Inside some dodgy Chinese USB power supplies from Greece.

I'd like to thank Filippos for sending these VERY shady USB chargers which he bought from a Chinese outlet in Greece. The flat one has one of the scariest transformers yet with no extra insulation between the secondary and sense windings. It also had a rather odd output capability of around just 20mA before the voltage plummeted.
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

[@BigJo3]

Is it just me that watches for this guy, I have no idea how electrics work the lot, but for me its almost like an ASMR video watching Clive. Is it just me that feels that way? If it is I'll show myself the door.

[@scotthowell2114]

I am the same way

[@JackPorter]

Joe well, it started that way and now i'm genuinely interested in low current electronics!

[@paulsengupta971]

What's ASMR?

[@doctorbangs]

Definitely! I have loads of them saved, and have been known to do an afternoon doze with a long playlist of Clive! I hope his new camera has good stereo sound, a concept vastly beyond the abillity of gestApple! Then we could do the full headphone experience!!!

[@IRDStudio]

+Paul Sengupta A sexual married rat

[@paulgascoigne5343]

make sure you label you emails Re: Her Majesties Revenue & Customs - tax rebate. You'll be sure Clive reads them promptly 😉

[@atanuraju9786]

Paul Gascoigne you?

[@CinnamonCian]

you mean "Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs"

[@johnberner2012]

He is not Spam! Look at his videos, they are relevant for sure!!! He has lots of electronic hacking videos. How is that a spam comment if it is relevant to the topic at hand?

[@paulgascoigne5343]

Who's spam? I'm a little lost.. If anyone's unsure what I was on about I was making a joke about Clives email reading and what takes president in his inbox.

[@johnberner2012]

Just search "Berner's Vlog" in KZbin you will find the dudes youtube channel! Don't forget to Subscribe to his channel just like you subbed to bigclives channel. Cheers!

[@seanman6541]

I once purchased a decent quality USB power bank from Amazon and the included power supply was the most horrific thing I have ever seen. It was nothing more than a non-isolated buck converter. The only thing between the USB micro-B output and mains was a crappy NPN transistor, and if you think it couldn't get any worse, your wrong. The output filtering capacitor was so undersized (~10uF) that the voltage ripple was close to 3V. The only explanation I could think of was that they assumed you would throw it away and use a proper charger with a cable longer than 2cm.

[@piwbenzyna]

Yep. I can confirm. The "thin" charger started melting and blew fuses at my house while charging IPhone.

[@Graham_Langley]

Pro tip: To take the base off a lamp like this, drill out all the punched-in dimples in the base. To reassemble, rotate the base slightly so new metal lines up with the holes in the body and punch in only few of them - that way you can take it apart/reassemble it at least once more.

[@michaeltempsch5282]

Had a bulb with this error - drilled a small hole in the plastic just above the rim of the socket. Fed an extra bit of wire through, soldered it to the wire from the board. Pulled wire back outhrough the hole on assembly and soldered to the rim of the socket...

[@-yeme-]

studies have shown that its actually literally physically impossible to ever catch up on a large email backlog. declare electronic bankruptcy, delete them all and start again, its the only way. btw Clive all the photos on your website have been replaced by pictures of a kitten, some hosting issue no doubt.

[@ZaneDaMagicPufferDragon]

Like a little kid on Christmas Eve with the LED Bulb, you couldn't resist ripping it open without us!!! ;) 😜

[@sparkyprojects]

I worked in a transformer factory back in the 70's, often they would be a single bobbin, but you'll find winding in the middle of the tape, and the exit wire would be sleeved where they cross other windings, also for shielding there was sometimes a copper sheet between windings that was grounded. some transformers went up to 10KV on a single bobbin also note that these transformers were also dipped in varnish with a vacuum/pressure cycle. btw, i was the impregnation engineer :D

[@jusb1066]

you worked in a proper transformer factory, not a chinese one, they skip all the safety steps!

[@onometre]

Sparky Projects sounds like a shitty pickup oine

[@Doom2pro]

_"btw, i was the impregnation engineer :D"_ That's funny, that is my job at home :D

[@winrid]

Doom2pro so you work from home? :D

[@paulsengupta971]

Do you get paid?

[@jpeg1991]

Those Homebase LED lamps were manufactured by TCP, and have now been discontinued as Homebase have moved over to Osram. Source: Used to work in their lighting section.

[@phils4634]

The problem is that those tiny transformers are machine - produced, and whilst there's "probably" some degree of basic "does it work" testing per-unit, the batch compliance testing may not always show up defects (especially marginal defects). There's also the problem of "what" they use for interwinding insulation - looks like PVC (about 14 kv/mm), whereas "back in the day" decent Manufacturers used Kapton (22kv/mm), which gave a much greater safety margin.

[@BillAnt]

I was wondering if a simple varistor on the mains input would be sufficient protection against power surges even if the separation gap/transformer fails?

[@max1o295]

Just want to say I love your videos, I really learn alot from them. Have a good day bigclive!

[@trogdo0r179]

Clive Thank you for the videos. I have been looking for "this" channel for a loooooong time.

[@Dog1eg]

It's always interesting to see a full tear down like this. Thanks for the vids and enjoy the coffee! :)

[@alessandrofirmani700]

The voice of this guy brings dow my stress levels big time 😑

[@MrMalibujunkies]

I have never seen a full 23 minute long video before. Usually when I see 23 minutes I stay off but this is the first time I've enjoyed every single minute of such a long video

[@allabouthim03]

Love watching you take things apart and explaining it. You actually need a TV show. Would like to see you take a proper USB power supply apart.

[@Convolutedtubules]

You plug it out and it just leaves a live circuit dangling dangerously from your socket. I love that!

[@douggoudie2870]

Hey Clive, love your work man! Any chance of seeing you take apart an expensive charger like an apple one of some kind to compare the difference? That would be awesome.

[@tydshiin5783]

I'm a bit late, but typically they should be the same if not very similar since they're already made in China

[@qurkatimilaz3787]

That is not true, it all depends on the engineer and the company who finance the development. Here is a take apart of a IKEA usb charger, most likely build in china but designed elsewhere kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4PIaqprhbCgqac

[@eirikmurito]

I have no idea what he is talking about but i like these videos because they make me look like a genius for watching them..

[@jayb1rd576]

Clive, love your teardowns keep up the good work. I don't understand anything but it's still entertaining :)

[@l3p3]

I actually bought the flat one 3 times, first opened one. Then, for testing, I used one for charging up a powerbank. Something disgusting happened: A through hole pin on the secondary side touched the plastic enclosure and got damn hot and it melted in a big hole. After a hour of charging, I was not that happy about that hole. Luckily it was on the seconary side. It is scary thyt there are people actually trusting those things, charging their phones with it. Until now, I was silly enough to keep using them in combination with an USB extension cable and an USB LED torch head as a working light. After your transformy information, I am not that sure about that anymore.

[@jusb1066]

people will always want another charger, what with all the gadgets, but insist on buying them in the cheapest crappiest shop they can find, and wonder why their house catches fire, i used to work selling handtools and the cheap chinese invasion killed the mostly second hand tools we sold, as people wanted it ever cheaper despite that it was trash.

[@BillAnt]

​@@jusb1066 < You're right, seems like people all they want nowadays is "Cheap stuff", without realizing that in the long run they will spend more on constantly replacing the faulty/failing "Cheap stuff"... sad.

[@AureliusR]

Wait what? How could a through hole pin melt a hole in the side of the case?

[@ryanclarke2161]

Clive it is really cool that you have no advertising on your channel. It keeps me coming back.

[@SlyPearTree]

We learn a lot more when you disassemble a dodgy product than a well designed one.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The dodgy stuff is MUCH more interesting than the properly designed stuff. Mainly because of the ingenious shortcuts and sometimes dangerous ones too.

[@sefton999]

@@bigclivedotcom Doing both, side by side would be very interesting

[@jamhar058]

I believe you plugged in your tester set at 800ma for the long unit. Probably fried at initial contact. Shouldn't have happens, but will never know what it was capable of (or not capable of).

[@markfergerson2145]

Nice to know that Future Clive will have obtained bulk quantities of lamp bases and the crimp tool for installing lamp guts in them, and will routinely 3D print lamp bulbs in custom shapes and colors. He will also be able to 3D print custom enclosures for those shock hazard USB testers but sadly will fail to do so.

[@ACOnetwork]

Like DGW says "SUPER DODGY" 👍 thanks for the video 😁

[@phils4634]

Photonicinduction tried running a selection of these mini transformers through his big Variac - only he decided to put the HV input through the LV winding "to see what happened". They certainly popped - but not quite as spectacularly as the audience would have expected!

[@MangoMang]

I don't know much at all about circuitry and the electrical components found on circuit boards but I really enjoyed watching this- and it was quite educational. Thanks a lot! I think I'm gonna go watch more of your vids- eventually I'll have a somewhat better understanding of it all :)

[@tookitogo]

Regarding the failed LED lamp: I christen that method "destructive repair"! 😂😂

[@D4rkNRG]

I bought a rectangle one for .99US and it works great at charging a tablet. And bought 2 of the hexagon shaped ones for .67 US each and they didn't work really. Now I know why! Your great! Thanks.

[@TimothySCarlson]

I just bought a handful of the small cube supplies in Quiapo (shopping district of Manila) for p50 each ($1). I use them for powering my various prototype projects (charging my LED cane, powering a 60 LED clock, powering a 25x5 LED banner, etc.). Never had any trouble with them, but I'll keep an eye on them from now on. Thanks for dissecting these so I didn't need to!

[@christopherhauck4702]

"I have already opened it I couldn't resist sorry" the only problem with being a big clive fan

[@_Piers_]

I think when they decided to relax the one child policy, they had to come up with something new to try to stem the Chinese population explosion. USB mains adapters to the rescue!

[@BillAnt]

Right, population control by electrocution... lol

[@bdot02]

Good to know that you're not just ignoring us and our plethora of crappy electronics ;)

[@BillAnt]

Just make sure to stay away from any "Bang Good" products, cuz they aren't such a Good Bang for your money after all considering the lack of quality. tsk-tsk

[@_iamGenesis]

Subscribed. This was great. Thanks for the lesson, going to learn a lot form you.

[@Arek_R.]

You should make DIY USB load where you can set constant volatage mode, so you can set 4,90V and it pulls current which reaches these 4,90V, this mode would immedaitely tell what is maximum usable current. Very often they say on auctions 5V and 1A but these 5V are on 0,5A and 1A is on 4,5V... If somone is looking for good quality 5V supply in good price its best to choose them from manufacturers like blitzwolf, nillkin and xiaomi.

[@arapigny9885]

sup clive I got that current tester u have in this video I love it my inner nerd is testing everything.....much love from minnesota!!

[@paulhicks9399]

I had one of those oval/octagonal supplies that came with a fake Beats Bluetooth speaker. I kept on getting a nice shock from it. Certainly much more than a standard iPad supply.

[@wildbilltexas]

I've seen very similar 120v to USB adapters with the same shell design (but in several decorator colors) being sold at CVS drugstores here in the USA.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

I have a set of three of the octagonal chargers (US, Eu, and Oz) - been using them for travelling for a few years now. Have worked fine.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'd recommend not touching exposed metalwork on devices being charged with them. The isolation in these devices is appallingly bad.

[@mikecawood]

I have two of those diamond shaped USB adapters that I bought off ebay to replace the charger of my previous phone that totally disappeared about 4 years ago. They are great little mains chargers.

[@pokenole]

love watching you in the morning with my coffee

[@paulsengupta971]

Why does Clive have your coffee?

[@ucitymetalhead]

Paul Sengupta cause you don't argue with a guy named big clive you just give up the coffee.

[@SolidStateWorkshop]

I had the long hexagonal one, took it to a trip to Italy, and it went up in smoke! Never had a power supply fail on me before.

[@davec5511]

i dont know anything about electricity but when i watch these videos somehow i know what you talking about :) love know what the inside of things look like and if safe lol

[@barch13]

amazing series

[@avamander.]

I have that white flat charger. Had the same issue of voltage dropping when I connected a high load and powered it on. Though when I attached an USB LED to the thing first through the power meter first and then attached the high load it worked.

[@j.w2000]

may i ask where did you get your quick test thing? the red box what you have a 3pin uk standard 13amp plug and the other side is notches where you can put in bear wire with a bit of copper showing and the rest is sleeveing . Before it goes in a plug.

[@gladyszryan]

the walkie talkie reviews Google "Cliff Quickest"

[@gladyszryan]

Quick test****

[@jayzo]

I love how the worst one had CE markings.

[@VividMac101]

Here in Canada if you go to convenience stores and some gas station stores which are basically convenience stores as well, they sell mini USB chargers (some of which are clearly copies of Apple chargers), USB cables and lightning cables for Apple devices. It seems like every store sells the same ones and they are just sold loose in containers without any packaging. I’ve always wondered what they are like internally and how they compare to authentic chargers.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They're usually terrible. Most clone chargers I've looked at have horrifically low electrical separation between the mains voltage side and the USB output.

[@tonystanley5337]

would be nice to know the efficiency of the dropper power supply in the lamp, how much power is getting to the LED?

[@DavidKirwanirl]

Haha the postoffice could probably save money by moving next door to Clive.

[@aintgotnobody5518]

i had a charger with the plug problem so when i took it out of the socket i touched the 220v live contacts that were inside i must say i never used one of those again and it was really painful

[@ExStaticBass]

Yeah, I have a little orange one much like that white cube you've got there which is essentially the same construction. The only difference being that it's a little smaller due to the fact that it was made for US 120v mains instead of UK 240v. Now I've written "Unsafe for charging" right on the thing in sharpie and coated over that with clear nail varnish to keep it there. I mainly use things like this to drive USB powered LED strings which is as you have before mentioned, relatively safe. As I do have this thing though I decided to play along at home so to speak and was quite shocked to find just how similar they were so I thought I'd share that bit...

[@taffyjock1]

Clive would you be interested in doing a teardown/analysis of a property regulated ecig?

[@MalaksMessage]

I've bought that exact charger in Turkey before - and yeah it came apart in my hand

[@adejupe8308]

Clive could you PLEASE post links to the Keweisi analyser and the Load tester you use in this video? Thanks Mr Bear :)

[@paulsengupta971]

This? www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Power-Charger-Current-Voltage-Detector-Tester-Monitor-Meter-for-Phone-Tablet/351929638914

[@dodge911]

Have you decided which camera you're going to get? If not, take a look at the Canon G7XII. I'm using that for M$my channel, it is also a top-down view channel mostly.

[@fixitdaz]

love the way you short the cap with an all metal screwdriver very informative video. cheers, Clive.

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

i think thats the reason why he didn't touched it with the other hand

[@XdewGaming]

Well it's isolated when he did that so he isn't going to get shocked, he's smarter than you probably.

[@BillAnt]

Well on the bright side, at least it wasn't a plastic tip screw driver.. tsk-tsk

[@dontcryzanzibar]

I enjoy this channel despite my ignorance.

[@lordRW]

does higher volt and lower amps give you less of a "jump" on the circuits? (ie 400v 300ma instead of 240v 500ma? or is it the opposite or does it not matter?

[@lordRW]

thanks, thought as much when he talked about the 230v and 240v in china and the distance on the circuit-board, just wasn't shure :P thought that the Watt's being the same it might not matter.

[@Benjamin_S.]

So, where would one plug in the second USB charger? it wouldn't fit into any standard power sockets i know of.

[@blackbird1234100]

in most countries that's the normal size of chargers. we don't have an epidemic of people touching the prongs while plugging in, and it's way more convenient

[@SuperAWaC]

playing with the f stop can adjust the actual depth of the depth of field, making it so you can keep the desk and your hands in focus

[@gmofftarki]

Clive: Here in the 120V world, those little cube-shaped chargers are quite common. Is there less trouble due to a short distance between the high and low-voltage sections of the board due to the lower mains voltage? Is there any case in which you'd say that the isolation was borderline for 120V but unacceptable for 240?

[@cookie1218]

I have these all over my home charging and powering toothbrush, beard trimmer, my modem and a lot of tiny accessories.

[@NavJack27gaming]

Clive, I'd really love you to take a look at a modern desktop computer motherboard. maybe the power delivery circuitry. like an Asus z97 or something.

[@JamesGMunn]

Can you please do a video on how you have been doing video with the iPad once you get your new camera? Thanks!

[@nazarusstudios]

i litterally just got into circuitry and stuff(today) i dont know why but this all looks soo enjoyable.

[@xzaz2]

could you compare it with a good one?

[@Lintary]

Did you get your hands yet on the IKEA powerbank? I did not even knew we carried until we got one in the returns.

[@ThePillenwerfer]

I keep old lamp caps to replace ones that have to be cut off. Another way is to use a PCB drill to drill-out the crimp points.

[@remo6158]

I have the square charger and it actually supplies a solid 1 amp. it does get very hot but I got it from auchan in Italy so I'm guessing it would be more regulated than that one in the video

[@SP2333]

these are great bro cherrs from Australia

[@SP2333]

cheers

[@mbaksa]

I've got similarly looking slim charger that was supplied with my Cubot cell phone about four years ago. It can go up to about 1,14A at 5V. Although, it's output must have substantial ripple - when I was charging my Cubot phone with it, touch screen was behaving erratically.

[@dryster123]

Big Clive. How do you check if the Keweisi USB Voltage detector is correct?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I tested my USB monitoring devices by plugging them into a socket connected to my bench PSU and comparing voltage and current. Not all are accurate and most are poor at indicating low currents.

[@williamsquires3070]

Okay, peoples, lets vote on if you want big Clive to put the thing back together, fill the case with salt water, and plug it in for a bang-up ending! :)

[@haramanggapuja]

Watching the voltage slowly crawl up to barely 5V @ 20mA got me laughing so hard I ended up in a coughing jag. And the we discover the crap circuit doing that. What a hoot. They should sell ‘em as photoshopped NFTs ;-)

[@padathir]

How did the transformer even work when you plugged it in if the windings were all making contact?

[@longrunner258]

Ordinary magnet wire has very thin insulation, which by itself is not robust enough to satisfy safety standard requirements for isolation between the primary and secondary circuits. That's why the insulation tape, plus sleeves in vulnerable locations (i.e. where the wires are brought out to their terminations) - and in very small transformers, the use of "triple-insulated" winding wire for the secondary - are necessary.

[@Uncle-Duncan-Shack]

Remember how in the early days of cell phones there was a choice of switch mode or iron core for quite a few years and I used to hunt down the iron core ones because those early switch mode ones which were oem had an inclination to disappear in a cloud of smoke and bright light as though the wrong spell of witchcraft had been cast on that day.

[@ThePatttie]

can you take apart a brand name wall adapter to compare?

[@EgoEimai]

very interesting your video!!

[@paranoiia8]

I have that smallest one,, black, bought 4 years ago. Still working perfectly providing nice 1A at about 4.90-5v Bought it for about 2euro. I also have similar, slightly longer that say it have 2A but it barely get 1.5, but work nice and never had problem with it. I actually found out that there is more problems with bigger power supplies that smaller ones. Especially those with two-three USB slots, they always stop working after few months... :/

[@ianc4901]

Very disturbing that products like these are available in shops ! How about recommendations for good quality and safe chargers ?

[@Guaternion]

Search for 'bigclive koppla', that's a video where clive reviews a well-made IKEA usb power supply.

[@_Piers_]

Ian Clarke All the Anker products I've tried have been rather good. Not cheap, but not too expensive.

[@jusb1066]

recommendations, anker, ravpower, the amazon own ones, for the real apple or samsung dont buy them online only in the real stores.

[@Ashquacks]

OEM, Anker, Aukey, IKEA

[@NotApplicable2874]

Buy OEM or trusted second part such as Anker.

[@Fee.1]

So I’ve been looking at those Chinese clamp meters, and a couple Japanese models, you helped me by explaining the DC clamp meter basics recently. Anyway was just thinking it would make a cool video to show what a cheap meter is made of & how the design differs from a fluke etc. and what the consequences are, longevity, accuracy etc. and why.

[@rsattahip]

They sell those here in Thailand often in packages of 2 for the equivalent of $.60 or 60 cents. (0.3 USD each). They do put out 5 volts but no fuse or any other type of protection. Frequent to read stories of people being electrocuted by their cell phones here.

[@Ale.K7]

Clive, for the LED lamp you could drill a hole through the bottom of the plastic base (where there is no metal), take the cable out through it and solder it to the top of the thread :-).

[@anonymousmammal]

Would you be able to etch a custom pcb to fix those issues with clearance?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It would be more expensive and time consuming than just getting a decent supply.

[@twerki78]

I wonder if your USB power meter wouldn't measure the current as it powered up under load?

[@richardskinner6391]

I have some Philips 5W GU10s that are almost identical in design to that first LED light you showed.

[@TheSpotify95]

13:52 Yay, that's an absolutely fantastic transformer! There's absolutely no isolation between the secondary and the auxiliary (feedback) windings, and as such the only thing separating you from electrocution is the thin layer of lacquer (ca 0.01mm or less) on the wires! That's super dodgy!

[@staple132]

I wonder how different is the fake one to the original 1A apple charger.

[@schonerwissen2013]

Love your videos! But no beer..? I hope you are alright! Please keep 'em coming! :)

[@normanslade4903]

Can you recommend a good power bank bigclive

[@MorbusSchmorbus]

Had a flat one that came with a phone battery, the phone battery was original to my surprising, the charger made a bang and my room was suddenly dark in the middle of the night... and i did not save my game.. sad story.

[@Zebra_Paw]

Did the phone die? And of course those chargers are completely horrific, not only from the point of fire safety in case of failure but also the isolation in the transformer is dodgy, and if there is an interference capacitor, it is never a class Y1 capacitor, so you can very easily get a shock and die!

[@IMelkor42]

You should consider getting one of those small digital microscope setups. Then you could take pictures during the disassembling, to be edited in to the video during post. You could bring the image up full screen for a moment, then reduce it to the corner while you continue talking about it. Just a thought.

[@Foxilein]

Show us Your LED lamp.. Place.. Im so curious how much you have!

[@loganmacgyver2625]

i had one that made the headphones hum when i plugged it in, when i touched the fingerpringt reader the hum stopped

[@twocvbloke]

Makes me wonder what the USB supply I got with my Cubot is like (one of them slim europlug types rather than the cube type), electrically speaking of course, I have had it apart, but never looked at it as in-depth as this... :P

[@SuperEvilworm]

The little square one started to melt here. Luckily I got it out before it started a fire. Bought in Chania, Creete for about €3.

[@rak3shpai]

Is there a reason the 'fuse' zigzags? Shouldn't a straight line do the job just as well?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Longer path to blow clear.