How long LED filaments are made

A look at the internal construction of a common type of low voltage LED filament that is often used to give the effect of a long coiled filament in decorative lamps.
The 300mm (12") filaments have an illuminated section of about 285mm (11") with 200 LEDs in parallel along the length, running at around 3V. This makes them very easy to power with batteries or a USB power supply, using a couple of 10 ohm resistors in series.
In a dim room they can be run at extremely low current to get a strong visible line of colour. Literally just a few milliamps.
Here's a link to the Aliexpress page I bought these from:-
www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...
The 300mm versions should cost about £7-£10 for five including shipping. If they hike the price, consider other suppliers.
There are other sellers with more expensive listings. I'm not sure if the filaments they are selling are a higher spec or if it's the same ones.
If using these in a way that will allow lots of flexing, then I'd recommend reinforcing the ends with a short piece of 2.5mm heatshrink for strain relief. If using in a costume then make sure they can be removed and replaced easily.
A link to the video that inspired me to try some of the filaments out:-
• How To Use Flexible LE...
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators

[@BRUXXUS]

This is what I dreamed EL Wire could be. If they could make these as long and durable as EL Wire while keeping the benefit of LEDs, it'd be amazing!

[@Scrogan]

Yeah, I’d like to see them being more non-directional too. That said, I’ve been having some luck driving those tiny flash globe transformers with a push-pull driver resonantly with the EL wire on the other end. Still needs a boost converter, and don’t forget the inductor. You can’t treat the primary of a transformer like an inductor if you’re doing a resonant converter, it needs a series inductor at the least. Also getting it resonant with the secondary side isn’t trivial.

[@ICountFrom0]

What if we braid it, so that the bright parts and the dim parts average out, the multiple strands adding stability and a bit more durability, and then run it down the inside of some flexable tube? A faberic tube maybe? So it can stitched into costumes? An occasional loop of thread through the braid to secure it into the tube made around it?

[@serpentine1983]

Laser Wire. But are expensive, very expensive.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

I love EL Wire. I've never gotten any of the EL "Strips" (non-omni directional like the wire), or the EL "Panels" though, but those also are equally alluring as the Wire variant. I always like EL much more than the CCL that everyone used in early computer modding, or car modding for that matter. I had bought some red EL Wire for a computer once, and some years later ended up owning a 1991 Red Firebird... That EL wire fit PERFECTLY when pressed into the seams in the dash/center console, around the radio and shifter. Which, with the 12V Booster box for PC use, worked just as happily while being fed with the "12V" (14.4V) automotive electrical. Unfortunately, my 1993 Firebird's dash is a bit different, and I'm not able to do the same trick :( Further shame, that the Red LED here is basically useless in terms of illumination... but the other colors are vibrant enough that I want to buy some......... I just don't know what I"d use it for! Although if I were a smart enough person (like Clive) I would probably make some a phone case with a device like those Cell Stickers, but have this work off some sort of IC with its own small LiPo, that something-somehow-detects-calls and then gives a cool neon-glow with those LEDs inlaid into the case.

[@MrMegaPussyPlayer]

@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE EL wire sucks for one reason. The very limited lifetime. Great at beginning, but reducing in brightness very fast. I integrated one in a computer case ... once ... back when cases just getting illuminated with cold cathode tubes. By the time I was satisfied where and how the EL was going (with occasional light tests) and had the right method to attach it (hint: tiny dabs of hot glue are NOT the way to go) it was so dim even in a complete dark room it was barely visible. You basically have to throw them out every other week.

[@foxfoxfoxfoxfoxfoxfoxfoxfoxfox]

Silicone based "personal lubricants" will soften and act like a solvent to silicone. Coating the wires in it would probably have been enough to turn the coating to jelly and allow you to easily strip it off.

[@fat_pigeon]

Possibly also dichloromethane would work.

[@JimService]

There are bottles of silicone stripper sold for removing silicone caulking around bathtubs.

[@anzetal9586]

@@JimService but the lubricant can be used for fun later 😉

[@ralphshoop8822]

@@anzetal9586 Just not the same lubricant used for dissolving the coating :D

[@BearFulmer]

Just be sure to take the nookie pills first

[@williamgreen5575]

SMD parts flipping up during reflow is called 'tombstoning' and it happens to small resistors or caps sometimes too.

[@jaro6985]

Tombstoning is when one side lifts up and disconnects, apparently in this case it would be called "billboarding" which is more rare.

[@williamgreen5575]

@@jaro6985 spot on. I'd never heard of that. I've experienced tombstoning before though. Turns out 'billboarding' is down to faulty placement or oversize pads. You learn something new every day!

[@sulpheralchemist]

I've been playing with these for a while after seeing the tested video too. I've found that a pair of them in series run really well from a usb without need to current limit (as they are under volted). Makes them really easy and good for simple costume work.

[@dcentral]

How to wire 4 of these to be in series: + - + - + -+ - ?

[@johndoe528]

@@dcentral yes

[@shiftyjesusfish]

Every time I want reliable information on something in a project, you somehow have a recent video on either the exact topics, or one similar enough you manage to answer my questions or teach me something I didnt know that lets me explore what i didnt understand in a new way. One of the best people out there in my opinion Clive, thanks for all your hard work, and your constant mentoring of the community

[@GadgetBoy]

The pick and place machines use tiny little tubes that pull a vacuum and the part sticks to it. Then it goes to a certain X/Y coordinate, pushes it into the paste, then releases the vacuum. On occasion, the vacuum might not release fast enough, or the part might stick to the tube, or whatever, and the part won't stick flush. We called it tombstoning when they'd successfully solder flipped up. It was then that I learned that high frequency RF circuits are sensitive to their inductors flipping up - they'll "work" but at a slightly different frequency.

[@ths800]

SMT machine

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

Coffee machine

[@phonotical]

Tea Machine

[@jayherde0]

Milk machine ... wait - that's a cow :-/

[@phonotical]

@@jayherde0 or my mother

[@LakeNipissing]

Wow!! It looks like colored wires that light up! These look like they would be a lot of fun to experiment with!

[@zh84]

Like electroluminescent wire, but much easier to work with as it is low voltage and more flexible.

[@Texas1FlyBoy]

@@zh84 And as long as you don't over-drive them, they'll probably last longer than EL wire.

[@PedroDaGr8]

I just found what project I'm going to use toteach my godson and his sister how to solder. Who knows what we will end up making but these flexible LED strips are what we will use to do so. They both are hardcore about learning how to solder so it should go well. I might propose some ideas but I want them to help design their own creation. The learning how to plan to achieve their goal is the important part. Thank you Clive from the bottom of my heart for posting these.

[@ExtremeMetal]

The best thing that taught me to solder half decently was quite ironic really. Desoldering ICs and caps from old boards. Every single component I removed I was better at it, and the skills translated quite well to soldering.

[@darkracer1252]

i made some neon sign for some people before with the neon led strips. and my main issue back then was that i couldnt get it any smaller. this however is CONCIDERABLY smaller. so i might revisit that project

[@pyromaniac303]

Bought some of these now, great find! I was looking for something like this for a while now for my water fountain illumination project - ruled EL wire out due to the high voltage.

[@richards7909]

If this had been available in the 80s, every kid with a BMX would have hoped someone sold a kit to put this around their spokes! More fun than a lollipop stick jammed onto the brake caliper to make a noise :D

[@GadgetBoy]

Those filaments would make incredible light saber effects on miniatures.

[@_waymin]

EL wire is a more afforable and durable ( more importantly, stiffer- not as soft as these so it's more lightsaber-y) than these, i would imagine if you had larger models these would be preferable.

[@GadgetBoy]

@@_waymin yeah, but you can't just cut el wire.

[@_waymin]

@@GadgetBoy yeah you can, that's the whole point

[@_waymin]

@@GadgetBoy there are actually sheets of it designed to be cut into shapes

[@licensetodrive9930]

​@@_waymin I think EL wire is great, I've played with some years ago and I have a USB cable with 3 strands embedded in the center of the wire wrapped into a spiral, so when it's being used it lights up the 3 strands in sequence to make it look like energy flowing into the device, the speed of how quick the light 'moves' along the cable depends on the current draw of the USB device. Unfortunately EL paper/wire can wear out over time, that USB cable is very dim now, and EL can't compete with LEDs for brightness & life longevity, so it's really good to see these LED strings.

[@Omapk]

What a lovely look, I can think of tons of small model projects I wish I had these for years ago.

[@KLondike5]

I like to burn off the remaining capacity of weak batteries on decorative LEDs. They last a surprisingly long time. These look like a fun way of doing the same with my growing pile of weak alkaline batteries.

[@treborrrrr]

Why not replace the batteries with rechargeable ones instead? Much cheaper in the long run.

[@KLondike5]

@treborrrrr I still have things that don't work nice with 1.2 volts & just think the batteries are dead.

[@darkracer1252]

@@KLondike5 ever concidered the fact that it's trying to protect itself? battery's don't like being fully drained. alkaline battery's can start leaking. lipo's will litterally just blow up. and rechargable battery's won't recharge when they are overdrained.

[@KLondike5]

@@darkracer1252 But some devices have a basic way of checking if the battery is low & assume alkaline is used so will auto off at what's a low alkaline voltage but is a perfectly long lasting nimh at 1.2 volts. Or if you're using 4 cells, the difference of being over a volt lower results in circuit or brightness problems.

[@darkracer1252]

@@KLondike5 yeah you're saying that you would have removed the battery long before dangerous levels because the lights start to under perform?

[@dwaynewladyka577]

Those are the coolest looking LED lights I've ever seen. I can imagine artists using those. The uses could vary. Things like a for a progressive rock album cover, making illuminated noodles in a bowl, or even spinning strands of those and photographing it. Even a miniature Christmas tree would look cool with that. Cheers!

[@darkracer1252]

when you look them up on the internet and example is using them as shoe laces

[@Qwarzz]

I bought these to have laser beams between model spacecraft :)

[@rushilkisoon]

I was curious as to why they had such short lengths… then I realised it’s meant for those “filament” type light bulbs.

[@ThePiprian]

There are versions of these on aliexpress up to 5 meters long. Not sure how well those work though.

[@rushilkisoon]

@@ThePiprian 😭😭😭 I didn’t need to know this. Now I have no excuse to not strip out my car EL wire and replace it with these… at least it’ll make good video content 😂

[@markusallport1276]

that looks really cool! I've never seen these before, and now I shall buy some for some fun creative experimenting! Thanks Clive~!

[@Ghlargh]

I bought some of these a few months back and figured out why the light is uneven at the ends. The idea that feeding the strip from both ends like this will make the light perfectly even is a fallacy, it will drop the unevenness to about a quarter of what you get if feeding from one end but the light will still be lowest the furthest from the ends. Try drawing up a schematic of the strip with the conductors as resistors and you will see that the voltage drop between LEDs is greatest at the end where one polarity has a very high current (the number of LEDs times the average LED current) and one has a very low current (one conductor will only see the current from one LED at the end of the strip).

[@haroldsmith45302]

The problem could be solved by equalizing the current per unit of cross-sectional area of bus rail conductor material. Each bus rail needs to be tapered; N-times as wide at it's solder tab end as it is at it's remote end, where N = the number of LEDs per section.

[@Ghlargh]

@@haroldsmith45302 Good thinking. It would be interesting to see if it's viable to make one end thick enough while maintaining minimum conductor size on the other end or if the strip becomes unreasonably wide.

[@pcrengnr1]

@@haroldsmith45302 You're right about the tapering. The current diminishes as you go down the string to the last LED. Try simming with LTSpice or your fav spice and parameterize the resistors with an eqn. That's all I got.

[@zebo-the-fat]

Wonderful stuff, I want some... but can't think what I would do with it!

[@jkobain]

You are not alone in this river. ;D

[@Sb129]

These look insanely cool!

[@roberthindle5146]

I didn't know these existed. They are coolest thing I've seen in ages!

[@jstro-hobbytech]

I ordered some of those last week haha. They're awesome.

[@tmmtmm]

The LEDs at each end of the strings being brighter is due to voltage drop on the PCB making the center LEDs dimmer. Every LED sees the same overall trace length but the average current over the traces is higher for the center LEDs (100LEDs of current rising to 200LEDs, in either direction) therefore they suffer higher voltage drop, compared the the LEDs on the ends (1 LED current near them, rising to 200LEDs current at the far end). The current is probably quite unbalanced to make a visual difference like that - I wouldn't be surprised if the center LEDs are drawing half the current compared to the ones at the ends. Problem can be solved by dividing the string into multiple parallel connected shorter strings with dedicated traces but of course that requires more than 2 traces.

[@warpeggioslab]

Would it help if the supply traces were thicker?

[@j8wydf6]

@@warpeggioslab or taper the traces so that the resistance is lowered where current is highest but increased where it's lowest. The current to the middle LEDs would flow through the thickest parts of the traces on both sides. The current to LEDs at the end would flow through a short thick section on one side and long thin section on the other.

[@PabloEdvardo]

It could also be due to the light reflecting at the ends in the silicone covering, since it appears that some of the light is diffused through the covering material and therefore would act somewhat like a fiber optic string

[@tmmtmm]

@@warpeggioslab yes. But in theory you need an infinitely wide trace to have completely even current distribution.

[@peterjameson321]

You've done it again Clive. Another brilliant and informative video. I'm sure that many of us have been wondering about these LEDs. You didn't say though if they are resistant to being stretched. Perhaps you could add a note about that.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Stretching them will break the strip.

[@peterjameson321]

@@bigclivedotcom Ah, I thought as much. Thanks for the extra information Clive. Keep the vids coming, you're a great presenter!

[@brainfarth]

Aliexpress knows when I've been watching your show.

[@carlubambi5541]

I remember electro strip flexible rope lighting ,they were 1/2 inch diameter and used tungsten lamps ,now they are LED and down to 1mm diameter .So many uses for them

[@jdrissel]

I had about 600' of green tungsten rope lights in my Xmas decorations one year. Won second place, but used over $1000 in extra electricity. My front yard drew 34 amps at 120v!

[@francoisleveille409]

Now THAT is a brillant idea! Lots of ODE such as anne-ODE and cath-ODE.

[@stevenmiller279]

These have a really cool look.

[@EldaLuna]

interesting leds indeed. i have some vintage styled bulbs with that amber type of those in use. one of the glass shells broke on one and i dont even know what happened but it was interesting seeing how soft and flexible that stuff is. i just put on liquid electrical type on the exposed parts and just continued to use it as nothing wrong with it other than the glass bulb gone now.

[@intocoasters]

These are cool! I can see some interesting costume and prop possibilities! They seem (on video as least) much brighter than EL wire. Very cool find!

[@Addixxtion]

Ooh I think I've found want I was looking for, I've had EL wire for projects but they tend to be quite dim in any other setting but total darkness, ideal for Halloween costumes I suppose where you're likely to be in a dark setting. But these seem way brighter and more suited to most light settings. Thanks Clive for bringing these to my attention, I shall go hunting for them.

[@licensetodrive9930]

I may have to get some of the string type, they look very interesting and I'm quite curious to see what they look like in person since it's so difficult to video/photograph light sources like that and have them look like they do with your naked eyes.

[@C0mmentC0p]

Didn't know these existed, really interesting things I really want to buy some now...

[@carlbrenninkmeijer8925]

Darn, I just disposed of our Christmas tree. 🎄 Many thanks, plenty of time for Christmas 2022, and I know now how they work !

[@nightlore000]

Interesting Video Clive .. Not seen long LED filaments before .. thank you for posting .. 👍

[@gregorythomas333]

Very neat lights...I can see a bunch of different ways to use these all over the place :)

[@natjzam]

Not sure if its a universal term, but when I used to work on reflow ovens we called that phenomena of chips rising on their side tombstoning. its common to happen during solder wetting if the flipchip alignment is off

[@evilutionltd]

They call it tombstoning when SMDs flip up when the solder paste is flowed. That's liquid surface tension working against you.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yeah, it's odd that it did it sideways though. It might even be a sticky pick 'n' place machine that did it.

[@g.j.647]

@@bigclivedotcom It would be interesting to know, what feeding system is used for the pick and place machine (bulk, tape, tray, ...?). My suspicion is, that the LEDs are already rotated when they are placed. At least this is a manufacturing quality issue. That's China quality and they can still export the bad items to foreign countries.

[@jkobain]

Damn, they look so cool! No wonder a lot of us your viewers will inevitably go out for shopping in search for them.

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

I remember using the flexible neon wire that looked the same, though it required a little high-frequency driver.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Electroluminescent wire is common on eBay. But very dim compared to this.

[@Quickened1]

The other problem with el wire is that it is nowhere near as flexible. I love the consistent light output of el, and you can get it in pretty much any length you want it, but there are pros and cons to each of these...

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

@LabRat Knatz Huh. Guess there was a big shift in quality in the drivers. I was using the stuff, cut into shorter lengths and joined with wire, inside computer cases as displays. One of the specials I did even had it glued to the ram heatsinks and used some hardware to make an audio VU meter out of it. Needless to say, there was no audio noise and system stability hadn't been compromised.

[@Fluxkompressor]

The Fact that the inner section of the filaments are dimmer than the outside made me curios and so I fired up LTSpice and put something together. And despite the fact that each led has the same length of track on the circuit board and also the same resistance in series, they get different currents. Lower in the middle and higher on the ends. This makes no sense if I think about it, but Spice says so

[@treelibrarian7618]

The dimness in the middle makes sense if you think about voltage drop in each wire segment. The first wire segment in the bus has the current from all 200 LEDs and the last one has only the current from one LED, and therefore only one 200th the voltage drop. If the LEDs all draw the same current then the graph of voltage drop would be a half-parabola, and with two opposing half-parabolas (flipped in both x and y) the middles are clearly closer together than the ends, indicating more voltage available to the end LEDs. The effect should be tiny, but LEDs are very voltage sensitive so it becomes visible.

[@kevinmartin7760]

There is a product available here to soften and clean up silicone sealant/adhesive. It is sold in the plumbing section of hardware/home improvement stored, and used to clean off old silicone sealant that was used to seal around shower stalls and such when renovating. Perhaps it might soften the silicone in these filaments.

[@greentjmtl]

Bought it once, pretty sure it's just kerosene in gel form.

[@kevinmartin7760]

@@greentjmtl Must be a different product. IIRC the stuff I had seemed to be water-based and had no kerosene smell at all

[@SuperAWaC]

there are various silicone digesters and other solvents which work on silicones

[@WKDPOWER]

I didn't even know this stuff existed, and now I want a box full. Can't think of any use for it, but still want it 😁

[@ComputerGenius10]

These are really interesting - never seen anything like it

[@user-hk3ej4hk7m]

The strips being dimmer in the middle could be total internal reflection causing them to act similarly to a glass fiber. To check this you can try to bend the strip and see if it gets brighter on that spot.

[@UhrwerkKlockwerx]

Man, those LED filaments are so pretty.

[@danielcobo8263]

min 8:30 till 8:40 it's just gold. Thank you for the video

[@Alakazzam09]

I saw Norm from Tested use these in a project and got some to make a Halloween mask for my nephew last year. They work great but the end connectors can be VERY fragile and sometimes the copper tabs flake off. I reinforced the ends with a layer of clear tape then some careful use of hot glue. The ones I bought could be trimmed to size but I designed the mask so I wouldn't have to. Cutting and exposing the contacts on the cut end was a nightmare in my test piece. They ran great on a battery pack all night, the kid loved it.

[@ThePiprian]

Do you have a link to the trimmable ones?

[@Alakazzam09]

@@ThePiprian There is so much of it I don't think a direct link will be useful. It's commonly called "EL wire" though and most of it is technically trimmable. Mine had small black lines on the underside where it could be safely cut and still work. They all seem to be pretty similar in my experience so don't over pay. Also check out the Tested video for tips on working with it. It'll save you a lot of frustration.

[@ThePiprian]

@@Alakazzam09 Thanks for the answer! I thought el wire was a different technology that uses a lot more energy than LEDs?

[@Qwarzz]

@@ThePiprian Yep, very different. Uses AC voltage for starters so requires special power supply.

[@kawzmOS]

Great video, Clive!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Very interesting, loads of LEDs inside!

[@kerzwhile]

The ability to be able to pixel map these would open up an entirely new world. This is incredible! 😉🤔

[@Flyingwigs]

The red ones I received are fairly bright and evenly lit, I don't think any have the brighter ends like yours do. They are very fragile though, I had one break in the center somewhere and is now intermittent, if using for an everyday items, I'd add some additional protection.

[@Fasteroid]

Those are some very pretty glow noodles. Truly do look like tiny neon tubes.

[@tijmenstam5841]

Could it be that there is a double bus wire somwhere connecting at both ends, which makes both ends see a 3-0=3V voltage, while the LED's in the middle have a slight voltage drop meaning they e.g operate at 2.9-0.1=2.8V?

[@AlphaBeta-cf5wf]

I've never tried it myself but if you are looking to dissolve silicone you could try heating with a strong base (Sodium hydroxide), and maybe an organic solvent like THF to get ride of any organic polymer/plastic.

[@rushilkisoon]

I didn’t know this existed, and now I want it!

[@dcallan812]

Nice effects tested's neon looks OK. this type of strip could have so many uses I might get a few and play.

[@keyring8368]

I saw some of these on a costume in a Sci-Fi show. Thought those are cool, wonder how they did it or what they are. Now I know, very awesome, gonna find some myself.

[@bendungeon5677]

These string lights are soo flexible and useful for birthfays, special dinners etc. I can bend them around corners in tight spaces no problemo i guess

[@bendungeon5677]

I never see them in shops

[@heyarno]

I got myself a canister of silicone remover. When you let stuff soak in it, the silicone becomes swollen and softer and separates from the surface that it's cast onto. Maybe that would work for you too.

[@realcygnus]

Nifty ! If only Edison could see how lighting has evolved.

[@MrMegaPussyPlayer]

9:49 Have bought those as well. Though, it stops at 2.5V when I limit the current to 100mA to reach 3V I have to jack the current up to 600mA.

[@markscheutzow3446]

Try gasoline, I know that automotive silicone compounds can't take it. Also, silicone oil (polysiloxane) will slowly soak in to silicone rubber over time. Both eventually turn it into a bloated jelly mass.

[@bryansychingiok]

If you need a shorter length. You can cut it to size then burn one end. If you are careful you can expose the conductors. Some projects require a fixed length because I have no place to hide the surplus. They are really wiggly and hard to manage. No glue will stick to it as well.

[@piconano]

Wow! I've never seen one before! Thanks.

[@DJEonT1]

The illumination on these look great. But something makes me think running it around the skirting board in my living room might be a bit costly. Whilst I'm wishing, can I get 2812 addressable LED versions instead. a run of 20 meters for less than £30 would be great !

[@jpdemer5]

Solvents will swell the silicone, and eventually turn it to a jelly-like mess, but to break the cross-links and actually dissolve it away is a very different process. Acetone + ispopropyl alcohol, with a splash of ammonia, might do the trick. The LEDs at the ends glow brighter because that's where the voltage drop is greatest. (Imagine pipes laid out in a ladder pattern: the flow through the middle rungs would be lower than at the ends.)

[@LoftechUK]

They are cool Clive but I think I will wait for the newer ones so thanks for the heads up

[@thefixitgal]

Those are so coool!!!!! I can think of so many things to do with them

[@gowdsake7103]

The machines use vacuum nozzles, high accuracy cameras and servo systems to place the chips

[@TechGorilla1987]

That is absolutely bad-ass.

[@-djs]

I'm happy and relieved to see you back home and free of that awful thing. Sorry if you've already answered but can the lengths be cut? Many thanks if you can answer.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They can't be cut. But you get shorter lengths.

[@-djs]

@@bigclivedotcom Thank you so much for answering, I know you are very busy, I have found the different lengths, On a separate note I am very happy to see you back fit and healthy and I hope their are no lingering affects. Take care 👍

[@Gin-toki]

can't wait till we get some of these with individually addressable leds :D would of course require an extra connection point in each end of the filament, but that's okay.

[@tims8603]

I bought a 3-pack of those soldering tips from Ebay for just under $12. I am a vaper so I have lots of vaping stuff. The ad said 1.5 ohms and 15 watts. The readings I get are roughly 2.3 ohms and I use about 20 watts. I really didn't expect them to work well but I was surprised that they do. It's nice to have a small portable soldering iron.

[@dimitrijekrstic7567]

Shouldn't the power be lower if you use the same power source but a higher resistance? So if the 1.5ohm is giving you 15W, shouldn't 2.3ohm give you around 10W?

[@tims8603]

@@dimitrijekrstic7567This is a variable wattage mod. Increasing the watts also increases the voltage. At 20 W the voltage is around 6.25 volts. At 15 W the voltage is around 5 volts. It gets hotter quicker at 20 W. These devices usually have a 10 second cutoff so it helps to get the tip hot quickly.

[@dimitrijekrstic7567]

@@tims8603 very nice! At 6.25V it comes up to about 17W with the 2.3ohm coil which is pretty close!

[@tims8603]

@@dimitrijekrstic7567 The resistance varies with the temperature of the tip. After using it for awhile, it goes down to about 1.9 ohms.

[@dimitrijekrstic7567]

@@tims8603 hmm. It should only increase when hot

[@A_Casual_NPC]

I'm only slightly disappointed this video isn't called "how loooong LED filaments are made" because that's definitely how I read it. :)

[@RawTopShot]

I'd love to see you recreate ORAC from Blake's 7 with all these pretty leds and things.

[@ParallelLogic]

Could varying brightness be associated with varying thickness of the PCB?

[@Brian_Boxtruck]

That's pretty rad. Mind sharing the video of the model neon you saw Clive?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'll add the link to the description too:- kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJnIaZdvg8yWqas

[@Quickened1]

These are quite fascinating! One question that comes to mind, couldn't they make a micro led that radiates in a full 360°? I mean like similar to the filament leds, only on a micro scale? Then they wouldn't have the flipping problem and you would get perfect luminosity around the entire length.... You find some cool stuff Clive..

[@jaro6985]

How would they make a LED that radiated in all directions without multiple dice?

[@moe.m]

I think the ends are brighter as you have higher voltage drop there, because all the current is concentrated in one of the two busbars.

[@hermannpaschulke1583]

Oooh, that's cool!

[@skweek256]

Ooooh pretty, and 4 sections are 12v? Sounds perfect for adding some extra light to some pinball ramps/wireforms.

[@skweek256]

Much better than the way they did it on the TRON LE pin

[@xeroinfinity]

i think the off/tipped leds happens when the circuit board is conveying. Either the tension gets to high, or low, as the led chips are being placed on the circuit board, or during soldering. which could cause them to tip over. I really like these filaments, but they are delicate. Im holding out for the 5 mm version. =P

[@bigclivedotcom]

The 5mm (6mm) version is the LED neon strip.

[@frollard]

Could the uneven light be the thermal tempco causing the ones at the end to 'with fewer neighbors' to be cooler/brighter at the same current? (total spitball)...Because of the silicone insulation and hair thin traces there would be very little heat movement along the length so once a temp gradient sets in it feeds back on itself like many old school led parallel projects without resistors.

[@frollard]

Seller being dicks: could very much be an automated algorithm: "We have 100 stock, first 20 regular price no discount to cover the cost of the manufacturing run, next 70 are cheaper 'on sale' price, 10 remaining stock 200% price to slow demand until a new batch can be brought in. A rush of purchases just moves the price along.

[@jaro6985]

No it appears instantly, good idea though.

[@TechGorilla1987]

I'm not sure your sequence of filming, but you sound well here. That pleases me.

[@kevinhardisty6465]

I’ll be getting some of those for my PC case

[@Hex-Mas]

This is useful thanks.

[@simoncopar2512]

They are dimmer in the middle because the bus resistance isn't dividing the voltage evenly - the bus isn't at constant current, the current is proportional to the number of LEDS that come after it. At the input, you get the full current for the entire strip, but the end section of the bus only carries a single LED's worth of current. This means the voltage drop is biggest on the side where the bus comes in.

[@DoRC]

I wonder if the silicone is acting as an optical fiber causing light to travel to the ends making them brighter

[@nmpwolf9679]

the reason they're probably brighter on the ends and not in the center. might be the fact that they are trying to mimic actual neon, and actual neon it's always going to be brighter on the outer ends due to the fact that that's where the voltage is coming from.. just a thought

[@ei8gib]

Tombstoning.... I believe thats the term for when components shift during reflow, with some components even ending upright like a tombstone.

[@nicksantitoro]

Can you please try to make either a necklace or bracelet with these? It could use something like a cr2032 battery in a little case to act as both the power source, and clasp to hold the ends together.

[@UpLateGeek]

Very attractive!

[@UberAlphaSirus]

At them voltages even with that bus bar arangement, there must be a voltage drop for the centres to be dim.

[@kreterakete]

I found the super little hole today.. thank you ! Till now I did try and error and the filaments seem to be resistant to wrong Polarisation

[@BearFulmer]

Good day LED wire me tire resistance on the ends or just because the wire is so small or maybe heat on the ends you know marginally but because of the size of the wire it induces resistance to the middle of the strip

[@NicksStuff]

3:44 I wonder why that is the case. Maybe the pads that hold the LEDs in the middle are slightly thinner? Like there is some stretching happening before they're coated in silicone?

[@ableite]

8:09 - thanks for the clarification. Makes sense.

[@spokehedz]

I wonder if some strange capacitance or resistance of the absolutely tiny traces on that flexible PCB is the cause of the ends of them being lit like that. I wonder if sending them an AC voltage would change/alter that? Very interesting. I've noticed that on my super long runs of LED strips that the ends are very dim indeed, but it was always on the one side, where the power comes in. I would always just either connect both ends in a 'loop' or I would run a pair of wires back down the strip and to the source to reduce the resistance of the actual traces... Not ideal, but if you need it done, you need it done. But both ends is strange!

[@gazehound]

If it's LED tech, wouldn't AC not work very well? Them being diodes and all.

[@jaro6985]

Resistance yes, capacitance no as its DC. I tried AC doesn't make any noticeable difference. But yeah normally PWMing LEDs will make them visually look brighter overall, given the same power.

[@StubbyPhillips]

Way cool!

[@lucidmooses2642]

Interesting. I wonder if the reason that they are brighter (receiving more current) at the ends although all the leds have equivalent resistance is because of the magnetic field generated by the circuit? Could you test that by looping the string of leds up and passing a powerful magnet through the center to see if the filaments glow more evenly throughout? Love your channel BigClive!

[@lucidmooses2642]

That moment when you get a like from a great content creator on a comment, then notice a typo in your comment, and proceed to edit it, deleting the like from said creator 😥