Very tacky eBay LED filament bulb

[@wtmayhew]

Clive makes a good point. Peripheral vision doesn’t have high resolution, but the retinal cells there tend to be more motion sensitive. That is pretty good adaptation - it is important to be able to sense something angry is lunging at you, not so important to know exactly what it is … at least not initially. Constantly triggering the limbic system’s innate self preservation response by having flicker tantamount to unknown motion in the peripheral vision is probably unhealthy by keeping the body constantly in heightened alert state.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

other fun fact: the density of colour-sensing cells on our retinas is very high at the center and drops super low towards the edge, so we basically don't see colour peripherally, only brightness levels. the fact that we don't notice it is just because the information gaps get made up by visual processing in the brain, like how the blind spots get filled in.

[@simonstroud2555]

I think the sensitivity to flickering in the peripheral vision is quite variable between people. For example in the olden days when you could set your PC's video output to the (CRT) monitor to 72Hz if you were really lucky, the annoying flicker of colleagues' monitors set to the default 60Hz was very visible to me, although others in the office couldn't see it and wondered what I was complaining about when I showed people how to turn up their refresh rate to 72Hz. For some reason that doesn't seem to be an issue nowadays with LCD monitors.

[@glebokator740]

@@simonstroud2555 we don't see flickering on lcd screens because the only thing that flickers is a led backlight and it flickers a lot faster than 60hz

[@lapub.]

@@simonstroud2555 CRT "write" the image line by line, the phospor took little time to fade, that's why they where interlacing (2 half frame) that help to reduce flicker, LCD are just a big matrix of small windows that allow the "constant" light to go trhough. Indeed for efficiency reason, the ligh use PWM to have controle of brightness, but at a much hiher frequency, it can still be visible if you shake a finger in front of a white scree in a dark room. Change the brigtness and you'll see some slight brightness differences

[@hadibq]

yeah so true and annoying when you feel on your side sight something is vibrating

[@wtmayhew]

The image fusion rate varies between people. Some LED Xmas lights annoy me because they flicker (60 Hz here in the US) when my eye moves. I had a girlfriend who absolutely could not see the flicker and thought I was nutty. The same goes for some LED car tail lights. My old work supervisor could see even faster flicker and couldn’t stand computer monitors unless they were set to at least 70 Hz refresh.

[@m9ovich785]

For anybody with Nystagmus Like I have, 60hz is Very noticeable. I can see strobed LED tail lights on Vehicles a Mile away amongst Car with incandescent Lamps. the strobing of the LEDS is to fool the Eye to make them look dimmer. In large open buildings with older Florescent lamps, I could tell if they were on 3 Phase power and which ones were on what Phase.

[@barrybritcher]

Yea in the CRT days I had to set to 75hz

[@truthsmiles]

And then there’s me who can’t see flicker at 30hz haha

[@superdau]

I remember having set my CRT to 85Hz, because I couldn't stand 75Hz or, even worse, 60Hz. That meant I had to actually sacrifice display resolution, because in the "olden days" monitors worked like that. And I'm very much annoyed and distracted by "strobing" LED car rear and break lights, flickering christmas decorations and a lot of information displays (those based on LED matrices like bus line displays, dynamic traffic information signs and those side scrolling "tickers"). And I just experimented with a LED and a function generator (trying not to fool myself too much I always started at 150Hz and turned down the frequency without looking at the display until I saw something). Without moving my eyes I definitely see flicker up to 70Hz. From 70 to 75Hz I wouldn't call it flicker, but "unrest". Distracting or annoying without knowing why. If I move my eyes, I still see flicker at 100Hz, and have a similar distracting impression up to 115Hz. Although for the "flicker while moving" it very much depends where in my field of vision the light is, and sometimes even 115Hz looks flickery while 100Hz look steady. I guess all these values will change from day to day or even hour of the day depending on daily constitution. It's also sunny outside right now, so quite bright in the room.

[@JustaMuteCat]

I get that with certain LED fade-in/out on devices like some IEMs. Coworker of mine has a pair of buds that behind the touch plate does it and I’m the only one that notices it. And I notice it in a very bad way, if she is wearing it near me and I see it I get slight nauseous.

[@mtreis86]

I'd like to see what is inside the Tru-Tone Christmas filament LED bulbs. They're the nicest looking bulbs because they're old school painted glass.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I think Technology Connections featured those. I'd guess it's a warm white LED inside.

[@Mavromatic]

I just took a bad one apart… just 2 small filament leds and 1/8 watt resistor soldered on the bottom to one side of the led.

[@codertao]

@@Mavromatic Do you know what age it was? I took apart one of their C7 bulbs (I *think* last year's vintage) a few weeks ago, didn't see any supporting circuitry, looked like it was just the fillament across mains / no-resistor. What was interesting is the filament seemed to have the full bridge rectifier (4 separate wafer type diodes) and two current limiting resistors (think it was 3k ohm each)(or 330 ohm?) all embedded in the phosphor. I was expecting more, since the flickering never seemed bad- only noticed it when it was raining and you could watch drops coming off the roof.

[@Mavromatic]

@@codertao The 2022 batch C9 clear, I bought 450 of them. 3 stopped working (they sent me replacements) -- so I cracked them open to see what failed, nothing obvious (no skid marks). It's just a 1/8w 9.5k (white, green, red, gold - I’m sure they picked that exact value for more Christmas spirit) Ohms 5% resistor.

[@AdhamOhm]

According to a post from David Andora (Tru Tone founder) in the Lighting Gallery forum, the LED filaments are made by Epistar and emit 2200k warm white. I believe they use the same LED in all their colours.

[@rug212]

Literally 90% of what you’re talking about goes over my head. But I literally watch every second of every video. Thanks for the great content sir!

[@Derek_Garnham]

Here's the secret, nobody else understands any of it, we're just pretending to in order to humour Clive and appear clever, though your honesty is admirable.

[@zyeborm]

​@@Derek_Garnham I get paid to pretend I understand the things Clive talks about and I still pretend to learn new things watching him. Like the other week sidac? What the hell was one of those? Sounds made up 😆

[@Derek_Garnham]

@@zyeborm I used to get paid to believe in made up stuff, now i do it for free.

[@lapub.]

You can use a step, this way you will be into the trajectory and you may catch up things

[@patricklyons7683]

So true, we are delving into the world we use but not fully comprehending what's what.

[@amorphuc]

Thanks Big Clive. Glad there's a little relief in a friendly lamp teardown and it's a cool one we haven't seen (I don't think)

[@ChronicMechatronic]

I found the lamp cement seems to soften when you soak the lamp base in water overnight. Then the base can be pulled off with relative ease by gently squezing it all the way round using vise-grips

[@andygozzo72]

i've found cellulose thinners softens it fairly quickly

[@zyeborm]

I do get a little nervous when he's man handling glass bulbs like that. I'd hate for one to shatter and cut up his hand. I hope he can use your technique or perhaps a glove as much as his hands really are the face of the channel 😀

[@fazergazer]

You can also soak overnight then pop it in a freezer to expand the water, maybe?

[@blitzroehre1807]

I rebase radio valves (tubes) as a side business and since the base cement there is also that marble powder/ sol-silicate mix (hard to soften with anything) I put a tight fitting cardboard sleeve over the glass ending there where it meets the base. I then heat the base with a heat gun, grab the glass part and the base with either gloved hand and give it a good twist. Always comes apart because the base expands and the glass does not because I covered it with cardboard heatshield. Added bonus is that the solder is soft too and you can just pull the bulb off the base. I have done this hundreds of times and not broken a single valve yet. In rare cases a phenolic based cement is used, the whole base just gets dunked in a glass with MEK for 15 mins, the cement goes mooshy and the glass also can get separated with ease, but this stuff you do not come across often..

[@plainedgedsaw1694]

Usually when measuring leaky cap, or one with resistor in parallel, it usually measures higher. So it may be 220n even.

[@clydetheghostboy]

Big Clive, your my favourite. You have helped me so much over the years both with electric, and getting to sleep. Please never change ❤️❤️

[@magnuswootton6181]

Are u dead and still on the earth, living a strange life that u have to just keep to yourself?

[@TKC_]

The flickering always bothers me too. But on a side note I was having camera exposure issues when taking short exposures with all these blinky lights. Camera kept giving a flicker warning. I found a setting in there that lets the camera delay the shutter until the light is on the bright part of the cycle to take the picture. It was designed for florescent but works for led. Kind of neat that camera manufacturers have had come up with solutions for the all too common unsmoothed light.

[@wtmayhew]

Fluorescent lamps changed, well at least here in the US, to using a longer persistence phosphor in the 1990s. I was doing a demonstration for a class which I had done in previous years showing a phototransistor picking up the 120 Hz flicker from the overhead lights. I was shot down miserably by the oscilloscope showing a nice flat line.

[@TKC_]

@@wtmayhew I’d wager it’s an electronic ballast not a bulb improvement. In my shop I put electronic ballasts that flicker at a couple of kilohertz to avoid strobe effects on the machines. The lamps don’t really fade at that speed. But all the old ballasts in my old house basement I can easily see the flicker even when using the same bulbs.

[@wtmayhew]

@@TKC_ Thank you, I am sure you are correct.

[@davidg4288]

@@TKC_ People complained that CFL's flickered, but the later ones didn't due to the high frequency ballast. They also had decent color rendition with improved phosphors. I still have quite a few CFL's, but too bad they never were good for high on-off cycle, enclosed fixture, and cold weather outdoor applications. LED's are great, but as Clive has observed they tend to run them way too hot and shorten the life.

[@TKC_]

@@davidg4288 I buy the high cri filament style leds to keep the heat of the leds away from the heat of the electronics it helps. I never buy the cheap plastic globe ones, the don’t last. As for cfls i never found good color rendering ones, maybe it’s just what was sold by me. I much prefer leds or full florescent bulbs that don’t give that horrible green cast the cheap cfls did. They were also terrible in cold, they made cfl spotlights which were pointless during winter.

[@bob4analog]

You are absolutely correct about LED flickering, thanks for mentioning that. If we thot flourecent lights were bad flickering at the mains freq, LEDs are far worse if they're not filtered.

[@divingquokka]

Hi Clive. Another way of opening up a lamp like that is with a controlled breaking of the glass. Here's a trick I once picked up: wrap a little cord around the bulb. Soak it in a flammable fluid and light it. When it's almost extinguished, dip the bulb in cold water. The thermal shock often makes a nice crack in the glass and it comes right off.

[@LakeNipissing]

These are a common shape of bulb for lamps for dining room cabinets, lamps for paintings, etc. I haven't seen this shape of bulb in LED until this video.

[@dennis8196]

It's also the shape of the fuses used in GPO exchanges before the old equipment was ripped out. I had one until I dropped something on it. They used the same standard ES fitting too

[@wtmayhew]

Here in the US, Walmart has been selling tubular shaped LED lamps under their Great Value brand for at least a few years. There’s one in the fixture right beside me. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t flicker.

[@Biaanca5036]

I was lucky to find that shape: We use the mini T8 bulbs from feit because they're JUST skinny enough that they'll fit inside of the little 4 inch glass chimney of our little micro-sized nutmeg kerosene lamps. So now they can be switched from oil to electric and keep all of the same fittings and lamp shades That + a dimmer outlet to make them not so painfully bright

[@tactileslut]

I've had a 2.5W picture light in my porch fixture for four years. Always on. No flicker. Pleasant color and light level unless I'm on my back on the driveway looking for planets and meteors.

[@michaelmoore7975]

@4:46 Avalanches in the household are usually the result of a catastrophe. My cat, named Astrophe.

[@ryanomalley430]

The filament supports remind me a lot of the ones used in lower wattage smaller size high pressure sodium lamps.

[@SeanBZA]

Bayonet easier to open as you have the pins you can pull out, giving that small edge to grab and peel the base off. Lamp itself is probably still using the old lamp making machinery, just they have disabled (or it just broke) the vacuum side of the massive carousel assembly line, with probably a half dozen workers sitting there with the formed filament bases spot welding the LEd bars on, and then placing them into the machine manually, where it runs and seals the base, before it melts off the pinch. Of course they use the old dumet feedthrough, as replacing it with something likely is going to be expensive, and that wire is not expensive at all, especially if you do not care too much about the seal being good all round, just has to hold and accept the spot weld.

[@ElectroBOOM]

Hey Clive! nice tear-down! I was wondering, around UK the line frequency is 50Hs, it being fully rectified should bring up the flicker frequency to 100Hz, right? So you shouldn't be able to see that, unless the rectifier is like half broken maybe.

[@bigclivedotcom]

100Hz is still detected by peripheral vision.

[@peterwhitworth7395]

@@bigclivedotcom Edison Screw suggests the primarily for the US market, which would make these 60Hz/120Hz - does that reduce the likelihood of flicker being detected?

[@tz8785]

@@peterwhitworth7395 Edison screw is also a standard in Europe, just with slight differences in size to distinguish voltages (medium lamps like this one are E26/E27).

[@peterwhitworth7395]

@@tz8785 ..and of course it's a 230V not 110V🤦‍♂

[@XxSForrestxX]

@@bigclivedotcom I think it’s the opposite, on Wikipedia under “flicker fusion threshold,” rods (peripheral eye cells) detect up to about 15hz, and cones (central, acute vision), to 60 - but when scanning across an environment, or doing high concentration tasks like reading, it looks to go way up to about 2k. I guess when taking a panacea of information our eye cells fire at differing rates and are stitched together in the brain as fragmented images. Either way, flickering lights, or even just the concept of sub-perceptible flickering bothers me and it’s like, when I’m working on something I need all the concentration and stamina I can without some phantom force slowly sapping away from me and also happen to rework leds when I can lol - appreciate your videos!

[@d614gakadoug9]

Filtering ("smoothing") in a circuit like that is a bit of a challenge because the LED string acts rather like a zener that has a soft characteristic (rounded "knee" on the V-I curve and quite a bit of slope above the knee). There will definitely be some moderate difference between the voltage at which the LED string begins to conduct and the peak voltage across the string but it won't be huge. It would take a fairly substantial amount of capacitance to keep the valleys of the voltage high enough to keep the LED chips constantly emitting enough light to keep perceptible flicker low. Adding a resistor between the filter cap and the LEDs helps, but of course that reduces efficiency. Phosphor persistence MIGHT be a player. It would be an interesting exercise to actually measure the forward voltage swing in those LED strings in normal operation. That of course requires an appropriate line isolation transformer, an oscilloscope with "floating" input with adequate rating or a differential probe with adequate rating. Some high-end multimeters can sample and record fast enough to be useful. Measuring the voltage at which perceptible light begins to be emitted would also be interesting, but not everyone has a suitable adjustable DC power supply around. One could be cobbled together with a variac, a bridge and a filter cap. (this stuff may all be published somewhere - I haven't looked very hard) LED lamps like that can be dimmed by using an external capacitor in series. I've seen lots of more conventional LED lamps that can be dimmed in the same way. An ordinary metalized polyester film ("MKT") type is OK because even if it were to fail short circuit nothing catastrophic would happen.

[@davidg4288]

Even if the dropping cap in the cheapie circuit in the base fails it'll probably just blow things in the metal base or glass bulb.

[@zyeborm]

If you drop the led voltage and allow that current limiting resistor to burn off a little more power I think you'll reduce the size of that cap a fair bit. Like if you use a 200v led string you've got 340 odd volts on your cap after rectification if you can keep the light output even at half the peak output it'd be a great deal better than what's there now. Of course with an elegant glass envelope bulb like that a nice PFC boost converter feeding 400 volts of LEDs directly with an output so stable you'd need decent test gear to actually notice it wasn't perfect would be more befitting the application 😆

[@peterduxbury927]

Hi Clive, even though the Lamp may have a few flickers, it is still very high-tech by comparison to the 1900's Edison Lamp. Even the Cinema Lamps were carbon back then! Onto another subject. Many people who watch your channel, may like another "project". I have just bought (from Ebay), an XY - LPWM Frequency Generator, with range from 1Hz to 150kHz. It even has a digital display for presetting the frequency and Duty Cycle. So, my plan is to utilise this device in order to set the frequency at 20kHz, and (hopefully) drive a Tweeter direct from the output of the device. We have neighbours who leave their two dogs in the backyard unsupervised. Dogs just do not stop barking!! $ years ago, I made a project, and it worked well. I even used a keyfob remote / relay to turn-on from my pocket. The whole lot runs on 12VDC Solar power. For added volume to the Tweeter, I bought a single-channel Amp, placed this at the front before the Tweeter. This blew the Tweeter - too much DC component (I think). Yes, you can buy these ready-built, but this would make a great project for the many (like me) who are forced to listen to barking dogs all day. Greetings from Australia.

[@simaesthesia]

Completely agree with you about flickering in peripheral vision, Clive! Really, really annoying. Great video as ever. All the best.

[@Acamperfull]

I wonder if the phosphorus layer around blue leds could dampen the flickering from the LED, in a similar way as a tungsten filament does not flicker either? That could also make them compatible with some traditional dimmers, dimming with a capacitor in series already works very nice and makes them much more efficient and long-lived. I think that build-in load resistor to make them not glow when off (with capacitive leaking switches and or wiring) is a pity, otherwise it could be a dual purpose feature; a night orientation glow against hypnagogic hallucinations with virtually no (extra) electricity consumption when turned off and a normal light bulb when turned on! A nightlight faintly glowing effect could still be achieved with these bulbs by putting a tiny capacitor over the switch just enough to get a current that offsets the load resistor inside the bulb and make the LEDs glow with an electricity consumption that still is close to none.

[@kapegede]

Putting capacitors in series - the simple way. That ingenuity always impresses me.

[@TopEndSpoonie]

These LED lamps will always mean we would have a supply of "FULL WAVE BRIDGE RECTIFIER's" 🤣

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

you mean FOOL BRIDGE RECTIFIERS?

[@johngarritzcx6733]

😁😁😁😃😂😂😂😂

[@micheals1992]

Do you think you could do a project where you buy a some cheap filament bulbs and then make a DIY Dubai lamp from the parts inside them and combine the filaments to underrun them?

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Opening the metal tip reminds me of those corned beef cans that had a key to wind around the can to open it. I have a 4 watt LED bulb. It's shaped more like a bulb than long. It doesn't flicker that I can sense. Interesting video!

[@steveng5503]

I’m surprised we’ve not seen any of the Dubai LED lamps chinesiefied for the UK or has one blinked? Another cool video. ✌️👍🇬🇧

[@idjtoal]

No profit in it, maybe? Too many extra parts, they last too long, people aren't going to pay Dubai prices for China quality?

[@dcallan812]

nice shape lamp,the glass might be nice used for some neon bulbs. great video 2x👍

[@craignehring]

This type of lamp is really exploding in popularity. I like that thy look warm (if indeed they are)

[@fredfred2363]

Would've been interesting to see the difference with a small smoothing cap across the leds (along with an inrush current limiter resistor). 👍🏻😀🇬🇧

[@fromgermany271]

Ceramic caps not only pickup sound, they also have a voltage controlled capacity. I would expect the cap was sold as a 220n, +-20%. Don’t think they ever will come to the idea sell such a component as a 270n. 270 would be E12, which is +-10%, don’t think they use a „precision cap“.

[@Philip8888888]

Thanks Clive. Could you maybe do a video which adds to the schematic to show how the flickering could be eliminated?

[@kelvarius]

I have NO idea why KZbin decided to recommend your video to me, but I'm glad that it did! Nicely done video, very informative... Keep up the great work!

[@markaudley-thewles5920]

Hi Clive, Sad to say I didn’t understand a word. I could still listen to you all day though 😂. Mark.

[@lewisbarton5409]

Looks like the structure of a mini 70 watt HPS lamp

[@NobleNobbler]

I love Big Clive, the cheeky Bob Ross of electronics teardowns.

[@CRC.Mismatch]

I have two of these (don't know if it's the exact same "make and model", but they have the same construction, and came in the same packaging) that I bought back in 2013 to use as a bed-side reading light. I decided to get two thinking they wouldn't last long, so I had a backup, but the first one has been going strong with no signs of quitting, even after being on for almost 12h a day (as a cave dweller, I just left it on days I didn't feel like opening the shades or lighting the main fixture because it would be too bright for my mood as I went about my business in the desk close by). They're bloody reliable!

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

Oh YEAH ! You go Clive !!! *I would LOVE, to see you 'reverse engineer' an "Raspberry Pi 4"* Or any other mini PC board !

[@onfire4Jesus2]

Another interesting video! The filament LED bulbs are the most fascinating to me. When it's lit, it looks just like an incandescent light.

[@VarionJimmy]

Nice video, with a simple schematic, to watch before sleep. (It’s 7:09 in the morning here in Sweden..)

[@justsomerandomdude]

Most of the newer led's are way overdriven. Changed an osram 13w one couple days ago, took it apart, it only had 6 chips inside, so like 2.1 w per chip. No wonder it only lasted a month, two chips have burned out. On the other hand, i have a philips bulb from 2014, that is kept on almost 24/7 still works. Took the plastic diffuser off last year, becouse condensation had gotten in, and i saw it has 32 led chips inside, a 12w bulb, so around 0.26w per chip, doesn't really get hot, it will probably last another 10 years

[@kevinsellsit5584]

Must have been a fluke built 3rd shift friday night. I mean, a bulb with good light, 100% duty cycle, low heat output, lasts decades ... that is the last thing they would want in the marketplace (of throw-away products). Just sayin'

[@samuelfellows6923]

😠

[@kevinsellsit5584]

@@samuelfellows6923 I wish it was not true Samuel, but in my experience, it is very difficult find long lasting quality products today compared to say 40 years ago. I apologize if I offended you.

[@samuelfellows6923]

@@kevinsellsit5584 - you have misunderstood the emoji ~ I am cross that the LEDs are being deliberately overdriven 🥵 to cause them to prematurely fail, forcing us to replace them earlier than stated on the box = 💰

[@justsomerandomdude]

@@samuelfellows6923 I have two light fixtures in my garage, which are both turned on with one switch. In the fixture on the wall, i have an old incandescent 60w bulb, in the ceiling fixture, i have an led bulb. I kid you not, that one incandescent bulb survived atleast 2 led bulbs, and they are lit exactly the same amount of time. I still have some of those old 60w incandescents spares, bought them before they banned them, their rated lifespan is 750 hours, price sticker 0.49€, while the leds are rated for 25.000 hours, and cost 5-6€. Last month i spend 20€ on replacing 3 burned out led bulbs, since i buy the ones with color rendering index of 97 or up, they are quite more expensive than the 10w 80 cri 1.50€ bulb, while my power bill now is lower for maybe 10 euros, than before, when i used incandescents everywhere.

[@johndododoe1411]

Flickering at twice mains frequency was a feature of incandescent bulbs sometimes used to stroboscopicallly check the speed of things like record players. But the natural afterglow of the hot filament subdued the effect. Another item flickering at bass frequency and distracting people is television and video screens.

[@My-Pal-Hal]

DUDE,.. THAT WAS SCARY 😬 Always hold the Glass Wearing A Glove My Friend, if you're dismantling any bulb. Or anything glass for that matter. ... safety first 🤗 Had a 400w HPS just PoP in my hand simply screwing it in years ago. It wasn't pretty. And haven't trusted a bulb since. And, a few pop since then. Just better safe than sorry 👍 🖖

[@HIDLad001]

I really like that it somewhat resembles as SON-T (High pressure sodium) lamp.

[@deaultusername]

get a mini pipe cutter, few twists and its open without finger stabbing jaggies

[@memejeff]

That might be the smallest capacitive dropper I have ever seen. Interesting bulb.

[@MrDarales]

Have to say your videos keep my mental health from going below 50v

[@SWISS-1337]

This was very enlightening. Your future is looking very bright.

[@Fluxkompressor]

That lamp reminds me of an Sodium lamp, with that thick wire going to the other end. They probably just reused some old assembly line for this, just swapped the sodium burner with LED fillaments

[@bigclivedotcom]

A lot of the old tungsten lamp equipment has been adapted for LED lamps.

[@johngarritzcx6733]

So it could be😊😊

[@ambulocetusnatans]

Wiping it with a piece of bread is an effective way to clean up broken glass like that.

[@Derek_Garnham]

Top Tip! thanks. I've a dim memory of using bread for something odd like this in the past, can't quite remember the context though.

[@MrAdopado]

Makes the bread taste horrible though ... I think it's maybe the blood in your mouth 😉

[@Derek_Garnham]

Just checked - also recommended for removing dust and such from oil paintings.

[@strongandco]

Ebay must have a pink plug for your lamp test holder, surely?

[@AllDayBikes]

I've seen this filaments being used on Boylei Hobby Time as lasers and explosions, very neat use of them.

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

I love the shape of the bulb remind me the metallic table lamp my Mom and dad had in the boudoir

[@blitzroehre1807]

...looks like it came straight off the production line for low-watt high pressure sodium lamps. I wonder whether they filled the globe with nitrogen to aid cooling the LEDs...

[@strenter]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a 230V sine power source with variable frequency of 0...100Hz to experiment with?

[@zenithparsec]

Was waiting for you to put your hand down on those out of the way glass shards... then I remembered this isn't a movie and "Chekov's Gun" doesn't apply to real life. Thankfully.

[@stevenfaber3896]

Great video. Would you care to take a stab at "redesign" to get rid of the flicker and/or make it dimmable?

[@deathlydarkness]

Is that one of them fancy exploding tantalum capacitors? How exciting.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's one of the fancier exploding MLCC (Multi Layer Ceramic Capacitors). Literally atomically thin alternating layers of metal and ceramic, prone to cracking and shorting out.

[@SchwaAlien]

That style of lamp was usually not meant to be seen, I removed some old shelving units from the place we moved into and there were two that were hidden up at the back behind a cover, still had working incandescent bulbs of that shape!! They were probably not used frequently enough to burn out.

[@thomaswilliams2273]

I have wondered why they don't make that leakage glow switchable and advertise it as a night light feature. I've recently noticed that an led USB flashlight seems to have this glow when plugged in even though the power bank is switched off.

[@ArtyMars]

I’ll never get used to how ridiculous those enormous UK plugs are 😂

[@derkarhu5079]

at my previous position, we did some research, many years ago, into sensitivity to flicker/pulses, in LEDs, and there is quite a wide variation in sensitivity, something also noted in monitor studies ...

[@zyeborm]

I'm stupidly sensitive to it and outrageously irritated by it. It's a bad combination lol. Did you happen to publish your data anywhere?

[@shift3613]

My god this commentary... It's wonderful

[@twocvbloke]

I've had a few LED filament bulbs with that little circuit board, and they never got put into use because of that flicker, not nice, and yes, they were sold as "dimmable", utter tat they were... :P

[@TonyLing]

Those things appear to be gas tight. I wonder if they contain anything more than air?

[@1234mattyman]

You should design a little circuit board for this with smoothing to stop the flickering and upgrade the lamp and put a new Edison screw base back in it. Great video as always.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'm hoping to get some ES caps from AliExpress if the seller actually ships them.

[@mevk1]

@@bigclivedotcom if you get em, please explain ES caps with a "back from the dead" video

[@6F6G]

Petition for all lamps to be supplied with a sardine can type key for easy opening.

[@ElectricalSmith]

7:40 Leakage through the switch wiring? When I visited India this summer I had an LED light above my bed that would glow/pulse very dimly despite the switch being turned off. Is it possible the LED bulbs there didn't have this resistor? Ever since I witnessed it, it has been keeping me up at night (not the light, the question of how it was still dimly glowing).

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yes. Many cheap lamps don't have the resistor.

[@ultratorrent]

Idea for safety when nibbling next to glass.... wrap the glass in the reinforced packing tape so that if it shatters, it just kinda sits there. Teardown safety ++

[@patriottothecore6215]

Love the pink bulb tester

[@boriscat1999]

theoretically 260 nF is within 20% of the more common 220 nF standard value.

[@stevioAda]

Thats the lamp from the hieroglyphs that ancient aliens goes on about

[@Forensic1Man]

Hi, Nice video. In the future try a very hot Heat-Gun to soften the epoxy to loosen up all the parts and pull it apart!

[@FerralVideo]

That flickering drives me absolutely *insane* when driving down the road. So many cars these days have flickery LEDs. *WHY?!* Tail lights, running lights, brake lights, so much shimmery flickering!

[@bigclivedotcom]

They use pulse width modulation to dim them, but it could be done at a faster speed.

[@chloehennessey6813]

Clive drawing PPs on his boxes.

[@bikkiikun]

Have you gone back to the old Hopi? I remember you had the newer model under the AnTai brand... Coincidence or is the older Hopi still better? (just asking, because I'm currently in the market)

[@bigclivedotcom]

I use both, but the Antai unit has a fake flex that is so stiff it makes it hard to put the meter on the bench without it trying to fly off.

[@wisher21uk]

Nice video Clive thanks, they’re getting less and less in them lamps nowadays!

[@insu_na]

galaxy brain method for saving even more money: using the LEDs themselves as the diodes for the bridge rectifier

[@bigclivedotcom]

They do that with some 1W festoon lamps. But LEDs are not really suited to blocking high reverse voltage.

[@robinbrowne5419]

Mother Robot: Why is Grandpa sleeping at the breakfast table? Big Sister Robot: Well. He says his flickery night-light keeps him awake all night.

[@craftymulligar]

Yeah that be nice if big Clive can repurpose the glass to create a triode with more to make a amplifier.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

The inrush current problem is a REAL issue if you have a dodgy connection, the pulse may be short but if it happens100 times a second due to an arcing contact, it will execute LED lamps in very short order

[@sfred]

I've got some filament lamps with E12 bases in my bathroom that flicker badly (causing an interesting strobe effect with streams of water). Presumably they couldn't fit much more than that in those little bases.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The base size is a huge issue for adding proper circuitry.

[@Myster-cn1ut]

They sell similar ones to this in a store in Britain called ProperJob. Energizer versions are £5 also there is Maxim and Status

[@mattwuk]

I hope you picked up and disposed all the metal shards Clive, the thought of standing on one of those is worse than Lego 😵

[@davesimms8825]

Maybe the flicker isn’t so bad where they have 60 hz power.

[@tookitogo]

No significant difference.

[@Mr.T4LLY-0]

BC, I love your teardowns with great awe. But could you please, pretty please, focus a few inches/cm's up from the surface when doing zoom in work? 🙏☺ thanks muchly.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Close zoom always suffers a bit because my system uses digital zoom within a higher resolution image, and it gets a bit grainy with very close zoom.

[@benlycett]

I'll remember the dark glass tip

[@heyarno]

6V should not be a issue for a Joule thief with a decent amount of windings. So you could glue that lamp in a 3d printed base with a battery holder and driver for gentle night lighting.

[@AW-Services]

Best way to open lamp bases is using an adjustable plumbing pipe cutter on the base

[@mevk1]

4 component boards are more my speed (finally figured out what a dropper cap is -always thought it was an addicted capacitor)

[@byronwatkins2565]

Ceramic dielectric constant typically has a very high temperature coefficient.

[@zaphodb777]

Love to see what this would look like at 120 V.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It should work, but be dimmer.

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

3 watts is not something you would use by itself to light up a room. Perhaps they intended these lamps to be used in a fixture with lots of other 3 watt lamps, like a chandler, where the combined output of all of the lamps possibly flickering un-synchronized would create a constant un-flickering light output.

[@AdeReeves]

had a few of this style lamp and all seem to do the same flickering thing over time.

[@kevinburton8248]

Nice vid as ever sir . I picked up someting intresting yeserday . Don't know if you have Seen the New neon led style roof tile lights . Several diffrent designs to choose from and look quite cool .

[@bigclivedotcom]

I got a very complex hexagonal type suggested on AliExpress recently.

[@michaelardai9703]

Love that the LEDs are in a sealed glass envelope. I wonder if it is under vacuum?

[@nobody8717]

not needed, but could increase life of the filament theoretically. unless it's overheating/overdriven.

[@idjtoal]

@@nobody8717 I had the same thought, did they just keep most of the incandescent assembly line running, sort of thing. But I don't think there's any advantage to having LED's in vacuum? No air circulation, no oxidation; they'd heat up slightly more, I think? Have to assume they're being over-driven, these days.

[@michaelardai9703]

@@nobody8717 I agree that there is no reason, but looking at the video, you can see that the tubulation has been sealed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp7SkqSEbZuFeM0

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sometimes they fill it with an inert gas to assist thermal conduction to the glass globe.

[@zyeborm]

​@@nobody8717 vacuum would decrease lifespan quite a bit I'd imagine. It's increase the heat in the filament a lot because it removes nice easy convection as a transfer method only really allowing radiation that normally needs quite high temperature differences between the radiating element and the environment to move much heat. Also it's going to pull any volatiles out of the filaments (think of the phosphors and the binders etc) and they will probably condense on the walls of the glass envelope. An inert gas though like Clive said might help with life, if you spend money and use noble gases instead of just nitrogen say you might even get a noticeable temperature difference too.

[@jonoldroyd3885]

Avalanche Breakdown: Just like my lab 🤣

[@alanh8664]

Greetings, the glass enclosure looks hermetic, vacuumed sealed as in an incandescent lamp, as opposed to simple cheap liquid sealant. Why would they do that extra cost etc?

[@bigclivedotcom]

They're using the existing lamp making machines. Some use an inert gas inside to help transfer the heat to the glass globe.

[@dragonrider4253]

That lamp looks suspiciously like one of those HPS lamps, but with LEDs instaed of a HPS discharge tube. I live in the US so 60 Hz mains. My eyes (or brain?) are sensitive enough to flicker that those cheap LED fairy lights and cheap LED lamps (like this one) continuously bother me. I'd probably try that smoothing cap trick.

[@stevenmay4563]

Video idea Clive: making a solar panel powered battery charger/supply. Is that possible with the TP4056? Would be great to see a video on that and make use of all that solar power for some devices! Thanks for all the videos, I’m learning a lot through your experiments 😂

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yes it is. Use a 5V panel and connect it to the terminal either side of the USB connector. If you want to charge with USB too, add a diode in series with the solar panel.

[@stevenmay4563]

@@bigclivedotcom Thank you for the reply! Made my day :)

[@kolmaxik]

470nf is a very precise guess

[@ziginox]

Oh no, the Hopi has been dented!