USB flame lamp

[@mikemike7001]

I'm like a moth to a flame, but this one not so much. It would be nice for Clive to show and compare all of his "flaming" lights, of which he might be the world's most avid collector, in a single video.

[@railgap]

As a Hallowe'en nut (I used to build/run for-profit seasonal "haunted house" attractions) and an ex-theater (stage) and stage lighting (music performance) wonk, I have been gobbling up Clive's reviews of lighting gizmos, LEDs of all sorts, but most especially the flame effect lamps! Incidentally, I have a neighbor who apparently installed one with no tilt sensor in a porch-style downlight/lantern, as the flames are cheerfully moving from top to bottom. :) (I have to say, the most realistic safe flame effect I have seen to date are STILL well-made "silk" lamps)

[@piconano]

That's because it's a moth and mosquito repellent as well. That's how ugly the flame is...

[@travisash8180]

@@railgap In a past video Clive said rimming. You have just said gobbling. Has anyone said felching yet ?

[@fuzzybobbles]

I bought a load of the flame lights recently and put them into small hurricane lanterns. They look awesome when I go camping and we're sitting outside. Loads of people asked me where I got them from.

[@Tone260]

Thanks for spending time with us today, Clive. Your company is always appreciated.

[@Aco747lyte]

Last year I bought that small aluminum 3W USB LED lamp flashlight you tried and tested (and found very good). Mine continues well, being plugged into a powerbank and am very pleased you reviewed it, Clive. One of the best buys for me as it only cost £1.99 ~Wendi UK 🌻

[@1o1s1s1i1e]

After seeing your video on the tiny one I picked up four and I use it every morning while making coffee and oatmeal, and I charge the battery up using solar. Those tiny lights are perfect at that time of the day. Thank's Clive!

[@theteenageengineer]

This one totally reminds of a prop we used for a production that I did. We needed something with a flame effect but we couldn’t use real fire so we bought this little usb rechargeable light that looked like a flame. It was pill shaped but the prop master just called it “fire dildo”

[@SmithyScotland]

Amazing this can be done with so few components.

[@assassinlexx1993]

Thank Clive for showing the full size flame bulb. My wife always wanted a fire in the fireplace. But with clever placement of flame bulbs and wood with a timer. She is happy having a " fire" every night. Now where's my dinner ;)

[@funckyjunky]

YESS !!! Im using this USB flame lights as my sleep light and for camping. Also I have attached one to my modem usb port. Love this little flame light, and your channel too ! Tnx ! ❤️

[@amorphuc]

I got a couple of these after I saw your video on the other little light modules. Mine are like yours as they are predictable but still kind of cool. Like someone said below, it would be cool to incorporate these into a little solar garden light.

[@gordonirving24]

Bought an Aldi fly killer yesterday and when I connected the battery gave myself a hell of a shock! Lol

[@fuzzybobbles]

The good thing about the usb flame effect lamp is it will run for 70 hours on a 2000mah 18650 cell. I'm thinking of using 2 of the boards from these and a homemade diffuser so it makes a less repetitive flame effect.

[@robt2151]

I was going to ask whether putting several of these into one housing would diversify the flame effect or simply emphasise it.

[@emm_arr]

1:04 I like the way the light shrinks the light. You know what I mean. And thanks, again, Clive for introducing me to flame effect lights. I am not sure if they are tacky or not, but I really like them!

[@cherrysdiy5005]

This is amazing and I need it in my life. Thank you for the idea, Big Clive!

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Wow super simple design

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Does look like a lookup table was used seem little fast on movment to be a flame effect interesting little light Clive

[@brianmiller6320]

This would be a good diffuser for some ws2812b leds, just remove the original components and stick the tape down onto the pcb, use the usb connector and bob’s you uncle. Will try this when they arrive. Thanks Clive.

[@Echristoffe]

I still remember when you had disassembled the first one … and you had some kind of a request of not reverse engineering it. Now they are everywhere and even this little one is really nice. I can see it to create some kind of a background for roleplay games like dnd …

[@threeMetreJim]

Last time I used a PIC, you could either have the MCLR pin as reset, or as a general purpose input only, not an output. Maybe some newer ones don't have that limitation but I'm not sure. Should be relatively easy to improve the flame effect by having a few different lookup tables for varying intensity of flame and choose which lookup table is cycled depending on a random number with the probability of the higher flame intensity tables used being less for increasing intensity. Three or four 16 entry tables should be fine (16 position as you only need to use the least four bits of a counter as the index). When counter loops to 0, select a different table using the probability method. Pretty simple, and expect that it should be able to even fit into 512 words.

[@adzib1823]

I have yet to see an 8-bit PIC with output capabilities on the MCLR pin. That ranges from PIC10Fxxx devices to PIC16F18xxx devices (which I believe are the most advanced 16F devices before upgrading to the 18F series with which I have little experience). As a side note, if anyone wants to learn how a microcontroller really works, get a PICKIT3, an older version of MPLAB (V5.40 or below, I believe) and a PIC10F2xx and just start messing around with assembly code. That's essentially the way I got into it... In theory, for a micro that basic, you could take that one step further and write out the hex file directly using notepad if you really wanted to. The older versions of MPLAB still support the MPASM compiler which doesn't require you to define things like program blocks and address offsets and stuff... Makes it a lot easier to just write a program and have it work. Total expenditure should be about £20-£30 max I'd imagine (for a knockoff PICKIT3, obviously). And after that, the only cost is the micros themselves.

[@mortenhattesen]

A good algorithm to use to simulate a flame without repetitions is "random walk", restricted to limit walks at the two extremes. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_walk

[@AndrewBlack343]

Creating a true or even not obviously repeating pseudo random number on a 8-pin micro is going to be a challenge. Much easier to do offline and create a BIG look up table. Repetition isn't a problem if it's a long time between repeats of the sequence.

[@pierreuntel1970]

I read as “USB flamming“ and thought it's going to be something more exciting...

[@ynot6473]

not every thing goes wrong with fire and smoke! :)

[@ketas]

usb fanny!

[@Purple431]

The title made me excited for flames! 🔥

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Curious how low of a voltage/current it can run on. I'd be interested in some solar garden lights using the module from this.

[@benbaselet2026]

True, I was expecting a ruideng to pop up and tell us the current. With about 6 LEDs lit on average with pretty low brightness I would not expect more than a 50-100 mA perhaps?

[@bunnylove273]

@@benbaselet2026 hi you can buy these types as of light bulb and then take out the light circuit board out and run them on a 9 Volt battery

[@paulbeard3238]

They do make solar lights they are usually called teky lights (OK teky spelt wrong) hope you get a idea 😞

[@railgap]

@@benbaselet2026 that's a lot for a single cheap (often NiCd, still) AA cell as is used so often in such units, BUT: a hacked unit with an 18650 and larger / better PV might do it.

[@keithfulkerson]

@@paulbeard3238 tiki

[@dcallan812]

Not a bad looking light, you could also 3d print new caps to change the shape too. 2x👍

[@webdevvy]

Woofle alternative for the Edinburgh streams :)

[@kareemtawab]

I see a possible use. It could be a voltage level indicator for the USB port using the internal ADC.

[@ArtemisKitty]

Showing my age again here, but I think you are right regarding the chip, as I personally made a similar circuit back in 1997 using a 12C508P Edit: I also used one to do a sort of "knight rider* car LED panel for a mate. Those were so common in my projects back then, lol. Very useful chip.

[@davidroberts5090]

Ubiquitous 8-Pin Chip, how I've missed you!

[@onecircuit-as]

Might be a Padauk chip? The OTP “3c microcontroller” PMS150C or the MTP PFS154. Same VCC/GND pinout configuration and used in heaps of these cheap gadgets. 👍😀

[@ChunkySteveo]

I still have mine in my cart after looking for the other ones from your last video!! ha

[@5chm4hl]

Good to know I'm not the only one to buy random stuff in dollar stores or on eBay/Aliexpress. Sometimes it's almost like an addiction.

[@whitesapphire5865]

I just bought a "Yuletide Lantern" the other day, and is very similar to this. It's not a bad effort, but the pattern has approximately a three loop. If you sit and watch it, it can get a bit repetitive and boring, but as a casual background effect it's not bad.

[@brianterrill9587]

YES! I would love those for Period re-creation lamp guts.

[@NastyCustoms5150]

I'm new but happy to be here lol Great channel!

[@1969ashley1969]

Then you'll enjoy binging on Clive's videos. 🙂

[@vidm96]

I quite like LED flame lights. Some of the 220V types can really easily be modded to run off of 3V, making it great for DIY projects that can be run off of two AA batteries.

[@allenfurtado9849]

I would like to see a short "making of" with a "third-person view split screen first-person view" video to see how your camera is set up. I think it would give it a more interesting perspective on the work done... a different angle. AND coupled with your soothing voice, it would greatly enhance my understanding and improve my meditative experience in the process! Would that be possible?

[@graphosxp]

So many nights I'd sit by my window Waiting for someone to sing me his song So many dreams I kept deep inside me Alone in the dark but now you've come along And you light up my life :)

[@nickk6518]

After seeing Clive's previous video about the flat-topped bulbs shown here, I bought five on eBay for just over £1 each (1 would have been in excess of £3!), but I also noticed the flickeringlights and wondered what they might be like. Now I know without having to spend over £2 for each light! I would consider if the flickering effect was much better!!

[@IBIZABIKE]

love these vids, I know a bit and take broken things to bits , sometimes fix them or make frankenstein progects

[@richardbriansmith8562]

Awesome Video big clive

[@superdau]

Combining two or more of them in a single diffusor case should get rid of the obvious repetitiveness (I doubt multiple of these lights will stay in sync over a long time).

[@wisher21uk]

Very hackable maybe reprogram with different patterns? Just an idea Clive.......and maybe show what program should someone use 😊 Thanks Clive

[@RavenLuni]

A bit like the aquarium light I made - a pic with lookup tables and a ws2812 strip to simulate light shimmering through the water

[@rogerhargreaves2272]

Quite nice, but not as good as the little camping/nightlights you featured a few weeks ago. I bought some and they are very effective, the red one draws hardy any current and is an ideal nightlight. The white ones are brighter. Thanks Clive. 😀👍

[@funkycarlover]

I have no knowledge of circuits whatsoever and yet I love every video. Is that normal??

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yes it is. And you'll gradually understand more and more with time.

[@talideon]

If they are using a lookup table, it's no surprise it's so rough. A very simple PRNG algorithm would improve that significantly.

[@TheLouisEric]

Many of these were using musical greeting card chips that the market was saturated with to produce the “flame”. By looking at it you can sometimes guess what song it is “playing”.

[@timtyler9216]

FANNY FLAMBEAUX

[@frankowalker4662]

Neat little light.

[@bigloudnoise]

With the small size, one of these might be good in a Jack-o-lantern at Halloween. Would just need to come up with a way to mount it upright in the bottom of the pumpkin for it to look proper.

[@GadgetBoy]

I wonder what a bunch of these boards right next to each other at different rotations would look like in a common diffuser

[@farmazooticalz]

I'm thinking of DIY flame fireplace

[@lainaanial]

Hi BC, I wonder if you would be interested in reviewing garage door openers, up/down buttons, remote web based, Alexa based. They’re all just indirect ways of pressing a momentary actuator switch? Or are they? Garage door suppliers don’t generally advertise details of their replacement units. Third party suppliers don’t guarantee compatibility. It’s an area of ambiguity for what is probably a very simple mechanism.

[@psirvent8]

You love flame lamps, don't you ? (Also I now remember the ones with a cloth flame with a fan and colored lights being sold in the 2000s but they seem to have come out of fashion since then).

[@MazeFrame]

For a PCB-christmas-tree thingy, I made a "stackable" version of the classic capacitor&transistor astable multivibrator circuit. That could probably be repurposed to create the same very fake flame effect.

[@sparkyprojects]

Cute I'll stick to my LIFU flame lamp, it was originally mains, but take it apart and it runs happily on 5v I believe it can also be flattened out to make it look like a coal fire ;)

[@GHILLIESARCADEANDMORE]

Just ordered a few for some projects

[@AndrewBlack343]

I'm surprised that LED1 isn't on all the time and then using the typical 5 IO pins from a typical 8 pin micro for the other five. The other three being Power, Ground and Reset (used to program). I've made similar but had a 48 or 60 step sequence to stop it being so repetitive. I also used a mix of yellow and orange to break up the monotony of color a bit.

[@nbalbano]

I'm here to watch a video because I'm about to buy a few of these to DIY a solar garden/outdoor lamp set. They're about $1.50 where I'm at. The description says they're 0.5W so a power bank with a solar panel charger should work. First, I'll have figure out how to mount them in the capiz lamps I'm planning to buy tho

[@wherami]

pretty neat though. i had no idea such things even existed lol would be neat to put outside protected as others have said.

[@enzoruberto]

This video isn’t a great example due to the simplicity of the device, but generally you make excellent schematics. You could give me the same pcb, and I could draw a schematic that is still accurate, but nowhere near as clear as one that you would draw. I would love some tips, or a video on schematic drawing tips.

[@PsiQ]

Seeing these usb to microchip i always have to think of the attiny from digispark. Comes soldered up ready to use and program directly over the usb pin. ... Also used to hack pcs by emulating a usb hid keyboard and typing stuff into CMD a few seconds after plugging in :-)

[@firstmkb]

Was that just counting up in binary?

[@AdityaMehendale]

The bottom "No. #1" LED never turns off (or so ir seems) - so your PIC12 hypothesis may be valid. 4:55

[@markfergerson2145]

If nothing else it would be fun to replace the LEDs with other colors for costume and prop applications. I'm not impressed with the limited cycle length either. Looks like it might be very simplified charlieplexing rather than a lookup table. Would changing the cap value change the speed of the flicker? That would be, um, illuminating. Easier than swapping out LEDs too.

[@TimelordUK]

What a gorgeous voice

[@BenJandrell]

Darn it... I'll have to buy one now 🙂. Coupled to a solar charged power bank and placed in the right place it may be a winner!

[@whollymindless]

Needed for concerts!

[@d.t.4523]

Good luck. 👍

[@Ni5ei]

What if you replaced the LEDs with random flickering candle LEDs?

[@benbaselet2026]

It would look mostly the same but much, much dimmer because you would practically be just turning the flickering LED on and off continuously so they would not get a chance to flicker on their own much. Not really ideal in any way. Adding a couple of solid flickering LEDs around the base just with resistors from the 5V could be a nice touch.

[@whitehoose]

Shows the power of frosting. the final shot is a shitty flashy led strip - before you take off the frosted cover however It's a wonder you haven't burst into flames the effect is so good. OK not as good as the ones you played with a few or three years ago... but all things considered it's pretty clever. I dunno why but they really tickle my fancy.

[@UpLateGeek]

Were those anchor pins on the shield not soldered? That's a bit dodgy, although the solder joints on the pins wouldn't exactly be load-bearing considering it's the connector that's mounted in the housing rather than the PCB board. But considering the board's high aspect ratio, the vibration of normal handling might cause the joints to fatigue and break without the shield pins soldered in to give it more rigidity.

[@U014B]

I wonder how feasible it would be to do the flicker effect with a noise generator/sample-and-hold type of thing.

[@Geniusinventor]

Man this is soo cool 😎 if we get 20 of these Fire lights and put them in the house at any Corners it will be very romantic

[@ReneKnuvers74rk]

The lower one is always on. Did they use an output to control it???

[@georgeblair7129]

local dollar store even has flame effect solar garden lights.

[@tinygriffy]

(imho) I don't think it is worth buying this from china and then modding this.. (If one knows how to handle a soldering iron and owns a 3d printer..) rather print your own night light.. the attiny can be soldered dead bug style directly on the connector.. single leds are fine.. use a couple apa102s or something similar if you like ! One probably ends up with something that cost you less, gives you hours of fun, the feeling of accomplishment, has a million more functions and also fits right in that particular corner. (in you desired colour of course) Thanks for the gutting ! So nice of you to do the dirty work ;)

[@10lauset]

.. Cheers to you. ..

[@The_Last_Post]

Would it be possible to disable the flame effect and have the LEDs constantly lit? I guess you cut the tracks etc to the chip and wire usb in directly to the first led

[@bigclivedotcom]

It would be easier just replacing it with an ordinary lamp.

[@etucker]

@bigclive . Have an LED lamp that when it stops working, it does this weird light up thing when you turn the power off. Lamp doesn't work when power on, but illuminates briefly when power turned off. Any ideas? I have these all over the house. In US. SYLVANIA LED8.5A19/F/827/10YV.

[@whitesapphire5865]

My goodness, Clive, how long has that cat's ghost been embedded in your bench? - Can't see it? Look at the video, and look closely between your hand and the light, especially when you turn off the main lights! By the way, his name is "Hardy" and looks like a Norwegian Forest Cat! 🐈

[@turbokatzenburg5732]

He's the ghost of Stubbin, the official lucky Manx cat. Clive and IoM folks will get the reference.

[@whitesapphire5865]

@@turbokatzenburg5732 Indeed! Please do enlighten me? But, that cat told me his name was Hardy, after the hardboard where he lives these days!🐈🤦

[@turbokatzenburg5732]

@@whitesapphire5865 Sorry for the long delay in the reply... I was at IoM and bought a pin of Stubbins, it is a local story. He was a sort of mascot I guess, I can't recall the specifics at the moment, my IoM souvenirs are in storage. He is supposed to bring good luck to those who wear the pin.

[@U014B]

1:33 Y'know, I normally like watching the disassembly process, but you really should have jumped ahead for this one.

[@EarlySwerver]

Looks like it'd make a good VU meter.

[@keithbrown339]

I have two very similar outside solar lights. One works great the other one worked for a couple of months. Any idea what would be the most likely fault. I know sight unseen just you best guess. It's not the solar or battery. If you have time. Atb.

[@keithbrown339]

Just to add love your clips and don't feel you need reply.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's often corrosion caused by water ingress.

[@HylianOverlord]

Why didn't they solder the grounds on the USB Connector? Gonna break in like 50 cycles.

[@PhearaXT]

So that’s how it works!

[@Vicer_Exciser]

Why does the last LED have 2 resistors on its return path?

[@1969ashley1969]

@@YourMotherSucksCocksInHell I thought he'd numbered them and the last two were 5 and 6. So they didn't need a resistor beyond the last LED. 🙂

[@MB-st7be]

I'd like to see you tear down one of those little hand-crank USB chargers off ebay

[@carlubambi5541]

Would have love to see the led s running without the diffuser ,just to see their intensity in the dark .But you can see to pretty well cupped in your hand

[@PushyPawn]

Although the repetitive patten seems less obvious at 4.20

[@andymouse]

The potential here is if you can write your own software for that MCU but I don't know whether thats possible....cheers

[@fredflintstone1]

Cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@andymouse]

@@fredflintstone1 Squeaktastical !!!!!!

[@pieandpeas8929]

I got just three months out of a set of ten flame effect solar lights before they all showed faults. Some LEDS never lit, some others were lit dimly all the time, and the others just flashed seemingly randomly. I took them apart and could not find evidence of water ingress or rot. To the recyclers with them and I am buying no more.

[@ReedmanFL]

What is the chip part number? Markings?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Generic anonymous microcontroller.

[@skmetal7]

Some flame lights are good some have an annoying flicker( more like a 60 hz pulse). Like they don't have a smoothing cap. Its hard to know until you buy one and see.

[@Fatspurios]

Adam Savage hacked a mains powered version for a property carriage lamp. These look even easier to flame up some old lamps. Be well. Thanks.

[@IrishSkruffles]

Huh, a year or two ago I got a 240V version of these flame bulbs and tore it apart, found the majority was low voltage and stuck a USB lead on it.. This seems a bit easier :)

[@tyronenelson9124]

How would you program or flash that chip??

[@bigclivedotcom]

Usually in assembly code and with a programmer for each specific type or a universal programmer if the chip is supported.

[@wktodd]

Is it resetting? Bigger cap?

[@DigitalIP]

I have one of the small bulb type ones connected to a USB Mini PIR sensor in the downstairs bathroom so the ceiling light wont have to be used late at night.

[@Biaanca5036]

Wow they come with USB instead of light socket now 0.o I definitely wanna try those! Still. I don't like those flame lamps because they're always waay too pink or waaay too brown compared to an actual flame. My house is mostly electrified kerosene lamps and I find that 2100k + dim to 30 lumens is the most 1:1 color of a real kerosene flame, those virtual flame bulbs are all so very ugly brown in comparison. Those are almost always 1500k when I shop for them and well..1500k is useless. Not even a rural trash-fire burns THAT red. Real candles burn almost clean white compared to those flame bulbs. I've never seen a candle burn dark amber or dark brown before until I tried _those_ 😆 Oooooo but being USB makes them so exciting I wanna try them again!

[@Biaanca5036]

I still have tried them yet 😶 one day... one day..

[@lostjohnny9000]

Could make it into a "light key" to fit in a "lock" that has LDR sensors

[@tinygriffy]

cool idea !