Inside a pink plastic 500W heater from eBay. (Good for parts.)

[@nicholasjanosy2214]

This is the safest fan heater from China, especially when it is turned off.

[@rich1051414]

You would want the fans to keep running if the thermal switch flips, so that is actually good design.

[@420anonymous]

I had one that did this, I think made by Holmes? Heating coil would cut out when tipped in any moderate amount, but the fan kept running.

[@rich1051414]

@@420anonymous It's a safety feature required on all space heaters afaik. If they fall over, they must turn off, so they have some mechanism to detect if they are standing up or not. If the fan cut off, it could retain heat enough to possibly ignite something, so I can understand that.

[@d2factotum]

Yeah, I thought that. Every fan heater I've owned that has a thermal trip just takes the entire thing out, fan and all, but leaving the fan running just seems to make sense.

[@stuartcoyle1626]

Unless the damn thing has flames coming out of it. Though I doubt the fan would still be running at that point.

[@rich1051414]

@@stuartcoyle1626 It is far more likely that the fan would serve the purpose of cooling off the overheated element than it would stoke any fires it started, I would think.

[@kuromurasakizero9515]

Hi Clive, you probably won't see this, but I just wanted to thank you. Your positive encouraging attitude influenced and inspired me to give solder a go. For the first time last night, I started soldering and I managed to change a bunch of 3mm incadescent bulbs in my car with 3mm LED with proper resistors, and everything works! It was no where near as difficult as I thought and the few mistakes I made weren't critical or damaging. I'm learning a new skill and have you to thank for it. I will keep going back through your catalog of videos to try to continue to learn and absorb as much as I can ... and once in a while send friends and family your fanny flambeaux video to give them a fun surprise! :D

[@bigclivedotcom]

Good to hear you've started soldering. The only way to learn is to do it.

[@funksterdotorg]

For anyone else that's wondering, the SMPS topology is a fairly common inverting buck-boost, but the extra complication comes from how the chip is generating its own power rail and referencing itself with regards to the negative rail of the input voltage. Neat unit, not nearly as sketchy as one might expect!

[@mysock351C]

They make flyback SMPS ICs like that as well (and Im sure other topologies as well). Messing with the Power Integrations TOP250 at the moment which is the same way. Just supply mains and away it goes. Well, theoretically, anyway (I shall see shortly when I power it up.) Of course, worth mentioning that the supply in the vid is not isolated, so it limits its use to things like this that are hidden from the outside world. Edit: The inrush current may be why they used the buck/boost, so the fan will still run even if the heater is pulling lots of current and drawing the voltage down.

[@CanizaM]

That kind of circuit confuses those who still aren't used to the idea that voltage is relative. The fan still gets 12V, just that the way the schematic is drawn, the PSU is "pulling" on the top rail instead of "pushing".

[@bjorntheviking6745]

The complexity of the circuit is relative, I have an engineering background and could easily discern the reference and why, however a lot of people that follow Clive are here to learn and discover information from Clive and his unique delivery, I think showing examples of slightly unconventional circuits like this helps the novice to understand how engineering solutions can be delivered in different ways, with varying topologies and methodology. Clive as always god bless my brother

[@cherylm2C6671]

It's comments like these that make me want to learn electrical and electronics. Thank you for yours!

[@ethanpoole3443]

I can only assume that the Chinese words for “energy” and “power” roughly translate to “fire” in English as that is the only sensible reason I can come up with for the shear number of items (particularly lithium ion batteries where the irony of “Ultrafire” runs deep!) that either have “Fire” in their brand name or have photos of the product immersed in flames as if buying it were intended to set your home on fire.

[@KrotowX]

Direct translation often produce funny results. Even in Europe, there are enough examples where in the languages of related nations one word means something completely different :) Ultrafire is notorious by being blatant scam, having sort of 1/4 of capacity written on their label. However sometimes they demonstrate quite fiery attitude.

[@nightshadelenar]

i mean, the way china is at present post-pandemic, fire probably isn't too far off from the truth.

[@techbaffle]

I was thinking that thumbnail was a bit "exciting" And it's literally the product photo 😂

[@gordonlawrence1448]

The words "plastic" and "heater" always make me nervous when in the same sentence.

[@Damicske]

There are high temperature plastics but mostly not used in cheap Chinese products.

[@anononomous]

With these things I think metal would worry me. Poor isolation/grounding in a conductive case.

[@sebimoe]

No worries it comes with fire on the pic

[@gooseknack]

Every fan heater in Australia has a plastic case. They have done since the 80's.

[@NOWThatsRichy]

A bit like those Lithium ion power banks with a built in hand warmer! I think Clive reviewed one some time ago.

[@Vokabre]

eBay review: zero stars, there were no flames It's not that bad indeed, (although personally i'd avoid mysterious Chinese ebay heaters in general for practical usage).

[@cryo_life]

The space heater I have is made in China also. what are you trying to say about chinese quality?

[@AmusementLabs]

I think that picture is what happens when the jerk boss tells the intern "make the damn promo images"... At least the photo is honest...

[@johnstancliff7328]

at least its better then that "quartz" heater you took apart. I'd trust this one for sure...

[@slicked9778]

"spending all night on the internet researching stuff." Uhhh, yeah. me too... love "researching stuff".

[@thewolfin]

Yeah, especially the hard to swallow pills like EMF exposure having health effects. powerwatch.org.uk/science/studies.asp

[@v3xt0n]

@Joachim Shekelberg What is your reason if it is not too long to explain? Just curious really

[@DaneH64]

Read that right when the part came up xD

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

@Joachim Shekelberg Me too. I much prefer to have 25 grand.

[@therandomprogrammer041]

@@thewolfin be reasonable even sun emits em rad if you r nt affected by that kind of heat 5g is just a joke in front of it. The amount of heat provided by sun is like so much more than 5g could ever give you like even if you swallow it(#notAnyKindOfAdvice)

[@theelectronicpawn402]

Great video!! My view on some points: 1) the 4.7k resistor is there to prevent the output voltage from skyrocketing if the fan fails or to fix the load to a minimum value: it's a buck-boost, the inductor would charge and charge the output cap (470uF) until it explodes :( if the load is too light. 2)the 10uF cap provides the vdd for the control circuit in the IC, it goes effectively in parallel with the output when the mosfet inside the IC is driven off and the inductor charges the 470+10uF overall cap through the diodes. 3)why this "strange" reference for the IC? The sole role of the IC is to switch on/off the power mosfet (at the right time!) and in order to do so it must bring it to saturation, so the Gate voltage should be sufficiently higher than the Drain which is connected to the input 400V or so. So without boostrap caps or isolated drivers the chip would have to input a Vgs (let's say 5V) on top of 400V, and 405V from a control circuit is not a thing. It's convenient to use the Source node as the reference for the chip so that only 5V=Vgs are managed by the control to drive the mosfet on/off.

[@Heimbasteln]

It didnt turn off the heater when you blocked it, the power consumption never went below 140W

[@Heimbasteln]

@Philip Cross Yeah it was below 150w, oops. I wouldnt trust it either, at least not in a room with a lot of combustibles

[@millomweb]

@@Heimbasteln So plenty of other stuff to heat the room then ;)

[@rogerborg]

Today I found a 15 year old bluetooth headset in the loft and brought it back to life using a salvaged li-ion cell from an airsoft tracer unit. It hasn't exploded in my ear - yet. You'd be so proud.

[@mikebarrett2621]

But not as proud as if it DID explode in your ear :)

[@lumpyfishgravy]

Clive, you give me hope. I'm officially in my 50s and unable to regulate my bedtime "appropriately." Good job that means F-A nowadays. I'm doing more hours during lockdown than "normal."

[@bigclivedotcom]

Without work to go to at a fixed time it's easy to go nocturnal.

[@MrBun9l3]

The little capacitor on the COMP pin isn't to provide a stable voltage reference. It's to provide a stable control loop by dampening its response. It sets the bandwidth and therefore how quickly the supply can compensate for errors vs the phase margin. Too great a bandwidth (and therefore a low phase margin) results in ringing and instability as the output adjusts to varying load current. A loose rule-of-thumb is to set the bandwidth between 1/5 and 1/10 of the switching frequency but it varies with the design and the selection of other components.

[@LakeNipissing]

The little heater is surprisingly good for the money, even with two layers of overheat protection... well actually three, due to the nature of the PTC heater array. Certainly good value for the parts regardless.

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Actually four, since it seems the heater block is in series with the fuse: if it gets hot enough, the fuse will melt open.

[@MarterElectronics]

@@johnrehwinkel7241 actually 5. The solder joints will meat when it gets too hot. Anything is a fuse if it gets hot enough

[@BenjermenB]

Actually 6, when the heater catches fire, the cord will melt thus shorting live and neutral, flipping the breaker in the basement.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@BenjermenB breaker in the basement? That sounds so American

[@ianbakke]

girlsdrinkfeck Or like most of the world.

[@GHOOGLEMALE]

"it looks so simple when I draw it like this.." - haha, my head was spinning at that point - love it Clive, love it

[@phils4634]

A very quick and easy mod. might be to put a switch in one of the leads to the PTC element supplies - so if you don't need 500w, you can reduce the power to 250w. Possibly enough space in there to install a small (Chinese of course!) temp. control PCB / display module too, so what's an already interesting little heater becomes even more useful!

[@mysock351C]

That's a good idea to keep the fan running even if the heater trips. Most just shut the whole thing off, at which point it will just heat-soak if its been blocked by dust getting into the aluminum fins.

[@steve64464]

Generic casing looks like a speaker box, kinda made me wonder if it was a multi purpose design case for other products but prob not.

[@KrotowX]

Depends. Good plastic molding forms are not cheap and have usage limit. Most likely they purchased used molding forms from speaker manufacturer and repurposed for heater cases.

[@nightshadelenar]

who knows, the same factory could be using the same molds for wireless speakers and heaters. hmm.

[@notpublic7149]

Don't think I have commented on the channel before, been watching for over a year. Cheers, these videos are fantastic.

[@justinvzu01]

The Flames are to avoid liability if it burns down your house. "Well, we did advertise it'd cause fire, your Honor. Just look at this picture."

[@lambdaprog]

Much more sophisticated than expected.

[@southernguy35]

Oh, HOPI. I thought you said the harpy, and immediately thought you had my sister as a guest on your show.

[@twotone3070]

Harsh

[@southernguy35]

@@twotone3070 , you don't know my sister.

[@Spector_NS5_RD]

The print on the bottom sticker reads "Elextrical Fan Heater" 😬

[@biscuitsalive]

I don’t really know what I like watching BC vids. Because I’m never going to buy these products. I’m not an electrical engineer. I think it’s the rawness of the content and the underlying humour, that’s alway bubbling just under the surface.

[@vincentrobinette1507]

The thermal cut out never tripped, or the wattage would have dropped well below the ~200 watts you saw on the meter. the fan and power supply wouldn't take more than about 7~10 watts, if the element would have been cut out.

[@gooseknack]

Have two of those little heaters. Found them to work well in a small space, even against a winter morning low of minus 8 with heavy frost outside(well, a half centremetre of ice actually), in Australia's winter. I wouldn't trust leaving them unattended though, that's the same will all portable heaters. One of these I purchased, melted its switch and the heater promptly stopped. I remember it from the circuit and replaced it with a switch inline on the cord. Also replaced the foriegn(round pin) plugs with Australian plugs on both heaters, I didn't trust the shitty adapters, even at 500 watts. In case anyone is wondering, the temperature output at the front of the 500watt version, is 140 degrees celsius(assuming the temperature probe for my multimeter, is accurate!)

[@millomweb]

In the 1980s there was a big 'advertising' campaign to get people to ditch the trad stove-top chip pan and get a purpose designed deep fat fryer. For decades, Mum used a trad chip pan - we never had one catch fire (once or twice heavily smoking ;) ) but came the day and the deep fat fryer was ordered. The instructions said "do not use empty" - but I didn't want to test it with oil in it. So switched it on, empty. It warmed up a little - and I mean A LITTLE, clicked and never worked again. On disassembly, I found a 4mm double-ended tapered plastic pin between the bimetal strip and the switch. Both having appropriate holes in which the tapered pin should sit (at both ends, not just the one as I found it.) I guess it had bounced out in transit - but once back in its correct place, the DFF worked properly for some years Until an electrical fault caused a spade terminal to melt through the bottom of the fryer and mark the work top with a pair of burn holes. We're on oven chips now.

[@nightshadelenar]

@@millomweb interesting failure. home fryers are not meant for continuous use and thus are skimpy on a lot of things, likely leading to the fault you mention here. if you do a lot of chips/fries, you'd likely be better off doing what you already do, and use the oven, or get one of those low-end commercial fryers. honestly though, fryers are more an ease of use tool for large volumes (say, fast food) so if it's a few dinners, the oven typically is better anyhow.

[@full_time_motorhome]

Am lost with this one Clive. I've got an O'level in electronics but just realized it's been 32 yrs ago. Keep up the good work. x

[@BobMuir100]

Great as usual Clive, my brain is filling up!! Thanks Bob

[@lindamuvic8110]

Love the flames on the title pic, makes me feel that the space heater is completely safe.

[@TheBaldr]

I have a 600w desk heater I bought when living in Japan, it can heat a room 20'x'20'x10' fairly well and a number of safety features.

[@MrTridac]

Seems like you could modify it to have two power settings, or even three. I wonder which part of the the PTC heater is the "cooler" side if you just connect two of the leads.

[@kitecattestecke2303]

No because one side might overheat it's plastic side

[@jaakkooksa5374]

Car interior heaters such as the ones made by Defa are made of plastic and they are quite safe. They also have power up to about 2kW depending on the model.

[@poprawa]

Replacing thermal fuses by soldering them in place is easy - just wrap it in a wet tissue. For high temperature ones water is fine, for lower IPA is a way to go

[@jrmcferren]

That tiny little first heater from the other video Clive is probably designed to have the heat output pointed toward the person wanting heat. Both that and this 500 watt one are personal heaters although the 500 watt one is a bit high on the wattage for that. The idea of the lower wattage (especially the 150 to 250 watt range ones) personal heaters are to heat the person and not the room. I have a 200 watt one from a reputable manufacturer and on a cold day it can help keep me warm, yet not affect the central heating thermostat only a few feet away. I don't think Lasko serves the UK, but the model I have is the Lasko MyHeat model 100.

[@amcomma]

Just a few weeks ago, I expirenced what I assume to be "catastrophic faliure" of cheap room heater. It wasn't even ceramic, just a bare heater wire and side blowing fan. For whatever reason, power cord decieded to set itself on flames and i'm pretty sure there were high voltage arcs inside

[@charlieangkor8649]

its self limiting. in case of overheat it automatically sets your house on fire and that will burn the insulation of the cables in your house, they will short circuit and safely turn the power off.

[@caracalfloppa4997]

My car is self limiting too! If I drive fast enough it will automatically lose control and safely slow itself down using a nearby solid object. Truly genius design.

[@nlvq]

I watch these videos I have no idea what you're saying half the time but I always like!

[@PVflying]

EON powerdown is an interesting device, worthy of the Clive treatment. A multitude of uses beyond the interned standby saver function and available very cheaply on eBay and Amazon last time I checked.

[@Northern5tar]

Somewhat false advertising with those flames. Many disappointed children.

[@gcewing]

So the low voltage output is referenced to the live side, and the element is live even when the thermostat or thermal fuse is open? Charming.

[@Leo-pd8ww]

"Yes hello? I'm looking for a certain product. Do you still have the Mini Portable Electric Silent Desk Air Heater Fan Home Warmer Heating Winter Fan in stock? No no, the DESK Air Heater Fan Home Warmer Heating Winter Fan!"

[@poet99999]

I run a 200w 120v heater like that in my cars over the winter. In conjunction with some very small dehumidifiers, to keep the condensation down. So far both systems seem relatively robust

[@sammarley1972]

Looks like a good little heater

[@jburdman7]

This does indeed look like a good parts donor. I'm 120V, so only half as interesting to me. When you've something so size dependent as a parts suggestion, the dimensions would be valuable to share. The winner in bad marketing wank has to be the Lithium battery line named "Charsoon." I kid you not.

[@Chlorate299]

This is probably the least dodgy cheap eBay heater you've ever showcased on this channel.

[@travcollier]

It is almost like they are actually trying to NOT kill their customers. How novel ;) Seriously though, there are some gems in the sea of crap. There are actually some smart folks who have figured out clever ways to cut costs and sometimes even make better products working for those random Chinese factories. Engineers the world over are pretty much the same after all. Sadly, 'businessmen' are the same the world over too.

[@tubastuff]

Very interesting and entertaining, Clive. Here in the US, these take the form of "Handy Heaters", which are basically the same thing, although they plug directly into a wall AC receptacle with no cord. I'm not sure that this is the best place for a heater, particularly if one has small children about. Power ranges somewhere between 350W-1KW. Many, although not all, have the warning that they are not to be used with a GFCI outlet. I'm not sure why that is.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I wonder if the GFCI outlets have a lower continuous power rating.

[@tubastuff]

@@bigclivedotcom I don't believe so--they're rated for either 15A or 20A at 120V. Here's a typical one: www.leviton.com/en/products/gfnt1-fw GFCI outlets are most commonly found in bathrooms and kitchens, so that may have something to do with it. One would have to be pretty brave to install one of these Chinese heaters in a bathroom.

[@tubastuff]

@Dusty 99 Water, perhaps--Clive didn't show any particular design features (e.g. conformal coatings, etc.) that would make these suitable for such use. But I'm just guessing. The only other thing that comes to mind is that the units exhibit such leakage currents to ground that they'd pop a GFCI--but that seems unlikely.

[@kardeef33317]

Iam I missed something, does the heater stay on all the time when its plugged in ? I need sleep myself, weird design pcb.. Thanks for the video

[@bigclivedotcom]

It has a switch on the back.

[@jamesplotkin4674]

@@bigclivedotcom As there's no thermostat, yes, it stays on all the time when switched on.

[@EsotericArctos]

@@jamesplotkin4674 No thermostat. It's just designed as one of those personal heaters, not one to set and forget. The PTC style element is self regulating to a big extent, as you will see it uses less power as it gets hotter. This is just one of those heaters, like the cheapy fan heater or radiant bar heater that just has high and low. They also don't have thermostats.

[@porkeyminch8044]

I think I missed pretty much everything. I could definitely do with some sleep too.

[@satyris410]

I guess it's just the startup load (inductive?) that necessitates the 13 A fuse, otherwise 3 A would suffice surely?

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Typical radiator heater in the 🇺🇸 good video @bigclivedotcom

[@jameshorn7830]

Bigclive needs to narrate audio books on insomnia... His voice is incredibly soothing...

[@geoffmarriott4387]

Another great tear down, review and electronics lesson - i've learnt so much from this channel (and yes I do have an 'Explosion Containment Vessel') - it would be good if you could do a video on the potential uses and circuitry for an alternative use of the PTC component - and in the current potential apocalyptic circumstances (April 2020) how about a renewable energy source driving a PTC unit to make a cup of coffee - is this even possible ???

[@ElektronikLabor]

Just the neutral is fused and the fan is directly connected to live on one connection ... nice 😁👍

[@satyris410]

To keep the fan running in the event of it overheating and cutting out the heating element. Quite a sensible idea, there is a 13 A fuse fitted in case it all goes to shit, could probably get away with a 3 A fuse but for that startup current

[@gordonfreeman9641]

That heater that you showed before I have used for like 2 months and my house is still here!

[@gordonfreeman9641]

Yes I changed the cord to a proper UK cord from mini fridge and there are no problems

[@channelname10yearsago68]

Plastic and heater seems to be a good combination for fire

[@tncorgi92]

Plastic, heater and China more specifically

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

It looks like it has similar components to the Chinese clothes dryer I bought from eBay. I got it because I was having problems repairing our electric dryer, and I didn't have enough money to replace the dryer or get it serviced. It cost around $40.The Chinese clothes dryer using only 1,000 watts, but it gets the job done. It's basically a shrouded clothes hanger stand with a heater at the bottom. It's plugged into the 240 dryer outlet in a kind of doggy way. I use a 240 dryer cord that I had lying around that goes into a box with a 15 amp breaker on each leg since both are hot. I'm trying to be somewhat safe here since it is a 30 amp 240 volt line. I'm just using a regular outlet since the Chinese use the same plugs just with no holes in the prongs. I also have labels on the box stating that it outputs 240 volts. You wouldn't want someone to plug just anything into that. As for the 60 hertz, I doubt it matters since it uses a DC fan, and I doubt the PTC heater is affected by it.

[@tonyjones9442]

Why do American plugs have holes in the prongs? Is it so it doesnt get pulled out while hoovering for example. Bearings in socket holding it? UK sockets are a good design for the time but seeing most appliances are now low wattage they are over designed. I've never seen a usa 240v socket although I I under stand driers and ovens there use 240v. We use 110v here on building sites. Ask any British person what pain is, and its standing on a British plug in the night. Worse than Lego.

[@ZacharySolomon0429]

@@tonyjones9442 there are three reasons for the holes. 1) If you look in a US 120v outlet, the contacts have a detent in them that fits into the holes to help secure the plug. 2) Manufacturers and industrial places can use lockouts on plugs by slipping them through the holes, making it impossible to accidentally plug it in. 3)it's a bit cheaper due to less material. Here's all the nema plugs we use. www.nooutage.com/nema_configurations.htm

[@urugulu1656]

@@ZacharySolomon0429 actually should be more expensive because less material... cause someone had to punch that out...

[@tonyjones9442]

@@ZacharySolomon0429 Thankyou. I was married to an American. Whenever I was in the states it always supprissed me how in towns there were transformers on poles. Like round ones. And the overhead cables looked messy (sorry). In uk you do get them on poles but in rural places only. To my rural house it's all on poles then drop down transformer. You wouldnt get that, or at least the transformers bit, On an urban uk pole. One thing that annoyed me about usa & Canada electrical systems was if you did find a kettle, it was slow. Our window ac in Alabama also kept fusing. Had like a glass round fuse holder. When I was a child in the 80's a lot of houses still had round pin plugs. Still used in ex colonies and still legal here for radial circuits I think.asbrstos shutters. Interesting you said about blocking the socket off in industry. In hospitals and Tibet stations there used to be a 13amp plug that was offset so people could plug their own stuff in.

[@ZacharySolomon0429]

@@urugulu1656 no, when all the prongs are stamped out of a sheet of metal, the holes would be part of that process. So you would have one machine that not only cuts the prongs shape but also cuts the holes.

[@macro820]

I remember when I had the drive to stay up all night on a project, those were the days. Always had a mission to accomplish

[@millomweb]

It took us 2 years to fit an electric car aerial to our car - from Dec 31st to Jan 1st! Not quite an all-nighter though !

[@jimhill5996]

Several years ago, my Boss borrowed a newly refurbished terrace house in Bayswater, London, from a friend for his family during their extended stay of six months. During a partially cold period, his wife bought a halogen heater similar to the one demonstrated to supplement the central heating and placed it on the bedroom floor While the wife was using the ensuite bathroom, the heated toppled over, face down onto the carpet and burnt the house down. The incident was reported on the traffic news..

[@mikeg_123]

@14:10 "Elextrical Fan Heater" So close...

[@millomweb]

Cos it uses elextronix to generate the heat.

[@reahs4815]

Reminds me of the "Wooden heater" in little inferno

[@Stefan_Payne]

Interesting that its cheaper to use a Voltage Regulator and put a 12V fan in instead of using a 230VAC one...

[@leexgx]

Quite rare and expensive 240v fans nowadays for this size format (I have yet to see one that was not from a 1990 old system after that it's was 12v fans)

[@linswad]

Allows for 120 or 240v operation probably

[@leexgx]

@@linswad heater half heat (maybe as this is a ptc heater probably just pull more currant until it gets hot enough and then levels off, so it probably pull twice the amount of amps to get same heat at 110v) and fan would run at half speed if it was 240v fan (running at 12v means the fan can cover 90-260v range depends if its setup for it or just 240v)

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

I wish our US plugs, the prons specifically were as robust as their UK counterparts.

[@joradcliffe565]

Discharging caps with metal objects ! Big Clive must have been very tired, not what am used to seeing.

[@LeifNelandDk]

No, the thermo cutout didn't trigger, the Hopi was still showing 180w or so.

[@Cassandra_Johnson]

KInda looks like a lot of AC ripple would be floating through that fan. Makes me wonder how that is going to affect it's life time. Also, looks like the PTC is the discharge resistor for that huge cap. If you managed to trip the thermal fuse, you could then get zapped by the plug, no?

[@jotoole6170]

As always good viewing Clive you are one of the most informative blokes on bits and bobs. By the way as per you're recommendation of a girder they are quite addictive :)

[@TigTex]

Quick question. In UK, the power outlets have a fixed position for the live and neutral wires? Because with most plugs on other countries, you can rotate them and switch live and neutral lines. Also, on those non polarized outlets, isn't that a safety hazzard? Let's take for example a lamp. The live is the outside shell and the neutral is the center pin. Wouldn't that be a problem if you touch the lamp holder without disconnecting it from the plug?

[@bigclivedotcom]

The non polarised sockets do pose an increased shock risk with ES lampholders.

[@dogwalker666]

That psu seems over engineered for just a fan.

[@deltab9768]

Yeah, what's wrong with a good old fashioned shaded pole induction motor? I wonder if it's really cheaper to rectify the mains power so it can be turned into high frequency AC or pulsed DC and fed into a transformer, then rectumized again and fed to the switching "inverter" of a brushless DC motor that they happen to have in stock, and that probably has an internal switching frequency of 50 or 100 hz.

[@tookitogo]

Delta B Well, clearly it IS cheaper, or else they wouldn’t have chosen it!

[@millomweb]

It'd be a bit more believable with a variable speed fan. Delta B mentions SPIM which went round my head too but I came out with synchronous motor (like used in clocks, motorised CH valves etc.) that just have a simple coil of wire and no need for rotation. I doubt they can even be classed as SPIMs ?

[@dcallan812]

I saw Pink appear in the subs, thought right that has to be Big Clive dot com.

[@mysock351C]

Id bet they went with an inverting buck/boost to compensate for the high inrush current. If the supply sags down the fan can still run without cutting out.

[@nikoappsmuggred7220]

Bruh are you uploading videos every hour or what, i watched a "new" vid or yours 3 times today

[@BenjermenB]

"New" lasts like a week

[@bigdraco3006]

bruh bruh the upload date's under the title if u get confused

[@LuizDahoraavida]

thanks for the tip on soldering thermal fuses, I would have probably tripped it on accident on a future project of mine.

[@KrotowX]

Seems greatest danger in this heater construction is not circuitry design or casing material, but possibility to get accidental electric shock from poking metallic things (nails, paperclips) through grill when heater is connected to mains and turned off. Hint: mains sockets doesn't have enforced polarity and . Otherwise it is fine.

[@williama29]

the great BigClive making great videos and tearing things down

[@David-mv3zl]

Indiana, 3:30am, and I'm watching Clive take apart a heater... Lol

[@frankyfranke5458]

Looks like a great pocket heater!! 👍

[@robames1293]

In the 1970s I made electronic projects some of which had power transistors. The heatsink compound used was a silicon grease which looked like silicon sealing compound. It remained jelly like forever. The white heatsink compound used these days is like chalk mixed with an oil which dries out rather quickly leaving a plaster like residue. Could you do a comparison of the two? Stay safe & best wishes from Australia

[@bigclivedotcom]

The white stuff is often zinc oxide in an oil base (possibly silicone oil). I've never done a comparison between pastes and plain silicone grease.

[@robames1293]

@@bigclivedotcom Thanks for that. Cheers

[@zybch]

I bought one of the small ones a short time ago too. The fan still works fine, but after running it for 3 hours the PTC failed. So now I have a crappy fan with no heat.

[@allenlutins]

One of the thermal cutoffs probably failed. You *could* replace it, but it might just fail again 3 hours later :/

[@10_01-l4c]

Yes the flames on the packaging definitely not a good insinuation 😆 🔥🔥

[@BerndFelsche]

So why do people buy "Ultrafire" lithium cells??

[@kitecattestecke2303]

@@BerndFelsche why do people buy vw cars again after they have been shafted? They are dumb you won't believe it At least ultrafire gives you "fire" when its blow while charged fast, other than the rest use cases where it is fine

[@Rosscoff2000]

I wonder why they didn't put the thermal fuse in series with the supply fuse so that in the event of really serious failure it would disconnect everything Ar 142C the fan circuitry could become dangerous and a heat source itself so better to cut it off. The bimetallic cutout us in a sensible place as in a mild overheating it is sensible to keep the fan cooling it.

[@Petertronic]

I had a VonHaus PTC fan heater from Amazon, the thermal cut-out melted into the plastic frame of the heating block. Had to throw it away.

[@EsotericArctos]

Maybe the flames represent what the product turns into after a period of time? For a Chinese unit, that one had a lot of safety feautres and a reasonable mains cord/socket. Maybe they have learnt some things :). Thanks for keeping us entertained :)

[@bigclivedotcom]

It was definitely better than average.

[@TechTed1]

The efficiency ones should be like that: heating element resistor should be connected in to a capacitive drop and not directly in mains with alot capacitors like an inverter mode heater

[@PsiQ]

I think there is a huge market for garbage heaters because in some parts of china you are not allowed to heat your buildings, in other parts you are only allowed to heat from a certain date onwoards (thats the point where air outside gets so toxic *because no regulations applied* you'd rather freeze and get breathable air...) edit: A few years ago i bought a "self regulating" ptc heater module from conrad or reichelt, you could vary heating power by removing the "tabs" in the heater, which each consisted of 3 tabs/blocks i think 25W (or 50?) max each with enough air flow/low temp... never got to build it into something though. they have holes to blow air through/over.

[@gabrielv.4358]

Nice to know that the fan seems to keep working when it fails at temperature

[@No-timeforimbeciles]

Back in the early 70s I was working on a Greek cargo ship, we got stuck in port in the UK, because the owners had not got the finances to fuel the main engines, had electric from the on board generators , but no heating, it's was cold in the cabins, we took to making our own heaters, an old crab line reel with a strip of bakerlite on each edge, wound steel wire around it from one end to the other, bit like a coil, neutral domino blocked to one end, live the same to the other, hang it above our bunks & plug in, the wire glowed like a conventional bulb filament giving off some heat, thinking on it now, it was highly dangerous, but we were young & reckless back then, also the voltage was DC, we were sleeping underneath these things lol

[@GenerationXT]

Actually, the flames on the box are quite fitting. It would make a better fireplace starter than a room heater.

[@NOWThatsRichy]

I'm sure manufactures make pink versions of their products so they can be sure Clive will do a review on them!! Also it seems to have a good quality silicon rubber mains cable too, (with UK plug as well) compared to some of these Chinese products!

[@HairyBushPilot]

I’m scared to buy anything on eBay after watching a few of Clive’s vids

[@teamidris]

The aluminium fins are great at shifting heat. I brazed one up to test as an electronics cooler.

[@Stinkymole]

With the heater being at only 500W, should the plug top have come with a 5A fuse installed at least? I know the fuse protects the cable rather than the appliance, at 13A fusing, it would need to have a 1.5mm2 flex? Looking forward to the live stream tonight!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I just consider myself lucky if a direct import has a fuse at all. If it's part of the circuit that's even better.

[@Stinkymole]

@@bigclivedotcom 😆

[@tncorgi92]

@@bigclivedotcom just watched your video on fuses, where you showed the fake Chinese ceramic fuse with no sand inside. It's sad when even something like a fuse is suspect, doesn't give you much hope for the device itself.

[@davideldridge3686]

It almost seems the thermal cutoff switch is a temperature controller for the output instead of just a safety feature.

[@thegeforce6625]

Suprisingly well engineered circuitry considering the price

[@rob103rl]

Can I presume there will be more tests on UK items in the future....or more from China? ;-)

[@Mike_5]

Presumably you could also use this as a makeshift grill / BBQ as per the flame advertising pictures ...

[@enzomeister]

I was like “ why is he reading it so fast (title of the listing on the eBay) “ then I tried and I knew then

[@mondotv4216]

I wish it had a gravity switch. So if it does tip over it switches off immediately. Any push in switch on the bottom of the case would do.

[@CanizaM]

You'll burn your hand before the plastic melts - it won't mind 95C. I wonder what the equilibrium temperature of the heater in still air is; it may still not be high enough to cause a fire, but may start melting the plastic a little. Search "PTC ceramic space heater - repair and safety demonstration" for an amazing video of what happens when one of these heaters is left to self-regulate. I won't spoil, but I'll just say that it surprised me. If you search "PTC heater thermal runaway" you'll find videos of someone who seems to have gotten an NTC heater instead, which makes me a little worried that some of these cheap China units may contain the wrong type of heater too.

[@darkknight145]

I always wonder about these little chips that effectively have rectified 240v across them, how much internal isolation is there? I'd imagine there would be quiet a loud bang when they fail.