Scary work incidents and other answers (with more LEDs.)

More answers to your questions:-
Biggest electrical incident at work?
Closest scrape at work? (That I know of!)
Why did I start making videos?
Do I watch the Isle of Man TT?
How did I get involved in the fairground industry?
This video also covers the hacking of a set of standard Poundland tungsten lights into a set of colour changing LED ones.
Here's a link to the very hackable capacitive dropper module (also suitable for 120V use with 20 or so LEDs)
www.ebay.co.uk/...
And here's an eBay search link for the slow RGB diffused LEDs.
www.ebay.com/sc...
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.co...

[@stuartofblyth]

I admire your manual dexterity. I struggle to get the wire, the board, the solder and the iron to the same point in space-time. You make it look soooo easy.

[@lovebirdmic]

I feel kind of the same.

[@Crushonius]

its just practice . he has soldered hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of connections in his lifetime . so you know the old saying practice makes perfect well its true

[@BPantherPink]

Me too, me too. Tried it and my hand got all cramped up !!

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

Yup. If I attempted that I would definitely burn my fingertips, so I always flux the joint and use a bit of solder on the iron...

[@johntoe6127]

You can't do it without pink grapefruit gin....it acts as a 'nerve flux' and steadies everything.

[@OAleathaO]

BigClive's laugh is so contagious. He could cheer me up even on my worse day.

[@48snapper]

The biggest bang story - with the biggest, most joyous laughter I have heard from you! Happy New Year Clive.

[@annelisemeier283]

48snapper I thought the same, I have never quite heard him laugh like that

[@rjgscotland]

Aye the big bang story along with the explosion "animation" is my most favourite part of Clive's videos ever. Hence why I'm back again to watch it...

[@SquareBiscuitProductions]

The biggest bang I have heard in his workshop was probably that 11kv disconnector!

[@thedavesousa]

I sat here at my desk with a hguge smile on my face the whole story.

[@candisbrendel7396]

bigclivedotcom FIRE!!! Fire happens at your house/home how would the fire guy know what caused the fire with all the e-mods you have done? hahahhah think about it, even if it was not one of your mods, wouldn't the fire people where you live inspect for what caused it!!?? seems nothing in your house/home is of normal electric/electronic design you get us? Just asking Old One Legged Joseph T

[@1pcfred]

The biggest electrical explosion I ever saw was a substation blowing up. It let out a mushroom cloud a couple hundred feet tall. It looked just like a tactical nuke hit the place. That was up at Bell Labs. Everyone on the job site shouted, Do it again! It was pretty cool.

[@lamborghinigamer1033]

OMG

[@DavidHHermanson]

I can testify on behalf of that story: My son's godfather was a Bell Labs engineer who told the same story, complete with the "Do it again."

[@1pcfred]

@@DavidHHermanson heh anyone within a mile of that place must have seen it.

[@BaconSniffer578]

These are definitely my favorite videos. Just Clive doing stuff and chatting away.

[@jlp1528]

The bang is absolutely a "not funny when it happened but funny afterwards" story, and I know the feeling from a couple of home chemistry scares as a teenager. However, it is also a great example of an often yet perilously overlooked principle of safety: No matter how safe you think you are, no matter how safe you actually are, never underestimate how unsafe the last guy could have been. Or the engineer or manufacturer. It's sometimes best to not explicitly trust those who came before you, or at the very least "trust but verify." Especially when working with industrial equipment that could seriously hurt you before you have a chance to realize what happened.

[@CrispyCircuits]

We were just talking two days ago about how many people in an elevator was balanced with the counter weight! Thanks for the answer.

[@petemoss1938]

As an ex refrigeration engineer, I love your 'Hussman' story, and yes we've all been there. My biggest 'bang' was from a blocked back pressure regulator - 'sudden' loss of clouds of R502 !!

[@epsilonzero77]

The laughter as you told the biggest bang story was a delight. Along with the live animation it was just brilliant. Thanks Clive.

[@nicwilson89]

Loving this longer style 'chatty' video, just watching you work (funnily enough, as you mentioned in the video hehheh) :)

[@meowcula]

I could listen to you talk and watch you solder all day. Good on ya Clive, and happy new year.

[@adamarzo559]

Can't remember the last time I've sat through a video this long and actually enjoyed it. Your channel is awesome.

[@marcteigh8633]

Really useful information on the viral video issues - while I doubt I will make one, it is always useful to be aware of the industry sharks that operate in unfamiliar areas. Thank you.

[@OrbiterElectronics]

I was laughing me head off when you were talking about the compressor switches Clive :) Glad you like the TT when it's on. My brothers done the superbike/senior TT about 6 times now and is debating taking it on again this year :) Cheers Clive John

[@Roy_Tellason]

That refrigeration stuff reminded me of a service call I ran once. I did, among many other things, telecom work. This particular call got me to a supermarket, and for some reason all of the phone wiring for the building terminated in this room, in the upper part of the structure, with open vents to the outside. A whole *wall* of "66 blocks". So I'm in there with my butt set, trying to find out if there's dial tone on a specific line, and where it might be getting lost. Unfortunately the room also contained a whole slew of the biggest compressors I'd ever seen, and they were all running. With that level of noise, I couldn't hear whether the line I'd clipped on to had dialtone or not, so there wasn't a whole lot that I could do. Of course shutting down the refrigeration wasn't an option, nor was moving all of the phone wiring to another location. I'm not sure how they ended up ultimately resolving that.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The compressor rooms are VIOLENT. Once I got used to them I actually liked them.

[@MikeAustin2012]

Dude! The photo on the opening is straight outta Close Encounters!. I'm turning the lights out just to make it even more scary. 😨

[@XOIIOXOIIO]

I've never heard clive so exited as that story about the cam switches, talk about infectious.

[@dunuth]

Happy New Year, Clive. Your channel is my best discovery on KZbin in 2016 XD

[@Nugglashine]

I just love listening to you talk on about such and stuff.

[@godslaughter]

The story about the skid marks of screwdrivers from previous electricians is so freaking funny, I love it

[@SagePatrynXX]

had no idea how well you set up the dangerous Japanese doll. I knew it was obviously a set up, the biggest laugh was you dead panning. Cause I knew full well you had to have tested it to begin with. Like how many people light fireworks inside the house other than the poor man's alarm ones :O (similar to the ribbon) Sorry to hear someone ripped you off on such a beautiful set up for a hilarious laugh riot . I've heard about this happening and it sucks right out of the gate but live and let live I guess :(

[@confusedvoyager7916]

Reminded me about the time I was checking phase rotation and turned off the wrong breaker....These videos are absolutely the best. I can lose an entire afternoon watching them.

[@FuseboxEllen]

I've only just gotten into your videos this year (Along with Dave at the EEVblog) thanks to friends linking them to me, and now I'm considering getting into electronics as a hobby. Hope you have a great 2017!

[@nelsonahlvik6650]

Also another thing to note about lifts is that since the counterwheight is the weight of a 50% loaded car, if there was only one person in the lift and the holding brake was to fail, it would freefall upwards! So it is very unlikley that a lift would actually freefall downwards. And the actual likleyhood of the cables snapping is next to impossible.

[@inuyasha1a]

As an American apprentice I find all of your videos and stories fascinating as always.

[@basicbodyhealth]

Greetings Clive. I Love watching your video's and learn a lot more than I expected. On the elevator trivia there has been a lot of changes on how elevators must perform and safety increases everyday. I test elevators for a living and the GenII machine room less elevator is one of my favorite products to work on. I actually balance them between 42% to 47% of rated load depending on the use of the lift. Elevators run more empty than it would run full load so much so that maybe 1% of its life it would at run full capacity for standard public elevators. I'll leave that there. Keep up the Good Work.

[@bigclivedotcom]

You must be one of the few who actually like the MRLs, particularly if you get trapped on the car at the top. But the direct drive motors are very impressive.

[@shemp308]

Love these old project videos! Clive.

[@craignehring]

Looking forward to 2017 and more great videos Sir Clive, Thanks for everything you share with us

[@thekventin]

What a present for the New Year's!

[@sciurine]

I love your channel. Really interesting stuff and it's soothing to watch them. All the best!

[@phil955i]

Some quite entertaining tales there. And I can especially empathise with the near misses you had because I'm a refrigeration engineer lol

[@jayzo]

I remember seeing that Fanny Flambeaux video a few times, and only found out you made it when I found it on your channel when on a binge watch of your channels.

[@tectalabyss]

Hello Clive. Watched this twice. I very much enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing.

[@neuparadigm]

Fanny Flambeau was totally the reason I found your channel. Never thought I'd find the Bob Ross of electrical engineering.

[@tammmacdonald7723]

Have a good New Year Clive. Thanks for all the informative entertainment.

[@gordonlawrence3537]

Thanks for putting the links on. It makes it much easier for bumbleheads like me to find stuff.

[@chatrkat]

In addition to enjoying your Reverse Engineering videos, I love hearing your field experiences over the years. Here in The States I have been in many supermarket compressor rooms. Hussman is very common here too. I don’t service that equipment, but I am familiar with smaller refrigeration systems, I have always wondered how those large compressor packs function in relationship to all the refrigerated cabinets. Thank you for the quick explanation. 👍🏻 I see many ostores with the big Copeland semi-hermetic compressors that look very old and reliable. And yes as a service tech, I have a few close-calls too. You hold your breath and pray you can correct what you just did wrong, fast.

[@bobair2]

Hey Clive-happy new year to you and a safe one as well!I like so many people rather enjoy your videos so please keep up the good things you do !! Cheers good man!!

[@retrosteve2732]

I love this guy. Keep up the great videos Clive, I think I Learn something new each one I watch.

[@tonysansom]

I can't remember exactly (I'm not 100% sure!) when I subbed your channel but it was back towards the beginning of the year so thank you for a highly entertaining, knowledgeable and inspiring 2016! All the very best to you, Ralphy & your Mum for 2017 👍😎🍺

[@piggy1955]

Thanks for the video clive, watched most of yours, really enjoy them. This one is one of your best. Happy new year to you clive..

[@shemp308]

Clive thank you again for being helpful and answering! not many actually care enough to answer. your my favorite channel. I look every day and your channel first!

[@mikus2604]

I love your videos! You make me giggle 😅 great work! I've learned so much! Thanks

[@CreamAle]

i've recently found your channel.. this is some therapeutic stuff. you might fully replace bob ross as the relaxing voice.

[@MattHill303]

Thanks for the videos Clive, you've helped rekindle my interest in tinkering and building stuff.

[@carrieward2931]

Clive, Thank you my friend. You have rekindled my interest in electronics!

[@Nickillik]

Happy new year Clive, thanks for the entertainment and everything I've learned this year :)

[@mikeb9646]

We require more project / questions and answers videos like this.

[@Shellyz2u]

I appreciate the heads up about KZbin and monetization

[@DaveLennonCopeland]

Brilliant Clive, just brilliant. 19:28 onwards 'til about 21:52. Love this channel, happy new year.

[@12799MaDeuce]

laughed my ass off

[@PyroRob69]

I love your videos because they are often off topic but go towards topics that are actually interesting :)

[@OlliWilkman]

Fanny Flambeaux is the first video I saw of yours. Didn't check out anything else then, but then later, when I got into electronics and started following other channels, KZbin recommended other videos of yours and I subscribed.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

Clive, you're a true scientist. One who makes a prediction, decides to demonstrate it and when it fails to materialize (LED doesn't die) - first thought? "Let's try that again"... ;)

[@DJ_Tasha_Nicole]

I watch you, AvE, Diresta, Dave at EEV, Mike electric. I love you guys.

[@LtKernelPanic]

Just wanted to say thank you for all the great videos you made over the last year. The timing of this video was perfect as I was considering making the same thing but using bigger 5 or 10mm diffused LEDs. I picked up a few of those capacitive droppers off eBay and even on US 120 volt mains they work perfectly to drive 50 10mm diffused LEDs. I'm probably going to make 4 or 5 more strings of them before over the next few months and use them on my tree next Christmas.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I've made a few sets up with the big diffused 10mm LEDs and they look great. A nice warm colour combination is warm white, red, orange and yellow.

[@Aspire198]

Great video. Learnt something I'd always wondered as a lad about the bulbs with the white tips.

[@olafmuller4506]

happy new year, Clive!

[@MichaelFlatman]

god almighty that refrigeration story is hilarious, my grandad has freezers for his poultry and so there is a lot of refrigeration and etc so i have always been very interested, certainly put a smile on my face :P

[@nicwilson89]

I loved the story about the expoding, shorted switches...I was laughing the whole time with you :D

[@brmbrm6016]

Enjoyable stories and instructional video. All the best for the New Year.

[@ZEROSTATIC72]

Thanks for the great video Clive, Happy new year.

[@iainsmall8880]

Happy New Year Clive,all the best fi Fife.

[@mirkomueller3412]

O, man you made me laugh so hard.... discovering that prior electricians also stepped into this trap. How wonderful. I also once shorted out to the case while checking a washing machine (in the evening) - all of a sudden (after the bang) dark and quiet, me - wondering what happened and a fearful voice asking if i'm still alife...

[@Screwy9758]

Great video Clive, learned something new, (elevator power consumption) also your stories were interesting. Have a great NEW YEAR Clive, looking forward to more posts. .

[@IncertusetNescio]

Can't believe I haven't found these Q&A vids before. Glad I did. Had a good belly laugh at the "the loudest bang I had" bit. Something tells me the guy who designed that setup probably had a good bang at his own setup at some point and hopefully didn't design anymore of those after that. Things like that make me glad we have safety standards of an appreciable (but not great) quality.

[@zombieregime]

Re: content network partnerships. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS READ THE EXIT CLAUSE FIRST!!! If it does not benefit your interests, slide it back across the table and leave. Period. End of story. Never sign a contract without understating the exit procedure. Also, regardless of what the other side says about negotiablity, as long as you have not signed it, you can sit there with your contract and a black sharpie, and scribble out things you don't want you can add footnotes to any clauses you don't like and hand it back to them, it is up to them to agree to your new terms. If they don't like it they don't have to sign, you don't have to sign, you can leave. you might feel pressured or bullied or feel like that golden ring is being dangled in front of your face but the reality is they came to you for your content you are in control. I may have made this comment before. I tend to put on Big Clive videos for background noise while I'm tinkering, but the wisdom still applies and needs to be spread more. Especially these days of internet-based ala carte entertainment content.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I have no intention of ever joining a multi-channel network. I learned with a harsh lesson early on when I signed the rights of one video away.

[@mozwell69]

Thank you clive for taking the time to answer and explain that to me. Your a good man thanks again

[@rompdude]

Love your videos, very therapeutic, interesting and teaching!

[@howardjones543]

Really enjoyed both these questions & answers videos! The previous one also inspired me to get some of these LEDs, and use them to turn an ugly poundshop flashing fibre optic lamp into something quite pretty - made a little "manifold" to hold 7 LEDs in a ring, and hold the fibre optic bundle above them.

[@ncc74656m]

Now I wish that was available here, that sounds amazing. Not sure if you meant to say that other locations in the world didn't have fuse lamps, we in the US definitely did. I remember them from being a kid.

[@richardvickers148]

Happy New Year or Hogmanay ,Love ya videos ,clive

[@andywood2012]

I love this format, it's like hanging out with you, which for me is a delight. That gin looks really nice, and if Ralfy drank so much it has to be very good indeed. And for those who think gin and vodka have no business being mentioned together then check Ralfy's Post about how to customise vodka with you own flavourings to make your gin.

[@obviouslytwo4u]

great story . a whole video dedicated to your stories and jokes is needed

[@Zapp3012]

I remember when I worked in a supermarket, the contractors servicing the freezers forgot to turn them back on. We closed up for the night......£5,000 worth of spoiled stock. Oops.

[@andrewalsid1500]

Zapp3012 im sorry that happened

[@ricardomontalban6004]

I’ll never love again.

[@Alamartec]

Happy new Year Clive, hope 2017 is a good one for you.

[@DoctoreE644]

(Just a preface - I am using my better half's account, and I am really a guy). Loving your Q&A forums, and I find I have very similar life experiences, from being a youngster on up. Having worked in both low voltage and high voltage arenas, I have had a number of explosive errors. The worst was when I was the maintenance manager for a fair sized frozen food manufacturer here in the US, with 460 V mains. Because it was a 24/7 operation, we were working on a hot mains board when an allegedly insulated pulling cable slipped down into the hot side, and we found out that, in fact, it was not insulated! It went off with a horrendous bang, and tripped the main breaker shutting down the entire plant. Refrigeration, lights, 125 HP ammonia compressors, and all the production equipment came to a grinding halt. There were no windows, which for me and another worker would have made no difference one way or the other, as we were quite temporarily blinded by the flash. We were also plagued with what felt like sand in our eyes for the next 3 or 4 days! Prior to that, I had my own manufacturing business, rebuilding starters alternators and generators for the automotive, aviation and marine fields out in the San Francisco area. A fair amount of my business involved racing machines, which helped fuel my racing endeavors. When I wasn't making a living, I was assisting a cohort build Merlin Rolls Royce V-12 engines for the unlimited hydroplane racing outfits around the country. I was also building a 22' hydroplane drag boat, powered by a WWII Allison V-12 aircraft engine, similar to the Merlin Rolls Royce engines. On off hours, I would occasionally fire up the Allison, just for fun and the annoyance of neighbors that made the mistake of buying a house too close to my shop, and to the wonder and amazement of the police officers responding to offensive noise at midnight. Life is only as fun as you make it, and I certainly had a lot of fun growing up. Which, at 77, I still don't think I have reached that level. Ah well, it's what keeps us young. Keep up the marvelous work!!

[@AbzWayne]

Loved the video, am surprised at the low cost of the fixing the Poundland lights to LED's .. I may have to have a go !! Also, I didnt comment on your last video, but I used to live in Jerviston, Motherwell in the 70's and early 80's... Just over the road from Ravenscraig !!

[@keithsbitsandpieces]

Brilliant Clive , really enjoying the channel Love the madness ;) Refrigeration, when i left school many years ago Must have been 1973 power cuts everywhere.. We had to wire up a fridge warehouse in east london The guys had bought a fairground generator as a back up Crazy huge thing to wire in :)

[@davidcollins1853]

I remember those Husman set-ups. I worked for a company that sold parts for commercial eqmt. including refrigeration in various food service situations. Husman was hands-off. They fell out of our scope as a service-parts supplier. Wow!

[@quaxk]

for some reason I'm getting lots of horror stories in the recommended videos...

[@hazmaticefire8802]

Yea same weird

[@F1nWarri0r]

quaxk Its the title. Recommended use keywords to find similar videos.

[@rogertopful]

me too

[@Dave_Boyer]

I’m sitting here, as a refrigeration mechanic, having a good laugh!

[@obviouslytwo4u]

happy new year . thank you for all your videos . they are all very useful. I leave one of your videos on while I work

[@ditch21]

Clive, the LED you tried to blow by reversing it's polarity may have survived but it looks like the 2 LED's up-stream of it didn't. Watch the two LED's below / beneath your hands @ 42:06 when you reverse the LED and then restore it to it's correct position they no longer light. Happy New Year!

[@flyingmoose]

I found your channel from the Fanny Flambeaux video... I thought it was real~!!!

[@scy59]

I've been following Ralfy's channel for years, love his whisky reviews. Now I find he's Clive's brother. Mind blown.

[@greenaum]

He has his own channel? I do like a nice single malt occasionally, but I've really no idea what's what. Would be nice to check the channel out though just to see if there's a family resemblance. What's the channel called? Can you post a link plz?

[@scy59]

Sure, his channel name is ralfystuff.

[@ZaneDaMagicPufferDragon]

Fanny Flambeaux was one of my favorite videos ever!!!!!!

[@777magnus]

Happy New Year Clive, thanks for all your enjoyable experimental videos, Please keep Ralphy off he's uncontrollable :-))

[@leenob]

Speaking of Hussmann brings back memories of the olde WR days. It's all changed these days.

[@javesco]

i find your voice and videos very calming and enojoy them your now subbed for sure thank you for your work :)

[@Fribitardontyaknaw]

Great enjoyable video. Happy New Year big fella.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I've worked in supermarkets when the whole lot went down. favourite was when I had to escort an engineer up onto the roof, and told him he had to wear a safety helmet. He refused, what he didn't know was that there was a low level pipe just outside the access door. He cracked his head and ended up in hospital!

[@6F6G]

Congratulations on 200K subscribers.

[@cacanovotny]

I just noticed that as you were turning the LED round and plugging it back in 2 of the LEDs stopped working - probably the inrush current when dicharging the cap took out the weaker ones.

[@jaystevenson6343]

i also noticed the same thing!

[@Sprengi86]

Congratulations on 200.000 subscribers!

[@jimvandamme]

I just saw a table top Christmas decoration using 3 of those slow color changing LEDs. The effect was nice because the lights weren't blended together but spread over different parts of the decoration. I wouldn't put more than a few on anything because after a while they just all mix together, like pouring a dozen kinds of paint together.

[@gordonmcmillan883]

Educational all round. I wonder how many people went to Poundland looking for Fanny, if you know what I mean ?

[@madnoob2009]

Happy new year, Clive! What is your opinion about colloidal silver?

[@andrewedis9907]

I'm a Refrigeration Engineer and have witnessed a few extremely loud bangs. One of which knocked me off my feet 🤕

[@bigclivedotcom]

My Hussmann years were definitely the loudest.

[@beesbees2423]

people where I work are always complaining about our risk assessment/work permit system, bit if you follow it incidents like wrong isolation simply cannot happen. I say it's mostly worth the ball ache but shocked at attitude of many...

[@andycristea]

Happy new year, Big Clive!