Failed sensor light repair

[@jut20five]

Thank you Sir Dave of Savery Shire , you have made me sort out all of my tools and sheds. Everything is now ticketyboo . !!!

[@dsesuk]

Jolly glad to hear it old boy.

[@davidlewis4162]

Always have me in stitches 😂 wish my college tutor was this entertaining

[@dsesuk]

Thanks Trevor!

[@lammy2304]

Ahh a bit of electronic works takes me back to the good old days !! Top fault find and repair 👍

[@g7eit]

Bloody good job old farad. I wouldn’t have spotted that and it’s great to see tear down videos.

[@matthewbeddow3278]

Thank you for the video , I really appreciate the time you invest into the making of your videos, they are always entertaining. Its nice when you can repair something like a lamp or whatever, too many things these days are made with no thought for repairing them when they fail , its very much a throw away world. LED lamps are a good example of this, the manufacturers over run the LEDS to save a few pennies and so they fail prematurely , this is very much by design in my opinion because making a bulb that lasts years is not good for sales, even though they are more expensive than the old type bulbs.

[@Dog-whisperer7494]

David Savery that was absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed that, just go’s to prove that with a bit of thinking and knowledge It’s not hard to simply fix the problem. So it’s true you are the god they call David Savery. I would so love to spend a day or two with you I might even learn something as well as have a good fun time. Thank you so much for all your videos and keeping us entertained and up to date with every thing electrical. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍⚡️❤️❤️❤️🥇🥇

[@charlieecosta5592]

Watch out Big Clive, DSES is on the make! 😁

[@dsesuk]

I don't think my farty capacitor replacement puts me in his league!

[@dtec30]

always good to help mum and or dad out

[@chrisb4009]

Dave’s golden rule of fault finding, check voltages!

[@andrekidd6871]

A boring ,video! As you said , I still watched to the end ! Brilliant !

[@alantorrance6153]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="840">14:00</a> Polarity of old electro cap. You know which hole had the remaining wire. Also, you can examine the old cap to see what its orientation was. Hence "Bob's your uncle", without having to examine the board, other than for cleaning off the detritus that oozed out of the old cap.

[@90msg90]

Other frequently appearing failures of these (and similar devices) are the big cap for the capacitive dropper and the zener that sets the voltage for the relay's coil.

[@dsesuk]

Very interesting! I almost want another failure to come in now so I can have another crack at one!

[@90msg90]

@@dsesuk Yeah, unfortunately, when the zener fails open, usually the coil goes with it (due to excessive voltage), but when the failure is that the relay holds it's contacts closed for just a couple of seconds and the opens on it's own - it's the cap.

[@Graham_Langley]

That dropper cap would have been the first thing I'd have checked - Class X2 caps have a failure mode that causes them to slowly loose capacitance. I'm still puzzled as to why the supply reservoir cap failed the way it did.

[@sdgelectronics]

@@Graham_Langley excessive ripple current will cause rapid heating and failure

[@tormenting360]

Really enjoyed the video thank you. It's a shame this doesn't happen more often. We are living in a world where if something breaks it's easier to replace it. I always try fixing things before replacing... that sense of accomplishment is awesome. Didn't realise you had a background in electrics... Why not a history video... Before DSES was DSES lol

[@dsesuk]

It's not much of an electronics background to be fair, but it was a hobby of mine for years. Sadly, with the business I've no time for it and am now hopelessly out of practice with it all. I do attend a monthly 'repair cafe' though where a bunch of like minded volunteers attempt repairs on items brought in by the public. It might be worth seeing if there's something similar near you if tinkering is your game.

[@biscuitdog14]

Didn't know repair cafes were a thing, just enquired about volunteering myself, thanks for that

[@MysticShiv3r]

Cheers for the shout out mate! Very impressed with your fault finding & subsequent repair of the fitting. I'd have just fucked off to the wholesalers for a new one 😂

[@dsesuk]

Had the hangover been there, then that would have been my course of action too Tim!

[@TheEcorristine]

You remind me of myself, swearing at it always works and then doubting myself as to weather or not I reassembled every thing properly before taking it all apart again to find out that no, everything was just as it should be.

[@markyd2633]

Back of your head looks well......seeing as it had a belt from a crowbar........another good one thanks.........JW has competition

[@dsesuk]

I was wearing my safety McHat!

[@JustinCase136]

Another interesting video David, wouldn't mind seeing you fault finding on some more boards or whatever you come across in your travels 👍

[@Ghbarl]

Great videos David and great to see you at CEF Live. If my dog was farting like that I’d have him off to the vets!

[@ArcanePath360]

My outdoor light is also playing up at the moment. I went to wipe the PIR screen and it just broke from being so brittle. It's coming on and staying on, or going off briefly then coming straight back on again. They just don't make these things to last. My cat repeller water spray PIR has also packed up.

[@dsesuk]

Yeah, the plastic goes brittle outside over time. They could make it of sterner stuff, but then they wouldn't be able to sell you a new one!

[@ArcanePath360]

@@dsesuk Indeed. Manufactured to fail.

[@steverpcb]

@@ArcanePath360 It's like a feature called "designed wastage", that's why cornflake box's are tall, thin and don't seal, they are designed to fall over and spill whats inside :(

[@TheEcorristine]

Love your wrist wat h, used to have the exact same one. Great video, love tinkering around with stuff like this..

[@dsesuk]

The Casio calculator watch - with Databank! I wanted it in gold for the extra bling factor, but the wife bought it in silver. Never mind, still a great watch!

[@ek6868]

Good fault finding video david tanx for the upload,in your opinion what would cause a washing machine working perfectly fine for over two years suddenly starts to trip the breaker when switched on?

[@dsesuk]

Is it the breaker or an RCD/RCBO? A breaker is an overload fault such as a short circuit, where as an RCD is a fault to earth (possibly water or lint getting onto the electrics). An RCBO could be either!

[@ek6868]

@@dsesuk yes it's rcd that trips thanx david👍

[@dsesuk]

Ah, then look for water or lint getting where it shouldn't be, or damage to the insulation of the wiring, possibly around the cord grip! It could also be a fault with a component part that's not so obvious or serviceable of course.

[@mattduffy8420]

Top bloke good vid 👍🏻

[@BLOCKsignallingUK]

Thanks for sharing the fix. Sounded like 100Hz un-smoothed DC on the relay coil at the start of the vid.

[@ratbag359]

i call dropper cap or main filter

[@BLOCKsignallingUK]

@@ratbag359 It's the smoothing cap on the output of the rectifier, which means the DC is no longer smoothed and so appears a 100Hz full-wave rectified voltage.

[@dsesuk]

Had I thought about this vid instead of just spaffing it out due to the lack of a hangover, I could perhaps have placed my oscilloscope on it and shown what this was doing!

[@HIDLad001]

I am going to guess before you take it apart that it is a bad filter capacitor, which is making the relay chatter, or maybe a bad dropper capacitor.

[@pradolover]

OMG no wonder Nigel unleashed the crowbar, you're the kind of person who leaves the protective display film hymen on devices like your clamp meter. 😄

[@dsesuk]

I was looking at that yesterday and I thought I ought to tear it off, but I just can't bring myself to do it!

[@pradolover]

@@dsesukdeep breath rapid pull, just like a band aid. Great videos though loved you taking the piss or of Nigel calling him silly old goat etc 😆

[@lcook0825]

Actually quite interesting.

[@dsesuk]

Thank you Larry. It would have been quicker had I bothered to look closer at the discoloured area I spotted at the beginning!

[@jut20five]

BTW what is that watch you have on? Techmoan needs to have a look at that one !!

[@dsesuk]

Haha! My classic Casio Databank watch: amzn.to/2XPDigU - I wanted it in gold for the extra cheesy bling, but the wife bought it as a birthday present in silver. Still, great wrist-wear!

[@willford8475]

Dave: "Mummy, I've fixed the light" Mum: Dragging a Woodbine "Fack Orf you little weasel!"

[@dsesuk]

I didn't know you'd met my mother.

[@molsky13]

Hi david could you recommend a pir light one that is not shit thanks

[@supersparks9466]

You recovered quick from the Nigel crowbar

[@dsesuk]

I'm a double-hard bastard cyborg.

[@alantorrance6153]

One of the first good things to do after checking for bad solder joints (resolder them all), is to replace the electrolytic capacitors. Also, your earth connection is obviously floating free. Why?

[@JBE]

Nice to see you up and about after the smash over the head from Nigel.

[@dsesuk]

He belted the hangover clean out of me that day.

[@adamw225]

Hello Dave, can you give us an update is the light still going on your mums house or did it give up ?

[@NERTH247]

If you power on and off 3x goes in to test mode and out of test mode

[@ashmanelectricalservices4318]

Ahhh those love job's... If it was a paying customer, chuck it in the bin and fit a new light 😂😂😂

[@dsesuk]

Yeah, you wouldn't mess with it in the real world.

[@michaelbellis2279]

Question: did you consider the "time factor" for trying to repair the unit & making the video verses a straight replacement unit?

[@dsesuk]

Ah, well, there are a couple of things to say about that. If I were on-site and charging a customer for my time, then replacement may have been more efficient financially, but when it comes to attempting repairs on items I'm happy to volunteer my time in many cases and I attend a local monthly repair cafe where I do just that with other volunteers for members of the public who have broken stuff. Although any repair attempt takes time, it saves in waste, and I'd rather see something like this back on the wall than going into the bin. Also, I wasn't terribly efficient in this repair: I went into it expecting it to be a capacitor, and I noticed early on that there was discolouration under the smoothing cap, but I went on to dick about with diodes because my Kewtech was to hand and my Klein capacitor tester was stowed in the toolbox. Still, I felt the additional (and as it turned out, unnecessary) tests made for a slightly more interesting video.

[@andywalsh30]

Can I ask what make are the lights flashing behind you at the start of the video? Look quite cool.

[@dsesuk]

Haha! I knew someone would ask about those! They're Nanoleaf panels. I've made a video about them which was supposed to be uploaded last week, but it has audio problems I haven't got around to fixing yet. I'll try to get it uploaded this week. In the meantime, they're on Amazon here: amzn.to/31FusVp or available at CEF for less!

[@andywalsh30]

David Savery Electrical Services on my wish list for my new extension. 😁

[@dsesuk]

They're pricey, but CEF Live had them at a good discount!

[@andywalsh30]

David Savery Electrical Services yes but when you can make a room in lights I think it is worth the price. They look good on your video!

[@dsesuk]

@@andywalsh30 They can do multiple patterns (including configurable), sound to light and they have app control. I'll try and get the video about them out this Tuesday.

[@patlawrence6594]

Am I the only one who is reminded of Mr Gilbert?

[@domrobinson1638]

Thanks Phil 😂😂

[@markeastwood1424]

Oh my god, that’s who I keep thinking...

[@petertallowin6406]

Thoroughly enjoyed that. I half expected you to put a hammer to it when you forgot to remove the blu tack. :) Any recommendations on a clamp meter when one is shopping on a budget?

[@dsesuk]

I guess the TIS stuff is more on the budget end until you start going into the no-brand models. It depends what features you want though; most will do basic current, voltage, resistance and continuity, but functions like capacitance, frequency, temperature and earth leakage will always add to the price tag. My Kewtech shown here does the basics, while my Klein does everything bar earth leakage. With any test kit, I'd say get the best you can afford as it can be a false economy to buy something cheap even if it appears to be feature packed.

[@petertallowin6406]

@@dsesuk Thank you, sound advice. I will see if the wife can increase my allowance for the next few months. A few of the reputable brands seem to offer similar features but differ exceptionally in price. I will do some more research. Thanks again David.

[@dsesuk]

@@petertallowin6406 The TIS438 seems a pretty good all-rounder for £132 inc VAT at CEF. It does AC/DC voltage, & current plus continuity, frequency, capacitance and max/min functions. No temperature or earth leakage though, but not a bad range for the money on the face of it. Earth leakage usually requires a dedicated instrument anyway - if you found that in an all-rounder like this, expect to pay at least twice the price! It pays to shop around though and to get the best spec your budget can afford!

[@petertallowin6406]

@@dsesuk Thanks for that, I will check it out. :)

[@tomcardale5596]

Did you buy one in the end? BigClive likes the Unit-T UT210E, reads AC and DC current down to 1mA (though you'll need to be very careful of the readings down the low end of the DC range). It's also sold as the Tenma 72-2985 from CPC for about £40. I've got a couple of older Uni-T meters, they're OK. The UT61E is great for electronics: it's fast, allegedly pretty accurate and has 22,000 a count display but I'd be wary of using it on anything mains related as the input protection isn't wonderful and in the current ranges it only has a tiny little 250V glass fuse. I've had one of their AC/DC clamps for 6 or so years which has been fine, and the little one is on the shopping list. Most clamp meters have a minimum resolution of 10mA, dedicated leakage clamps can read fractions of mA (AC at least) but reading such low DC currents is at best iffy. If you need something to be probing higher energy circuits... I would rate Brymen meters as well worth a look. They make a lot of the TIS meters and also Metrel and some Amprobe kit is Brymen behind the scenes. My hands down favourite meter in my collection is a big Brymen but I haven't used their clamps. The BM037 covers most things (AC&DC), around the £80 mark. You can spend a bit less to get them without DC or a bit more to get one that can measure phase rotation and higher voltage/current. My regular work clamp is an Appa (sold in the UK by RS) 156B which is a bit on the pricey side but for what I do has some extremely useful features like power & power factor measurement. Input Appa make a lot of the RS meters, they're also the OEM for much of the Megger meters, Amprobe, Seaward and various others.

[@drewdig]

Is it voice operated - it seemed to respond to "Switch off you bastard"!

[@dsesuk]

Most of my household appliances get addressed that way in my befuddled attempts to use their remote controls or smart interfaces, yet few seem to respond correctly.

[@steverpcb]

Plenty of room for a higher voltage cap that may last longer than the original. Now you just need to grow beard and work on a Scottish accent :)

[@andygozzo72]

nope, a higher voltage does not mean it will last longer, running an electrolytic cap at much lower than its rated voltage is risking it not keeping 'formed'

[@steverpcb]

@@andygozzo72 Not true ! The voltage rating of a capacitor is a measure of how strong its insulation is. If a sufficient voltage was required to maintain it's polarity then they would all go dead on the shelf !

[@andygozzo72]

@@steverpcb they wont necessarily go 'dead' in storage(unless after many, many years?) but will be found to have a very high charge current first time of use, maybe enough to cause damage,

[@cprfenom]

What was the device you were using when using the soldering iron? It looked clever

[@willford8475]

A Desolderererer.

[@dsesuk]

A desoldering gun/vacuum. Mine is a very good Weller that's about thirty years old. Loads of cheap ones on Amazon that probably wont last five minutes, but one from a good brand will serve for years.

[@cprfenom]

Thanks for that.

[@Simonsimps]

That cuppa tea is the perfect colour, like my nan after 2 weeks in Benidorm. Yorkshire Tea ?

[@dsesuk]

Twinings English Breakfast!

[@tamburlaineman]

a connoisseur

[@fargogemini694]

Overloaded relay?

[@BenCos2018]

nope it's a smoothing cap

[@standishgeezer]

Must admit, I expected that relay to be 250V rated rather than 125V rated. Is it not switching mains voltage?

[@muzikman2008]

Just put a drop of bells whiskey on it.. Fixes anything! 😁 Great vid Dave. I'm all for upcycling too much electronic waste in this world. I replaced an alarm panel because it was cheaper than me fault finding on it. The customer said just change it. I fixed the panel at home it was a dry joint. Lol.. Oh well I got myself a spare panel 😁

[@dsesuk]

Often worth a poke around inside these things to see if it's something simple!

[@arniewheeler4673]

perhaps it didn't like the LED lamp... just a thought.

[@dplummer35]

Well done Dave, you have saved yourself £20 there!

[@dsesuk]

I'm already down the pub spending it!

[@Imakeelectronicchaos]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="143">2:23</a> what is that noise 😂 not meant to sound like a dog farting or grandma sharting

[@AndyK.1]

Ow. I guessed 3 mins. Similar cct to my lantern.

[@generaldisarray]

Are you using lovely juicy lead based solder or are you using that horrible lead free stuff... Good job Medium Clive...🤣🤣🤣 By the by, what solder sucker are you using??

[@dsesuk]

My solder collection still dates from my youth in the Eighties. I probably lose ten minutes of my life for every joint I solder! The sucker is a Weller model that's also of a certain age.

[@Umski]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="930">15:30</a> zing - 'elf 'n safety :D

[@uK8cvPAq]

These things get baked in the sun eventually.

[@dsesuk]

Quite so, electrics outside succumb to the elements and extremes eventually!

[@uK8cvPAq]

@@dsesuk I was able to do component level repair like you and got a number of them working again, but most had brittle plastic that not even sealant could fix. I ended up putting a few solar PIR lights up instead around the yard and they seem to be lasting well, their main use is for when the dog goes out for a dump at night. Long gone are my days of all night backyard partying until the early hours! I think that may have been the original purpose for some of my outdoor floodlights lol.

[@dsesuk]

@@uK8cvPAq HaHa! I think I somehow missed the all-night backyard party days! Or at least, if I was ever invited to such a party, it was just to fix their broken floodlights!

[@michaellack5139]

Sounds like 50 hz’s to me

[@markplumber3635]

Bells ? Why you drinking dig shight like that , try dalmoore . There’s way better whisky than that piss

[@dsesuk]

It's whatever Asda have on offer that week!