Inside a pleasingly scary Russian 240V gas igniter.

This device is probably not terribly compliant in most countries, but is classic Russia/Ukraine technology. Apparently it's not actually rated for 240V but 220 is close enough. It's also only rated for use in very short bursts (short duty cycle) and rapidly emits smoke if used excessively. The coil has a DC resistance of 100 ohms.
While I'm not actually going to suggest you buy one of these, here's the listing on eBay:-
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262666007650
Keep in mind that it's not kiddie compliant and may go up in smoke if played with excessively.
And here's the listing for the spirit hydrometer for testing your illicit spirit.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263206788543
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.

[@DavidKohen]

"Firestarter" - definitely qualifies as truth in advertising

[@floriandaler5327]

David Kohen it will start a fire that will burn your house down :)

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Twisted Firestarter (Music bangs)

[@ShainAndrews]

It's a nail... and a ball point pen spring... and I wouldn't be terribly surprised the plastic core was also part of a pen.

[@zwz.zdenek]

No, a pen spring would be too stiff to be operated by a cheap solenoid such as this one. You can see that this spring is made of a much thinner wire wound over a smaller diameter than a pen spring.

[@NGC1433]

@@zwz.zdenek Sure? You might severely underestimate the power of a solenoid that has 240 volts shorted across it.

[@FroggyMosh]

Out in their shack. Someone had a ball point pen, a nail, some nail clippers, an old broken curling iron and a bunch of cable laying around. And no matches for miles around.

[@BruselskySluzebnik]

Omg, Russia hater. Go for your burger and shut up.

[@alaaj99]

My parents still using almost the same one, they bought it from Moscow back in 1989. Running perfectly on 220v till this day. Great Soviet industry.

[@zwz.zdenek]

Not really. It's just that people try to fault something about Russia all the time. Many Americans also have unearthed sockets.

[@David-cy5zu]

@@mernok2001 earth is for metl housing only. my bosch drill dont have eartheither, nor my 800 euro vacuum cleaner

[@MrPaukann]

@@mernok2001, "It is estimated that there are over 450,000 homes in Canada that are wired entirely with aluminum wiring. ... Most of these homes were built in the 1960’s to late 1970’s." www.bluecrest.net/electrical-news/is-aluminum-wiring-safe/ Apparently, this was a world-wide practice at the time.

[@ElectraFlarefire]

Impressively dodgy, simple and clever all at once. The electrode water heater still wins, but this one is a contender for second place. And bonus points for the nail. :)

[@jwhite5008]

This was engineered back in USSR when getting hold of good materials and tools was not easy. They used whatever was readily available at a low price. Had to apply some out-of-box thinking more often than not.

[@cezarcatalin1406]

Someone should do a 9v battery version of this

[@johnpossum556]

What Jack says is so right. You should oneday compare their Mig to our F-16. You'd have no idea they were even engineered during the same ERA! The F 16 is so electronics based for the pilot and the Mig looks like it came right out of the 1950s.

[@zwz.zdenek]

What Jack says is a heavily biased opinion based on his lack of knowledge. It hinges on the common delusion that his country is the best, using it as a standard to judge others. Russians were surprisingly competitive even with their harsh country with poor infrastructure. They were able to do almost as well as Americans despite the unfair odds of nature, geography and economics. So much so that American war efforts were quite stifled until they managed to erode the union. I'm not Russian and I'm not their fan, I just like to stand behind those who deserve it.

[@iscander_s]

That's how the most of the soviet technics were made. From military things to fridges and children's toys. No surprises, that some of them still perfectly works. At that time it was some kind of ideology, to produce sturdy, simple, long life and easy to repair stuff, because the manufacturer doesn't have a need to have profits, but was needed to provide enough stuff for everyone, and they couldn't just make more.

[@davidh.4649]

"I'm guessing this jams everything that broadcasts in radio frequencies for miles around." A spark gap transmitter indeed!

[@zwz.zdenek]

Not really. The range is about 10 meters, plus FM is less prone to this kind of interference. And perhaps you have noticed that metal cage around the arc?

[@davidh.4649]

zwz • zdenek yes, "miles around" is a bit of an exaggeration. There would be some local interference in an apartment building with nearby neighbors perhaps but this device is meant for occasional uses of short duration. As for the metal cage, that's more for physical shock protection. I doubt it helps much as a Faraday cage.

[@LakeNipissing]

7:47 . . . Clive: *"It's a NAIL !!"* Leave it to Russians / Ukrainians for ingenious improvisations.

[@gary_rumain_you_peons]

Congrats! You've nailed it.

[@alecjahn]

I don't know why I am so excited about it literally being a nail but damn, that's truly quite excellent.

[@chrishartley1210]

The piece at the end isn't an adjuster, it's a nail trimmer.

[@benbaselet2026]

Next week: We explore the limits of Russian technology by examining at a hinge.

[@krzysztofmazurkiewicz5270]

I used to have the same thing in Poland back in a day. I had a more round version but my frend got exactly one like this. And i dont recall any news around the 80s and 90s that someone got electricuted by that ;) And the ozone smell was cool to :D

[@MegaFPVFlyer]

I'm absolutely certain that this device meets all UK EMF standards.

[@MarkTillotson]

Measured from the mainland, yes!

[@Choice777]

i'm sure there are vintage cars in the uk that give off some emf with their spark coil generator.

[@KPbICMAH]

EMF standards are for sissies!

[@digitalgreenie]

In soviet era they made spaghetti forming machines with the same diameter as AK bullets, so they could be quickly readjusted to manufacturing those just in case. Maybe this is the reason how this device was designed. Or its just was made this way because these elements randomly got under uncle Vasya's hand during manufacturing process.

[@polygondwanaland8390]

@@digitalgreenie I strongly doubt they were producing 7.62mm thick spaghetti.

[@km5405]

I think the designer nailed it.

[@UltimateDIY]

My parents had one of these about 20 years ago, when I was a kid. Now that I think about it, it's a miracle nobody got electrocuted and the house did not burn down.

[@UltimateDIY]

You are probably right, it was in the days when common sense still existed. They did not need somebody to tell them not to dry the cat in the oven, as modern microwave ovens have written on them. But that aside, this thing is as dangerous as the most dangerous mains powered device can be. To be worse than this it would probably need to be just two wires with a handle.

[@oldwurzel]

Voice for the fearful - I can remember a friend heating a tub of bath water using a kettle laid down on a brick, with the electrical connection in the air.

[@SianaGearz]

But people do get hurt. Lots of people died due to lapses in electrical safety and gas supply safety in the Soviet Union.

[@theshankman8682]

my grandma used this. it was a bit better build but still had electrocution risk

[@SianaGearz]

Many deaths were due to workers assembling for example gas pipes being tired or hung over or their tools being of low quality, materials used in building construction being faulty because someone made a mistake in manufacturing or the supply of something dried up but the planned production volume still had to be made, and inspectors being corrupt or not having the right equipment or enough time. A chain of minor lapses by numerous people can lead to a catastrophe.

[@LazySeeD]

A tazer disguised as a "lighter". Genius.

[@iscander_s]

Taser, that works only from mains? Not so genius...

[@mckaycheatham5980]

Less of a tazer and more of a morguer.

[@FroggyMosh]

@@iscander_s Call it home defense. ;)

[@Languslangus]

@@iscander_s It does kill people.

[@comradesky5931]

@@Languslangus I doubt it would do much harm at all to the attacker. I guess if they have a heart problem they MIGHT have something to worry about. It is very unlikely to actually harm the person unless they were kind enough to just stand there and your power isn't interrupted by safety equipment.

[@tonywalton1464]

"I'm not really sure what the borderline is between Russia and the Ukraine". I suspect a chap called Putin has the same problem.

[@MRooodddvvv]

you NAILed it

[@TheOwenMajor]

Putin - "What is this Ukraine you talk about? Are you referring to South West Russia?"

[@alexmarshall4331]

Tony Walton lol

[@mrjohhhnnnyyy5797]

Putin is imperialistic asshole, he just can't let go the fact that Ukraine, Russia, Belarus became INDEPENDENT countries after USSR bit the dust.

[@jimschofield8734]

Putin knows, just the Ukranians disagree...

[@Teth47]

It's a relay whole solenoid breaks its own connection, they're using undesirable relay arcing to their advantage. Neat.

[@thermionicemission6355]

Russia (and other USSR countries) made the most incredible of things when it comes to electronics, but here's what I like the most: cheap but really thought through clever designs for home use, and extremely expensive high-precision stuff, pretty much only for the military. Especially their valves/tubes, some of them were far supreme to anything made abroad. And it's not just electronics, their firearms were very interesting too, they always took a new approach to firearms, not caring about anyhting the west put out.

[@hannahranga]

Plus considering the current draw a tiny arse isolation transformer would be a nice touch.

[@thermionicemission6355]

For 220V an isolation transformer can't be tiny. Completely impossible.

[@rikka0_059]

@@thermionicemission6355 possible but it costs too much so noone does that

[@marcusborderlands6177]

@@thermionicemission6355 they cared a lot about what the west made in terms of firearms. After the west adopted 5.56 the Russians developed 5.45 for a similar use case. And when the west went to smoothbore for tanks, the Russians did as well

[@paulkocyla1343]

I remember them from the earliest 80ies in Poland, almost the same design. They were extremely common, hanging near every gas stove. They have been also very reliable. My grandma had one for decades. But of course they are not made to be pushed hard, just a touch to ignite the stove.

[@makoado6010]

same in hungary at late 70's.

[@raymondmucklow3793]

We don't mind when you show us items that have nothing to do with the video, or at least for me.

[@hrnekbezucha]

My grandma in Czech has a similar thingy but instead of a button it's got the rod freely in a case. So when you plug it in, nothing happens until you turn the tip downward. The rod falls down the shaft and makes a contract, produces a spark and that fires it back up the shaft again for it to fall back down I a split second. That makes it run much cooler overall, because the sparks are slowed down by the movement of the rod. It makes a very pleasant sound, actually.

[@RickDeckardt]

Sweet, mini EMP generator

[@johnpossum556]

LOL! Now just supercharge it with a microwave!

[@AlexLaw_Qld]

Tuneable spark gap generator

[@TofranBohk]

I LOL'd at the nail. You know... People in the West complain about all of the safety regulations that we have, but a device like this makes you appreciate them a bit more.

[@RWBHere]

The 'B' is a Cyrillic 'V'. Thanks Clive. Nice combination of Deathdapter with Lighter Sabre!

[@eigenvector7035]

can confirm, my grandmother has one like this. It jams everything from FM radio to digital television

[@TehJumpingJawa]

From the switch pivot doubling as the securing mechanism, to the off-the-shelf nail being an integral component; the finest of Mother Russia's economical engineering!

[@mrjohhhnnnyyy5797]

The text was in Russian, it says "alcohol meter". One easy way to understand is it Ukrainian or Russian is when you see letter "i" used, it is Ukrainian. Russian alphabet doesn't have letter "i". Of course, you won't see this letter in every word, but if you see one, you will know for sure.

[@VerstehenSieMathis]

kazakhs also use "i" )

[@BaronVonBiffo]

And Scottish people use 'Aye'. ;)

[@IcemanMobile]

In England we have two eyes.

[@geofflotton5292]

or use google translate

[@vladislavkotenochkin3589]

Alcohol meter in Russian - алкометр In Ukrainian - алкометр *_*

[@crtbeam9779]

This seems like a shittier version of the "old ones". My grandma had one, and it had much beefier coil, with the added bonus of jamming every nearby wireless connection. The "original" was bigger had a round tip(also live at mains voltage) and (don't quote me on that) case made out of bakelite.

[@andreim841]

220v gas stove lighter. Sold here in Romania up until 92. Then the ones that look like a cigarette lighter came out and then the stoves equipped with the piezoelectric ignition from the manufacturer. The 220 volts ones, half ass decent, but play with it for more than 15 seconds at a time and they would kick the bucket.

[@Fridelain]

How much did they cost?

[@andreim841]

Fridelain - it was 21.75 lei. I remember because the price was stamp in the plastic. About $1.5

[@andreim841]

Jack White - that's because people in Eastern Europe still have some fucking common sense...

[@robt2151]

That suggests about 14.5 lei to the dollar. Today's official figure is 3.7 - shows how much the dollar has been devalued!

[@andreim841]

RO BT - it's the official exchange ratio set for the dollar in 89. You could buy dollars on the black market at 85 to 100 lei per usd.

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

“Pleasingly Scary” is something you’ll only hear from bigclive.

[@Robothut]

A door bell "buzzer" igniter. Now lets get back to the short bread cookies. Love those cookies.

[@johnpossum556]

I was suprised to see they get that brand where Clive is at. My mom loves their shortbread. Never seen the Scotties here in the USA, though.

[@Chuckiele]

Except that its a 240V door bell which is quite unusual here xD

[@DIY-valvular]

Here in Argentina those things were called "chisperos", with the same functioning principle and the same plug style. This Ukrainian example has an improvement wit respect of our local version; it has a two pole pulse switch, so none of the exposed electrodes are live when the device is unused. Ours had not that "safety" feature ;-((( These were common here until mid 70's with the advent of the piezoelectric igniter popularised under the brand "Magiclick Aurora" (then any piezo chispero was called Magiclick). By the side of the two lugs non-polarised plugs, those were banned by 1998 as they were replaced by a three pins polarised plug of the same style of the australians.

[@psemeq]

My parents had this 20-30 years ago. Was doing great and there was never an issue with it :P

[@Case_]

We used to have a similar one at home when I was a kid. Later I realized it must've been incredibly dodgy, because countless times, we've tripped the circuit breaker when the metal part of the casing touched the stove as you were lighting it, so the metal casing was likely connected directly to the live wire when the spark was happening. Thankfully no-one ever got hurt. And yes, it did affect the TV and the radio.

[@Eto_Kusay]

*somewhere in soviet era bunker* -Alright Ivan, we need to make a fire, but all we have is pile of garbage -Let's unscrew pen, drive the nail through that spring and connect it to the piece of metal -Гениально, сука блять!

[@tempname8263]

"Genius, motherducka!"

[@spotliker123]

translation of the last sentence: Ehnanbho, cyka 6nrtb!

[@Landie_Man]

I’ve drunk 80% moonshine in Rural Ukraine. Not proof, actually 80%! It’s very very popular over there and actually a currency in a way.

[@carpetsomething]

Grain alcohol will hit 98% if its been brewed by the right caliber of genius (source: rural childhood)

[@RobertSzasz]

It's a proper Russian Mains Vibrator! (It would likely also work with DC)

[@RobertSzasz]

Ollyweg 0 when DC is applied the nail would get pulled in, breaking the circuit, allowing the spring to push the nail back out against the contact, allowing current to flow again, repeat. It's a simple vibrator or buzzer circuit.

[@zwz.zdenek]

It would work with DC, but the arc would be reluctant to stop causing it to wear out faster and heat up more. AC has nothing to do with vibration in this product.

[@zwz.zdenek]

You do realize the Z is a modifier to the S, like SH in English?

[@rikka0_059]

@@zwz.zdenek no it should work with dc, the sudden disconnection of inductive circuits create high voltage anyw.

[@AntonBabiy]

What was also a common practice in USSR was to tie two knives together with rubber bands and attach a mains cord to each side forming a makeshift water heater😛

[@AntonBabiy]

jimvonmoon if it works it ain’t stupid 😉

[@christiangeiselmann]

Anton Babiy People still sterilize their jam jars in buckets of bioling water heated with devices like that all over Eastern Europe.

[@MarkTillotson]

Mmmmm, dissolved nickel and chromium salts, nice!

[@blackout57]

Mark, I was thinking the same. I saw such stuff and it produced a precipitated compound in water. But in USSR the live was too short to die because of chromium poising. Even the richest were poisoned by thallium rather than by nickel or chromium. It was not a big deal. Note: The second part is a joke.

[@TheLastPhoen1x]

Gotta be rich bourgeois to have priviledge of be poisoned by more precious metal.

[@thesoundkid]

Its a dual contact switch at least, if the chinese made it I'm sure they would get the BOM cost down and leave it live all the time.

[@zwz.zdenek]

I was pleasantly surprised by that as well.

[@valterslacis614]

I remember using one of these all the time in the early 90s (my grandma had it in kitchen)- it was a really fun toy! Who would have thought that these things were so dangerous? And damn, my childhood was hardcore!

[@KPbICMAH]

"It's a freaking nail! Just a nail and a spring" - this is where I figured out what foreigners mean when they say "We'll just Russian it out" (basically "improvise with shit and sticks and whatever is at hand"). Thumbs up from someone who used this when he was a kid.

[@felenov]

I am actually Russian. The glass thing is a spirit meter, it is very common and is quite precise. It is sold almost everywhere and costs almost nothing. The other thing (stove igniter) is made in Ukraine and is designed to run on 220V, but it is a death trap.

[@SianaGearz]

Not a Chinese seller, a genuine Ukrainian seller. Looks like a Soviet unified item, like those that were standardised by the state and produced at multiple facilities throughout the country, with just minor updates - removal of price moulded into the plastic, which was mandatory up until late 80ies, newer style cord and plug. The "B" in 220B is a rather solid indication that it's Soviet/Russian/Ukrainian made. Don't think they made these past early 90ies though.

[@cheatsenabled1662]

Your profile picture looks like it comes from Second Life. Yeah, I know, unrelated to your comment, but oh well.

[@SianaGearz]

It absolutely does, and while i'm no longer in there, i used to be a famous software developer in that realm, with about half a million people choosing to use my software at least once a week and probably more at one point. I was never particularly participative except in the tech realm, and yet, i decided to keep that as my online personality because it ended up meaning something to me.

[@cheatsenabled1662]

Interesting. What did you work on during that time?

[@SianaGearz]

Contributor to official client, project owner and former lead developer of Singularity Viewer (back then second most popular client, behind Firestorm and ahead of official client), tech consultant for Avination Ltd, which is now defunct too.

[@cheatsenabled1662]

A shame you have to move on from things someday. I hope you found something equally good, or even better, to move onto after that.

[@odifyltsaeb8846]

In Russia, there is a measure "Degrees Alcohol", from 0 to 100, and it is the same as volume percentage of alcohol.

[@bskull3232]

Same in China. We use degrees instead of proof. A degree equals to 2 proof.

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

Bo Gao why not just measure percentage like a normal rational human being?

[@bskull3232]

Justin Koenig 1 degree is 1 percent volume.

[@odifyltsaeb8846]

In Soviet Russia, percentage measures you. Maybe that degrees alcohol were in mass use before percentage (because booze is around longer than math), so this may be actually the other way round - why don't you just use degrees to measure your percentages like our ancestors deed?

[@kilimadalin]

@@JustinKoenigSilica when you measure water hardness (idk, if this is the corect namem the quantity of Calcium carbonate, and other things like that) u measure it in mg/l therefore its mass/volume and not mass/mass or volume/volume so it can't be a percentage. it was something with 1 degree of hardnes = 10mg/l of CaO, CaCO3 etc. not sure why in alocohol its degree and not percentage.

[@bartlomiejswierczynski7949]

those lighters were indestructible back in the days they normaly operated on 220v for years and never stoped to work :)

[@Scapestoat]

I recognized the pen spring instantly, and when the pointy end of the nail was revealed, I had a good chuckle. :D

[@z08840]

it's not 220B - english B is russian V - it's 220V :)

[@crackedemerald4930]

VONELES VIZZA

[@The_Mister_E]

🅱️olts

[@NetRolller3D]

Made in CCCP

[@warwolf6862]

@Jordan Rodrigues nah its cee cee cee pee. sffu with your comme sht

[@z08840]

@Robert Baker depends on point of view :)

[@psygn0sis]

The Russians could successfully launch a man into space with nothing but a couple popsicle sticks, aluminum foil, and chewing gum found on the bottom of someone's shoe.

[@DannyPL22]

These were very popular in Poland as well, in 80s and mid-90s. Surprisingly reliable and even children could use them easily.

[@clintongryke6887]

Ha! Marvellous analysis and a tempting piece of made-in-the-shed kit!

[@brettjohnson6807]

That may be one of the most terrifying electrical items I have witnessed but I love that they used a freaking nail to make it work!

[@Frankhe78]

Russians / Ukrainian people are very uncomplicated when it comes to simpel solutions. The USA spend millions of dollars to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity. The Soviets used a pencil. That also did the job :) Love it!

[@ayebraine]

@@Frankhe78 That's a myth. Google it, the actual story (as it often is) is more interesting.

[@Frankhe78]

@@ayebraine tell me, what is the story you have?

[@Mildly_Dead]

@@Frankhe78 It took me 2 seconds to google it. www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-nasa-spen/

[@Frankhe78]

@@Mildly_Dead Scientific american copied the text but probably forgot to credit the source, history.nasa.gov/spacepen.html good to know NASA did not spend seven figures on the pen. Dit you know the Russians use a piece of wire to lock the bolts between rocket stages where the Americans have custom made locking pins? :)

[@KarlBunker]

Deadly consumer gadgets FTW. (I know, nobody says "FTW" any more.) I guess a simple piezoelectric clicker would be too wimpy to light that tough, he-man Ukrainian gas.

[@johnpossum556]

Clive is a regular David Horowitz! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eabSZIZnq9iEnsk

[@SigEpBlue]

With all that extra radiation, one would think it'd be _easier_ to light. ;)

[@z31drifterlf]

Fuck the world?

[@disgruntled181]

Luke F That is the only thing that comes to mind when I see FTW...

[@jbh759]

Luke F for the win... :(

[@Darxide23]

Seeing Clive try to activate this thing while it was in bits on the workbench was one of the biggest NOPE moments I've seen on this channel and I'm just devastated that nothing happened.

[@shana_dmr]

I'm from Poland and I used similar device before advent of built-in ignition on the cooking ranges that didn't stop to work after spilling one drop of water (I think it was around early 2000s when that technological breakthrough happened). Model I used was from early 60s and never stopped working (I lost it somewhere 10 years ago) and I never heard of anyone doing anything nasty with them - holes were small enough that even a little child couldn't make it to touch anything at live potential. And it worked awesome, much better than burning yourself with matches or lighter that always breaks when you try to cook something ;) Now let me go back to not fixing that crappy 125A three phase socket in the workshop that requires isolating rod to operate (if you don't hold it still during insertion/removal it's a trip to main circuit breaker on the property) because some famous German manufacturer made it from same plastic as cheap children toys...

[@blackcountryme]

New Signalex duel USB 2.1 Amp wall charger available at poundland.. at £2 mind.. Available colours are red, blue, green.. possibly more. I only say as an older chap (late 60's) said "I ain't buying one of them till big Clive's took one to bits" see you're famous.

[@blackcountryme]

Caledonian TV I have no idea what you are talking about, I was providing information on the newer USB power supply at (two) poundland. That is all.

[@jusb1066]

yes bloody cheeck for £2 when its not worth £1 either, trash, avoid, do yourself a favour and buy a real one, instead of lighting your house on fire, clive saved the life of that old geezer

[@bigclivedotcom]

+blackcountryme Got one here ready for testing.

[@blackcountryme]

bigclivedotcom ok, it runs cooler that my original kindle charger, but I do wait for your reviews first. Usually. But it's a kindle I don't really care about tbh. Screen's is too small.

[@tin2001]

Poundworld and poundland should have a Big Clive Approved program to help customers choose their USB chargers.

[@BillyNoMates1974]

a gas-culator. when shocking times are needed

[@woochmeister]

LMAO. It's a nail !! It's a friggin Nail!! love it. Your videos are awesome Clive. Thanks for the giggles every day.

[@martinclemesha4794]

Just spending a pleasant evening working my way through your really interesting vids. That's a heck of a gadget your reviewing. Thanks for your fabulous entertainment.

[@madbstard1]

Had some shortbread over xmas......was made in Scotland (obviously!), bought in and posted from Detroit and eaten in Donegal. Think it was well travelled :D

[@maicod]

I like Spritsen (Dutch shortbread cookies)

[@Mihail_K.]

4:50 Well actually B is V in the cyrillic alphabet.

[@_BangDroid_]

You really nailed this video

[@laszu7137]

My grandpa bought piezoelectric gas lighter when he was on some business travel to Moscow in 1967. That thing still works.

[@JimGriffOne]

*Спиртомер* = "Spirtomer" _Literal: Spirit meter_ _Google: Alcoholiser_ _Actual: Spirit hydrometer_ Russian and Ukranian never translate too well!

[@Nick_1911]

It mesure alcohol (ethanol) content by volume .

[@JordyValentine]

Nikolay Hristov no shit, that's what he explained in the video and obviously what spirit hydrometer means..

[@GoesAroundAndAround]

Came to say this but you explained it far better.

[@TonyP9279]

it also has nothing to do with this video!

[@__mk_km__]

You never know, if there is enough *SPIRIT* in your vodka Google translate is quite good at single words actually. Except for probably compound words like this.

[@Brodaty_Brodacz]

i remember having one just like that to light up my oven :P

[@vferdman]

When I was a wee lad growing up in Ukraine in the 70's these things were around looking exactly the same as now. The gas stoves lack a lighter we are used to here in the west. No pilot, no sparker. If you turn the knob on the stove the gas will just spew. Most of the time there is a matchbox full of matches near the stove in order to light it. This clever device was sold as an improvement to everyday life of a stove lighter. I remember playing with those things (I swear, they looked identical to this one), but they often just disintegrated due to low production quality (nothing changed) and matchbox, that never really left the kitchen went back into utilization. Ovens also needed a match, BTW and were not nearly as easy or convenient to light as the stove top. Fond childhood memories, Clive! Thank you, sir. Oh, and mains voltage in Ukraine is 220V, so 240V was probably abusive to a very poorly made cheap thing. Not surprised it did not survive long. So many of these gadgets were thrown in the garbage, they were very common to find just in the middle of the street having fallen off the garbage truck.

[@Boa796]

Eastern European bloke here, those things come in various flavours and yes, they are live at mains voltage, the one we used to have had even less shielding on the end than that one!

[@zh84]

Or you could light your gas with matches. You can still burn down the house with them, but they won't give you an electric shock.

[@andljoy]

Your no fun. Massive fireball AND electric shock , them ruskies know how to party.

[@SianaGearz]

We used to use matches back in the day. The mains igniter was much too dangerous for us to consider, and piezo ones were impossible to use, as the thumb button actually needed all of your upper body weight to actuate. Matches were clearly the most convenient and safest choice. BIC lighter? Seriously? What do you hold us for, capitalist pigs?

[@jwhite5008]

Not funny. Gas explosions are not that rare in Russia sadly. They leave a few people dead or injured and badly damage buildings - an awful sight.

[@jusb1066]

matches dont work when damp, an old russian house probably was more so if you couldnt get the fire lit

[@jusb1066]

they didnt sell bic lighters in russia!

[@tehlaser]

That... thing is delightful. In the worst way.

[@Anvilshock]

This device isn't just cute, it's electro-cute!

[@avejst]

Thanks for sharing 😀👍... Bin in Leningrad, and saw the mains contact. A big klonky switch. It did its job, but what a big switch..

[@elmikeomysterio5496]

You need to have Boris from LifeOfBoris send you iffy gopnik products.

[@jakep5132]

I see Cody’s Lab is down again

[@maicod]

yeah sad

[@jakep5132]

Cody should do a Breaking Bad video. I can see the intro now!

[@chrispza]

InRangeTV made a very relevant video blog some time back.

[@mrclown7469]

A fricken nail!!! LMAO I love it when you find hilariously unexpected parts being used inside. Reminds me of the explosive disconnect teardown that used a .22 cartridge.

[@e_g4239]

I love the simplicity

[@KellyJohnRose]

The hydrometer won’t be perfect. You generally need to tare it with the original liquid because sugar and such can push it up as well as atmospheric pressure can change the depth it floats at. When you brew beer. You hydrometer a value after you create the wort. Then you hydrometer it later and subtract the two numbers and then you have percentage of alcohol.

[@betta67]

Russians drink vodka. Romanians drink tzuica. Hungarians drink palinka. Serbians, Croatians and many other countries in Eastern Europe have their own (stolen) national distilled spirit drink that contains only ethyl alcohol, water and flavour and aroma from the grains (vodka) or of the distilled fermented fruits. (Vod from vodka means water). And real man don't need sugar, colour or additives... so this alcoholometer is for whisky and better yet, for scotch ;) ...

[@KellyJohnRose]

Oh, I'm fairly certain it won't be that far off, especially since he's probably located in a similar altitude to where it's from. I just know from experience you can get a swing from a list of differentials.

[@betta67]

That this alcoholometer is a reliable instrument. And that it is widely used on/with/for many "national" pure alcoholic drinks. The rest is only a lesson on only one aspect of national/local culture of Eastern Europe... and later, that it would precisely measure of alcohol concentration of whisky or scotch... pfff... And yes, it's not suitable for beer or sugar containing drinks...

[@betta67]

45°44′58″N 21°13′38″E en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timi%C8%99oara

[@srowley85]

No sugar is in spirits fresh off the still, so this will work fine. I’ve seen much fancier ones. Just don’t expect it to work with liqueurs, schnapps, or other such things with added sugar.

[@jonlaws4493]

Definitely a Ukrainian thing. My wife’s grandma has one hanging near her cooker. Scared the life out of me when she used it.

[@maicod]

it creates loads of ozone :)

[@weeardguy]

I was at the appartment in Kyiv where the friend I was visiting lived. I was so amazed to see such a thing working on mains voltage. She pushed the button a few times, completely used to it. It was 'different'. I won't say I was scared, as I had been through the metro there for more than a week already my 'standards' had already dropped to a lower level (which does not mean I think the Kyiv metro is dangerous, but the level of noise produced by it is certainly of a different degree compared to what I'm used to as a Western-European guy)

[@RumblePirate]

I have a similar one, bought by my grandfather back in 60s.. cool to know how it actually still works to this date

[@arsaeterna4285]

Beautifully minimal design : ) when I saw the nail I almost died haha

[@TheRustAdmin]

this is like AvE's "BOLTR" but with a nicer narrator :)

[@TheRustAdmin]

yes.

[@TheRustAdmin]

he's just better composed and nicer to listen to :)

[@zwz.zdenek]

Grow up, seriously. AvE may not be up everyone's alley, but he's knowledgeable nonetheless.

[@crackedemerald4930]

He's like a mix betwix AvE and Ashens

[@OnlyNotes]

"Pleasingly scary" ..mind if I steal that for my tinder profile?

[@HDXFH]

Love their ingenuity

[@DCRoper2765]

I really love your videos. Found by random but really enjoying what I have watched so far. The UK shower dismantle was very interesting. I fitted a new one recently and the mains cable to it was only 3 core cable. (old bungalow). Upgraded to code cable and new trip switches as was still on the wire fuses that you had to replace. The switch had also melted and when it was all new. Very nice. Your videos are like Billy connelly talking about electrics lol.

[@stephencresswell4760]

Am I the only person that ‘likes’ Clive’s videos even before I watch them, just to get it out of the way? 👍

[@DreStyle]

Stephen Cresswell nope haha

[@matakaw4287]

I like them before I watch just so I don't forget.

[@BPantherPink]

Mee too... me toooooooo !!

[@iconoclad]

Am I the only person that never "likes" anything for fear of clickjacking? It can happen anywhere, anytime. Nothing is safe.

[@matakaw4287]

I never knew such a thing existed until I read your post and checked it out. Thanks. However, it is fun to live dangerously :)

[@8bits59]

127-220 🅱

[@AlecKristi]

OMG! we had these when I was a kid! been so long that I forgot these things exist! so nostalgic...

[@skagerstrom]

Gotta love that 70's plastic :P

[@dextersxxxxlab]

Why would you use a device with a plug? Just not handy. When I was a child we had a more or less similar looking unit without a power lead and a plug. It was sort of a piezo ignitor. By pushing the trigger down into the body it made several sparks. Not as heavy as the powered one you have here but for igniting the gas stove it worked fine. Much safer and easier to use because you never have to fight with the powerlead

[@betta67]

It shows that you are not an educated drinker :) nor a heavy one. It's not called a hydrometer (an instrument for measuring the density of liquids) altough it is one but it's calibrated for one purpose only. To measure the ethylic concentration of the distilled water solution. That's why it's called a spirtomer/alcoholometer. As for the igniter... My family owned 3 of them (my parents and my grandparents)... The first two were bought from Moldavia (back then part of USSR) and lasted at least 20 years (one maybe almost 25) even if we had 220V in Romania and they (oh, those Russians) had only 127B. They didn't changhed the design too much (shorter cord, cheaper plastic, injected plug, nail instead of a proper metal rod) but like all things made with only the cost on mind the third/last one had a short life. Of course, when the first one went dead (ours) I took it apart... In cyrillic alphabet B is V... A joke says that the American space programme spent millions inventing/designing the ball pen... instead, the Russians used chemical pencil/indelible ink pencil ;)

[@Landogarner83]

That pencil thing is more an urban myth than a joke. Interestingly the russians bought that pen as well. If you want to see more about it watch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3vVq6uog56XfJY

[@betta67]

They bought it only in 1969... after... but let it rest... the nuance between joke and anecdote... After all, we are talking about spirit(s) here and how to ignite it ;) Thank you for the link.

[@mywebnet]

Well, I had this one gas igniter in my last apartment. Absolutely the same technology, only color is different. It was produced in 1978., perfectly works even today. In my childhood, on the kitchen we had the same kind model as you hold in your video, but sincerely I was really very terrified to use it. It's like evil spark maker and this zapping sound......... , like some torture device from horror movie. Well, I had always used simple old school matches, and avoid this novelty at all costs. But "thankfully" this thing manufactured from 80' and 90' was not very well build, and lasted very short term. The last one worked the longest for less than a year. So in the end my parents ditched all them and we used matches since then. For today there is neat "Chinese" gas igniter. Neat, simple, nice design, safer, works well. But now all my appliances works perfectly and flawlessly on electricity, unfortunately gas become very expensive in new days, and there is more and more very handy computerized electric appliances that are more reliable, energy efficient, and useful.

[@ketas]

oh i love somebody trying to understand stuff you grew up with, including gas lighters (although no gas in my home) and cyrillic

[@shimmerite_ua]

Sadly but it is 99.9% chance this lighter is made in China. I dont think any sort of industrial manufacturing is still profitable in Ukraine. Цікаво, чи дивиться Клайва ще хтось з Матері городів русських?

[@zelja.]

DohtarZlo Maybe it's old stock?

[@BikerWildRat]

If it was China-made it would not have been written "220 B" on cord. Смотрят, не беспокойся.

[@zwz.zdenek]

What "Wild Rat" said. I noticed it too. This is Russian-made. Well, the original certainly is; we don't have any box with Cyrillic letters to make a distinction between Ukrainian and Russian letters here.

[@DmytroRublov]

Дивимось.

[@-ahvilable-6654]

Life in Ukraine is getting better now

[@DickHolman]

A nail & a spring from a ball-point pen? Heath Robinson would be proud!

[@MihaiDumitru2k]

OMG, haven't seen one of those in ages. Had couple of that in the 90's.

[@AnbuStealth]

I don't know anything about voltage and things you buy on eBay but your videos are rather interesting

[@JonTheBrush]

Nice to see you made sure you were wearing a shirt that matched the shortbread tin.

[@10551055The]

That is absolutely terrifying. It's amazing that got through customs.

[@TheBananaPlug]

When i worked in a Sottish & Newcastle Pub in the'70's the auditors used to come round about every 2 months to check our spirits 'proof' with hydrometers just to make sure we were not diluting. Also they used dip sticks to check the amount of booze in a bottle and cross referred that to the amount of the booze sold.

[@TECHnoman753]

I miss video's of when you took apart our devices to see how they worked LoL but no really I love these kind of videos 😍

[@darylcheshire1618]

I purchased some needles and made sure some very large needles are included. They are handy for poking into reset holes and pushing out pivot pins, nearly as useful as a Spudger tool.

[@1ralton1]

"Its a frickin nail"......Love it. Makes one wonder what bits and bobs the russian space shuttle was made of....

[@JerryEricsson]

Dad used one of those hydrometers years ago to insure his beer had finished it's work and was ready for the taste test.

[@juanferreira5931]

I remember one of those ozone generators hung next to my aunt's gas stove in the 1960s. Looked old too. She changed to a piezo lighter in the late 1980s when the 'moving contact' wore out.

[@roderickimackenzie]

amazing! love the nail.

[@fabimre]

Some 45 years ago I ha a gas-lighter almost identical to yours (without the adjustable knob). It used a quite standard nail as plunger. After years the bended strip was electro-cut away due to the tears of sparking, so i replaced it with a piezoelectric igniter.

[@iscander_s]

We have a similar igniter from Soviet times, but it has a lot more sturdier construction and without nails. We used it a long time, but discarded it not long ago because of the loud noises it produces, that inconvenient and even scare people sometimes. I generally surprised, that someone still produces them.

[@chronicgaming3280]

More Clive awesomeness!! Oh yes..