German candy and a mystery power device.

I've never seen one of these devices before, and I've not seen some of this candy before too. It's the perfect combination.
Looking at the circuitry of the device, it has a very short shunt used to monitor current, and that is coupled to the control circuitry via a capacitor so that sudden current changes are coupled to the sense circuitry. The power supply does use that big zener to cap the voltage and it's clearly been running quite hot. The capacitive dropper actually uses a 330nF capacitor, so the zener will have been dissipating quite a lot of heat, which is the exact reason the timeswitch circuitry I mentioned uses a common large resistor to do the task. The thermal fuse only protects the NTC thermistor. As far as I can see this device uses a fairly simple analogue arrangement to detect sudden surges of load current and switches the NTC thermistor in-line briefly to soften the surge.
With reference to the candy (sweets) in the UK we refer to potato fries as "chips".
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.co...

[@RobertThz]

Note to self; if you want Big Clive to do a teardown of your broken gadget, bribing with chocolates works.

[@allanfulton8004]

Damn I was going to send him rye whiskey from here in Canada to have him take apart some Canadian dollar store gadgets.

[@marco_evertus]

I am quiet sleepy and so I read the title: "german candy powered mystery device" that would have been something

[@worddunlap]

Its the Willie Wonka edition.

[@AsymptoteInverse]

Now I want to get a load of sour candy (for the citric/malic acid), dissolve them in water, and make a battery out of them. Thoughts like these are what stop me being productive.

[@noferblatz]

The "in-rush" current is something we in the U.S. call "locked rotor amps", for which all motor devices have a rating. It's obviously called that because it is the same as the number of amps consumed by that same motor if its rotor were locked down, which is pretty much what's happening when a motor first starts.

[@acidhelm]

We need a Clive-Ashens collab. Stuart can say how bad Poundland electronics are on the outside, and Clive can say how bad they are on the inside.

[@rarutab]

My vacuum cleaner likes to strangle the lights in the house for a sec just to show who gets the largest dish of delicious electricity. It's a dominance thing, it likes to show who's the boss

[@xXOmegaXxPlays]

My AC does that

[@LaterMeansBrick]

Germany also uses the B, C and D breakers, but if you are just a tenant in a blok of flats, where the breakers are about B 10A, this device helps.

[@InsideIsVoid]

Pommes a common german word for potato chips. It's short for the french pommes frites. It's not how we call potatoes in gerenal, though. That would be "Kartoffeln".

[@waldsteiger]

hmmm fried apples

[@squalazzo]

everything is better if fried :D

[@toledomerendo]

I'm pretty sure the word "Pommes" comes from the french "pommes de terre", which would literally translate to "Erdapfel" and that is an old fashioned word for "Kartoffel". However, we Germans pronounce the word "Pommes" in such a way that probably makes the French cringe - because we pronounce it literally, every letter, even the s which is of course, silent in French.

[@PentaYOOO]

waldsteiger In austrian potatoes are called "Erdäpfel" which translates to "Soil apples" So it's fried apples in two languages

[@waldsteiger]

im surrounded by paradeiser and karfiol :)

[@dylanando]

i could listen to you all day, such a soothing voice. thanks for doing these videos and being you!!

[@luisdeleyendas]

You know you've watched too much bigclive when he searches for a longer screwdriver and you say "the red one, Clive"

[@paulmitcheson9397]

Clive you are like a mad scientist . I look forward to your videos everyday . I've got the Mrs watching you now . Your so clever , but light hearted .Makes for a brill watch .

[@sniffy6999999]

"Blob of Stuff" Bigclive you are a wordsmith..

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

There were a few comments about Norway, I figured out why it's so weird. Apparently they use an IT connected 133 V system, with houses wired up in a delta configuration, making both wires in outlets hot at 133 V. Presumably because it's supposed to be safer than a single 230 V one if you were to touch a live wire. That would actually make for an interesting episode, how electricity is distributed around the world.

[@97Giorgos97]

Taking things to bits: ASMR Taking things to bits and eating stuff: More ASMR This channel is evolving...

[@Henchman1977]

Canada standard house panel is single phase 120/240v 200 amp (higher amp panels are available as are 3 phase services). This is because we need to wash dishes, clothes, heat water, heat house, run central vac, cook and Mig weld all while relaxing in the hot tub.

[@Elodea]

I enjoyed the discussion on the types of circuit breaker ratings (A, B, C, D) used in the U K. At my home in the U S, I have 300 Amp, 240 volt, single phase service. Not aware if the US has an equivalent breaker trip rating to the UK system.

[@Alexander470815]

Here in Germany we have breakers with different short circuit triggers too. B is the most common type, for three phase applications C characteristic ist often used. Normal supply for one household ist three phase 230V/400V 63A.

[@jaras1969]

Alexander470815 same here in Denmark, only we normally have 3x25 or 35A in, 50A if it's a large house with mainly electric heating. And most commonly we use type C breakers or fuses.

[@killerbeenl83]

John Rasmussen that's the same standard that is used in the Netherlands

[@bigclivedotcom]

Odd. In the UK we just get a single phase brought into the house from the three phase cabling in the street.

[@killerbeenl83]

I think that they don't want the garden and pavement to be ruined over and over. It's the same here. We in the Netherlands also have cable and a phone-line standard to most households (unless they are far a way in the country, farms etc). So if you want to use the facility it's there by default. That is the problem they face here as telephone DSL is being replaced by fiberglass. But when you have the option to have high speed cable no-one wants their garden dug up for fiber. As their doing now for newly builds it doesn't really kick off for old build neighborhoods.

[@jaras1969]

bigclivedotcom In most of Europe we get all 3 fases in from the grid. Normal appliances like lighting, and anything that comes with a plug, runs on 230V live and neutral like in the UK. Only things like cooking stoves or elektric waterheaters runs 2- or 3-fased 400V. And off course larger motors like for instance larger heatpumps. 30 years back, allso washingmashines and tumbler dryers ran on 3-fased power.

[@martkt10]

Sounds like "Cookie Monster" when eating food :)

[@goose300183]

Great and interesting explanation of breakers Clive, cheers! It went some way to explain to me why AvE occasionally pops his 120V breakers with his big saws etc.

[@thomasbjrkhaug6387]

The house we are renting has 20A main fuses and, a single 10A circuit for 7 rooms, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathrom with washer/dryer, the entrance, and a large open stairway room. The stove has its own circuit as all houses in Norway and living room. some of the electric system as the fusebox was upgraded in 1973 so it still has porcelain fuses.

[@DrewJPS]

If "German candy and a mystery power device" isn't the greatest album title of all time then tell me what is.

[@DrewJPS]

Darren Nash Hahaha, epic.

[@LovSven2011]

Chocolate starfish and a hot-dog flavored water -- also a catchy title. :-D

[@LovSven2011]

Darren Nash yup. (correction Limp Bi*z*kit)

[@Gigaguenther]

it sounds like the name plate in front of a heap of junk in the corner of an art gallery ..."this piece emphasizes the impotence of the individual, which is reduced to its consumerism, in the face of an increasingly globalized society"

[@DrewJPS]

Gigaguenther Are you my twin? I hate that shit...

[@tmdcbass]

Let's try a chip first! The wurst is yet to come. *drum roll*

[@willybee3056]

Robin Kok Irony = the best wurst ?

[@gorillaau]

Robin Kok Wurst puns are the best.

[@cogidubnus1953]

Classic!

[@scratchpad7954]

The hilarious comments continue!

[@doctorcraptonicus7941]

Cooked in a marzi-pan.

[@codebeard]

Oh look a new video from Ashens, oh wait it's Big Clive

[@VBOMB-wd4mg]

codebeard now Clive is doing a collaboration with nerdcubed

[@mobbel14]

At first i thought it was ashens.

[@paulgascoigne5343]

codebeard it's got me thinking.. you know how Ashens did the celeb baby thing? a Clive-Ashens hybrid would be a sight to behold.

[@unlokia]

Clashens? Big Ive?

[@marinahildebrand5868]

I've been using this very device for many years to limit the starting current of a simple microwave oven. It works exactly as you describe. On low load, the load would run through the NTC all the time. On high load, the NTC is bypassed by the relay after ~2 seconds. It never failed me in ~10 years. My current microwave oven doesn't need it, though.

[@thra5herxb12s]

Very nice to get free gifts. Many years ago I used to speak with an Italian chap on my ham radio, he sent me a qsl card with loads of assorted empty sweet wrappers and used train and bus tickets and used postage stamps. Very nice I thought, until he told me he collected foreign banknotes and needed an English £20 to go with his collection.

[@nslouma]

I'm German and I didn't know that pommes comes from apple in French. Thanks Clive it makes all sense now! Did you know that the Austrians call a potato literally earthapple (Erdapfel)?

[@weirdwurstLP]

The french call it pomme d'terre if I remember correctly, I also remember some people calling it pommes-frittes here in germany

[@austing5951]

Afrikaners as well, though that's basically Dutch, all of the Romance and Central European languages use it.

[@Rosscoff2000]

By no means all the romance languages use it. Spanish use 'patata' (from which we get the English word potato), Portuguese 'batata',. Romanian uses 'cartof' - which reminds me that I thought German for potato was Kartoffel - is 'pommes' just used for chips/french fries in German?

[@weirdwurstLP]

Rosscoff2000 yes, pommes is just fries in german, we call ordinarry potatoes "Kartoffeln"

[@yogevbocher3603]

Southwest German: Herdöpfel or Ärdöpfel which means either apples for the hearth or apples from the earth. Some say grom bira which menas crumb pears.

[@muh1h1]

Your german pronounciation is pretty damn good!

[@IanTester]

Being able to trill your r's helps.

[@paulgascoigne5343]

Ian Tester isn't trilling your r's known as twerking in these parts?

[@Sanyaenyenwa]

In standard High German, r's aren't trilled at all. That's only done in some dialects.

[@Daiceto]

Nope it is not "pretty damn good" it's okay-ish from what you can hear.

[@ABaumstumpf]

In Pommes the "es" is not silent in german and it is a german word too. It comes from the french for potato (pomme de something). in germany, switzerland and Austria there is still the word "Erdapfel" that still has the same meaning - soil/earth-apple. Now fried potato chips in german would be "pommes frites" is just the germanized version of the french for fried potatoes. And it often gets abbreviated to "Pommes" or "Fritten". And darn it looks delicious. Also - your german pronunciation is quite good - a lot of the long-term or even second generation migrants here are harder to understand - good job there.

[@jesustheangryatheist]

ABaumstumpf Pomme de Terre if I'm remembering my French lessons correctly.

[@MicroageHD]

Pomme de terre, junge junge. Auch Erdapfel genannt, und nicht nur in Österreich du Hirni :)

[@ABaumstumpf]

Microage Bist du so Blöd oder tust du nur so?

[@MicroageHD]

ABaumstumpf Sagt der Typ der nicht weiß, dass man Erdapfel auch in Teilen Deutschlands sagt. Traurig.

[@ABaumstumpf]

Microage Dann lern doch mal lesen und lies dir meinen ersten Kommentar - auf den du ja genatwortet hast - durch. Aber nein, kann ja nicht sein das du einen Fehler gemacht hast - ist siiicher nicht so.... jap - idiot.

[@johnamy117]

Clive that horizontal line you drew on the pad was so impressively straight good stuff

[@TDGalea]

Seeing you do an Ashens style video was quite a nice mix-up. I definitely think you and Stewart should do more collaborations when the opportunity arises.

[@awmperry]

And it does seem that as a KZbin channel progresses, the probability of a tasting things video approaches one.

[@SlocketSeven]

The low point in any video production is the point where the director thinks "I know what will make this better. Chewing sounds bumped up to 0db." Clive is hardly the worst offender. They also do it with kissing. Constantly. Nobody wants to hear actors literally sucking the spit out of eachothers mouths but it doesn't stop them...

[@awmperry]

BraneBrain Hey, I never said I don't watch them. ;-)

[@bami2]

That fries are called "pommes" in germany goes back to the discovery of fries. They were (arguably, don't tell any French people watching your video) invented in the french-speaking bit of Belgium, where they fried potatoes: pomme d'terre frites (lit. "fried apples from the earth"). During world war 1, English and American soldiers stationed in Belgium were frequently exposed to the fries and called them "french fries", mostly because they were served by french-speaking Belgium and French cooks. In Germany however, they imported them before the war (and thus never had a real "french" connection) and dropped the "fries" part of the name, so that's how they ended up with the french word for apples as their name for fried potatoes.

[@zephiroth4]

My house needs something like this. Every time my washing machine turns on, the lights in the entire house dim.

[@xanataph]

I once built some soft-start units for some 2KW profile spotlights. Since they were being used in static displays there was no dimmer pack being used that would have otherwise limited the inrush current to the rather expensive light bulbs. So I got some cheap fan heaters and configured them so the element was in series with the lamp initially and a mains relay was wired up across the lamp output too so as the lamp warmed up and the voltage across it rose the relay would trigger thus bypassing the heater element. This all happened in about 200 milliseconds or so. I seem to remember I had to tap the supply for the relay somewhere near the middle of the heater element to give it enough latch in voltage as otherwise it just sat there with the spotlight & heater receiving half power each.

[@deevoraak]

You should do more of these videos! I really enjoy them

[@tsm688]

At work we have a window-mounted air-conditioner which frequently trips the breaker when it starts. This (well, a 120v version) is exactly what we'd need to tame it -- but a large grumpy motor is exactly what's liable to kill it, too. If it's having trouble starting at full power, it'll have even more trouble starting at reduced power.

[@333Socks]

Brause Pulver!!!! I remember them from my childhood nearly 60 years ago. I'm getting old

[@n2n8sda]

Hey Clive, I've seen a similar thing before that had a double bypass. I guess the reason for the bypassing relay is that this is just a generic ntc thermistor and there is a possibility of it not being well matched to the device, So in times of low current draw, such as a washing machine switched on but say with a 6 hour delay start timer or similar condition then the current draw might not be enough to fully heat up the thermistor to its operating temperature. This causes voltage modulation as the NTC heats up and cools back down in a repating cycle, it can also cause your washing machine / other appliance to act up. It might also bypass the device once a continious current is reached to allow the NTC to cool down and be ready to protect as soon as their is another spike or the power is cycled to the device, this also saves a lot of wasted heat as the NTCs can run quite hot as im sure you know.

[@myfunrandomvids]

Here in Canada we have split 115v in at 100A, 115V-0-115V to make a total of 200A service.

[@tallman11282]

myfunrandomvids That's the standard in the USA as well. The US and Canada (I don't know about Mexico) have the same basic electrical standards. The specific safety standards may vary some depending on the country (even by state/province) but the basics, voltage, amperage, hertz, outlet types, etc. are the same. As our standards are the same linemen from both sides of the border can and do help each other out after a natural disaster or other emergency damages the power grid. I remember seeing trucks and men from Hydro Quebec rolling into town after Hurricane Ivan (2004) heavily damaged the part of Florida I lived in. I knew linemen from across the country come and help after a disaster strikes somewhere but I didn't know linemen from Canada came too sometimes. I don't know but I would be surprised if the countries in the EU didn't have some sort of agreement where linemen cross the borders to help after a disaster.

[@tehEngineer3]

I love the designs of old foreign electronics cases

[@chems]

does the NTC get physically hot? like would it burn nearby electronics if it was to be hot glued onto stuff?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It does get hot as part of its function. It shouldn't be glued to anything as that would affect its operation. It's best operated in free air, and when I've used them to take the bang out of big transformers I've mounted them in ceramic terminal block as a precaution.

[@jamesbirdsall2910]

bigclivedotcom which part of Scotland are you from? I'm from the closest county in England to Northumberland

[@bigclivedotcom]

james birdsall I've spent most of my life in Glasgow. Born in East Kilbride.

[@phils4634]

We see a number of similar devices on RV / Caravan airconditioners "Down Under", where the high compressor inrush current would trip out protection systems on smaller portable generators. With the increasing popularity of "camping with all the luxuries of home" ("Glamping" - the Aussie abbreviation for "Glamorous Camping"), most smaller A/C manufacturers are fitting such systems as standard (e.g. Aircommand).

[@turtmastert3545]

what you are talking about is known as a hard start kit, they are 2 different things, a hard start kit instead makes the inrush current duration shorter

[@retro80s22]

you have a fantastic personality and the effect of your videos on me is like settling down to a good movie on a Saturday night keep them up ..ps I built up the led snow drops and flowers there great beats ikea gear hands down ☺

[@SimonE-fz5pc]

ELV in germany is a company that started out with a magazine that would introduce kits and they would sell the kits afterwards. This one seems to be from 1986 (www.elv.de/Einschaltoptimierung-für-Großverbraucher-bis-10A/x.aspx/cid_726/detail_34358). You can still get the schematic for this. These days they sell more readymade stuff. The circuit is designed as you described for old households still using the 10A breaker instead of the newer 16A breakers we now have in germany.

[@DasIllu]

I think the op amp is acting as an integrator with a diode, a capacitor and a discharge resistor. When current is flowing over the sense line resistor the capacitor charges up. I am guessing that the op amp has a certain negative bias, maybe even in some form from the thermistor. Once the capacitor reached a certain charge, the output changes polarity, turning on a driver transistor to turn on the relay. So in a way it is acting as a integrator and comperator at the same time. But i could also be completely wrong, as i so often am ^^

[@_who_cares_1123]

I love how he says "goldbarren" (which means "gold ingot") instead of goldbaeren :D

[@teslakovalaborator]

WTF?? It's gummy bears with flavour of apple,pineapple and more. In Czech Republic (Near to Germany) its common candy.

[@TheRealColBosch]

Common here in Chicago, USA, too. In fact, I've got a bag right by me. Made in Germany, even, so probably the exact same thing Clive has in this video.

[@leonvdd]

404 hahahaha ikr

[@SianaGearz]

+TheRealColBosch no, they're probably same brand but not the same taste, the export version should have a more intense flavour and more sugary taste for USA. I believe there's about half a dozen regional flavour variations, even if they're made at the same factory, which is why people actually mail them around the world occasionally.

[@TheRealColBosch]

Siana Gearz Huh! I did not know that. Thanks!

[@leberkassemmel]

I Love it. Food and Electronics in one Video!

[@MrBrymstond]

Smart man knows his business, cheers!

[@TheLiquidlane]

i want to be honest with you. Your german is like really good. I never heard someone who is usually speaking englisch, speaking german that well!

[@Dunkelheit667]

Especially the umlauts a lot of native English speakers usually spruggle with. bigclive has a lot of talents. :o)

[@heyarno]

He won't pass as a masterspy though ;P

[@LasseHuhtala]

Edibles and Electronics. Good combo. :-)

[@PeterAndersons]

Excellent as always! Cheers

[@Beany2007FTW]

German sweets and pulling electronics apart for fun and entertainment - it's like a sunday afternoon with my late father, arf!

[@Beany2007FTW]

(although to be fair, he was more mechanical than electrical - 1kw portable generator spread across the kitchen table with lunch balanced on top of the engine because he was buggered if he was buying a new one just becuase the rectifier thingy had failed, etc)

[@Heckatomba]

You said B type breakers was the most common breaker in the UK, do you know why you use the B type? Here in Denmark the most common breaker in residential houses is the type C. C13 or C10 will be used for single phase outlets (I dont know how many outlets per breaker) and C16 for three phase outlets like the kitchen stove.

[@scwfan08]

Hekatombe C characteristic is used for machines that require a higher starting current (so industrial use). But it doesn't really matter much. Usually B characteristic breakers also are a bit cheaper.

[@petermichaelgreen]

Most socket circuits in the UK are 20A or 32A so the fast trip points aren't actually all that different from what you have.

[@idlegandalf]

I live in Germany and before I moved recently I lived in an apartment in a modestly old house. the wiring was.... interesting at least and the breaker were the highlight. Every time I turned on my oven (oven was running on the same phase) my breaker switched off and the whole apartment was dead, since there was only one breaker. Then I got one of these devices (inrush current limiting), but it didn't work even remotely. Also, it was described to not work on socket boards and I still wonder why. Maybe Clive got an idea? I doubt it was as fancy inside as the one you got there tho.

[@remotecontrol1408]

IdleGandalf i've Seen this before: this is not a current overload, but a ground fault. If it was current, in germany, you trip a sperate breaker. What happened in your case: there was a leak to ground (can be as low as 20mA), probably caused by dirt from cooking, that was detected by the Main fuse, that is before all other fuses, wich in germany is usually the only fuse wich has that capability. (would also explain why the current limiter did nothing) - otherwise it had only one 10A fuse, wich is in germany not permitted for a whole appartment

[@idlegandalf]

remotecontrol well I had only one breaker, I didn't got a ground leakage protection breaker, the breaker was rated 16amps for the whole apartment, it was a older type of breaker but you could just slide it back up like the modern ones.

[@darkfur18]

You post a lot of your videos really late for us here in Burgerland.

[@thelol1759]

Shpoople or early 😂

[@oO_ox_O]

Shpoople Ah, so you're from Burgenland, Austria? ;)

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

It's perfect for those of us in Burgerland that use his videos as a sleep aid.

[@cuteraptor42]

Or are you living in Hamburg in Germany?

[@_who_cares_1123]

Ungoogleable o_O I think with Burgerland he ment the USA

[@deelan_]

If you read German, like "Einschaltoptimierung für Großverbraucher" it sounds like you have a russian accent to me in German

[@ViciousViper79]

Got one of these too. It actually doesn't work all the time. Might have todo with the NTC needing time to cool down. Also it says you have to plug it in at first without any load so it can adjust itself. The setup I have is a bit complicated. I use it to limit the start up current of my 1.5k Watt PSU for my PC. It regulary fires the circuit braker. The PSU however also draws small current when the PC is off. Maybe this prevents the relay to go into off state again.

[@ssgeek4515]

Pc or ntc I believe are used in speaker driver filters namely bose 802 filter circuit inside cabinets or use a 12v lamp.great video

[@noferblatz]

I'm not aware of different "types" of breakers in the U.S. As far as I know, all "normal" breakers are designed to tolerate spike loads up to some X level temporarily, and remain closed during those periods. If the spike load remains for longer than Y time, then the breaker will trip open. Don't know what the X and Y values are. I do know that you will see the effect of this in house-wide voltage sags while it's happening. Also, in the U.S., because our voltage is half what it is in the U.K. (120V), our typical maximum residential panel ratings are 200A rather than the UK's 100A, as you mention in your video.

[@Clutch28]

Clive the reason a few other languages use some form of the word apple for potatoes is cause potatoes were first called, and still translate in a number of languages as "apples of the earth"

[@killerbeenl83]

In the Netherlands most have 3 fase ~230v into their home. But only one is connected and fused at 35 amps most of the time. Then every group is fused at 16 amps. Although like me you can get all 3 fases connected 3x25 amps. And the groups after that again fused at 16 amps normally. Of course for certain applications it may be different.

[@carlyonbay45]

Ashens dosent chew food as loudly as you - ashens dosent snort and wheeze and chomp away ..... He just makes a mmmmm hmmmm sound

[@operator8014]

Whelp, time to get a bag of gummy bears. Thanks Clive, I haven't wanted those little suckers in YEARS.

[@FredBedderhead]

growing up on the family farm we only had 50 amp service, could only use the dryer if you was not using the eclectic stove. a friend place at a near by town (if you could call it that) they only had 30 amp for the house

[@thepussygrabbingfamilyvalu557]

in french, another word for potato (patate) is "pomme de terre", which translates to "earth apple". german used to say "pomme frite" which means fried apples (implying pomme de terre, potato) and eventually dropped the "frite" and kept "pomme". now "pomme" in germany and the german-speaking part of switzerland means chips... i know the whole story because i speak english, french and german!

[@ThorstenSkinnie]

At least the current version of this product is rated for 90A peak current - for 1ms... The Relay kicks in for loads over 20VA - anything below that is handled via the PTC.

[@norman22122]

in Germany we have the same breakers with B, C and D, but common in houses are the B16, in a new house we have 3 phase 63 A with 230V(1~) (400V-3~)

[@ConorNoakes]

Its quite common to see D curve breakers on Amplifier racks and Server racks that have multiple devices all powering up at once

[@lorenhusky2717]

HID lamps are notorious for that absolutely massive spike of power draw when you first turn them on. Within a few seconds as the lamp starts to heat up the draw goes down until it reaches full brightness. The ones in my car can pull something like 12A on initial startup and settle down to about 1.5A each once they're fully warmed up. If you had one of these devices on a HID lamp, I wonder if it would prevent it from lighting the bulbs. Hm..

[@LovSven2011]

I love the the sound of searching for "blob of *stOff*" in video AT 6:50 . lol

[@mbirth]

This device seems to have been released in 1997: www.elv.de/Einschaltoptimierung-f%C3%BCr-Gro%C3%9Fverbraucher-bis-4000-VA/x.aspx/cid_726/detail_33746 . ELV is well known here to also provide schematics and DIY kits for lots of their devices. But this one seems to be only available completely assembled.

[@casemodder89]

this device from ELV electronics is meant for heavy toroidal transformer home HiFi amplificators to keep the circuit breakers (mostly B16 type) from killing the living room or where ever you decide to use these amps. in little flats you get 9 or 12 circuit breakers in B16 characteristic (splitted on 3 phases - mainfused 3x 35A) so no worry about energy in general but using "B types" for every circuit. for the average hifi listener its way easier to put this plug between the amp and socket instead of call the electrican to change the breaker to "C type".

[@johnalexander2349]

NIce device. Wonder if it could be used to soft-start my mitre saw?

[@minxcollector]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that opens my food packaging with my work knife 😏

[@smlunchen7789]

have seen these devices many years ago in computer rooms with many CRTs plugged in the same wall plug, which were switched by a main (key)switch.

[@Gameboygenius]

Are you going to do anything more with the device? The heroic task of making acomplete schematic? Or perhaps more realistically, just replacing the ntc and testing its function?

[@HowcountryWow]

The device is fully functional. I send it to him.

[@HowcountryWow]

The device is about 10 years old and was used (abused) by having an old washing maschine and a tumbledryer plugged in. both devices are running at the same time so the maximum power, if both heaters are fully on, maybe 4kw, so i think it survived pretty well.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It actually looks pretty modern inside for a 10 year old device. The sootiness inside was because the large zener has been running quite hot as standard.

[@HowcountryWow]

BTW u can use the AHOI powder in very different ways, like put it directly on ur tongue and then flush with a shot of vodka. if u do it pls share the experince.

[@HowcountryWow]

as some one mentioned in the comments, the device originates from 1997... with an older version from 1986.

[@drkastenbrot]

im really suprised by the way you pronounced those german terms. It did still sound like a drunk scottish grandpa trying to speak, but definitely a lot better than other non-germans

[@custardo]

Please do the breaker vid, you can do your John Ward imitation again ;)

[@tmdcbass]

mumble, obviously mumblemumbleVERY LOUD WORD AT SLIGHTLY HIGHER PITCH, mumble, obviously mumblemumbleVERY LOUD WORD AT SLIGHTLY HIGHER PITCH. Do love his videos though. He's like your uncle who explains electricity to you, but slightly resentfully as if he's got better things to do.

[@thingyee1118]

Robin Kok he is a brit thats a posh brit lol stiff upper lip :p sorry John if you read this.

[@TheSadButMadLad]

Yeah, JW has done breaker teardowns. Or is that breaking up a breaker? Clive's imitation of JW won't be complete unless Clive does an analysis of a lift (elevator).

[@theavchap]

I have been chuckling over these JW comments. I thinks he's a repressed air traffic controller.

[@tmdcbass]

I do love his dryer-than-dry off the cuff comments though. I really enjoy his videos and I couldn't imagine them being presented like Dave Jones from the EEVblog.

[@chrislewis2262]

Here in the US homes are wired 120/240 2 phase 200 amp (100 amp per phase) and the standard breaker is 15/20 amp even the 220 breaker for stoves and water heater are 20 amp breaker. I have always wondered why over there you went with 220/400 or 440 volt. dosent seem the need to be so high or is there a reason for that?

[@ehsnils]

230/400V is 230V to ground and 400V between phases. Higher voltage means that you can get the same amount of power with thinner wiring. 3-phase is also great as soon as you have electric motors requiring some power since you have a much less complicated motor with no need for any capacitor or similar.

[@SarahC2]

11:30 "I've never come across one of these before!"........ "I wonder why it's all gooey?" ...... ~giggles~

[@HemmligtNavn]

pommes de terre in french is apples of the earth - that is potatoes. Pommes in German is french fries but potatoes is Kartoffel - which is also the word used in Danish (Kartofler) - the Danish word for french fries is pomfritter - french fries in french: frites (de pommes de terre), so yeah.

[@itmkoeln]

Funny thing in German regional dialects: die Kartoffel is even called Erdapfel (earth-apple), which would hint the french pommes-de-terre. But the "Pommes" derrives from Pommes Frites (which is a French-Belgian(?!) word for french fries/chips). Pommes Fried would be Fried Potatoe Fries....

[@gravitywellv4044]

hey clive just wondering am new to soldering i just want to know what type of setup do you use because when i watch you when you solider its flawless :-0 i love it :-)

[@gravitywellv4044]

Thank You Can't wait to dig in soldiering making my own small circuit boards :-)

[@RFC3514]

"Pomme" actually goes back to Latin, where it generally meant apple but could apply to any fruit. It didn't refer to potatoes, though, namely because the Romans didn't have them. The potato connection (which, incidentally, would be a great title for a John le Carré novel) seems to come mainly from the French (pomme-de-terre).

[@francisdoherty5580]

Actually checked with Wikipedia. Possible source for Pomme usage. So yes to the Latin roots. "At least seven languages-Afrikaans, Dutch, French, (West) Frisian, Hebrew, Persian and some variants of German-are known to use a term for "potato" that translates roughly (or literally) into English as "earth apple" or "ground apple".[19][20]" en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato

[@DasGrinch]

I would like to see the insides of different circuit breakers.

[@ButtonBrand]

Hi Clive, interesting device - The problem with the higher current NTCs is that they cool when irregular loads aren't pulling much current.. Possibly the NTC is switched in circuit when high current is detected??

[@wolfman2247]

It's a very useful adapter to limit the current consumption of an inductiv electrical consumer. Very good when using standard welding device at 16A fuse ...

[@GCurl]

His pronunciation of Goldbären actually was pretty close! :O

[@jaymz6473]

God, I love Currywurst. They had frozen ones in Lidl here in northern ireland and even those were so good.

[@maicod]

afaik my house has a main fuse rated 25 A (hidden behind a cover with a seal) and 4 x 16 A fuses for the groups that I can replace. The flat is built in the 70s. It all sounds alot less than you say is common in the world in houses.

[@danxepha4535]

I'd be interested to see you look at a breaker. Have you ever done a teardown of a mains electric meter? In my first flat about 20 years ago I had a prepay electric meter (with the blue plastic key) which I found out was possible to get free top ups by taking the igniter from an electric cigarette lighter, poking the wire in the key hole and pressing the ignition button. It would add a random amount of credit each time. Obviously I never did this as it would be highly illegal. But it would be interesting to know why this worked.

[@Gameboygenius]

You may want to check out the channels mikeselectricstuff anf John Ward. They both did teardowns of circuit breakers. And otherwise, they deserve your sub.

[@skildude]

thought it was funny that he kept commenting on how hot the circuitry appears to have reached and completely ignored the brown discoloration of the case. Damn skippy it got hot. You can even see the square shapes that caused the heating.

[@piotricz]

On a trip to Japan, in the flat I've rented out for a week, there was a 24A fuse - mind that Japan runs at 100 V... It was the middle of winter and the heating was electric, there were two heaters 1.5 kW each - one on each floor. Needless to say, that was fun.

[@-yeme-]

its never occurred to me before but thats probably one reason why those little kerosene heaters are so popular in Japan

[@KarlBaron]

Yeah the electrical supply here in Japan is a joke on so many levels (it all starts with the fact that half the country is 50 Hz and the other half 60 Hz...). Luckily most of the real energy sinks run on gas (cookers, water heaters, gas tumble dryers are also common). Often I miss my big beefy European power supply.

[@donpalmera]

If you can speak Japanese it's not hard to go and ask the energy supplier for a 40A contract instead of a 25A or whatever and have them come out and do the work.

[@KarlBaron]

donpalmera You've clearly never had to deal with my 不動産 representative :p

[@donpalmera]

***** Speak to the person that owns the building and tell them that the breaker keeps tripping... or move to somewhere that isn't a tiny shack with a 25A breaker to start with. Most places built in the last decade that aren't single room apartments like leopalace have a 40A breaker to start with.

[@shoulders-of-giants]

"INE-shult OP-tee-MEE-ra foor GROSS-fa-BROW-ka" That's roughly how you pronounce that.

[@TheRealThisIsAlex]

Nice! Cool videos as always.

[@gaellafond6367]

Potato in French is "Pomme de terre", which translate to "soil apple".

[@IanTester]

Ground apple?

[@snubbelbuff1471]

Swedish language have to words for Potato - Potato and Soil Pear :)

[@Whiffert]

In German, its Kartoffel, which seems to be from the Italian for Truffle - makes sense. And of course, Road Apples are something else entirely.

[@yottaforce]

The inrush on electric motors are not caused by the magnetic field having to build up. It does that with each phase shift. It's because the motor needs to build up speed first.

[@accountdeactivated5486]

I am from germany and you pronunced it relatively good :D

[@crazygeorgelincoln]

to use wielder in uk i had to uprate the breaker, when landlord housing associations renewed the consumer unit i had to tell them to upgrade the garage breaker as they used a 15b , after a wait they put in a 20b , after i was convinced they will not be looking at it for a while i put in a 40c , how would the mystery german device cope with a welder attached.

[@hardymilts]

Really interesting (as always!) Clive. I have a request for some technical advice, if I may? (I think others might find the answer useful too)? I have a motor - (it runs a water pump from a water well, as it happens). I would like to use an inverter, so that I can run it off batteries in the event of a power cut. The motor is only 750W, but of course the start-current is significant, and not 'inverter-friendly'! If I wired one of those NTC devices, suitably rated of course, in series with the motor, might that, alone, solve the problem? Are there other factors I should take into account? (The motor is on a water-pressure switch, and the duty cycle is around 10 seconds operation, followed by 30 seconds rest at maximum demand)

[@hardymilts]

So I've ordered a couple of these - one for the pump on the well, and one for the central-heating boiler (living in darkest Devon - when the power goes out, we have no heating and no water! Ha!) If it solves the problem, it means I can use a much lower rated inverter to run off batteries during a power cut. I shall reply to this comment in due course if it solves my problem - (I can't be the only with a need to run motors off an inverter...) Thanks, Clive. I didn't know about these thermistors till I watched your vid! :)

[@bigclivedotcom]

When you mount them, I tend to use a piece of ceramic terminal block as a precaution. I've never actually measure their normal operating temperature in use though. I just like to play safe.

[@hardymilts]

Ah, thank you - hadn't thought of that. Of course, they must run a bit hot in order to work. I wonder, actually, if you need to make sure the rating isn't too high? Or if they find their own working temperature regardless? I guess a device rated at 10A, say, that's passing 1A in operation, is going to drop a higher voltage, so will dissipate more power, and heat up, thus lowering it's resistance anyway...

[@mannomorth]

How come all my favorite youtubers all mention Ashens? ^^ Love this channel tho, usually put on a vid when i go to bed. Fall asleep with a person talking about electronics with slendid accent in the backround!

[@babeleebabelee2278]

I bought one of those limiters a few years back. I had a very big skill saw that almost always triggered the Fuses on powering up. The end of the story was, that after about 10 times of using it broke. And it wasnt that cheap, either. so i wouldnt recommend buying it.