComputerClan wouldn’t it just be easier to say you’ve run out of ideas and want to milk some rehashed content that worked for other creators?

[@cznyx]

“Simmons already did it”

[@TheHoaxHotel]

90% savings? Pathetic, I need a 200% savings minimum.

[@astupidmidge]

Save so much, your costs become your Income. I don’t know logic

[@theussmirage]

This product is such a scam, a simple backyard nuclear reactor produces so much electricity that you can sell it back to the power company and achieve 5000% savings!

[@Ulven3829]

You will only save 200% when you have picked up your BMW I8. 😉

[@AustynSN]

Along the lines of O2's thinking, but more serious, an overabundance of solar panels gets you there.

[@gasper5223]

Heatpump gang😎😎

[@jonathanX01]

Fun Fact: Power companies will actually encourage you to save power. The reason is that if so many people use too much power, the power plant may have a hard time keeping up, which will lead to power outages so they would have to build a new power plant to keep up. Which that is a pain, the cost to build a new power plant would be way too expensive, plus they will have to find a location as you can't really place power plants all willy nilly. The state I am from, the power company will actually provide residents a free power saving kit. Which will often include free light bulbs, a free power strip, and a few other things that will help save you electricity.

[@Alex_Vir]

Also reduced loads over cables will let them last longer which means less costs in repairs.

[@TheRogueWolf]

There was a typo in the promotional materials. Instead of "fireproof", it was meant to read "fire proof", as in, evidence that it burned your house down.

[@volvo09]

😆

[@nathanmead140]

👍

[@roxcyn]

😆

[@denisdeslauriers7277]

Well, they should say "fool proof", which would garantee that only fools would buy this... :)

[@TobyFloof]

How u have so many subscribers

[@prinzlunas1904]

"other creators have covered the product". You are the first one that got recommended to me and the first one i am watching because of it.

[@batterybroken]

I knew this felt scammy right away 😞 my mom just bought some. I’m hoping she can return them asap and not lose her money. The box on one side says “save electricity- save money- make money!” THREE TIMES on just _one side_ I lost it 😂💀

[@mrunknown1019]

Whenever you hear a sales pitch like, "This is what your power company doesn't want you to know.", that is the red flag. Power companies will always back you using a device that will save power. There are devices on the market that will help you to save power, however their cost exceeds the benefit. There is one that sells for around $5,000 and some have been sold in Hawaii, and in Alaska where power costs are much higher than in the lower 48 states.

[@ross-carlson]

THIS. Scams like this work as they pray on the uneducated and conspiracy theories out there as they love the idea that they are smarter or know something the rest of us don't - even better when that something is known/controlled by a large company or the government. As these conspiracy theorists have been lied to and scammed for so long by people that know exactly what they are doing, you know people like T***p and the rest of the GQP, that they just believe it as they want - no need - to feel like they are better, superior, smarter. No wonder that most of these people also tend to be racist extremists.

[@BaconKingOfficial]

I don't recommend the "power saving" box. It almost burnt down my grandparent's house. In July or august 2020 at around 4 am the box started smoking and a few minutes later my pillow dropped and my uncle woke up and saw smoke coming from behind the TV. And my grandpa found out it was the power saving box. 0/10 Useless and almost killed my family because it started smoking out of nowhere. If my pillow didn't fall on the ground I probably wouldn't exist anymore.

[@Smaxx]

Wouldn't even expect it to have that power, i.e. all it could do is produce magic smoke. But then again that capacitor might be special in its own way…

[@3rdalbum]

Impossible. The website says it is fireproof! 😝

[@blakksheep736]

Yipes...

[@blakksheep736]

@@3rdalbum Now that you mention it.

[@blakksheep736]

@@Smaxx maybe the smoke was from the burning plastic.

[@mybootscamewithoutstraps]

Other KZbinrs may have covered this topic, but when I went to go searching for how these devices are a scam, I found your video first and therefore this is the first time I'm even hearing about them. I really hate the whole notion of somebody else. Already covered a topic as if to say that nobody else should talk about it with a different perspective.

[@DeeSpriggs]

I know UVLen didn't cost much, but I think that was marginally more scummy than this box, just because it was giving people a false sense of security that they were protecting themselves and their loved ones from infection.

[@thedarkdragon89]

Oh yeah, medical scams are just straight up evil.

[@blakksheep736]

I feel you. There are scams and there are scams, but when you are putting lives at risk for a quick buck, then we REALLY have problems.

[@benewgillian6823]

Evil..

[@InceRumul]

Classic quackery at its finest: 1. Start with a legitimate scientific principle. 2. Take it completely out of context while reminding consumers of how it CAN be useful. 3. Completely ignore how accurate quantification of the principle is critical to achieving its benefits. 4. Use steps 1-3 to resell some crap from aliBaba.

[@blakksheep736]

Not just Alibaba. I watch a lot of pseudoscience debunking for fun, and so I've seen all sorts of things be pushed over this model.

[@efficiencygaming3494]

10:03 That appears to be a misspelling of "spike buster", a term synonymous with "surge protector". It seems to be commonly used to describe fake power-saving scam devices like this.

[@dafoex]

Literally never heard the term "spike buster" before, but I guess they have to use something impressive sounding and just different enough to not be totally alien, since I imagine most people are at least familiar with the term "surge protector" even if they don't know anything more than the name itself.

[@sketchpalosotherchannel]

I just found one of these things at a thrift store, I told the manager what it was and luckily they removed it from the floor. No innocent shoppers will be scammed on my watch!

[@spudd86]

Actually depending on the light it may not be changing brightness. High quality LED lights use better power supplies to provide continuous current and incandescent bulbs just stay hot enough through the change in current to not really change in brightness.

[@volvo09]

You can see an incandescent light flicker on a good slow motion camera... But it is minor compared to a crappy led light.

[@louistournas120]

You can also use your hand. Just wave your hand around and you can see if the LED light is flashing. Cheap LED lights for the home are lightweight while the ones with a good power supply have more weight to them. Incandescent bulb flashing is harder to detect. In our physics lab, we had a spectrum analyzer and this device was fast enough to measure the emitted light fluctuations.

[@Webleys]

@@louistournas120 The strobe disc foran LP turntable works best on fluorescent light but it does work on incandescent light.

[@ragingfred]

There was an identical product for your car called fuel shark and it claimed the exact same things. You plug it into the cigarette lighter and it's supposed to smoothen the alternator output to make it more efficient and take less power from the engine meaning you get more fuel efficiency. When you open it up it's just some LEDs and a capacitor. Exact same thing.

[@jamesedwards282]

I did what you said, I plugged one of these into every socket in my house, now the power company is paying me $200 a month.

[@Smokeweed420]

I'm saying it Bullshat total lie. Screen shot the return bill.

[@jangamecuber]

@@Smokeweed420 It's a joke

[@jamesedwards282]

@@jangamecuber 👍

[@2321kenb]

200 back from electric company? Dude, your doing it wrong... what i did was sell my unused power to both my neighbors instead back to electric company, and now im making 398 bucks a month.. they said the things were scams too but shhh dont tell them. Lol

[@happypants19851]

Imagine how I (an electrician) felt when my mom told me she had bought one of these 😂

[@raven4k998]

the black box is the cockpit voice recorder🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CupwakeRBLX]

@@raven4k998 as an aviation enthusiast. that put a smile on me face.

[@raven4k998]

@@CupwakeRBLX excellent have fun👍👍

[@CupwakeRBLX]

@@raven4k998 lol

[@BetweenArt2011]

I've checked it because my Mom wanted 3 of those ;) - good thing is, that she knows "ask son first"... "on the website they said 90%.... and electricity companies want to ban them"... :D

[@hgbugalou]

There can never be enough videos exposing scams.

[@uzaiyaro]

I love the words “up to.” I can be up to 99% capable of taking jumping and smacking my head on the moon. Considering “up to” is a number which includes 0.

[@justsomeguy2743]

technically you can save upto 90% savings because 0% is still in this range

[@nimblehealer199]

That...... Actually makes sense.

[@JaredConnell]

Actually the led would cost money to run, even if it's a fraction of a cent per year it would cost you money, not save it

[@justsomeguy2743]

@@JaredConnell stop using logic we’re trying to scam people 😂

[@blakksheep736]

Note that one of the comments said their bills went _up_ by using the product lol.

[@justsomeguy2743]

@@blakksheep736 shhhhhh stop spreading the truth

[@RubyRose2077]

i just found this channel after my dad bought one of these for 20 bucks........down the freaking drain..... you're video style is AMAZING, so technical and you cover EVERY claim the scam videos talk about. i love this so much. SUBSCRIBED.

[@himynameisryan]

There was a device that actually reduced OVER 100% of my electrical bill. It’s called solar, and I’m in Australia so there’s lots of sun. In summer we get around $80 back selling our surplus power to the grid.

[@blakksheep736]

Pog. Sounds fun.

[@kevinwong_2016]

Spam?⚠️👎

[@josephfrechette9916]

Solar was catch on in the US. Then electric companies realized all the extra power put back into the grid would drive costs down. So several companies stopped buying back the electricity and started charging a "minimum bill"

[@zh84]

It reminds me of a scam product sold in Britain during the 1980s which claimed to cut your telephone bill by 100%! The box contained a pair of scissors with which you were to cut the wire of your telephone. I hope they were insulated (telephone circuits in that period carried, I think, 50V) but it would certainly have worked. After a fashion.

[@georgeyreynolds]

I don't remember any telephone wires with 50v in the 1980s. When did that stop ?

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@georgeyreynolds “In the United States, the voltage applied to the line to drive the telephone is 48 volts DC; the UK use 50 volts DC and on some modern exchanges the voltage can reach 60 volts.”

[@batterybroken]

That’s kind of funny. At least the product would have worked! 😭

[@dieseldragon6756]

@@kaitlyn__L My (UK) landline gives a reading in the range of 60-68v when I measure it at the test socket with nothing connected, despite having no service. This isn't to be unexpected in my area though; I'm on the opposite end of town from the exchange, a local multiplexor was installed to cover my side of town about 12 years ago, and then Openreach moved the lines onto estate DSLAMs that they fitted as part of the national broadband upgrade project. tl,dr; My copper now runs about 200m to an FTTC cabinet, then it's all fiber from that point on. Surprised they don't drop the voltage down to 50v at the DSLAM though...

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@dieseldragon6756 yeah that seems set for a few miles of voltage attenuation. I dunno if they can’t do it on a per-connection basis (since FTTC involves a ton of tiny DSLAMs), or just choose not to. A house half a mile or a mile away might get something a little more reasonable. I once lived 50-100m from an FTTC cabinet, never thought to measure the voltage.

[@jad.george]

The worst part with that product is the power rating at 30000W (30kW)🤣 The whole thing would melt instantly!!! 30kW means almost 100A from the outlet🤣 I could power the whole building (2 floor with 6 apartments each)!!

[@langolier9]

This is what happened I had to choose between listening to you and cleaning my room and being hungry versus eating and watching TV and I chose to clean my bedroom just so I could listen to you and now my room is mostly clean. You are a miracle worker.

[@dingopisscreek]

The best invention for saving electricity is already here. It is called The Off Switch.

[@dafoex]

And they are built into every socket! At least, they are here

[@lotuselansteve]

@@dafoex You must be in the UK :-)

[@TheGlitchyMario]

So… it saves electricity… by using electricity…?

[@araigumakiruno]

i used the electricity to save the electricity

[@TheGlitchyMario]

@@araigumakiruno yes

[@troy3456789]

To save money you have to spend money.

[@vishwesh_nh]

Just pay to pay even more I guess...

[@ryanrenolds]

Yes

[@blueberry1c2]

Installing solar panels on your property is honestly the way to go for reducing energy bills without reducing your energy usage. Could even generate income if your provider allows you to sell power to the grid.

[@graealex]

I think many North Americans have potential to first save on consumption, without losing anything. Although EU laws already made a lot of devices more energy conscious. Anyway, electricity in the US is way too cheap for people to consider saving, or installing solar.

[@bills6093]

Cali has postponed the vote, but they were going to charge rooftop solar owners an $8 per KW "grid participation charge", and reduce rooftop solar incentives. They will get their money one way or another.

[@graealex]

@@bills6093 That's fucked up. But as I said, your electricity in the US is way to cheap to make PV - to make even just saving on for example new appliances - attractive. From what I gather, here in Germany, electricity cost per kWh are triple. I can't even fathom why you'd install PV on your own roof if a kWh is only around 10 cents. Here, me buying a new fridge is something you can calculate, and know that it will take only a few years until you have 100% amortized the cost of that new fridge through electricity savings.

[@NeekSquad]

Solar panels work less when they get to hot

[@graealex]

@@NeekSquad You are right, but generally hot climate is hot because there is more sunshine on average, and because there is less precipitation. That plus more than accounts for the loss in efficiency. A solar panel in Texas will always produce more kWh per year than let's say here in Germany.

[@TheAussieRepairGuy]

Before smart meters in Australia "some people" would run devices (usually a combination of AC motors and hulking great big capacitors) to make the power meters run backwards. Smart meters compensate for power factor nowdays.

[@plzletmebefrank]

... someone needs to make a documentary on this. That sounds pretty cool, honestly.

[@TheAussieRepairGuy]

@@plzletmebefrank nah it's not that interesting. Disrupting power factor is literally the principle that made old meters work. Most of the time peoole got it wrong and made the meter run faster. Took a bit of skill to make it go backwards. A hulking big rare earth magnet on top of the meter was much more simple and would just slow or stop it. Power companies got jack of that and invented smart meters, that can even pick if you are tapping power before the meter using earth leakage detection.

[@AmaroqStarwind]

If you really want to save power… paint your roof in Barium Sulfate cooling paint, and use a proper heat pump instead of a forced air furnace.

[@zaptainkuboom5520]

Just got an ad this morning for the (not kidding) Blaux Bidet. "Blaux Bidet is set to change all that. With a powerful nozzle that is guaranteed to do the job, the Blaux Bidet will be your #1 way to #2. It’s clean. It’s gentle. It’s eco-friendly. And right now it’s available for an amazing deal." Would love to see you test it out.

[@kbhasi]

Oh I used to see those for sale at random neighbourhood mall bazaars and kiosks, and I'd think to myself how I wanted multiple, but shortly thereafter I'd realise that something was off about those, and not buy them. Great to see your take on them!

[@TheEulerID]

A special call out for the horrendous solder joints on the capacitor flying leads @11:42.

[@genepezzulo]

A small correction: reactive power is not directly increasing the energy drawn from the power plant source, instead it's a problem because it increases losses during transport. The out-of-phase current flowing in the conductors is not doing any work in your house, but it heats up the conductors between the house and the power plant.

[@sarahwegmann7345]

I saw an ad on this video that " improves vision " and "will break the eyesight industry" and they drag out a video with "reviews" but at the bottom of the page it said this is not a real eyesight improvement method.

[@theoldone22]

Just so you're aware there are a few places in the EU that residential users are charged extra if the power factor is to low. Even in those instances adding a random capacitance with one of those "Electricity Saving Box" is unlikely to help, it needs to be matched to the load.

[@jonathanalcocer3872]

Yeah, you basically need an actually intelligent capacitor bank that monitors the power factor and connects or disconnects capacitors to match the load, but for homes it's usually not worth, quality electronics usually have it's own power factor correction built in.

[@dogwalker666]

This is why the energy companies are pushing smart meters so they can charge you for Max Demand just as they do to industry, A true PFC control has inductance as well as capacitive.

[@WolfGamerBohumin]

@@dogwalker666 You don't even need smart meter for that, an ordinary dumb digital meter can do that.

[@dogwalker666]

@@WolfGamerBohumin the meters we have before the smart meters are straight analogue watt meters no electronics, the industrial max demand version have a physical pointer, They are using the smart meter con to fit electronic meters that can measure the power factor.

[@DickCheneyXX]

The overwhelming majority of home loads are purely resistive. It would take a conscious effort to get your power factor bellow 0.95 in a normal residential setting. You would have to have an automated system to bypass or use an array of capacitors for it to make even a tiny difference.

[@THE_MEGA_KNIGHT_2]

I have something like this, and I looked at it and thought it was a router, and when I took one out and really looked at it, i didn't know what it was meant to do, so now I'm going to question my grandma of why she bought these and if she knows what these things even are

[@macbuff81]

These types of scams never seem to go out of date. It's the PC version of those supposed fuel savings devices for cars. Mythbusters did a great episode on that one

[@lukeforehand8311]

Myth busters are sponsored and accountable to those with money. They claimed an open tailgate didn't affect gas mileage. I know, from experience over many years, that is not true. These "KZbinrs" are looking clicks. It's all about the money.🤔

[@chris9413]

Hey Ken, Great video!! But one thing I’d like to add as an electrical engineer: the power factor only goes from 0 up to 1.

[@xXxmlg_vacxXx]

Considering it makes it go up more than 1 it will revert to -1

[@penzlic]

Gratest thing about this scam is that every couple of years they are alternating (hehe alternating) between "power saver" and "mosquito/vermin repellent device" with same effing thing, just different badge.

[@didikohen455]

I've seen ElectroBoom's video, and I also enjoyed yours for the overview of marketing and websites that are part of the scam, both of you approach it from different angles so it's not a repeat of the same, in my opinion.

[@WooShell]

I plugged one of those magical gas savers into my car, and - surprise - I didn't have to go to a gas station ever since then. The jury is still out on whether that's related to being an EV, but we'll see..

[@uzaiyaro]

This is legitimately probably the best video on how AC works. I try explaining it to friends who don’t really get the concept of what I to call Hertzian waves, but this video is a great primer. Good job!

[@troy3456789]

Keep up the good work. Also, mention that LEDs add consumption of energy. This device is a source of energy loss.

[@dogwalker666]

Exactly about 20mA

[@Wish13]

It got burned mentally and physically

[@rhodahart879]

Thank you so much for your easily understood explanations. Being 56, I'm ashamed to admit how little I understand. But, thanks to your examples and comparisons to everyday things, I now have a better understanding. God bless

[@Pillsburydopeboy]

Even though others do the same review, your twist on things never seems to disappoint me. Definitely keep it up!

[@felicityc]

I bought thirty of these and plugged them into every outlet in my home. I had to take some of them apart so they would fit on the same outlet since I had to plug some of them in upside down. I also bought two surge protectors and plugged more of them in. My electricity bill has lowered dramatically, but it is very dark, and my computer doesn't work for some reason, so I'm posting this on my phone. I also don't know how to charge it anymore.

[@liamcollinson5695]

I love how one of the companies used eco in its name even though it is a useless block of plastic that will just end up in the bin

[@uzaiyaro]

I’m fairly sure the resistors are just for the LED power supply. Interesting they don’t even have any diodes, so they’re connecting those LEDs with resistors straight to the mains. That sounds nice and fire-provoking.

[@repairdroid77]

Just 50% Cycling the LED's. They illuminate during half of the sine wave power cycle. The resistors just dump the current down to allow the LED's to function without popping like firecrackers. In dumping the current down they convert the excess to heat.

[@apetersenTV]

At 3:33 I was expecting a, "More inconsistencies equal more red flags."

[@Sparkette]

I'm no car expert, but about that alleged gas-saving device, I know of one way it could actually potentially work, and that would be by functioning as a "defeat device" to disable or inhibit the car's emissions controls. Which would make the green "eco" label on the packaging pretty ironic.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I’m genuinely shocked it did anything at all. I mean I know it’s a scam, but wow it wasn’t an empty box, and it actually reduced energy by 100ma which is a real surprise even though it’s useless.

[@blakksheep736]

Yes. I wouldn't have been even kinda surprised if all the thing did was make its LEDs turn on.

[@redneckpyromania6965]

Just opened up one the other night same thing my aunt came over to my dad's house raving about it haha

[@Dragonorder18]

I've found one of those in the house a couple weeks back. Had to check it out, and saw by another channel that It was a terrible scam box alright. I never would of bought it myself on common sense. But family doesn't always follow common sense...

[@raven4k998]

what did you do to it burn it with a blow torch I hope🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@rogerhewettmusic]

This is the first episode of your channel I've watched. I discovered it whilst reviewing the Powersaver, after an ad appeared for it on my FB feed. Well presented and informative approach. Educational too, on the electricity side of things. So...thank you very much!

[@MrMegaManFan]

I can't imagine a single one of these devices you've covered that ISN'T a scam. It's pretty much guaranteed if you review it, it is.

[@uplink-on-yt]

On the positive side, if I find myself in desperate need of two LEDs, four resistors, a capacitor and a power plug, this fits the bill (subject to the values of the resistors and of the capacitor)

[@AtrocityEquine01]

One way to know a product is a scam: "WE'RE UNDERMINING GREEPY CORPORATIONS"

[@blakksheep736]

The anti-establishent narrative is very profitable. I'll pay good money to see the next product be "invented" by Neo.

[@dafoex]

@Blakksheep That's why you should only trust extremists: all these other anti-establishment pretenders don't really want to upset the status quo! And I'm only being partly satirical!

[@californiadragyn]

What they meant to say was “We’re BECOMING a Creepy corporation!”

[@HotelPapa100]

What baffles me is that YT unscrupulously still runs ads for these scams.

[@danielrhouck]

I wish all the various “obvious scam” signals were more reliable. Yesterday I purchased a legitimate service from a legitimate company, with a legitimate countdown timer. It was a hotel room, and the countdown was for when they would assume I’d left the page and let others book the room, not for when a deal expires, but still. 5:44 I have LED lights; I don’t think they oscillate to the AC

[@Smaxx]

It really depends on how the internals are built. Some more expensive/elaborate lamps might include their own smoothing circuit to actually use somewhat proper DC to provide constant light, but that's typically not necessary, given due to the fact that it's typically not visible to the blank eye. Another way to test it is the stroboscope effect (especially with LED torchlights): Use the LED light to light up something rotating fast (like a PC fan). With the light shining on the fan, you might be able to see the fan in multiple positions at the same time and/or the fan actually spinning in the other direction (think of car wheels turning in some older TV shows while accelerating). The exact effect depends on the fan speed, the light's frequency etc. but it's definitely noticeable. It helps if there's some colored label or sticker on the middle of the fan.

[@Liz_ArdE]

Signals work best when they are many, often having one doesn't mean that you're dealing with a scam. It's when you have a lot that you should go the other way. There are websites that are poorly formatted and are completely legitimate, there are services that have countdown timers that are completely legitimate, there are stores that have upsells that are completely legitimate, only having one isn't much of a red flag.

[@danielrhouck]

@@Liz_ArdE One of AtomicShrimp’s videos was about a specific scam (fake job offer and convincing you to buy equipment for the job with your own money given a promise of reimbursement) where *almost all* of the red flags had happened to me in a single instance and it was legit. There were just adequate reasons for all the red flags and other signs of being legit which weren’t present in the scam.

[@LJTobek]

In another review I've read about this device they x-rayed the black box, it's actually not a capacitor but just a dummy. The two conductors just ended in the black box (not connected obviously). Also sometimes there are more components in there (namely a varistor with some restistors) which could actually prevent voltage spikes, but really inefficient

[@deeppathak1806]

my relative bought from a offline sales person this 7 years ago I had one question how can something that consumes power itself from the mains save electricity

[@keithlevkoff8579]

I think I can tell you what the LEDs do... And it also explains the term spike buster and the picture on one of the websites you showed that seemed to show noise being removed from the line. In the audio industry there are similar little devices whose purpose is to filter noise on the power lines... These consist of a little box with one or two LEDs on them that you plug into an outlet. The capacitor is a simple filter - across the AC line - and will filter high frequency noise that originates from outside or from other equipment that you have plugged in. And, since the LEDs are connected in series with the capacitor, or something similar, they will flash if significant noise is being filtered. (The description suggests that these devices "harvest the noise and burn it off as harmless light".) They are sold with the intention of reducing noise that might adversely affect sensitive audio gear... and may actually help in that regard... if you have a noise problem. But they are NOT claimed to "reduce your electric bill". It looks like these guys may be using the same internal circuitry... But they've garbled the explanation of what it does... or just done a bad job of stealing or translating it... And made completely outrageous claims to make it marketable to a general audience...

[@sysierius]

They are great for AC noise smoothing tho. I bought one just for my audio set.

[@endymallorn]

Okay, that’s a viable use-case, but wouldn’t any capacitor in series also work then?

[@sysierius]

@@endymallorn yes, but i don't want an ugly square box hanging out of my socket. And as he said: cheap on aliexpress. I have a bit beefier version tho, with two caps and a voltmeter build in.

[@tylertraina9480]

I was actually thinking about picking one up for that actually. I know high end audio companies that make similar products that are significantly more expensive

[@dogwalker666]

@@endymallorn parrallel not series.

[@dogwalker666]

@@tylertraina9480 I would not recommend it the build quality is appalling there is no internal fuseing and as the motor start capcitor is unbranded I wouldn't trust it to not explode.

[@Vanilla_Baker44]

3:49, perhaps it's a part of an mlm. People are told to buy something and resell it for cash. It totally works! (Sarcasm) hence we get different prices from different mlm people

[@wompastompa3692]

4:37 I thought we used AC because stepping up and down between high and low voltages in the early 1900s was trivial compared to DC. That paired with high voltage/low current transmission being more efficient due to less resistive losses through the cables.

[@Bob1997654321]

The high voltage, low current transmission is what allows the long distance. Granted he simplified it down to “it can go long distances”, but he had the right idea.

[@Homemadecable]

My grandfather a civil engineer has these he buys so much junk no wonder old people always get scammed

[@fletch6720]

I love these scam episodes keep them up

[@kevinwong_2016]

*hate *don't keep them up

[@fletch6720]

@@kevinwong_2016 but why though? he seems to really enjoy them, they seem to be really engaging for the audience, and they're super well done

[@nerdyboi121]

@@kevinwong_2016 if you’re joking, okey dokey if not, here’s your clown pass

[@Mr_Xaver]

I love the fact that at 1:56, the text even reads it will not mean that my energy usage will decrease nor resulting in changes to the meter. So they already tell you their claims are wrong

[@ThorMaxx]

Hey Ken, have you ever heard of Electronic Rust protection systems for cars? Smells like a scam to me… any interest in covering it?

[@12pagani]

I've heard of those but I seriously doubt they would work on a car. Now old warships and other floating museums actually use these to reduce galvanic corrosion due to the saltwater condition but the vessel is partially submerged IN the corrosive solution. A car is not typically submerged in the corrosive solution for the electrical field generators to be affective

[@plzletmebefrank]

Just saw this sort of scam pop up again in my ads.

[@DraveczFerenc]

Me too... Reported it to Google several times. Of course nothing happened. Obvious scam...

[@gustukas]

Love you Ken! Love the new intro background too :)

[@blodyholy_]

This was a very intuitive video with regards to how AC/DC current works; boiled down to a layman's perspective; product review aside. Thank you Ken!

[@janetkouns7800]

This sounded crazy and happy I found your channel. So glad there are people like you to share the truth about these products! Thank you.

[@denisdeslauriers7277]

Thank you for making this video. People require a refresher on this particular scam. I was working for an electrical utility, (in electricity metering!) and we've seen this come around and around time and time again. Kinda frustating.

[@stickylightning852]

Another excellent video. Your AC/DC was so awesome I will share it with my coworkers and save myself from multiple conversations!

[@martincoburn6522]

Love the video, and who cares if other channels have covered stuff you want to cover, I had never heard of those other guys and this is new news to me. Keep up the great work!

[@bluey-next777]

0:51 I miss the days where this SFX was used...

[@jojo-star]

“I am not as ballsy as electric boom”😂

[@Semmelein]

I really enjoy the way you take on these scam tech products - so please keep on reviewing them. Doesn't really matter if others have reviewed them too.

[@oystercatcher943]

Thanks for this. I burst out laughing when I see these obvious scams on YT. Adverts should allow comments. It’d be great fun!

[@maggie1014]

I bought 2 of them, of course I didn't check your place before, I laugh so hard at how gullible I am. Keep the good work

[@bryantan492]

I get alot of these power saver ads from YT. I keep reporting them for promoting a scam product but they still haven't taken them down. Why is youtube allowing this?!!!!

[@vinfinityremakerguy]

he is basically the captain disillusion of products: cd debunks fake videos (maybe a little doctored), and cc debunks fake (or atleast slightly scammy) products i love it

[@dandeson9723]

There is also a one "little" problem with these, capacitors cause a 90 degree shift in phase, if you aren't correction anything you are making your power factor worse.

[@Rangerman9404]

I saw an ad for this recently, I think it was on Facebook and my initial reaction was too good to be true

[@mohamhead9701]

The happy feeling you get about saving all that power lasts right up to the first power bill ☹️

[@ianwalker1182]

The reason power companies penalise poor power factor is not that the have to supply reactive "power", which does not exist, but that the reactive component is taking real current, which the generator must produce, and use larger cables, both of which cost more. If you consider a factory with a near 0 PF, they could be using almost no power, but the power company might have to provide 1000 A, and this current will have I^2R losses in the outside cables.

[@MundMoriginal]

I love that you have to ignore the logic hole this thing has, in order to believe in it. If there's additional energy wasted, detected in the circuit in your house, the energy was already wasted...

[@1crazypj]

I always wonder why no one has taken them to court for fraud?

[@plzletmebefrank]

It's probably the age old name game. Create several hundred bad trademarks and company names and just burn them as you get caught. Plus it generally helps to be in an entirely different country than the people they're scamming. Think about all the scammers in India, China, etc, scamming people in the U.S., Canada, U.K., etc. It's flipping hard to nail some random Chinese scammer group that's constantly changing their company name and trademarks putting up new sites and ads as the old ones get taken down and they never give a real address or names or anything proper you can actually track down... And plus the local government doesn't care as long as they're scamming some other nation's citizens.

[@plzletmebefrank]

So yeah. When you find a good way for me to somehow drag them to my country without causing an international incident, pay for the court fees without going bankrupt, actually find good evidence to pin them to the crime, and a way to get people's money back to them, let me know. But it's mostly just something that is gonna continue, probably even get worse over time.

[@CaptArgo24]

On the flip side, if it blows your fuse box, it's saving you electricity. But you might need to buy a new one

[@brucebaker810]

If you buy 2 and they save 50% each... save 100% at 90% each... Save 100%. Plus 80% BONUS ENERGY!

[@aaroncheah2088]

This item has been around for decades and very rampant in Malaysia too. Mostly sold at rural areas.

[@annoythedonkey]

Ever wonder why Google allows these scammy products to be advertised on those annoying ads?

[@Mark-eu5vy]

Calling out those who call out…before they call you out. I like your energy 😂

[@TbM]

Found your videos and must say you remember me of "Captain Disillusion", the part at the end when you ironically tell us that there is even more scam out there, the art-style of this video, and the detailed explanations with nicely animated clips...

[@avalonofbabylon3024]

I got an ad for this kinda thing a week ago safe to say this scam is never going away