LED dancing flame candle evolution 2018.

I think it was the Luminara candle that started the trend of LED candles with magnetically deflected plastic flames in front of a focused LED. This recent offering from the Premier brand may be a cheap clone, but it seems to use a dedicated LED and drive circuit to achieve a very good result with ultra low current consumption.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
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[@Darieee]

You go away for a few days .. a bunch a bigclive videos at a time is the best feeling ever

[@gregorythomas333]

"Let's use brute force & ignorance...my specialty" One of the many reasons that love Big Clive!

[@micha_el_]

When my mom got one of these as a gift today, my dad (electronics dev) and I (IT) had the exact same idea and both immediately and at the same time bent our heads over the candle to see how it works. But we couldn't see much except for part of the circuit board and the coil. Then I thought, there's no way Clive didn't already make a video about these. Thanks for relieving our curiosity without having to disassemble Mom's candle😂

[@janbush9579]

I know nothing of electronics.. but i could listen to you for hours!

[@SueBobChicVid]

The fake flowing wax kills it for me. That diameter candle would never have a flame hot enough to flow melted wax down the sides.

[@peterlindsey4178]

I agree. The flame looked nice but the fake dribbled wax made it look cheap.

[@robybabe4461]

It looks better in real life & in the dark... you could always carefully smooth them off I suppose?

[@Esellajessica]

I think I'll get these and trim the dribble wax with a blade..

[@lwilton]

That new candle is amazing. For about 3 seconds I thought you had two fakes and a real candle to compare them to, before I realized the one on the right was also fake. VERY nice!

[@Culturedropout]

After I watched this video, I went looking for them on Amazon.com (US). The "cheap" one on the right of the initial scene sells for around $23 each! And now that Clive has spoiled (Argh - I actually typed "spoilt" at first. I've been watching too long!) me for all the others, I guess I'll just do without. :p Also, I was at the hardware store for some plumbing parts today, and despite never being interested in putting up xmas lights, I said, "Ooh - all the LED light strings are on sale for 75% off!" and promptly bought a set of 100 warm white LED bulbs for $4. No idea why. You're a bad influence, Clive. I'm glad you don't work for a marketing company.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The string of lights are also good for all year round decorative illumination.

[@jamesvalentine925]

I got them completely the wrong way round, I thought the leftmost was the worst looking and the rightmost the best looking. Shows that spending more doesn't always give better results.

[@pierreuntel1970]

James Valentine exactly, the rightmost even having the wax melted dripping from the side

[@Vibinator]

same

[@nNiceDreamsMadeTrue]

same

[@dr666demento]

I liked the fact you could see light through the housing and the melted look. Made it look more like a real candle.

[@Chuckiele]

The original one is, I dont know about the knockoff in the middle but I assume so.

[@madbstard1]

When you asked "can you guess" I instantly picked the third one as the most expensive. The light colour and movement looked the most realistic. Now if you can get a flickering red LED, you could adapt it (very) early for halloween :D

[@kelvinwills2394]

madbstard1 what do u mean by 3rd is it the left or right

[@RhettJesusHarambe]

Kelvin Wills You would have to be pretty dumb to call the one on the left 3rd.

[@chaos.corner]

Not all cultures go left-to-right (though a fairly safe guess here)

[@madbstard1]

Sorry - I thought I did reply earlier but it obviously didn't post. Had really crap internet due to the stormy weather here. I meant the one on the right, as in the way Clive introduced them. Sorry for any confusion :)

[@oetken007]

This candle can be a great candidate for an ESP8266. With an H-Bridge around the coil you can change the direction of the movement (like a gust of wind would effect a real flame) and make it very smooth. Integrated in an home automation system, you can trigger a stronger movement based on motion detectors or door contacts if available. A bigger battery will fit inside anyway. Just a mind game ;-)

[@seraphina985]

In theory you could potentially use the DAC outputs of the ESP8266 so you could also control the voltage of the coil to affect the strength of the movement too. Granted those DAC's are only intended to be a signal level so you would probably need a cheap amplifier IC to drive the coil. As for the battery at this point I'd probably splurge for the USB port and battery management IC to install some lithium ion cells. Would be pretty cool though as this way you could reduce both the frequency and the voltage of the pulses to the coil to make the flame do a gentle lazy dance and periodically or when triggered increase the frequency and voltage to make it flicker more. Probably worth doing periodically to mimic the occasional turbulent instability real candles generate themselves due to imperceptible subtle changes in the conditions. Hell in theory using the DAC you could produce far more complex patterns in effect right up to just replaying 8-bit PCM data although that would be somewhat limited by the small storage of the ESP3266 but it would let you produce pretty much any movement pattern you wanted by using the coil like the voice coil of a speaker. Guess you could add an SDCARD or EPROM module or something if you needed more though.

[@DiaconescuAlexandru2024]

Good idea but at that point I'd just use a real candle 😂

[@billmcphee6891]

last week between xmas & newyear ALDI in UK - Lincoln- selling them at 3.99 and then a price drop to 1.99 including 3 batteries!!! I bought a boxful and gifted them to friends who thought they were great. Happy New Year Clive, lang may your lum reek. Bill, Stirling Aberdeen & Lincoln.

[@SkyNines]

I just started watching your channel a few weeks ago - And I love it! I don't know a terribly lot about electronics, but your channel is helping me with that! I also learned how to solder better after watching your videos. It's been helpful, And you're tearing stuff apart so we don't have to. Keep up the good work!

[@MrHenkfromHolland]

I bought this candles in a garden center in the Netherlands for € 47,50 But the candles witch I bought can you charge with a power adapter

[@musikmar7010]

I used the wax Luminiare Candles outdoors in lanterns on my porch. After a winter of freeze and thaw weather the wax casing cracked. So, if you live where the temps go below freezing in the winter it is better to use the plastic ones which are made for outdoors.

[@joeclarke9782]

"Three dancing candles electronic flames. . . " Almost sounds like the beginning of a modern Robert Burns poem. Give it a try BC. Your voice alone could make you poet laureate.

[@sangeeth_619]

I really thought the third one would be the most expensive one because the flame movement looks really nice. ☺

[@Friendroid]

Came across these for the first time this christmas, of course Big Clive has like 3 videos explaining it all! I made one using the 15 ohm coil found in old computer dvd drive stepper motors, with an LM358 generating the square pulse that repels the 5mm x 2mm neodymium magnet. Lucid Science youtube channel has a ton of projects based on coils and magnets.

[@rogerbannister6942]

Makes it look so easy that I almost thought I could do it.

[@CyberlightFG]

The third item in a row that I would buy immediately. Thanks for sharing.

[@陈莉莉-t8w]

The flameless candles can be used in bedrooms, lounges, dens, bathrooms, etc.Can be used for Mother's Day gifts.Absolutely no mess; no dripping wax, no smoke, no matches.

[@pyr02k1_2]

Try taking a spray air canister, flip it upside down and spray the hot glue with it. The chemical mixture coming out does wonders for hardening hot glue and making it just snap off of the item. Co worker showed me this a few weeks back... makes dealing with the glue so much easier

[@u32_nekomata]

Hey Clive I am curious. How much percent of the equipment that you take apart for KZbin do you successfully put back together in mint working condition?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I put most stuff back together unless it's really crap.

[@MRBIKERFINGER]

Clive= I would sincerely appreciate it if you were willing to produce some instructional videos on how to interpret wiring schematics and how to "read" a circuit board to follow the traces between the components the way you do. I struggle with following the circuit board traces and which components are line and ground/common. I would even pay for a study course like that. Your channel is my favorite ! Thank you from Detroit Michigan U.S.A !

[@ModestNeophyte]

I've got one of these candles going right behind my phone mount next to my bed right now, and I was wondering what mechanism it was that cause the fake flame to move about. I got to tell you finding the answer to an odd question at 1:20 a.m. is such a good feeling. Thanks for all your videos!

[@andywood2012]

Poundstretcher used to sell a staggered height, triple set of the early Luminara "Dancing Flame "clones for £10, Not sure if they stock them anymore. They took two AA's. I bought a couple of sets and converted them to run from a 12VDC mains adaptor and a remote mains switch so i can turn them all on and off at the same time. I also used a couple micro DC-DC voltage adjusters so I could control the brightness of each of the two clusters of three., they ran too bright for me at 3.0V, which is typical voltage for a pair of fresh alkaline cells, I found 2.4V was nice.

[@SigEpBlue]

Would be really neat to see a (mains-powered) massive outdoor version, but I keep thinking of debris, snow, ice, etc., falling into the 'flame' part. Maybe a simple, clear cover could solve that; wouldn't even have to necessarily waterproof it then, if designed correctly.

[@ZwiebackDK]

SigEpBlue If it is mains powered it could just have some cheap heating elements to deal with snow and ice.

[@pauljayschrenker8946]

Mike Smith: Like an old school incandescent bulb?

[@kensmith5694]

Yes, use the light bulb as the series resistor on an LED :) :) It is only sort of a joke. A light bulb at less than its design voltage lasts a really long time and would keep it a bit warm.

[@joinedupjon]

The very evenly spaced dribbles on the new one look fake IMO, like someone who'd never seen a candle in real life did it - nice colour and brightness tho.

[@AgentPothead]

Awesome. I just saw these and was wondering how they worked and guessed electromagnet and it turns out I was correct. 5 points to me.

[@tiger12506]

Aww, we're totally opposite. I would have picked the expensive candle on the left as the best because the bright spot remained at the bottom. I've never seen a real candle flame where the brightest spot left the wick to wander around.... to each their own. Of course, in this instance, battery life and cheapness win in my book.

[@BY504A]

That is a very nice looking candle. I hope you do try the candle outdoors and see how it holds up.

[@Mmouse_]

Because you've taken the picture of that board on the same background if you concentrate on the holes in the printout for a second it looks like you're working on an actual giant circuit board.

[@arthurrae7904]

I have an older model of this candle, same size as that displayed, running on 2 AA batteries. When it recently needed a repair, I took the opportunity to insert a 330 Ohm resistor in series with the coil, because I felt that the plastic candle wick was moving around too much. I like it better a bit more subtle.

[@NWOization]

Clive, imagine these candles with a built in lipo and a wireless charging mat. Chuck them on a pad when they run out and then leave them around the house after. Please make a prototype.

[@pierretremblay9378]

Best way to remove hot glue I found is to use a "freeze it" spray or "dust off duster" with the canister up side down. When very cold the hot glue will chip away quite easily.

[@prime553]

Hi where could I buy those 8mm LED bulbs I need to replace one in a candle that has become dim

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

Strange, I'm getting no notifications despite clicking that bell. You aren't even on the subscription list for some reason but I can 100% confirm that I'm subscribed to you! :( - Phil

[@bigclivedotcom]

There's lots of KZbin weirdness going on. Typically every month between 1000 and 1500 people will be unsubscribed.

[@PhilXavierSierraJones]

AKA: Ha ha, KZbin is being weird again! _Fix your stuff KZbin, for the love of everyone..._

[@MatSmithLondon]

I love love LOVE your dancing flame review videos. Have been a big fan for many years now! I made my own shitty dancing flame candle using a small counterweight and natural movement of air. Fun. Now I'd like to build these into my new home automation setup, so that they come on with other ambient lighting according to scene control. So will need to figure out a nice way of containing cables and running from mains switch mode power supplies. Also I plan to mod them by removing parts as you've done, and placing them into some slightly more sexy Catholic style votive glass containers. (sorry, the words sexy and votive probably don't go together...)

[@kenhornback3715]

Who is the manufacture of this candle? I enjoy watching your takedowns you’re so calm.

[@namespacetoosmall]

I went to look for these, and ended up buying 500 8mm LEDs instead.

[@benbaselet2026]

I hope yours are not crappy low-intensity bluish garbage light like mine were.

[@guzmaekstroem]

Happens every time...

[@maicod]

:D what are you planning to use 500 LEDs for ?

[@devjock]

500 leds? Easy: backlighting for mechanical keyboards ofcourse ;)

[@benbaselet2026]

What a silly thing to ask. You can never have too many leds :-)

[@johnwattie1786]

*Clive mate, its **4:58**AM here....you know I cant resist your videos.*

[@johnwattie1786]

The Hairy Farmer *Hmmm, is it 3rd of Jan where you are?*

[@pierreuntel1970]

1:30 am here

[@Chuckiele]

resist huh? I see what you did there xD

[@scwfan08]

The Hairy Farmer Pretty sure you aren't 16 hours ahead of him because he's probably from Australia.

[@phils4634]

Depends where you are in Aus. There's 2 hours difference between WA (Perth) and the East Coast (e.g. Sydney / Melbourne / Brisvegas)!

[@matt4193]

"Quite a powerful LED. It's optimized for... whoops just broke a lead off".

[@badthesolguy4057]

Matt I almost chocked on my food when that happened

[@Chuckiele]

yeah, those wires fell off so easily, so I guess it wont last very long if you arent able to fix that yourself.

[@maicod]

even Clive manages to do that sometimes :D

[@bills6093]

Lead free solder...

[@RWBHere]

Bill Schneider: Yes, the leads free themselves from the circuitry very easily!

[@peterduxbury927]

I don't understand just how those candles (at 0:20) remain lit continuously. In the strip-down, clearly the LED is going on and off - due to the Timer Circuit "Blob". I think that the 100 ohm resistor is used as the fixed illumination (LED is illuminated constantly when the Unit is turned-on BUT cannot be seen on our Computer Display). As the Timer pulses, additional voltage, and slightly higher current is fed to the LED - which gives the LED some additional brightness, in conjunction with the 'kick' from the Coil. Am I correct? Slightly? I wouldn't use wax if I made one of these either.

[@cojones8518]

I liked the far right one because of the "dripping wax" motif. Made it look more real.

[@wanjockey]

paused at :33, I like the one on the right

[@SueBobChicVid]

The fake flowing wax kills it for me. That diameter candle would never have a flame hot enough to flow melted wax down the sides.

[@u32_nekomata]

Same. I like the right one best because the flame has a really random feeling motion and at times even completely stops moving. Second best is the left one and worst is the middle one because of the colour. The flowing wax on the right one made it more interesting for me, too.

[@geostacey8330]

Hey Clive your Friends are right using alcohol to release hot melt glue is almost magical.

[@djbare9]

Agreed, prefer the one on the right with the melted wax.

[@kensmith5694]

There is a type of wire that has 2 layer insulation. The outer layer has a low melting point. You just wind the coil and run it through a bit of an oven and then the former is taken off once it cools. This is likely what they did. It is very easy to do in large quantities because the formers run back to the start of the process to get used again. It could be that the pulses you are seeing are not normal operation. Your LED makes no inductive kick and there is no magnet going by. A custom chip may detect the voltage wiggle from the magnet swinging by and produce a short pulse when the magnet is near. If nothing happens for a while, it makes an initial long pulse on a timeout. This would make the battery life even longer.

[@phonotical]

What happened about the colour changing paint? Do you think you could make a video of a rebuild of your older projects but using smd components? Like the ioniser maybe

[@MaxmadV8]

They have one of these in my local vet. It says when this candle is lit some is mourning a lost pet

[@shuriKen469]

hwat would a solar candle even look like? i like the idea of that or something rechargeable. hopefully one will be taken to bits in the near future.

[@AutoUnder]

Could you take apart a Fire Angel Atom/Cavius smoke alarm? I'm interested to see the design inside being the world's smallest smoke alarm and they also have an unusual sweeping buzzer on them

[@bigclivedotcom]

I've ordered a pair. Should be interesting.

[@AutoUnder]

Cool :)

[@ducomaritiem7160]

Yes, alcohol in hotglue works. Give it a few seconds to work its way into the joints, then it is easy to remove.

[@flatfrog69rr71]

Hi Clive Would it be possable to melt the epoxy cover to take look at the die ?

[@GingerChristmas]

I was watching a film set around 1999 up to 2003 (the Disaster Artist was the name), and I saw they had loads of these LED flicker flame candles at one point in a restaurant scene. These things can't possibly have been around that long but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any sort of predecessor to them?

[@OrbitalSP2]

μ how do you know they were LEDs and not real candles?

[@Zadster]

Might it have been one of those that blow air upwards, over an illuminated paper "flame"?

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

8 now ,,they must be employees of the overpriced branded candles

[@crawfish069]

Luminara made the flickering incandescent lights at the Disney haunted house attraction. I saw them about 1980.

[@lwilton]

There have been flickering fires, torches, and wall sconces used in theatrical productions and movies for ages. A bit of thin cloth and an incandescent light and a fan. Rosco made some amazingly realistic torches in the 1990s using an MR16 and a small fan. There were non-flickering fake candles for stage use from about the early 1970s. The early ones had an incandescent lamp in the candle and a plexiglas light pipe up to a molded flame. They were decently realistic at 30 feet. By the 1980s there was a version that was much the same, but the flame was suspended from a pivot, so would move, and was a bit more realistic. There was no mechanical mover, they just moved about as you carried the candle. A little later someone used some 400-series CMOS and a transistor and made a flickering flame in the same basic unit. LEDs finally got bright enough to replace incandescent bulbs around 2000 or so, as best I can recall without trying to dig back into old literature.

[@twocvbloke]

So THAT'S what they did with the leftover chips from all those pretend car alarm and fake CCTV camera ominous red LED blinkies, turning them into magnetic coil energiser circuits... :P

[@EldaLuna]

how long would it last if ya used those expensive energizer AAA lithiums? i can never tell what is good for insane drains or just plain long lasting over kill nimh or lithium cells.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Hot Melt On To Wax is the name of my late 70's disco cover band!

[@xenoxaos1]

Is the frequency voltage dependent? Does the coil rate change when running at say 3v vs 4.5v?

[@WashuSanno]

Okay, this is scary Big Clive, over New Years we'd been discussing these very things in an AirBnB we were at and how we should send them to you.

[@PeregrineBF]

All of them are missing the color change of a real candle flame. There's always a very distinct blue section at the base, then the flame darkens, and turns brighter going up.

[@theskett]

Good point, thanks. Isn't the answer just to color the plastic that's used for the flame, though? (I'm thinking I could borrow my gf's fine-point Sharpies, do a little tinting :-)

[@DragonWhisper14]

What is that little metal screwdriver he has

[@hrnekbezucha]

I wonder if this is the same mechanism that's in the disco lasers that randomly bounce all over the floor.

[@Matt_Aquila]

I wonder if these could be modified to accept a microUSB or type C power supply and maybe a link out for chaining additional candles?

[@carlospena2184]

Congrats on this very detailed video, wondering if you could help me to identify the voltage the LED is working. is 3V?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yes. Normally around 3V.

[@rickharriss]

To get random movement the COB often simply plays music. Happy Birthday apparently give a good flame effect.

[@Gingerhomeandgarden]

Can I make one of these black flamed?

[@Remmes]

I like the color and movement of the right one, but don't like the way the "hole" looks like at top, nor do I like the drips on the side. The left one looks pretty good but the movement could be better. The middle one is way too repetitive looking and the color is off as well. As for the candle being wax, it looks good and is a great thing, but we left our candles in a hot room during the summer by accident and well.. they all melted into unusable shapes.

[@Kersplat]

I chuckled at the thought of using solar power to run a candle...

[@ianhadfield65]

Clive , what resister would I need to power a device that uses a CR2025 if I was to run it using 2 AA batteries ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+ianhadfield65 Theoretically none What's the device?

[@ianhadfield65]

bigclivedotcom it's a car alarm fob

[@markryle1]

Clive, in your opinion how long will a Luminara candle last. I googled that question and the answer is 4000 hours. But I'd like your take on it. I don't mean battery life but the life of the candle.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That's all down to the reliability of the LED itself. Very hard to quantify.

[@markryle1]

@@bigclivedotcom Mad About Science site says: "These candles have an approximate lifespan of 4,000 hours - lasting years longer than a traditional burning wax candle." But another site says "An LED has average life of 200,000 hrs." Is there something else about these candles that would limit their life to 4000? The newer ones doubled their rated battery life from 500 to 1000 hrs on 2 D cells. So 4000 hrs would only be 4 battery changes.

[@willybee3056]

Clive,,, years ago,,, I heard where you could use hair spray as a water proofing for electronics... Does that really work? Thanks, and good work...

[@kevywevvy8833]

I've got the premier ones, came from CPC. One was faulty, no movement. I cut it open and the coil.electronic assembly had fallen off the bottom of the flame. It's only a push-fit. They dont look like yours inside.

[@kevinrose3455]

its been a while ( out of practise) but intriguingly would a simple zener diode ( under that blob ) do a crude discharge duty function at a set voltage as the 4uf capacitor charges up ?? therefore inducting a small magnetic pulse/field in the coil.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It would just clamp the voltage and not pulse.

[@TJ-ed8mw]

It would be interesting to see how you would reconfigure this to run outdoors with light sensing.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'd probably use a solar garden light PCB to power it.

[@HifiCentret]

Nice. Now I know which pillar candles to try to make some pillar "IoT candles" out of. I got this idea to wire some LED candles and put them on a smart plug. Well, I've already made some - two sets - of the candle stick variety from IKEA. Beside automatically come on when the sun sets (no matter time of year, not just specific time) and never needs battery replacement/recharge - they also works as a very useful traffic warning(!) Other people making similar things have no fantasy and just turns on a lamp and the most creative ones make a sign. I really like my idea of using candles which can serve multiple purposes and not occupy a lamp for that. It works so that a few times in the morning on work days it checks the travel time to my work and if travel time rises above a certain limit (that I set) the candles comes on and I know there's troubles and I should check to see if an alternate route is better (things usually clogs at the same spots). The way I've done this is by using a Sonoff SV powered by an old mobile charger. After the Sonoff SV there's a 3.3v regulator to power the candles and most of the controlling logic is made in a combination of IFTTT (Sonoff only supports IFTTT at the moment) and Stringify (which can interact with IFTTT). From the SV there's wires to the candles and since the IKEA candles are impossible to take appart I've made some dummy battery packs out of wood and drilled a hole for the wire. Sure I could be boring and just put 3.3v regulator after the USB power supply and then switch that using a Sonoff Basic, Sonoff S20 or Lightify/smart+ Plug on a Hue bridge. However I found that the psu's in the Sonoff and Lightify plugs are not that efficient and you'll actually get a lower standby power by using a good quality class VI USB power suplpy (old mobile "charger"). Standby usage can be as low as 0,18w - almost half of a mains powered Sonoff and 3 times or so less than a Lightify plug and when turned on total usage is with candles no more than the alternative without load. So while I already made some sets using stick candles I'd like some using pillar candles for the shelves at the dining area. They however seem more difficult - especially as I want to modify them to be placed in two vintage brass pillar sticks (are they called that when for pillar candles?). The IKEA LED pillar candles however are more difficult to modify. Those bas...ds have glued them together making nice modifications just about impossible.

[@debbysmith5002]

I bought a 5-light led candle set from Hobby Lobby and was so disappointed that they had an ugly yellow flicker when I put batteries in them. My husband is very handy with electronic and electrical projects so is there a straightforward video on how to change out this yellow flicker to a warm white?

[@bigclivedotcom]

You can change to warm white LEDs, but if they're the flickering type of LED the correct colour is very hard to find.

[@debbysmith5002]

@@bigclivedotcom is there a specific video showing how to do this? I just want the yellow gone!

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

I knew the one on the right would be the cheapest even though its the brightest because it has that drippy candle look which to the middling classes looks unsightly but to us plebs looks like a regular in use candle when off. But none of them look that bright from the vid are any of them actually any good for illumination compared to say a tea light?

[@teebosaurusyou]

It appears they are now available (eBay - 'LED candle') with remote control, colour changing, timer and variable brightness! NOW we need them with drone type Lipos that recharge with a USB cable!!

[@Zodliness]

@bigclivedotcom have you ever covered the subject of PAT testing cheap Chineseum mains powered products? I dare say there'd be some shocking results! LOL

[@harmindersingh7833]

Good explanation sir

[@donzmilky5961]

Soldering iron for the hot glue?

[@AttilaAsztalos]

Next version for extra realism and mind games: candle body in a stylish "lamp" housing that has no "plastic flame" but just happens to incorporate a nearly invisible tilted piece of glass right where the flame would be, reflecting a small OLED display hidden in the candle body, playing back a flame video loop. Of course, these would be highly directional though... ;)

[@mattitanttari4316]

A nice product indeed, hadn't seen one before. Thanks for the video, care to share an Ebay link to the best looking one (the one on the right)?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I got it from a UK supplier called CPC. It may sell under different brands around the world.

[@bayareapianist]

I'm just wondering how the LED can flash with the circuit you drew... I think the basics idea is like small table clock. They use the coil as a magnet and an oscillator component. There must be some connections under black stuff that you missed.

[@buddyclem7328]

He rewired it to show how the coil works.

[@LaughterOnWater]

Link to cheaper luminara alternative?

[@rollieroulston]

cpc.farnell.com/premier/lb151676cr/dancing-flame-candle-cream-13x8cm/dp/LP08861?ost=lp08861&iscrfnonsku=false&ddkey=http%3Aen-CPC%2FCPC_United_Kingdom%2Fsearch

[@crawfish069]

Most craft chain stores. LEDS now flicker by themselves now too as they have a chip inside them. Search ebay for "flickering led."

[@twotone3070]

Well, that's put them on backorder at Farnell's :D

[@paulie-g]

There's one on Amazon US for $58. Ugh.

[@LaughterOnWater]

Paul G :(

[@JohnnyX50]

Nice to see the first incarnation of C3POs friend started life as a flameless candle and a couple of components ;) ( if you find that confusing, look at the board in shot from 10:20 lol )

[@johnnythefixer]

I think the gold "Lucky Money Cats" have a similar coil inside, which waves the arm without any contact.

[@craigmonteforte1478]

Thanks I enjoyed his video quite a bit !of course for the Technologyn but also your narrative and silly comments i have a theory that sometime in our future we will be driving Cars and Flying onAirplanes put together with Hot Melt Glues LOL I spent 35 years in the ArchitectualWoodworking Industry with a Company that Specialized in building CustomCabinetry and woodwoking the older Hot Glue was. a joke around my Industry , as we often thought of it as something that should only be used for Hobby People and was a great temporary way to hold something together over the Years 3M has really developed different compounds for almost every Industry and now we find it in everything that’s mass produced

[@musikmar7010]

Is there a way to fix these? I've got a Luxury Lite candle that no longer lights. If you can tell us how to troubleshoot these candles, I'd rather fix than throw it away.

[@bigclivedotcom]

First thing to check is the battery contacts are not corroded and that they do make proper connection with the battery pips.

[@jeremyclayton-travis1991]

My wife has a constant shrine and burn candles continuously. It would be neat to have a mains powered version so you could just leave it and forget it. Where did you buy it ? Ebay ?

[@128will]

Low Voltage - Smart Candle

[@MikeB_UK]

After seeing the LED flashing on your bench I looked at the start of the video again. You can't see it flashing there. Is this just some optical effect on video, or does the magnet waving near the coil alter how it flashes (or stops it)? Thanks for the great videos by the way.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+MikeB I connected the LED to the coil drive to show the pulsing.

[@MikeB_UK]

Ah yes, stupid me. Thanks.

[@bencarter96]

Id like to see you tear apart a wake up light. I just got a cheap one on ebay but I am difficult to wake up so I want to mod it with rather brighter LED's

[@bigclivedotcom]

For a light to wake you up in the morning I recommend getting a cheap plug-in digital time switch and using it to turn on a table light. I set mine to turn on about 15 minutes before I should get up and about 10 minutes after to wake me up if I dosed off again.

[@lyfandeth]

Clive, I think he means the kind that actually track sunrise times and gain full brightness over a long period, emulating sunrise. Much gentler way to wake up than SNAP, I'M ON!

[@bencarter96]

Yea Clive they gently brighten over half an hour to simulate the circadian rhythm of being woken up by natural sunrise. Its meant to make you less moody being woken up gently so the instant on if what I want to avoid. I'm not a morning person so anything to help is a bonus. this is mine. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wake-up-Light-Sunrise-Alarm-Clock-LED-FM-Radio-Bedside-Night-Lamp-7-Colors/372103733313?epid=10011226729&hash=item56a31c6041:g:GBsAAOSwNsRZ4MWD

[@lyfandeth]

Ben- Don't know where you are, I don't recognize your IP address. (G) But here in the States, the few that are sold are either dim or expensive or both. Which is ridiculous because 20 years ago the X10 "Firecracker" device controllers could make any incandescent light power up slowly that way, with a cheap X10 controller and the software running on any computer with a serial port. They never made the jump to USB though. Must be a terribly small niche market, there don't seem to be any products. Maybe Clive will help us Frankenstein one?

[@lyfandeth]

I spoke too soon. Ben, those are all "light alarms", they don't track or offset from the actual time of sunrise at all. The X10 software allowed the light(s) or other devices to start AT sunrise, or xxx minutes after sunrise, and track that as it varied through the year. That's a "sunrise" light. These light alarms can only be programmed for a fixed time, no brains in them. Clive, you need to make a kit!

[@christiangrimm5921]

Does someone have a idea if such moving flame module (incl. the plastic parts but without the wax candle and battery case) is somewhere available for purchase? It would be nice to have for my DIY candles.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It may be easier to get it in an existing candle product.

[@lanntheartist]

I got some of these for Christmas. They are some knock-off brand here in Denmark but work just great. :)

[@manchee5543]

When you say the term “reverse engineer this” what does it mean? I thought it would mean like modifying it.

[@wolfgangmcq]

Take it apart and see how it works.

[@NickCombs]

Yeah, more specifically it means to engineer (design) your own product by learning the operations of a working product.

[@Ed.R]

PugMan3 PugMan3 It used to confuse me to. It basically means what it says engineer in reverse. That is take a finished and working item and create a design from it. Go through the process that went into designing it but backwards and end up at the start, a drawing on paper.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Nick Combs No cloned product is implied. Reverse engineering is only the finding out, for any or no reason.

[@NickCombs]

John Francis Doe I never said it was. Your reverse engineered product could simply be a scribble on a napkin.

[@EmperorofToonsandBeasts]

I have an issue with my Luminara candle. It still functions but the "flame" doesn't flicker anymore. Any ideas how to fix that? I really need some help here!

[@bigclivedotcom]

Check the flame is free to move and if it is then check that the coil winding hasn't broken at a solder joint.

[@miniman3112]

4:05 (C)live finds a way.

[@ErikPAPATIE]

You have again the led and electronic of this im want to make someting

[@ABaumstumpf]

The 3rd (right side) also casts the least shadow. That was really distraction on the left one. There should be no shadow on the inside of a candle.

[@mikeypeters7003]

Can these be bought online? If so, is there a link please. Keep up the great work Clive. Live your videos.