I tried finding Hidden Gems on AliExpress AGAIN!

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You can find the featured products here: (affiliate links)
Schumann Generator: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBj...
Ideal Diode: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBX...
Wind Generator: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdJ...
Flying Pen: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBK...
Spot Welder: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DmL...
DIY Makita Battery Pack: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DnP...
IP2368 Mini: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBa...
In this video we will be having a closer look at 7 different products I got from Aliexpress. Aliexpress is famous for featuring the newest products/ICs when it comes to electronics but finding those can be a bit difficult. So I tried finding the hidden Gems not only electronics related but in general what I think could be useful. Let's get started!
Thanks to Elektor for sponsoring this video!
0:00 AliExpress?
0:31 Intro
1:26 Schumann Generator
3:09 Ideal Diode
5:28 Wind Generator
6:42 Flying Pen
7:46 Spot Welder
9:28 Makita Battery Kit
10:23 IP2368 100W PowerBank
11:18 Verdict

[@richardlighthouse5328]

Would love to see you modifying that wind generator to get it to work.

[@greatscottlab]

I will certainly have a look at it again in the future.

[@testboga5991]

Probably impossible without putting a different motor/generator in

[@richardlighthouse5328]

@@testboga5991 I think the controller is shitty/broken instead of motor not producing useful power.

[@TJJewett]

@@richardlighthouse5328 Probably a combination of both. I imagine when he tears the generator apart he'll find it doesn't have the right winding or enough windings to work properly, and probably the control board is just e-waste. But I also hope he makes a follow-up video on that product because it seems like there should be a way to get it working.

[@peejay1981]

@@richardlighthouse5328 That's what I was thinking - the generator shouldn't freespin that fast if it was under any sort of load.

[@lpt2606]

i am actually very interested in the windmill, maybe a follow up video where you see what is wrong with it or try to improve it?

[@greatscottlab]

Will try to do so soon when it gets warmer outside

[@joeledwards6587]

@@greatscottlab Yes please, maybe it just needs better magnets and coils? I'd love to see it made useful instead of it being a garbage product, since the quality looks so good might as well make it good :)

[@FaizanKhan-iq3yd]

+1

[@Mr.Engine993]

@@joeledwards6587 maybe the one he got was faulty

[@Cor_Netto]

Perhaps test it on top of a car at different driving / wind speeds?

[@advisedpotato8983]

Hope this turns into a regular seires! Im loving it so far

[@greatscottlab]

I am having fun with it as well and viewers seems to like it too. So I guess from time to time I will make such videos ;-)

[@shivavarunadicherla]

Everyone feels the same. I think a passive element of surprise make this series fun to watch

[@Patrick-dw8hq]

Yeah make more

[@cryptout]

yes these videos are valued and entertaining

[@seljd]

My wallet doesn't, videos like this motivate me to start exploring AliExpress just to buy something that i don't need

[@StuffPeterLikes]

A tip re battery spot welding: When there is a gap in the metal strip touching the cell as seen around 8:45, you should weld across the gap. The gap makes the path of least resistance pass through the battery cap instead of through the strip, this results in more energy being used to make the required weld and less being lost to heating the strip. Great content. Keep up the good work.

[@RawDR]

Maybe re-purpose the Schumann coil as a coffee mug warmer. Just have to put a current limited supply through it... being careful not to let it get too hot and de-laminate.

[@greatscottlab]

Not a bad idea :-)

[@cavemaneca]

At first that exactly what I thought it was.

[@satibel]

Add a small temperature probe (either diode or resistive) I wonder if a random op amp (tl071/72) wired as a dead bug with a 1n4148 as the temperature sensor and a zener as the cv source would be enough to get a good temperature shutoff.

[@cbs1710]

@@satibel This contraption sounds interesting. Could you perchance elaborate on how it is supposed to function?

[@satibel]

@@cbs1710 diodes and bjt transistors, which are similar, PNP or NPN for a transistor vs PN for a diode, lose around 2mv per C at constant current and so if you have a constant voltage and a resistor, it basically behaves as a cc source, you can use an operational amplifier as a schmitt trigger (basically it turns on at a higher temperature that it turns off at, so it doesn't switch between on/off all the time) and add a potentiometer to the output of the diode/transistor to adjust the temperature. with a bit of calculation (or experimentation) you can make the max temperature between something like ambient +10C and ambient +40C (because the rest of the circuit isn't temperature regulated it'll change depending on the ambient temperature, though it's a bit more complicated than that, but you have a warm to hot knob, which is good enough.) the zener diode is there as a voltage reference, so it doesn't change too much depending on the power supply. though tbh, it'd probably be easier to get a 40, 50 or 60C NC temperature switch and fix it to the bottom with some thermal interface material (TIM), then use a constant current source (basically an op amp with a resistor and a transistor) to feed the coil as a heating element and avoid overloading the power supply. but since we need an op amp to feed it, we could use a chip with multiple to do the temperature regulation cheaper and with some control, but for a one of project the 60 cent difference isn't worth it, unless you're doing it for fun or education. you could have a selector switch and switch between the 3 temperature switches if you want warm to hot.

[@DatBoiOrly]

can you make this a regular series this was fun to watch!

[@greatscottlab]

I hope to do so :-) Last part performed super well. And if this one does too then I will keep going for a while :-)

[@DatBoiOrly]

@@greatscottlab yay!

[@TheVirusWar]

These series are amazing, and I would love to see more! I know its most definitely expensive to collect, order, ship and all that stuff, but maybe a bit more often would be nice to see. Keep it up!

[@harriehausenman8623]

Great format, highly compatible with YT. I would love to see more, even with some more quirky and maybe obviously bad stuff. BigClive & Co are quite successful with it and you also have your own humor and approach to testing. 🤗

[@Simon_Rafferty]

Great idea for a series! I think many of us have been the victim of misleading advertising on AliExpess - but also had some gems!

[@rfmerrill]

7:42 to melt the enamel on magnet wire you always want to start at the tip, passing the tip of the wire through a very hot blob of solder on the tip of your iron. You start at the tip because there will always be some exposed metal there from when you cut it, and thus the heat will get in through that end and the solder can "lift" the enamel up as it burns/melts.

[@girthquake1413]

Love this series! Hopefully the community engagement is enough to keep it funded! I especially like the spot welder- I have two similar cheap ones (The ones with red PCB, you've likely seen them), but they were both $10-15 more and lacked internal batteries. The kWeld is awesome but it's hard to justify the $200+ pricetag when a hobbyist can get nearly the same, for a tenth the cost.

[@ElektorTV]

👍

[@greatscottlab]

I hope many will check out Elektor :-) I highly recommend them.

[@ElektorTV]

@@greatscottlab Ha, and we highly recommend your channel, thanks for your great work!

[@_BangDroid_]

I got one of those USB C cables with the power meter in the connector after seeing on your channel. I was super skeptical after seeing the $4 price free shipping, but I've been using it every day now and it's really good! The connectors are even anodized aluminium and the power reading is pretty accurate. Great recommendation!

[@JaredConnell]

I got a similar one from Amazon and I love it

[@ax-50]

Quality contents here dude, make it a regular series because there are a lot of undiscovered gems on Aliexpress

[@DemsW]

I like this video idea, very nice to watch and a lot of information packed into it. I also imagine it must be fun getting to play with all these devices. Great execution also

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks. It really is fun :-)

[@arminf.1195]

This series is so great for hobbiests because AliExpress is the first place to go for cheap electronics

[@greatscottlab]

Glad you like it :-)

[@motosk8er2]

Love this new video idea! Hope to see more like it! And I cant wait for the next episode with that little eyepiece viewfinder screen. I have been looking at different models of them for a DIY digital night vision build.

[@benfrost5317]

Love this series! Really interesting to see the circuit boards and wind turbine. I nearly bought one of those wind turbines so I'm disappointed to see that it's no good

[@olafschermann1592]

Great series - please make more of that kind!

[@12012004]

I really enjoyed this kind of aliexpress products review. Please do more like that!!

[@martyb3783]

Great information. I especially liked the spot welder. Nice.

[@JustPyroYT]

Please Continue this Series! I really like it! 👍

[@greatscottlab]

Will try to do so :-)

[@EasyOne]

These series are amazing, and I would love to see more

[@soulshinobi]

I love this series, it gives us ideas for projects

[@jayls5]

Please do more of these kinds of reviews. This was super useful.

[@LoneWolf0648]

id like to see how that little spot welder holds up over time and something seems off with that wind turbine like a bad solder connection or similar with its internals. id like to see a deeper dive into those 2 items

[@mcrotbot]

very cool vid. I'm glad to finely see someone test those cheek wind mills that I can trust thanks man!

[@greatscottlab]

Glad to help

[@kmoliverio]

I enjoyed this episode and would like to see more of them in the future. Thanks!

[@emrekeremozyurt296]

Great job! I hope you can do more videos about aliexpress products.

[@oasntet]

Neat stuff; I've been using a lot of enameled wire lately in radio projects, and that dispenser looks maybe useful. But then, now that I know it exists, I can just 3d-print one...

[@honzikkubik7935]

Thanks for great video. was looking for spot welder for a long time so i ordered this one immediately.

[@Cheezed_]

This series sounds amazing! I think we have all found ourself browsing AliExpress. Thanks for making the video.

[@RandomCapeDude]

I've been looking at the fly wire pens for a while!! So awesome to see this pop up in your video Same goes for other products in the video. A suggestion I have is the 909d 3 in 1 station. Hot air, iron, and bench power supply for under $100 plus tons of tools

[@klave8511]

Several on thingiverse, if you have a printer to print them. Search for “wiring pen”

[@siontheodorus1501]

I've checked the 909d, it's pretty good, although still a prefer a more expensive route which is a hot air + soldering station and a power supply separately. The 909d power supply can only output 2A which may or may not be too small for your projects and it doesn't have limit control on the current side. The display for the current is also analog which may make reading a little bit hard and inaccurate

[@jftechdrones]

I haven't tried the 909D, but I do have an 898D which is very similar and has a soldering iron and hot air station. The hot air station does the job fine. The soldering iron, on the other hand, is not so great - on mine, the element didn't even make direct contact with the tip so it'd take forever to heat up. I later switched to a TS100, which is much better.

[@bobcarter6143]

Love to know how they got a patent on the side as I bought a plastic version of the wire pen 45 years ago to wire up TTL circuits !

[@RandomCapeDude]

@@siontheodorus1501 Yeah. I think the 909d is intended more for phone repair. The analog current meter can be useful because of the update speed, allowing you to monitor boot current of phones (also providing to the idea it is more aimed towards phone repair)

[@MyTubeSVp]

I love these videos! If you find the time to make more of these, that would be great! 👍

[@kylenelson944]

The fingerprint scanner you showed at the end actually worked great for me, looking forward to whatever you use it for!

[@squeakers27]

That mini spotwelder seems really good for the price. Definitely was expecting some shoddy piece of equipment.

[@Lukas-jt3sz]

One thing I could recommend for this series is the MPH30 mini Hotplate for repairs and SMD soldering

[@sairfan06]

Hi Scott this new series is very interesting and really helpful, I hope you will keep exploring useful items at aliexpress.

[@ModelLights]

'Melt the varnish' is somewhat difficult to do. You'll probably get better results if you get a small file, or tiny bit of fine sandpaper on a stick or skewer. Then just break through the varnish with that before soldering. I've done quite a bit of similar soldering, but I bought a large spool of wire with a nylon coating, so melt through is much easier. Even with that I still prefer scratching through with a file or sandpaper.

[@jan.strmiska]

Shorts of individual product like this would be really cool

[@philj1975]

Just added that spot welder to my cart, great finds and reviews 👍 thank you.

[@danielroibert5631]

Hello and thank you for all your quality and very informative videos. I was surprised to see how you place the electrodes for spot welding batteries. Indeed, it seems to me that when you have the chance to have slit tabs, you should take the opportunity to place the electrodes on each side of the slot. This promotes the passage of current through the tabs and also through the battery. This way, there is less current going directly from one electrode to another and the solder should be better.

[@koningbolo4700]

8:20 I build a spot welder/resistance welder using a microwave oven transformer and a dimmer circuit from a vacuumcleaner to be able to tone down the device which is unchecked capable of pumping out over 1000 Amps of current (at 1,7Volts)

[@Moosetraks21]

I love a good technical magazine. The paper versions too. Just hits different.

[@fredbloggs4829]

I loved this video. Especially close to Christmas to see what goodies are out there.

[@forstig]

Really fun formate. Feels like Christmas already!

[@shams350z]

Would love this as a series !

[@zaydabbas1609]

That flying wire thing looks very useful but I agree you have to be pretty aggressive/ use heat to get the enamel off

[@drakmeir3507]

I have a similar, if not slightly smaller spot welder. Absolutely love it. Variable power output, good battery, good welds, all I could ask for for hobby electronics really

[@FridayParanormal]

The spot welder is impressive for how cheap it is. I may get one for Christmas lol I'm glad to see someone who knows how these products work inside are doing the review/testing. Also looking forward to see what you do with the useful parts of the useless products. Your videos seem to write themselves.

[@jarls5890]

Looked very interesting. One question however. The two welding ends have a long section of what looks like exposed copper. The part you hold on to! Why is it not shocking you every time you use it? It looks like it was intentionally made this way.

[@FridayParanormal]

@@jarls5890 I would assume this is because of a low voltage but a high current. Also because the current is flowing through the metal strip, it will have no need to flow through the skin, as the metal strip is the path of least resistance. Plus, the internal circuit seems to look for a short across the probes before supplying any current, a short circuit the resistance of skin cannot provide. In any case this is nothing a little shrink wrap couldn't fix. :)

[@jftechdrones]

@@jarls5890 It's powered by a 1S lithium battery which is only 4.2V max - not nearly enough to feel.

[@TheFreak111]

Did you get one for Christmas and test it?

[@FridayParanormal]

@@TheFreak111 unfortunately I did not. Funds were a little tight last year.

[@Jon-yh3gb]

I was considering the fast charger but waited hoping you'd test it first. Thanks!

[@DirkFedermann]

Thanks for testing the battery welder. I was looking at it a couple of weeks ago and was like "maybe... maybe not". But it seems to be ok.

[@greatscottlab]

Yep. Better than I expected. Would recommend.

[@satibel]

According to someone else, it may have self discharge issues, so you may want to add a high current switch between the battery and the board

[@philsponsel3824]

nice video series! pls do more of them! 🙂

[@PiratWeber]

@greatscottlab did you check if the MPPT controller wasn't broken? The wind turbine itself looks fine and may be worth it. I just suspect that they had to cheap out somewhere and that could have been the mppt controller. Also the spot welder looks really hackable. Maybe a microcontroller and some LCD display can be added to make it a bit more user friendly. Love the series, please continue doing them!

[@greatscottlab]

I might check it out in a future video

[@AndyFletcherX31]

Looking at the rotor diameter you would need close to a hurricane to get 1KW from it.

[@oskhar000]

Great Video, as always! Tipp: beim punktschweißen am besten links und rechts vom schlitz ansetzen, dann bekommst du einen besseren schweißpunkt :) Wenn kein schlitz dazwischen ist, fließt der Großteil des Stroms durch den nickelstreifen und sorgt dabei nicht für eine Verbindung zwischen nickel und Batterie :)

[@StevePietras]

Great Scott! What a fantastic video. In the USA, my old school electronics magazine went out of business years ago. I will need to check out this publication you mention.

[@Darieee]

absolutely loving this series

[@vpakkirisamy4906]

I like the way you analysing the product bro 👌👍

[@greatscottlab]

Thank you 🙌

[@mistaecco]

Ooo, I think I recognized one of the devices teased at the end, but I just can't quite "put my finger on it"! Thanks for the great video as always!

[@arvsolutionspt]

I love this series! Hope one day I can contribute!

[@supersosiska]

Wow, I was expecting garbage like toddler coloring books or knockoff usb drives. But this guy is killing it with DiY components! Bravo!

[@2231puppy]

11:33 Fingerprint reader? Exciting!

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting stuff indeed, dude! 😃 The spot welder seems great indeed! Anyway, stay safe and creative there! 🖖😊

[@johnsummers7389]

Thank you for the magazine heads up!! Just got it.

[@imjody]

8:21 - "...and according to the charging current, that should TAKE A WHILE." 🤣I literally LOL'ed when you said this.

[@MichaelPuterbaugh]

The ideal diode might not be any good for a proper rectifier, but it could have some interesting applications in an audio effects chain.

[@jo3ld0wn]

"no healing effect for me" is an extraordinarily generous review 😁

[@guycxz]

I find using a large amount of flux helps me melt the varnish around enameled copper wire. I don't know whether it's a chemical reaction, faster heat transfer through the flux itself, the solder wetting the wire sooner, which facilitates a greater rate of heat transfer, something else, or a combination of all of the above.

[@TJJewett]

It might be a fun video idea to take apart the electronics of the wind generator kit and figure out why it doesn't work as advertised, and what it would take to make it work correctly.

[@neilbarnett3046]

Wow, Elektor is still going! I have the first dozen issues somewhere, under the bed or in the attic.

[@testservergameplay]

Yes please make this a regular series!

[@morganfreeman5171]

I love this kind of video, please make more !

[@charlie_nolan]

I know something that diode would be great for. Automotive use, where you’re usually only dealing with 10-30V, such as using 2 of them for an emergency vehicle taillight flasher and isolating it from the brake signal circuit.

[@matata127]

Thaaanks. Was looking for spot weldr there but was worried about quality Very helpful

[@pauls5745]

the spot welders are actually pretty good. Takes a little practice knowing proper pressure and settings, but you can get clean, strong welds and the device is not fussy at all.

[@MAMDAVEM]

great series, something that no-one seems to be doing

[@SuperBrainAK]

yea ideal diodes are awesome! for the wire pen you just need to raise the temperature of your iron and also use more flux to help wash away the melted enamel.

[@peterd1234567890]

Would love to see you make that windmill work and the body of it looks good

[@Patrick-dw8hq]

Now i will say i have learned something today. If i had a cracked version of idm i would download your whole playlist

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks....I guess :-)

[@LongNguyen-dh3bm]

Open source software exist...Learn how to use yt-dlp, you'll never need another KZbin downloader

[@siyuanliu8043]

This video is very informative and also very fair to aliexpress products. (what it is, what it does, and what it costs.) I see a lot of people bashing on ali for "cheap chinese" stuff, but if you are buying something much cheaper than the "proper" price you should expect that it comes with "catches". Also there are good quality stuff on aliexpress, just not as dirt cheap.

[@TheUnknownCatWarrior]

Would be interesting to see you modify that wind turbine. Weather its the dodgy motor or the charge controller.

[@L3X369]

The portable spot welder is a dream product for me. I will definitely get one soon to make a DIY battery pack for my electric scooter. I didn't wanted to pay so much for a more professional one and this one is quite perfect for this job.

[@TheFreak111]

Did you buy it and are you satisfied? I found other video of it being not so good and now I don't know.

[@L3X369]

@@TheFreak111 Yes, and it does the job. But I don't have any other spot welders to make a fair comparison.

[@TheFreak111]

@@L3X369 well as long as it does the job it's ok I guess ;)

[@yearls]

That spot welder is pretty cool. In the sense that it is easy to use and you just need to charge it.

[@philoso377]

Nice video. My favorite channel. A word about spot welding. The slot came with the connecting tabs placed on battery casing were intended to promote better weld result from increases impedance between the two weld junctions. This impedance will be lower if probes were placed on the same side of the slot, for compromised result and lower battery longevity.

[@edwardnardella6854]

Can the spiral pcb be used for heating?

[@Ryan_Tidwell]

I like this series. Keep it going. :D

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Hi Scott, ive been a sub of yours for many years. This video idea is awesome!!! please do more, and i wish you mega views. Possible titles "Top 10 Aliexpress Tech Items Review" ~ "Best & Worst Aliexpress Tech Items" ~ "Aliexpress Items Test". Anyway, all the best, have a good year ahead, Kieron / / / also Banggood items. I find it hard to find interesting modules and what they do, so a series on interesting cheap modules youve discovered would be cool please.

[@CEzikMaj]

Those Li-Ion spot welders will die after one month of occasional usage. I had 3 of those. Every one of them lost all the power rendering them unusable for anything.

[@JanEikeK]

That perfect diode rectifier output looked interesting as a base waveform for a synthsizer, though...

[@N4ppul4]

How efficient is the ideal diode? I mean how much current does it use while idle and while under load or while switching?

[@wiedapp]

The ideal diode is VERY interesting, I didn't know they existed. Thanks a lot!

[@NickToland]

Always entertaining and informative!

[@greatscottlab]

I appreciate that!

[@stefan-sh7xj]

great informative video series, we want more!!

[@MitsuZer0G]

Keep this video series coming!

[@Michael_Michaels]

Excellent work! Thank you!

[@greatscottlab]

Many thanks!

[@yacce4463]

Please Scott, Make that windmill work properly, and outputting the most energy possible! You can do it! Awesome video as always.

[@braaitongs]

Loving your hidden gem videos!

[@deirdreorourke8631]

the copper wire spool reminds me of a tool used to tie fly fishing flies! you use such a tool (albeit much simpler) with twine to secure the main elements of a fishing fly

[@Anteksanteri]

That spot welder is mind-blowingly cheap for its size, functionality and build quality.

[@princebanini]

Great video as always Mr.Scott