Fixing a faulty schmoo pump

[@peterthompson99]

I can see a whole new series of foamy alcoholic beverages coming up.

[@sed8me69]

Crikey.... What to call it? *"Will it ***zinate?* LoL. **errrminate? Great call mate!

[@juanbrits3002]

@@sed8me69 Will it schmoo?

[@cardboardboxification]

ya, hack the shmoo pump so it shoots a shot into your mouth when you stck your head under it

[@TheSaltyExplorer]

Jager-mousser 5,000,000

[@darkdelta]

@@TheSaltyExplorer Good one👍👍

[@wimwiddershins]

Schmoo production is restored. Nice serviceable product, (not that most people would, unfortunately.)

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

I would service it, if I had one... ;)

[@thisguylovebananas]

let's open it up!! my favourite childhood quote, that's how I ended up not getting new toys...

[@channelsixtysix066]

You did that too, huh ......

[@channelsixtysix066]

@Russell White "I'll never forget the panic on my parents face" - It's situations like that, you wish there was a camera on hand. The look would have been priceless.

[@bigclivedotcom]

A lot of successful engineers started by taking their toys to bits.

[@lag0matic]

@Russell White I had the 3500$ 386 taken to bits, spread about the living room, pre-internet days. My mother walked in, saw the computer in literal pieces and said, "You better have that back together by the time your father gets home." I did xD

[@Alexis_du_60]

@Russell White I used to have a crappy Packard Bell (read: Pack-in-Bloatware *Hell*) P4 desktop at some point, one day, I tore it apart to see what was inside... I never was able to get it back together LOL! But these days, I just roll my own desktop PCs, I've still got a Pentium 133 system that I upgraded to a 233MMX, after trying to debug a issue that caused the mobo to act erratically with the P233, turned out, that was entirely because of a simple jumper that I left in the wrong position. My uncle has a 486DX4 system in his shed, I'd really love to fiddle it and upgrade it to its limits :p

[@blkmgk16]

This is why I started watching your vids, even if it's disposable priced it feels nice to keep things running.

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

Agreed! It is so satisfying to keep things out of the landfill!

[@MickeyMishra]

If you have kids come to your house? THIS IS A GOD SEND! I don't even use Bar soaps anymore for the Sink in the Bathroom. Not only is it better, it really does encourage kids to wash hands. The only mod that needs to be done to something like this is add a Tune to it or a encouraging message every time you wash your hands. Using an exciter transducer unit would be perfect for something like this unit.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

For short-range use like that, phototransistors are very common common, as you get a higher output, often enough for a simple logic input rather than an adc

[@therealjammit]

"...common common..." I think you mean "...common collector...". Acts like a photo diode but with gain.

[@andruloni]

@@therealjammit I don't think anyone writes about "very common collectors"

[@golftrainingaids]

@@andruloni haha, good one!

[@golftrainingaids]

@@andruloni Oh, I just Googled it: About 1,660 results (0.34 seconds) Sorry my friend, looks like he's right. 😂😂

[@rimmersbryggeri]

@@golftrainingaids Maybe those a very common tax collectors?

[@joshfriesen9401]

It’s nice that Clive reverse engineers the device even if that is not the point of the video. This is the best part because I enjoy seeing the different circuits and how they work. Keep up the good work!

[@EsotericArctos]

Nice to see you using some of AvE's words :). It is good to see they are serviceable and easily repairable, though I can see that friction fit getting loose if it is pulled apart a few times.

[@ChuckFickens1972]

11:19 "let's knock one out shall we?" Well it's a little early in the day, but OK, back in 30seconds......

[@cypeman8037]

He was prepared with the tissue.

[@marwinthedja5450]

@11:23 "I shall make a huge mess here..." @11:29 "Uh, it's not gonna come out...Oh, it's out!"

[@Elfnetdesigns]

@@marwinthedja5450 @11:16 - It's a FrIcTiOn fit

[@beatones]

and make a huge mess.

[@sharks3010]

I came down to comment the same, but I knew someone would have beaten me to it. Glad I'm not the only one with my mind in the gutter!

[@poolepaul4158]

Missed opportunity to say "There's a mousse, loose, aboot this hoose." Yes, I am old.

[@crazygeorgelincoln]

Hoots mon!

[@tncorgi92]

I still pull that ad up occasionally, for fun.

[@superscatboy]

I needed a joke that stupid just about now. Cheers, man.

[@DrBagPhD]

@@superscatboy Hope you're doing okay

[@superscatboy]

@@DrBagPhD Oh, I have nothing to complain about in the grand scheme of things, you know how it is, but I sincerely appreciate your message - it makes a big difference. Thank you!

[@piconano]

These little electric pumps never cease to amaze me. So clever...

[@phonotical]

Please to modify it to pump out its entire contents all in one go and then install at a friend's house...

[@draketungsten74]

🤣

[@dashcamandy2242]

Might be a fun prank to play on Ralphy...

[@phantomkate6]

Genuine lol

[@serversurfer6169]

… but not until you use it six or eight times first! 💜😂👍

[@plainedgedsaw1694]

I think just putting coil of latching relay on output that connects motor directly across battery would be easy way to do so. A minute long mod.

[@scottbruner9987]

Clive, thank you for the "schmoo theory" video. After watching this, I purchased a different model on Amazon. I now know what to do if it won't schmoo for me.

[@videolabguy]

Based upon the provocative thumb nail image, I hereby declare that Big Clive has mastered the ancient art of "Made you look!". You, sir are now THE master! (A thinly veiled Venture Brothers reference.)

[@JoseBerruezo]

Excellent video, as always. I hope that one day you will make a video about Tubular Motor Electric Roller Blinds Shutter

[@wirdy1]

Have 7 of these in the family & 4 have needed fixing so far. They work fine for about 9 months. Over time the unprotected pcb/smd components get corroded by the soap vapour. Both sensor pcb + main pcb suffers. Fix was microsoldering or jump wires followed by a conformal coating. My advice is take it apart when new & seal all the the pcb's before use.

[@assassinlexx1993]

Very clever info

[@SCOTTYD2031]

Covid destroyer REENGAGED to Warp 9 Captain Clive. Seriously this was one of your more useful videos (to me anyway), thanks Clive!

[@martinclemesha4794]

Cheers Clive, now tried a couple of different models myself (battery and rechargeable), great gadgets, which I'd wish I'd bought before. Saves a lot of mess and soggy soap bars. Much more hygenic.

[@golftrainingaids]

I've been on a hiatus from your channel because of school, work, and all the new podcasts out there, but when you said, "I may have to strip the pump, but first I'm going to reverse engineer the circuit board" OMG I realized how much I've missed this channel! I'm so sorry. It will never happen again!!

[@JSAnstock]

BigClive, as ever, the ultimate King of the 'single entendre'. You go ahead and 'knock one out' mate we'll just wait over here😂

[@j_o_h_n_d_u_n_n]

Pump could be incorporated into an automatic woofler ,with spark ignition ?

[@lizedwards8547]

Exellent!

[@BRUXXUS]

Oooh! Yes!

[@j_o_h_n_d_u_n_n]

Make it so @clive

[@phonotical]

I think he tried making one before but it didn't work so well, or tried to melt itself

[@j_o_h_n_d_u_n_n]

@@phonotical I know Clive isn't a fan of Alexa, but the prospect of shouting 'Alexa ...whoofle!' could be amusing, sonoff relay and a wee script would do it 🔥🔥🙂

[@stridermt2k]

Always fun when to see come part and then one sees it and then it's, "Oh one of those!" (the pump where I think learned here as well) Clive you are wonderful and you are awesome. Now shut up or I will continuing saying nice things. Oh...SCHMOO! ...also FOAM NOZZLE!

[@alexfunke214]

Three " one moment, please" moments! A new record!

[@michaellitscher9456]

"Release the schmoo!" -- AvE

[@richmanricho]

RELEASE THE SCHMOOOO Needs to be said with gusto

[@TheRanblingjohnny]

Okay I'm not the only one who clicked on this video by semi accident. loll

[@VulcaNtGoF]

@@TheRanblingjohnny I am certain it was done intentionally, as we know Clive watches himself some AvE. Haha!

[@dylanhopwood3773]

@@TheRanblingjohnny i clicked it because i was curious because the word schmoo has a very different meaning in Australia

[@aussieaeromodeler]

I love watching your vids Clive , electronics has been an interest and hobby of mine for decades ....................however I have to admit , I watched this one because I had to satisfy my curiostity as to what a 'schmoo pump' is , what it does , and with the hope it's use would be demonstrated by someone with a 'schmoo'

[@billide1463]

Your Thumbnail is insane---from a smutty senior in Canada, love the channel, I've learned a tonne!

[@It-b-Blair]

I was thoroughly confused by the thumbnail… well done sir 😜

[@AAAyyyGGG]

I bought a couple of the first version you showed in the previous video - one of them developed slow-mode after a couple of weeks. Took it apart, the foamer gubbins was blocked. But unf. it wasn't so easy to disassemble. Now have a coarse foam (rather than mousse!) dispenser!!

[@StubbyPhillips]

Might be worth mentioning, whenever relevant, that rechargeable batteries (generally) output a lower voltage when fully charged than non-rechargeable batteries. In some kinds of devices it makes a lot of difference.

[@superdau]

While the initial voltage of rechargeables is lower, their "empty" voltage is higher than that of non-rechargeables. So if it makes a lot of difference, it means the device is really bad at using all the energy in non-rechargeables.

[@StubbyPhillips]

@@superdau Yes. Those devices only work well near the upper end of the voltage range. That can make it seem like rechargeable batteries are not as good when in fact they're just not as good in that particular device. So yes, it's also fair to say that that device is not good at utilizing rechargeable batteries. Before I understood this I thought rechargeable batteries were, in general, kinda crap. Now I use them almost exclusively.

[@mikeynjs94]

at hardware stores here in the US, you can get jugs of insect repellant with a battery operated pump wand & the pump in there is really weird compared to these. in the RoundUp one (i don't know if the others are like this), the pump is just a chamber with two gears that pull the liquid through the tubing. i highly recommend taking one apart yourself

[@thomasheckhaus205]

I'd like to see you modify it as you suspected with the lithium battery and USB charger.

[@seionne85]

I thought schmoo meant something else entirely, and was expecting a very different video haha! No complaints, great video as always

[@lakojake4215]

Same here. I thought that was a totally different kind of pump in the thumbnail. lol This is better than what I was expecting.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Previous experience has shown that KZbin frowns on sax-toy teardowns.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@bigclivedotcom That's not unsurprising. It's a long and unpleasant road from Pink Panther to Careless Whisper. Really, same goes for sax AND violins, which is why both are frowned upon.

[@epsileth]

So in theory, running a cleaning cycle of rubbing alcohol or cleaning vinegar, then water to rinse out the guts would work?

[@simontay4851]

Yes, probably.

[@jurivlk5433]

It's a junk product and water goes inside, rusting everything or causing electric shorts. Junk, junk, junk!_

[@epsileth]

@@jurivlk5433 how else do you expect the soap to foam. Yes it's basically a disposable device. Wonder what they had to to do for the power adapter and the 18650 battery? 🤔

[@bigclivedotcom]

It might help. It depends on what the mesh clogs with.

[@jurivlk5433]

@@epsileth Shitty quality isn't a requirement for soap dispensers!

[@frankowalker4662]

Those pumps are a clever design.

[@MicroMidas]

Okay, I was just listening to this while doing something else. But nearing the halfway point I had to check. I'm glad it wasn't as dirty as it sounded!

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

Nice thumbnail, I actually expected to see a product called "JIZZMATIC 69". Then I remembered your sense of humour. 🤔 Good to see that it's now Jizzing more effectively.

[@gregorythomas333]

It took me a moment to realize that all the resistor values were screen-printed on the board...DOH! I was kind of hoping you would convert it over to the 18650 and USB charging.

[@emanuellandeholm5657]

I love that calculator. So jelly!

[@emanuellandeholm5657]

That colour is simply hideous. Neither pink nor purple. :D

[@Petertronic]

Nice! I bought a couple of these things late last year, and one has drastically reduced squirtiness compared to the other so probably needs the same clean (have tried new batteries). I think the rate it pulses the IR LED slows over time, after a couple of days I need my hand under it for a few seconds to wake it up.

[@anthonygarcia5375]

great work on the thumbnail👌

[@phils4634]

ICI used to market something similar (although mains-powered) for Hospital (i.e. Theatre) use back in the 1990's. Theirs used two pumps and a "mixing chamber" gadget - one for air, one for Hibiscrub. Nice stainless steel enclosure, and they cost a pretty penny, so difficult to get old ones to cannibalise!

[@MichaelMacGyver]

The inline mousse generator looks like a miniaturized version of the aerators that you get for fitting onto taps (faucets) that give you a soft aerated/foamy flow of water rather than a solid (tends to splash) stream of water, they often also have flow restrictors inside to limit water wastage.

[@millomweb]

Doesn't really matter whether on the tap, in the soap dispenser or the end of a beer pump, I hate them !

[@jaggns5774]

@@millomweb I have learned of my NEW best worst nemesis. this fucking thing.

[@tin2001]

Water wastage? Usually they just restrict the water pressure to the point you end up wasting a bunch of water trying to figure out how you're supposed to wash anything at such a low flow rate.

[@jaggns5774]

@@tin2001 this thing has nothing to do with water tho? its a soap dispenser.

[@kirkb4989]

"So BigClive - how DO you get your foam so light and frothy?" "Its because of my Jizz.........-matic 69!!" The jokes just write themselves.

[@martinclemesha4794]

Handy device. Will you be converting to an 18650 battery, or will it be too much of a faff for everyday practical use.i.e finding it flat and having to re-charge, instead of swapping batteries.

[@MrFlint51]

Re being hard to clean: once while putting "squirty cream" on a dessert and noting a weird taste, I took off the nozzle and noted a black fungal growth on the inside

[@bokkenka]

My boiler guy wishes he had similarly marked the connections to the computer board in my boiler while servicing it last summer... He plugged it in wrong and fried it. Quite an expensive mistake.

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

He paid for it right?

[@Brian-L]

“Robot jizz”🤖 You crack me up Clive! 😂🤣

[@TheZombieSaints]

Converting it to use a 18650 and adding the usb charge point would make a great video.. . Hint hint 😉 Love your videos mate 👍

[@theskett]

Or a solar cell, rather than USB, maybe?

[@bellowphone]

Which way round does it go? Does it really matter? Probably not. Probably does.

[@rarbiart]

all those foam type units don't seem to last. (the "nonfoamy" ones are reliable)

[@rarbiart]

so i will no go into mass-repair of at least half a dozen defective ones sitting somewhere since months, cleaning metal meshes and pepper dispenser caps...

[@bgood2010]

Any idea how long they'll last? Have had mine (a rechargeable one) for two years now, haven't failed yet. I'm running clean water through it every time I refill the tank.

[@cheaterman49]

22:13 Hahaha robot jizz really made me giggle somehow, it does look the part xD

[@robbieaussievic]

..... Made me think of 'Westworld'.

[@themightiestofbooshes9443]

22:13 "creamy... mousse... robot-jizz" I lost my marbles.

[@dcallan812]

Just watched the sun set beehind the wind farm, and noticed a few expensive black cars parked across the road. I guess the Masonic Lodge a few doors down is back in action. Nothing o do with the video but hey someone might want to know. 👍👍

[@JB-pt6kd]

No.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

@@JB-pt6kd Yes.

[@AndyClements]

Thinking about how that pump works, does the motor polarity matter? Obviously for the electronic bits, but I suspect not for the motor.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Theoretically it could go any direction.

[@ralphmcmahan2139]

I like expanding my technical vocabulary. Schmoo.

[@H4zuZazu]

Could you put Milk or Cream in it to foam it up?, i'm wondering.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Not recommended for hygiene reasons.

[@H4zuZazu]

@@bigclivedotcom That would count for Ice machines too, they are filthy inside, i don't want that slime and grime in my Drink.

[@DC-wv2zg]

@@bigclivedotcom It's not about if you should, but if you could 😉

[@punkrockllama]

A French press works for that. And it's clean, or as clean as you keep it.

[@primateinterfacetechnologi6220]

okay man- I made it to the very end 'for cracking a smile... that's pretty good I thought. peace be upon you, sir.

[@MARKE911]

This is basically a smaller version of what is on a Fire Truck’s CAF system. This will be helpful for explanation to the new rookies on how it works. Biggest difference is we used pressured air vs Pump

[@mikeh_nz]

So can you cause it to dispense by aiming your tv remote at it? (Instead of the IR reflecting off your hand)

[@maxmillion7007]

as soon as I read this comment, I had to find out (a couple of pranks formulating in back of mind). after a little testing, technically, yes the tv remote triggered them, but had to be quite close and aimed into the "eye" ... so not prank worthy :(

[@grantrennie]

Schmoo all round, libations for everyone (waves glowing sci-fi walking cane) 🙃

[@jurivlk5433]

@@ts757arse I had the same issues with the Dettol brand, reparing again and again, but if the stuff isn't waterproof...forget about it!

[@TheGreatAtario]

"You've all done very well! _[Almost falls over]_ "

[@jaylittleton1]

Shaving cream, be nice and clean. Shave everyday and you'll always look keen.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

I wonder what else you can load into that and make foam out of...

[@xmcx7021]

Would the voltage from a stun gun travel through the soap that would make it an interesting dispenser

[@bigclivedotcom]

It would be complicated by the need for two connections. But you could just have them poking out the front.

[@stephenbowyer9550]

I've gone through about half a dozen different models of automatic soap dispensers, and most stopped working quite quickly. I think some got clogged, but mostly the electronics inside seemed to corrode quickly in the damp bathroom environment. 😕

[@MikeTrieu]

Interesting. That pump is very similar to the one in my covid supersoaker disinfectant gun. I took mine apart one time because I accidentally left the dip tube in the reservoir filled with super-concentrated hypochlorous acid solution and it ended up corroding all the metal components in the unit. Marine-grade, it is not.

[@MrDbone75]

Good Thursday morning to you sir

[@1995epicfail]

Normal diodes can also be used as photo diodes, analog devices has a page dedicated for that application. Also I like the ground points in the circuit diagram to keep it from cluttering.

[@jtveg]

22:13 _"...creamy mousse robot jizz, whatever you want, it's that..."_ 🤣 Thanks for sharing. 😎👌🏼

[@stargazer7644]

Those IR detection devices are normally photo-transistors.

[@cfmonline]

To avoid wiping off pen marks I discovered the Pentel N50 permanent markers are brilliant. They write on anything and dry instantly so your fingers don't get covered in ink. As an added bonus they're solvent based and smell yummy.

[@666louis]

Yeah, these solvent free markers suck. I have an edding from ca 1990, possibly older and it still writes fine. Whereas these modern ones dry up within a couple of years.

[@Caluma122]

Great video Clive, enjoyed that.

[@DrGreenGiant]

I'm guessing they're powering the led from the uc to prevent the led flashing when powered on and the uc pins are grounded before it initialises? If you've got a spare pin then why not use it. At the expense of passing more current through the uc of course. Interesting choice though

[@DrGreenGiant]

It would also stop the uc being powered through the led pins but that's probably less likely in this. (I'm a hardware and firmware engineer btw!)

[@bigclivedotcom]

The microcontroller is powered directly from the positive rail that the LEDs would be connected to, so with their voltage drop and resistor they couldn't really feed the processor via it's protection diodes.

[@soulsearchingsun83]

Also, if you want to implement that 'pumping' blinky effect you could get away with one timer pin. Not saying they did that, but this would be a nice way to do it if you only need boolean mixing of the primary colors. Maybe this is used in combination with charging the lithium battery.

[@anoimo9013]

I always wonder.... does the foam confer better cleaning properties than just liquid soap?

[@bigclivedotcom]

No. But it spreads it better for a small quantity.

[@curtdawe]

Clive, would this member of the "channel family'" be stretching his neck out too far to ask you to show the USB power/charger add-in hack? Just wonderin'?

[@Slikx666]

Clive. Every time you have something that has one of those pumps in it, my mind starts thinking about a RC truck I'm building. It's an 8x8 off road rescue vehicle that is going to have winches on the back along with a simple crane. The connection with the pump is if the truck is lifting something the suspension will compress, to get around this I'm thinking about active suspension. Do I go with electric (servo), pneumatics or hydrollics to move the suspension? But if got to build a rolling chassis before I can figure it out. Thanks for keeping my mind active, it's not having a great time due to mental health issues. But you have helped me a lot. 👍😁

[@gyrgrls]

Aren't those Eneloop cells the old Panasonic Nimh batteries that started showing up at Radio Shack 30 years ago, to replace NiCads?

[@bigclivedotcom]

The Eneloops are the latest NIMH technology.

[@tbrettbutler]

@bigclivedotcom , this is great. Thanks a lot. I have a similar one that I just took apart to look at and discovered this video in the process. I've ordered the same one as this one with the plan to put in an 18650 cell as I have a few left over from another project. Could you please give any tips on how to wire it up? Much appreciated 😊

[@chrismueller8861]

Another great video. I am sure you have a lot of watchers among Chinese tech departments hoping to steal the knowledge of their competitors or trying to learn how to produce items even cheaper.

[@theskett]

I'm always pleased when BC (infrequently) says "This is really quite good"; high praise indeed :-)

[@flippy9133]

Do you have any specific types of schmoo machines you can recommend? or are they basically the same

[@bigclivedotcom]

Different circuitry, but the pumps are similar.

[@MostlyInteresting]

The beginning of every Clive disassembly service starts with, let us pry....

[@bobg5125]

How freeky is that. Bought 2 of same model mid March from an online platform in SOUTH AFRICA. Used it maybe 5x a week. It stopped not picking up the hand. They just picked it up (6month guarantee) as I see your video.

[@followthetrawler]

Wish you had gone on to modify it to add the 18650 - would be interesting to see if the uC had any charging code, even if just for the LEDs

[@Soupie62]

Sorry, I missed it - what was the actual fault? When you pulled it apart, it seemed to work fine.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The motor was running, but the metal foaming mesh was blocked with residue.

[@Shiruvan]

wish I got to see this months ago, had quite a few of those for serving storefront and home sink, had to be trashed 'cause I ran out of ideas, but weirdly I didn't remember seeing the mousse-ing filter.

[@captainchicks]

Nice one! I have a question, though, which I can't quite sort out: Is the receiver diode in the schematic actually the other way around?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Photo diodes are operated reverse biased.

[@captainchicks]

@@bigclivedotcom Thanks! Learning so much from your inspiring videos. Keep it up! I'm living in the city where Jägermeister comes from, by the way. 😁

[@wtmayhew]

I’m speculating the LED common being driven from the MCU pin instead of the B+ is because there may be enough leakage to ground through the MCU pin when the MCU is in low power state that the LED might glow a bit and/or waste battery charge. Taking the LED common pin low before sleeping the MCU will prevent any leakage through the LEDs. Using the MCU pin as common also eliminates the voltage difference between B+ and the maximum output high voltage. Using B+ as common would have allowed a tiny amount of current flow when the LEDs are off (not sure it would be enough current to matter though). Over-all this is a smartly designed circuit.

[@Black3ternity]

So basically you have a 3cylinder engine in your Soap-Dispenser. Nice. :D

[@kjgfalsk]

the pump have no separate chambers for air and water.. there had to be some venturi valve at the connector to the tank.. and sucking some air with the pressure of the water flow! (i think the mini hole at 22:38)

[@bigclivedotcom]

It has three chambers. Two for air and one for liquid.

[@kjgfalsk]

@@bigclivedotcom if you mean , i cant make the difference in your video , have some vaccum pump at home thats looks same, and all three chambers are working togheter... but if you right, then that pump is very complex... (cant belive in so special parts they use xD) edit: got your first video and now i can see what you mean... but the venturi effect should work too

[@1978garfield]

All this talk of robot jizz reminds me of the cover of Black Sabbath's Technical Ecstasy. When asked about it Ozzy said "It's brilliant. It's 2 robots screwing on an escalator." Turns out the artist who made it agrees.

[@mihamaker]

Still searching about what was the problem. Did aerator screens had some schmoo in them...

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yes. Final screen had a build up of particulates/film.

[@mihamaker]

@@bigclivedotcom Hmm, I cleaned mine... All the same. Just short burst and that's it. Will dismantle the pump and check it. After that I think putting some soft springy switch on top of device circumventing all electronics. Would be like using that soap pumps, but on battery's and foam :-). Just taping on a switch with a thumb and dispensing in the palm as much as needed.

[@1kreature]

The soap in the two air compartments mean that either the flappy valves did not do their jobs or there was a seal malfunction somewhere else doesn't it?

[@theskett]

And maybe explains why the screw besides the air-hole was kinda rusty, too.

[@BenjaminGatti]

Led power pin may be pwm. Perhaps 3 pwm not available on chip.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That's a possibility.

[@28YorkshireRose12]

Hmm, I'm thinking "Foamy Whoofler" without the Whoomph! What do you get if you put just plain water in the bottle? - Does it output 'volumised' water, like an ordinary water tap with water sparkler/volumiser nozzle?

[@ChishanFipz]

Eneloop AA are 1.2v rather than 1.5v - .9v down. Surely that slows it down a little?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It will result in slower operation than fresh alkaline cells.

[@guyh3403]

What soap did you use? My unit only produces either normal soap or really cluttery soap bubbles when I dilute the soap with water.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Dilute shampoo in a ratio of about 1 part to 5-9 parts water.

[@guyh3403]

@@bigclivedotcom Thank you sweety ;)

[@ItsBBP]

Wonder if you could make a Foamy Woosher Deluxe with this.

[@TerryLawrence001]

The CPU is looking for the IR pulses reflected by your hand. The input pin from the photo diode will have the same frequency on it if the LED pulses are reflected back by you hand, or what ever else.

[@lordsamich755]

Why go to the trouble of programming a controller for this? Just use a Schmitt trigger on the detector input, use it it trigger an astable 555.

[@johnnythefridge]

By driving the positive led feed from the mcu pins, it avoids any rogue flashes of light as the mcu boots up and might toggle the output pins as they are initialised?

[@bigclivedotcom]

When a microcontroller boots up the pins are usually assigned as inputs until set as outputs by the software.

[@johnnythefridge]

@@bigclivedotcom agree 100% but it's just after they set the pins as outputs that they occasionally do something unintentional before the program sets the output states to the correct state.

[@fredgenius]

@19:25 - you were videoing, so you coulda gone back and watched to to work out which way round the part came off...