And Tommy Walsh for DIY items - while Waitrose have snapped up the third member of the Ground Force trio (probably as he's a bit more high profile than Charlie and Tommy, having done lots of other TV work).
mittfh Tommy has left the building, he's been replaced with snazzy phrases like "stick it" for the cyanoacrylate "stick with it" for glue sticks and "bond together" for the epoxy( which no longer comes with a strong clip,but are available separately)
Hey Clive, I just wanted to say a big thank you for making these videos. Without going into details, your videos are so calming for me. You may not be aware, but your work is so much more than just merely being a source of information. Thanks a million.
It's actually quite reassuring to know that there is Clive out here in the real world, taking things apart, not just for our entertainment, but also for our safety - definitely deserves a big TU for his efforts. I honestly though, when Clive started on about insulation testing, that he would whip out a good old Megger, or at least a Robin - Oh, no, let's not just test the insulation, let's get out a Metrohm and try to execute it instead, and it survived. Well done 'Poundland' and well done Clive. Now, the jelly baby thing, I always decapitate mine before I eat the rest of the body, it seems the only human thing to do. Maybe it's a Scottish thing, I don't know, but my granny always told us that's the way it should be done "Bite its head off first, so that it doesn't suffer...." What a thing to teach a 3~4 year old! Glaswegians eh?
@Ryan Wiley Actually, on other websites it stands for "Thumbs Up". It means the same thing when all is said and done, but hey-ho. Bloody brilliant old bean, yours was, for once, a reply that was actually readable in one pass. Without punctuation and capitalisation, and all that goes with it, text is meaningless if it just rambles endlessly without natural breaks and pauses.
As a student in biomedical engineering I can tell you why the split-bobbin is still used. In medical equipment that can be electrically connected to the patient, the leakage current through the patient must not exceed 10 microamps through the heart, or 30 through everything else. That will be very difficult to achieve unless you go out of your way to reduce capacitive coupling to the mains. As such a Y-class cap will generally be omitted, I reckon. In fact, some less sophisticated or older equipment will run on battery power and be disabled while charging, because of this. There's a lot to say about medical equipment. Not just safety, but properly measuring stuff as well, because it's sometimes not as straightforward as you'd think.
I have a degree in electrical engineering. And programming and physics I study sciences and medicine histology histopathology cytology forensic pathology diagnostic medicine biomedical bone sciences ect. I use andunio boards with shield boards to do ecg and the sensors. For spo2. Ect I like the spo2. Pulse ox ect and ones for blood sugar test
I actually really like the slight bump in voltage as the current rose. Pushing 2A through a USB lead means its probably not going to be 5v by the end unless you bump the source up a bit.
Luke Den Hartog Yes, that is very important. I wish, that every charger did that. If a smartphone senses a voltage drop, while it is charging it is going to lower its current draw, becase it thinks, that the charger can't handle it. There are too many chargers that can't even hold 5V at over 1A.
Many of the primary side sensing ICs have cable compensation built in these days, but what do you set it for if you do not know which USB cable might be used?
Blatt Ferenc Yeah, just one problem. If you have a power hungry device and a low power device both plugged in at the same time, the low power device will get the higher voltage. Which it may not like... Now if USB leads were made of decent sized copper conductors, there would be less volt drop.
The resistor in parallel to the inductor is for damping. Otherwise, the inductor together with those capacitors may become a resonant circuit. CLC network is good for EMI suppression, but it has its resonant frequency, so it is good to add a resistor to bring the Q down.
Not ONLY so. Turning AC power on (or plugging the unit in the socket), the inrush to an empty capacitor through the choke builds up higher than continuous current. Next the AC voltage decays, but the choke drives current in the same direction. That results in as much as DOUBLE voltage at the capacitor without some sort of mitigation like the resistor.
My favourite electronic engineers bigclive eletroboom diodegonewild and photonics induction you guys are awesome I watch all the time diode your funny but you need to do more funny stuff keep up the grate work guys
Guineas are originally what you would pay solicitors in. A pound for the solicitor and a shilling for his clerk. Or some multiple of that. Also a way of overcharging posh people by making them think it's a special high class rich-persons price.
Lol - comes with a Tom minder!!! When my graddad's oldest brother Tom was about 18 months old he'd be left outside on the pavement in a playpen to enjoy the sun (you could do that in 1909). To keep him quiet Great gran would dip a feather in treacle and hand it to Tom. He'd spend many a happy hour trying to put the feather down!!! Watching you with the sticky thing - it was like being there .... :D
I love the way you talk and explain stuff like ".. they quite often just blow the lid off with a massive bang, usually in the middle of the night when people are sleeping just to wake them up and terrify them..". literally haven't found other channels like this.
Considering these are 2 quid and allows for a reasonable profit, think how much people buying iPhone usb chargers are being conned out of. Still made for about 22P like the 2 quid one's.
But... but.. they are magically made with innovative industrial design.. And no doubt aircraft aluminium something or other. In reality.. From the tear downs at least, Apple have comically over engineered them. And then shoved them into a tiny plug for the faithful to buy for stupid money.
6:29 - "And I'll even try to stay in shot as a special treat..." Don't worry Clive. From all of your videos I've watched you are by far the BEST at staying in shot AND in focus compared to other RUclips video posters.
It is reassuring when someone with your working knowledge has been over some operation/safety aspects of a device. This is a honourable service you provide here. Interesting and humorous aswell. Thank you Big Clive. My father bricked my 500w PC PSU by charging his E-ciggy via the USB port whilst the PC was off ! Or that is my theory as A. I always blame him and B. As the PSU cooling fan would not be in operation whilst the computer was not running although the USB ports would still be live allowing him to charge. I'm guessing, after seeing your testing, that overheating was the problem which I'd already theorised that it might have been. I've kept the unit as it was a good PSU and now you've simplified that circuitry I might try to find a similiar diode in it for testing. Thanks again.
I think it's more to do with either an old stressed PSU, or your father's E-Cig battery was faulty. Cheap e-cig batteries have been known to draw too much current, catch fire. The fact your PSU fan was off is irrelevant, that only runs under full power on. The USB ports on a computer can normally only supply 500mA unless it's a special charge port which still only gives out up to 2A. The 5v rail on your PSU can output 20A maximum, so if your PC is off you still wouldn't come close to overloading it with a USB device. I'd test the output capacitors on your PSU, they are usually at fault on SMPS's, especially cheap ones.
Minor correction, the Main 3.3v / 5v / 12v rails of the PSU are NOT Powered when the machine is "Off". The only rail that remains on is the "5VSB" (5V StandBy) rail, which is only ever rated at a few amps on PSU's and the cheaper ones tend to be less, say 2A or so, where as more expensive PSU's such as Seasonic and Superflower tend to be around say 4-6A or more, So if you have a machine with a cheap PSU turned off, and charging USB devices from it then you may be overloading the 5VSB rail. Dont forget that even though the machine is "Off" certain things are still powered from the 5VSB rail if its plugged in and receiving power, including things like the NIC's so that you can wake up the machine remotely, and the Ram if the machine is in "POS" (Power off Suspend). Combine that with USB loads and you have a chance to overload the 5VSB rail. A proper PSU should have protection on the 5VSB rail, and it should shut down that rail if its overloaded like it would the main rails, but with cheap PSU's you dont always know what your getting.
I saw these in my local Poundland, but thought “Aah, I’ll wait for Clive to blow it up or say it’s excellent before I buy one. Clive likes the Poundland shit” :D
Winding on a single bobbin reduces losses, and it is also quite common for a split primary half in the centre and the other half on the outside with the secondaries between again to reduce losses and leakage inductance.
Well after seeing the doctor and him telling me I have to exercise minimum 30 minutes per day ( no alcohol), I found this vid extremely useful to while away the time. 35 minutes sped by so I shall be eeking out your vids on a daily basis for now on. I bought a blood pressure monitor from the pharmacy (battery wrist type) however it doesn't give as high a result as the hospital one. I'll have to investigate how to synchronise but maybe cannot. I thought a breakdown on one of these would be interesting. Thanks, I am continuing to make slight headway with my electronics learning but still at false beginner level!
32:40 I'm reasonably sure the lack of split bobbins in switchmode transformers is due to superior magnetic coupling between the windings, when they're overlaid. That's far less of an issue in iron mains transformers, which is why you'll see split bobbins / windings there.
Khron's Cave I remain to be convinced. The magnetic field is induced in the transformer core. Then the collapsing magnetic field induces current in the (secondary) windings.
I stand to be corrected, of course. And for what it's worth, from what i've seen, CCFL inverter transformers seem to usually have split-bobbin windings, despite operating at high frequencies.
The silk-screen for the resistor ladder alleges the end component is a capacitor (C4) - so maybe that elusive capacitor is hiding in there, disguised as a resistor.
Do you think Poundland tell the buying team to check all electrical stuff is going to be BigClive approved and if they buy anyole tat they will be sacked and work for Poundworld?
It would be really great if someone takes a sample to bits before selling it in large scales. The sad part is, that there are people out there knowing that they sell crap and can't do anything about it because of costs. Planned obsolescence is another keyword. They don't sell parts that last forever on purpose.
I'd like to think the buyers know what they are doing, but I suspect they are not experts and rely upon the promises from Chinese OEMs. Maybe they've just been lucky.
More likely they tell the buying team that under no circumstances do they want to be in the papers and courtrooms because they sold a power supply that killed someone.
PETER GREEN I don't think any shop deliberately buys dangerous electricals from China. All look for CE approval, but that doesn't cover everything (and let's assume the CE conformity is genuine)
Hey Clive, have you considered putting some sort of crosshair or bullseye on the bench centered on the max zoom of the camera? Something like matte tape, a paper template, marker or using the guides on a cutting mat might work to keep yourself reassured that you're in frame.
22:00 I always wondered why I could feel a tingle whenever I lightly touched MacBooks when they were charging. No one else could feel it and they all thought I was insane. It was more pronounced on the 2015-19 gen MacBook airs but it is still there in almost all of the models. The same thing happened when I was charging an iPhone 4s(with a stainless steel band) with slightly higher than rated voltage, that time I dropped the phone. Thanks for clearing that up big Clive!
I've noticed it too. You're not insane. Maybe we're "sensitive". You're not supposed to feel an MRI but I definitely felt it (tingles) and could the describe the motion the operator was making.
JETJOOBOY I was just wondering how the hell they make any money selling those for a pound, was starting to suspect Poundland was a money laundering operation.
Why no split bobbin? In a low-cost supply like this where the auxiliary winding also provides voltage feedback, it's essential to have a very tight coupling between the auxiliary winding (which is actually the regulated output) and the main output (which is only "cross-regulated". If the coupling is poor, then the output regulation suffers. A split bobbin arrangement in a high frequency transformer probably may not give adequate coupling. If it was a power supply that truly regulated the main output (say, using an opto-coupler feedback arrangement), then it probably wouldn't matter so much.
I was going to buy one of these yesterday but thought "best check to see if BigClive has cracked one open yet" glad it's had the sign off from you, puts my mind to rest a little ☺️
Resistor across the power supply inductor is there to damp the inductor, so that it does not ring with applied transients, instead damping the energy away.
That looks a quality item, for the price, it's got the full 5 volt & a bit more output, I bought a similar one in Lidl a few months ago, which although it works OK, outputs 4.9 volts. On another thing, almost worth a testing video in itself is the varying quality of USB charging cables I've got loads ranging from OEM ones, pound shop ones, dearer ones and even a home made one, and they all have different charging times, particularly noticeable when charging a tablet at 2.1 amps, not so much with a phone.
I'm impressed with how a good bit of this Chinese manufacturing is going. Well designed "cheap and cheerful" instead of just "as cheap/crap as we can make it". The tiny big of extra $ is very much worth it. Now the question is how to tell the difference without having to buy stuff and tear it apart. I know there is UL and other testing/rating orgs, but they are so slow and expensive that a lot of even good manufacturers don't bother. Maybe Clive can do a "not a deathtrap" certification for them instead ;)
@@dariusz078 pretty much all switch mode power supplies/regulators generate rf 'noise' , some much more than others.... the samsung must have good filtering...
Agree, I googled the supplier and they look Kosher, they're still in business and have been since 2006. I have real admiration for people who can do "cheap and cheerful" when most will settle for "lowest possible price/highest profit, fuck it if people get killed." If their website is to be believed (who really knows?) they have gotten various certifications.
@@dariusz078Obviously a real Samsung or Apple charger is going to be superior, you get what you pay for, but selling to the end user at £2 and it not being a death hazard is pretty darn good in my books.
Excellent teardown thanks! I'm generally dubious about any mains powered from Poundland but that looks decent and I will fill my basket with confidence next time I'm in town. I'm unclear why the total leakage wasn't linear. You really don't expect the I/V gradient to reduce as V increases. The flasher flash testers can discriminate reactive from resistive current, but are rather pricey.
"Ooh that is tight, I'm bending my spudger" Aaaaand, demonetised. Thanks for the video, cheap but decent PSUs are always handy for projects involving RPi, little micros and the like.
@ Boring Old White Guy. Aye, that's true, but you don't normally stick a firecracker up its bottom and blow its brains out! LOL!! Hmm, "Bunny McPhee And The Big (Clive) Bang" - I know, let's make a movie about that...
As a semi-complete noob, I want to learn more about power supplies, and the components that make one up, including why components are placed where they are on a board, but I'm finding it rather difficult to find good explanations. Thanks for the videos though, I thoroughly enjoy watching them.
I imagine Signalex is whichever of five dozen different Chinese factories makes the lowest bid for each particular product. The manufacturing side speak very poor English going by the paperwork you sometimes get included. The "designer" might well be plans stolen from the bins round the back of somebody else's factory.
I see one issue with this one: the data pins on both sockets are shorted together. The USB battery charging spec says you short out the pins to indicate charger mode, but you definitely don't short the pins together between different sockets. That could confuse devices by connecting them together when you plug in two things at once (since they may use different sense mechanisms for the data pin state). I'd cut across and isolate those between the sockets.
Thanks for this. Picked up one of those chargers from Poundland last week and was a bit dubious about using it. Gingerly plugged in in yesterday holding at arms length in case it went bang :) It managed to charge a power bank for about 3 hours at 2.1 amp but it did get a bit hot (now I know why). Won't worry so much about using it again.
15:10 A little searching shows that the resistor in parallel with the inductor is supposed to dampen the filter's resonance. I suppose it's similar to the inductors-wrapped-around-load-sharing-resistors in audio power amplifiers with parallel MOSFETs at the output.
Clive, sorry if someone has already mentioned this but I think you are confused over the 'R2' at 14:25 because the left hand photo needs to be rotated 90 degrees to the right. I'm probably wrong as I know noting about electronics, just love your passion :-) .
JETJOOBOY More correct to say that the total output is 2A. But if a USB device is intelligent, it will limit it's current demand. Whereas a 'dumb' device may not limit it's current demand.
Yes, they do that by ramping up the amps until the voltage drops, then they go back a bit. This is not trivial to make and requires a microcontroller for charge control, so only expensive devices implement it.
I have an iPad Air 2 which will draw up to 2.1 amps on an official apple charger and some others. On this Signalex /Poundland 2.1 amp charger I can only draw 1Amp when using one usb socket. In tests, where at the time using apple’s 2.1Amp charger with single socket, it was drawing 1.6Amps at the charging phase that the iPad was in. So it looks while the charger will output 2.1 amps on spec, it will not output more than about 1 amp on each port, unfortunately. But it’s still useful because of its dual 1.1(?)amp output capabilities, but not that useful for charging a single beefier device quickly... a bit of a shame...
They make good stuff. I've had some of their Micro USB cables for about two years and none of them have become wonky like all the cheap cables I had inevitably did.
Lol. You sir know how to have a good time! I've just taken apart the best solar motion sense light ever... eating Mamba candy... drinking an ice cold coke with grenadine... and now watching Big Clive.
Great vid again big man. I just wanted to let you know i have ended up buying some stuff because you go into such depth. I have been stung so many times on cheap chinesium crap that i had almost stopped purchasing. These vids are so informative that they can swing it for me... Off to poundland to grab a couple of these. Good job!
Additionally, I'd imagine that the ones that do use "glue" are actually solvent welded rather than using anything that could be on its own called an adhesive.
Can you do a full usb power supply comparison amongst the top 10 models on Amazon - with outputs at varying load examined using an oscilloscope? Along with circuit design and decide quality/strength assesses?
These are £2 and I have used one for some time now without any problems at all. Good buy for £2 and the phone does charge a bit faster, maybe this is because the original charger gave up and I used another one that did not belong to the phone, the phone always complained it would charge faster if I used the charger that came with the phone (It is dead so it would never charge at all using it. lol) so I bought one of these. It still complained about it not being the charger that belongs to the phone, however, it does charge a lot faster. Can be used as a power supply for 5v at around one and a half amps, but one amp continuous. Nice one Poundland.
I'm at 23 wearing a sweater, but low humidity. 8.6 for an extended period would render my hands next to useless as they'd work in slow motion and no strength, let alone all the shivering and organs shutting down.
THX 1138 Maybe some people just don't like the cold? I'm a male and only weigh 135 pounds, the cold gets to me rather quickly as I have no insulating fat layer to protect me.
I opened up a USB PSU on the weekend that also had a very similar looking diode that also got quite hot. But the good news it they put a electrolytic capacitor across the top of it which was acting as a heat sink. The capacitor was looking a bit swollen, but it was doing an excellent job conducting the heat away from the diode.
Yes, and many of us in the States also use the phrase "brute force and ignorance". I've even worked at a couple places where it was abbreviated to "BFI".
I've only watched 70% of the video yet, but two things I already like: 1 you're not wearing any plasters so you've clearly been taking care recently and 2 the warranty void sticker on your flash tester has been cut through :-)
Nice presentation sir. One day in the not too distant future, all electronics will no longer have the high voltage AC input voltage and that will save the consumer a small fortune. And lives. The "DC Home" will become a reality. Central Smart Inverter and Smart HOME DC wiring / EMI appliances......
Admiral Preparedness Not going to happen anytime soon... Manufacturers have yet to take on board the suggestion of a universal power adapter "standard" voltage... The nearest we have is USB, but USB was intended only for computer peripherals.
Daniel I Which type of DC? Rectified AC (has a peak voltage 1.4 times the RMS value, similar to AC), or "smooth" DC (like from a battery, or regulated DC PSU). In telecommunications, a lot of equipment uses 48V to 55V DC supplies. In older exchanges, there are no safety insulation barriers.
Mark 1024MAK I'd rather touch a 240v AC supply than a 240v DC supply, AC pushes you away, DC pulls you in. Not only that but DC is much harder to switch mechanically as it arcs much worse. This would lead to premature failure of switches and plug/sockets. If you are talking about having an extra low voltage (12v for example) supply in the house, then this would either need MASSIVE conductors to supply household equipment or it would need to be a separate circuit in addition to the low voltage AC supply.
One of the ones I got just failed that I got less than a yr ago from Pundland. The case wasn't quite so easy to penetrate but I went in dry regardless, then prised the super-glued base (with no clips like Clive's). I initially thought I'd broken the wires connecting the L&N to the PCB but I realised that pointed strips were cleverly spot-welded to the Mains Pins on the back-panel, that fit snugly into 2 corresponding slots on the PCB, near where the wires are soldered on Clive's) The Slots are made 'Live' by the use of a small bridging wire soldered across each slot, that the pointed strips push against once the case is pushed back together. Mine has a seriously cooked Output Diode that has turned the PCB black with the prolonged heat. The Cap on the opposite side was ballooned and had leaked some of its life-blood. The square black insulator had been melted where it was next to the over-worked diode, Interestingly, the one I have lacks the white plastic divider, separating the _hot_ side from the _not so hot_ side. Its presently voltage and current limited but rather than pishing around and digging a large SMD replacement diode and Cap, it's destined for ze bin like so many things in this day and age, when electronics stuff gives up the ghost (magic smoke) its often destined for the bin - as the cost/effort to repair stuff invariably outweighs the price of new replacements. Still a good stable 5V 2A PSU for £2 quid!
I didn't mention.. the output diode had got so hot for so long that it had unsoldered itself at one end! I'd say by Clive's analysis with his Flir also suggests that it may be cause for concern @ the supplier/mfr. Clives looked like an overhead heat-map of Chernobyl with that diode so hot
The output diode is the weakness of this unit. It gets far too hot at the full rated current. The power supply is still ideal for single 1A loads or two low current loads.
@@bigclivedotcom I've just received an email back from Poundlands tech people wanting some images of the failed charger. I told them I wasn't looking for recompense but let them know about the excessively hot smd diode when under full load. Thanks Clive
Maybe you can just stick with "cheap shitty stuff" without saying "from China"? Since the good stuff (including most electronics we use, including big brands) also comes from China...
It's reference to coming directly from Chinese sellers on eBay, but you're right. I do sometimes correct myself. I've definitely nothing against the Chinese.
Well, wrong. If you do find a cheap shitty piece of electronica, chances are it's made in China. That country became synonymous with crappy plastic products that are mass produced with little to no care about quality and safety for the end user. True that it also produces the best there is as well, but that's besides the point. I'm sure that when he will review something expensive made in China, he will say the opposite, so shhh....
A vast majority of products coming from China ARE junk. It's just a fact. There are a couple cities where components are manufactured in China where they're actually quite good like bearings but they're an exception to the rule. I have friends from many parts of the country including regions of Asia and even they warn against buying full assembled products from China. Over here we have Harbor Freight - a huge hardware store chain (if you're not from here). 99% of their stuff comes from China. 75% of that is considered a disposable, one time use tool. Granted - they're stepping up their game finally and bringing in better stuff but their electronics are still from China and still mostly junk. Basic world trade economics, manufacture subpar products to offer a lower bulk price to other countries to compete with local companies while making better products within your own country for your citizens
01:05 going forward..... spits lager over keyboard and screen.... a brilliantly aside..!! Those who have bought from the outlets mentioned (also B&M) will appreciate the humour. Bringing a bit of sharp wit to electronics.... Subscribed!!
This type of input rectifier/filter arrangement is susceptible to mains voltage surges. A proper X rated filter capacitor and a common mode choke after that is far superior in keeping much of the surge away from the rectifier and electrolytic capacitor. At least they have the fusible resistor, without that series impedance there is no chance of passing even the lowest surge requirements.
I've had no luck with two of these so far. Neither seemed to want to throw power out of each port and down my USB-C cable. Possibly a bad batch in our local store or my S8 just hating them. Clive have you seen Poundland's wireless charger? I was contemplating it the other day, took to your channel but couldn't see if you'd ripped it's innards out, to see what makes it tick and if it's ticking correctly. So I err'ed on the side of caution and left it.
What an incredible amount of work is involved in making something that is sold at £2. I cannot help wonder how much of that transformer was built in an automated system and how much was done by hand. Which also makes me wonder how much the people who assembled the components and made the things got paid? Or more precisely did not get paid??
There is a 'maximum frequency' set by the slow rate at which the applied H field penetrates the core material, which determines whether the full inductance (caused by magnetizing all the volume of the core) is available. And, there is another 'maximum frequency' set by the losses, both magnetization hysteresis and eddy-current induced in the (slightly conductive) iron. At any given drive level, exceeding that maximum frequency will melt your wiring. Because iron is a nonlinear material, the only way to get useful data for power applications, is to experiment at high power drive. Such cores as these may be used for filtering (where 'power loss' is a good thing), or resonators (where 'power loss' is a bad thing), or transformers (where 'power loss' depends on the output impedance as much as on the core). The core, as such, doesn't have any hard maximum frequency of usability.
hey clive, I have one of them variable load testers, pretty much the same one but its a revision. They now make them with the tester displays built in. best part is, it also has both watt hr measurements and input resistance. Mines got got pretty much every usb port from mini to type c reverisble, even has an apple thunderbolt connector. only paid 8 bucks for mine. (little under 6 pounds for you folk.)
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Poundland should approach Clive to put a graphic on its electrical items of BIG CLIVE APPROVED,,,Clive could make MILLIONS
it's a lot snappier than 'We dont sell illegal stuff'
They already have Charlie Dimmock for their Garden items. I wonder if she uses them in her own garden.
And Tommy Walsh for DIY items - while Waitrose have snapped up the third member of the Ground Force trio (probably as he's a bit more high profile than Charlie and Tommy, having done lots of other TV work).
mittfh Tommy has left the building, he's been replaced with snazzy phrases like "stick it" for the cyanoacrylate "stick with it" for glue sticks and "bond together" for the epoxy( which no longer comes with a strong clip,but are available separately)
Choose your own daft reply:
1/ "Mmm... nice dimmocks!"
2/ "An Excellent product" - Chef Excellence
Hey Clive,
I just wanted to say a big thank you for making these videos.
Without going into details, your videos are so calming for me.
You may not be aware, but your work is so much more than just merely being a source of information.
Thanks a million.
Hi Calum, a few people have mentioned that my videos have a therapeutic effect. I'm glad I can help.
Yes BigClive, Bob Ross of Electronics 🙌
I would agree with this, I have a few youtubers I can put on and just calm and soak things in, Clive is one. LGR is another for example
@@raginranga3494that’s such a good comparison holy shit
It's actually quite reassuring to know that there is Clive out here in the real world, taking things apart, not just for our entertainment, but also for our safety - definitely deserves a big TU for his efforts.
I honestly though, when Clive started on about insulation testing, that he would whip out a good old Megger, or at least a Robin - Oh, no, let's not just test the insulation, let's get out a Metrohm and try to execute it instead, and it survived. Well done 'Poundland' and well done Clive.
Now, the jelly baby thing, I always decapitate mine before I eat the rest of the body, it seems the only human thing to do. Maybe it's a Scottish thing, I don't know, but my granny always told us that's the way it should be done "Bite its head off first, so that it doesn't suffer...." What a thing to teach a 3~4 year old! Glaswegians eh?
@Ryan Wiley Actually, on other websites it stands for "Thumbs Up". It means the same thing when all is said and done, but hey-ho.
Bloody brilliant old bean, yours was, for once, a reply that was actually readable in one pass. Without punctuation and capitalisation, and all that goes with it, text is meaningless if it just rambles endlessly without natural breaks and pauses.
As a student in biomedical engineering I can tell you why the split-bobbin is still used. In medical equipment that can be electrically connected to the patient, the leakage current through the patient must not exceed 10 microamps through the heart, or 30 through everything else. That will be very difficult to achieve unless you go out of your way to reduce capacitive coupling to the mains. As such a Y-class cap will generally be omitted, I reckon. In fact, some less sophisticated or older equipment will run on battery power and be disabled while charging, because of this. There's a lot to say about medical equipment. Not just safety, but properly measuring stuff as well, because it's sometimes not as straightforward as you'd think.
I have a degree in electrical engineering. And programming and physics I study sciences and medicine histology histopathology cytology forensic pathology diagnostic medicine biomedical bone sciences ect. I use andunio boards with shield boards to do ecg and the sensors. For spo2. Ect I like the spo2. Pulse ox ect and ones for blood sugar test
@@steuk6510 How come someone as clever as you has not yet mastered the use of the comma?
@@johnm2012 When he's that smart he doesn't write his posts, he has plebs write his posts for him!
@M Harris 🤣😂
@@johnm2012 I would assume their main language is a different language, which makes sense if you take a second to consider before posting a comment.
I actually really like the slight bump in voltage as the current rose. Pushing 2A through a USB lead means its probably not going to be 5v by the end unless you bump the source up a bit.
Luke Den Hartog Yes, that is very important. I wish, that every charger did that. If a smartphone senses a voltage drop, while it is charging it is going to lower its current draw, becase it thinks, that the charger can't handle it. There are too many chargers that can't even hold 5V at over 1A.
Many of the primary side sensing ICs have cable compensation built in these days, but what do you set it for if you do not know which USB cable might be used?
stefantrethan IMHO linear increase from 5V at 0A to 5.3-5.4V at 2A. I think this is the best way. Even the best USB cables drop 0.3-0.4 at 2 A.
Blatt Ferenc Yeah, just one problem. If you have a power hungry device and a low power device both plugged in at the same time, the low power device will get the higher voltage. Which it may not like...
Now if USB leads were made of decent sized copper conductors, there would be less volt drop.
Mark 1024MAK I can't think of any USB device, that gets damaged by 5.3V. That has to be within tolerance.
The resistor in parallel to the inductor is for damping. Otherwise, the inductor together with those capacitors may become a resonant circuit. CLC network is good for EMI suppression, but it has its resonant frequency, so it is good to add a resistor to bring the Q down.
DiodeGoneWild Makes it more of a shelf filter too, doesnt it?
Even more saaaaaaaaalllttt. :D
hi DGW love your vids
Not ONLY so. Turning AC power on (or plugging the unit in the socket), the inrush to an empty capacitor through the choke builds up higher than continuous current. Next the AC voltage decays, but the choke drives current in the same direction. That results in as much as DOUBLE voltage at the capacitor without some sort of mitigation like the resistor.
My favourite electronic engineers bigclive eletroboom diodegonewild and photonics induction you guys are awesome I watch all the time diode your funny but you need to do more funny stuff keep up the grate work guys
This USB power supply is worth every bit of two quid.
1 amp per pound
Prehistoricman no 1.05 amp per£1
Is the Guinea Amp the post Brexit unit of current?
There was no c in a British shilling.
Guineas are originally what you would pay solicitors in. A pound for the solicitor and a shilling for his clerk. Or some multiple of that.
Also a way of overcharging posh people by making them think it's a special high class rich-persons price.
It deserves every minute .... Brilliant
Lol - comes with a Tom minder!!! When my graddad's oldest brother Tom was about 18 months old he'd be left outside on the pavement in a playpen to enjoy the sun (you could do that in 1909). To keep him quiet Great gran would dip a feather in treacle and hand it to Tom. He'd spend many a happy hour trying to put the feather down!!! Watching you with the sticky thing - it was like being there .... :D
16:44 the silk screen says R10 R9 R8 C4, it seems they have put a resistor in place of the capacitor
Never thought I'd see you outside your channel.
They both end with "r", it'll be fine.
Can you do the high-voltage test with the shitty pink one?
That would be AWESOME!
I wanna see it explode!
@@tmdrake I think that is the "burn" setting.
I love the way you talk and explain stuff like ".. they quite often just blow the lid off with a massive bang, usually in the middle of the night when people are sleeping just to wake them up and terrify them..". literally haven't found other channels like this.
I prefer to nibble jelly babies from the toes up. If you listen very carefully you can hear their little jelly screams..............
Some of us down in the SW also eat them head first.
I quickly cut their heads off first to avoid causing them any unnecessary pain.
I want to hear them scream from inside my stomach
Considering these are 2 quid and allows for a reasonable profit, think how much people buying iPhone usb chargers are being conned out of.
Still made for about 22P like the 2 quid one's.
But... but.. they are magically made with innovative industrial design.. And no doubt aircraft aluminium something or other.
In reality.. From the tear downs at least, Apple have comically over engineered them. And then shoved them into a tiny plug for the faithful to buy for stupid money.
I wonder how many times you actually hear someone saying “I’m bending my spudger” on RUclips? 😂
I mean if you're watching a channel that disassembles electronics....not too uncommon
how often do they say "uhh, that's tight" just before? ;p
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's always thought "spudger" sounded immensely sexual
Not on RUclips but maybe on RedTu-
Well, how often do you hear "screwdrivers are good for impaling people" on youtube? (Literally the next phrase)
6:29 - "And I'll even try to stay in shot as a special treat..." Don't worry Clive. From all of your videos I've watched you are by far the BEST at staying in shot AND in focus compared to other RUclips video posters.
Seems like it is well made and as the draw increased the voltage regulation worked well as it increased voltage as the load wen't up. Very good.
It is reassuring when someone with your working knowledge has been over some operation/safety aspects of a device. This is a honourable service you provide here. Interesting and humorous aswell. Thank you Big Clive.
My father bricked my 500w PC PSU by charging his E-ciggy via the USB port whilst the PC was off ! Or that is my theory as A. I always blame him and B. As the PSU cooling fan would not be in operation whilst the computer was not running although the USB ports would still be live allowing him to charge. I'm guessing, after seeing your testing, that overheating was the problem which I'd already theorised that it might have been. I've kept the unit as it was a good PSU and now you've simplified that circuitry I might try to find a similiar diode in it for testing.
Thanks again.
I think it's more to do with either an old stressed PSU, or your father's E-Cig battery was faulty. Cheap e-cig batteries have been known to draw too much current, catch fire. The fact your PSU fan was off is irrelevant, that only runs under full power on. The USB ports on a computer can normally only supply 500mA unless it's a special charge port which still only gives out up to 2A. The 5v rail on your PSU can output 20A maximum, so if your PC is off you still wouldn't come close to overloading it with a USB device.
I'd test the output capacitors on your PSU, they are usually at fault on SMPS's, especially cheap ones.
Minor correction, the Main 3.3v / 5v / 12v rails of the PSU are NOT Powered when the machine is "Off". The only rail that remains on is the "5VSB" (5V StandBy) rail, which is only ever rated at a few amps on PSU's and the cheaper ones tend to be less, say 2A or so, where as more expensive PSU's such as Seasonic and Superflower tend to be around say 4-6A or more, So if you have a machine with a cheap PSU turned off, and charging USB devices from it then you may be overloading the 5VSB rail.
Dont forget that even though the machine is "Off" certain things are still powered from the 5VSB rail if its plugged in and receiving power, including things like the NIC's so that you can wake up the machine remotely, and the Ram if the machine is in "POS" (Power off Suspend). Combine that with USB loads and you have a chance to overload the 5VSB rail.
A proper PSU should have protection on the 5VSB rail, and it should shut down that rail if its overloaded like it would the main rails, but with cheap PSU's you dont always know what your getting.
I saw these in my local Poundland, but thought “Aah, I’ll wait for Clive to blow it up or say it’s excellent before I buy one. Clive likes the Poundland shit” :D
Clive, thanks for doing this. I would never have bought one of these from Poundland but now I will
Winding on a single bobbin reduces losses, and it is also quite common for a split primary half in the centre and the other half on the outside with the secondaries between again to reduce losses and leakage inductance.
I’ve bought 5 of these already because of your review !
Keep reviewing Poundland items
I always buy things you recommend
Those FLIR lenses are superb!
Mike's wish for a field-attachable macro lens came true. it only took a few years for the rest of the internet to catch on. XD
Bought two of these yesterday on the strength of this brilliant review. Clive does it again!!
I'm looking forward to seeing some cheap shitty stuff tested with that flash tester.
Well after seeing the doctor and him telling me I have to exercise minimum 30 minutes per day ( no alcohol), I found this vid extremely useful to while away the time. 35 minutes sped by so I shall be eeking out your vids on a daily basis for now on. I bought a blood pressure monitor from the pharmacy (battery wrist type) however it doesn't give as high a result as the hospital one. I'll have to investigate how to synchronise but maybe cannot. I thought a breakdown on one of these would be interesting. Thanks, I am continuing to make slight headway with my electronics learning but still at false beginner level!
UK sockets were specifically engineered to blow up things in the middle of the night when people sleep to scare them :D
Well that way the germans would not know what to do.
Well that raised the bar...... excellent work. Loved the longer format.
32:40 I'm reasonably sure the lack of split bobbins in switchmode transformers is due to superior magnetic coupling between the windings, when they're overlaid. That's far less of an issue in iron mains transformers, which is why you'll see split bobbins / windings there.
Khron's Cave I remain to be convinced. The magnetic field is induced in the transformer core. Then the collapsing magnetic field induces current in the (secondary) windings.
I stand to be corrected, of course. And for what it's worth, from what i've seen, CCFL inverter transformers seem to usually have split-bobbin windings, despite operating at high frequencies.
I bought one yesterday. Clive reviews today. I should really have waited for Clives seal of approval! But very happy!
I'm so used to SignalX meaning crap on Ashens, I'm surprised.
Within in only 60 seconds of a Poundland £2 power supply video, this guy establishes himself as quite a character.
The silk-screen for the resistor ladder alleges the end component is a capacitor (C4) - so maybe that elusive capacitor is hiding in there, disguised as a resistor.
One of the un-intended benefits of lockdown; you don't mind loosing a day to watching Clive's library of content.
Still browsing and enjoying it.
Do you think Poundland tell the buying team to check all electrical stuff is going to be BigClive approved and if they buy anyole tat they will be sacked and work for Poundworld?
They just send the nice ones to the store that Big Clive shops at.
It would be really great if someone takes a sample to bits before selling it in large scales.
The sad part is, that there are people out there knowing that they sell crap and can't do anything about it because of costs.
Planned obsolescence is another keyword. They don't sell parts that last forever on purpose.
I'd like to think the buyers know what they are doing, but I suspect they are not experts and rely upon the promises from Chinese OEMs. Maybe they've just been lucky.
More likely they tell the buying team that under no circumstances do they want to be in the papers and courtrooms because they sold a power supply that killed someone.
PETER GREEN I don't think any shop deliberately buys dangerous electricals from China. All look for CE approval, but that doesn't cover everything (and let's assume the CE conformity is genuine)
What a relief, I just bought four of these last week and was hoping they would be ok!
Hey Clive, have you considered putting some sort of crosshair or bullseye on the bench centered on the max zoom of the camera? Something like matte tape, a paper template, marker or using the guides on a cutting mat might work to keep yourself reassured that you're in frame.
He can use the burn marks as reference point.
He has. It wasn't good, I recall everyone complained about it.
I was just thinking that actually.
22:00 I always wondered why I could feel a tingle whenever I lightly touched MacBooks when they were charging. No one else could feel it and they all thought I was insane. It was more pronounced on the 2015-19 gen MacBook airs but it is still there in almost all of the models. The same thing happened when I was charging an iPhone 4s(with a stainless steel band) with slightly higher than rated voltage, that time I dropped the phone. Thanks for clearing that up big Clive!
I've noticed it too. You're not insane. Maybe we're "sensitive". You're not supposed to feel an MRI but I definitely felt it (tingles) and could the describe the motion the operator was making.
I'm saving up for one of these.......
They aren't a Pound.......🙇
JETJOOBOY I was just wondering how the hell they make any money selling those for a pound, was starting to suspect Poundland was a money laundering operation.
Maciej Pociecha now there's a theory...
How the heck they make them for £2 and such good quality...love to see a British Company make just the Pcb for that price..
A currency manipulating communist government utilizing slave labor.
DetroitDiesel671 Hmmm, could be.... Could be!
Or just a Loss leader as the sell Ibuprofen for 3 times what Aldi do...
That's impressive. Thanks Clive.
Why no split bobbin? In a low-cost supply like this where the auxiliary winding also provides voltage feedback, it's essential to have a very tight coupling between the auxiliary winding (which is actually the regulated output) and the main output (which is only "cross-regulated". If the coupling is poor, then the output regulation suffers. A split bobbin arrangement in a high frequency transformer probably may not give adequate coupling. If it was a power supply that truly regulated the main output (say, using an opto-coupler feedback arrangement), then it probably wouldn't matter so much.
I was going to buy one of these yesterday but thought "best check to see if BigClive has cracked one open yet" glad it's had the sign off from you, puts my mind to rest a little ☺️
Resistor across the power supply inductor is there to damp the inductor, so that it does not ring with applied transients, instead damping the energy away.
That looks a quality item, for the price, it's got the full 5 volt & a bit more output, I bought a similar one in Lidl a few months ago, which although it works OK, outputs 4.9 volts. On another thing, almost worth a testing video in itself is the varying quality of USB charging cables I've got loads ranging from OEM ones, pound shop ones, dearer ones and even a home made one, and they all have different charging times, particularly noticeable when charging a tablet at 2.1 amps, not so much with a phone.
I'm impressed with how a good bit of this Chinese manufacturing is going. Well designed "cheap and cheerful" instead of just "as cheap/crap as we can make it". The tiny big of extra $ is very much worth it.
Now the question is how to tell the difference without having to buy stuff and tear it apart. I know there is UL and other testing/rating orgs, but they are so slow and expensive that a lot of even good manufacturers don't bother. Maybe Clive can do a "not a deathtrap" certification for them instead ;)
It is not a good charger. It make huge noise to FM radio. My Samsung charger does not do that. Samsung is real technology, not this piece of junk.
@@dariusz078 pretty much all switch mode power supplies/regulators generate rf 'noise' , some much more than others.... the samsung must have good filtering...
and also depends on the switching frequency
Agree, I googled the supplier and they look Kosher, they're still in business and have been since 2006. I have real admiration for people who can do "cheap and cheerful" when most will settle for "lowest possible price/highest profit, fuck it if people get killed." If their website is to be believed (who really knows?) they have gotten various certifications.
@@dariusz078Obviously a real Samsung or Apple charger is going to be superior, you get what you pay for, but selling to the end user at £2 and it not being a death hazard is pretty darn good in my books.
Excellent teardown thanks! I'm generally dubious about any mains powered from Poundland but that looks decent and I will fill my basket with confidence next time I'm in town.
I'm unclear why the total leakage wasn't linear. You really don't expect the I/V gradient to reduce as V increases. The flasher flash testers can discriminate reactive from resistive current, but are rather pricey.
"Ooh that is tight, I'm bending my spudger"
Aaaaand, demonetised.
Thanks for the video, cheap but decent PSUs are always handy for projects involving RPi, little micros and the like.
Rather pleased that I picked up one of these last year now.
It's no different than with chocolate bunnies at easter. You ALWAYS start by eating the ears first. Then the face and head.
Your a sick man.
But when do you insert the pyros?
+Charlie Dobbie Poor Mr Bun-bun
@ Boring Old White Guy. Aye, that's true, but you don't normally stick a firecracker up its bottom and blow its brains out! LOL!!
Hmm, "Bunny McPhee And The Big (Clive) Bang" - I know, let's make a movie about that...
We had a cat that are bunnies that way and often left the meaty legs.
As a semi-complete noob, I want to learn more about power supplies, and the components that make one up, including why components are placed where they are on a board, but I'm finding it rather difficult to find good explanations. Thanks for the videos though, I thoroughly enjoy watching them.
25:31 "I could just poke this in the circuit board and ya know... EHHHH" 😂
Unboxings with Big Clive become rather violent, per usual. Entertaining as always,
That charger is about as tight as my first girlfriend...
... and she bent my spudger.
She bent your spudger, did she?
That's what you get for trying to copy the Kama Sutra. 😀
Mark Giblin you luck sod!
Thankyou Clive for your very informative and interesting videos - cheers Peter.
I'm pretty sure by now that the people who design for Signalex are now watching your videos and learning how they are fucking up so bad :p
I imagine Signalex is whichever of five dozen different Chinese factories makes the lowest bid for each particular product. The manufacturing side speak very poor English going by the paperwork you sometimes get included.
The "designer" might well be plans stolen from the bins round the back of somebody else's factory.
I see one issue with this one: the data pins on both sockets are shorted together. The USB battery charging spec says you short out the pins to indicate charger mode, but you definitely don't short the pins together between different sockets. That could confuse devices by connecting them together when you plug in two things at once (since they may use different sense mechanisms for the data pin state). I'd cut across and isolate those between the sockets.
Thanks for this. Picked up one of those chargers from Poundland last week and was a bit dubious about using it. Gingerly plugged in in yesterday holding at arms length in case it went bang :) It managed to charge a power bank for about 3 hours at 2.1 amp but it did get a bit hot (now I know why). Won't worry so much about using it again.
15:10 A little searching shows that the resistor in parallel with the inductor is supposed to dampen the filter's resonance. I suppose it's similar to the inductors-wrapped-around-load-sharing-resistors in audio power amplifiers with parallel MOSFETs at the output.
They have jelly babies in Portugal, I forget the name. I've spent a lot more than £2 on a USB power supply that was nowhere near as good as this one.
Clive, sorry if someone has already mentioned this but I think you are confused over the 'R2' at 14:25 because the left hand photo needs to be rotated 90 degrees to the right. I'm probably wrong as I know noting about electronics, just love your passion :-) .
Am I correct in saying that it will put out 1 Amp per USB port when charging 2 gadgets simultaneously?
Depends on the devices, they might also draw 1.5A and 0.5A.
JETJOOBOY More correct to say that the total output is 2A. But if a USB device is intelligent, it will limit it's current demand. Whereas a 'dumb' device may not limit it's current demand.
Yes, they do that by ramping up the amps until the voltage drops, then they go back a bit. This is not trivial to make and requires a microcontroller for charge control, so only expensive devices implement it.
anlumo1 well it is £2 😊 top end poundland ha ha...
I have an iPad Air 2 which will draw up to 2.1 amps on an official apple charger and some others. On this Signalex /Poundland 2.1 amp charger I can only draw 1Amp when using one usb socket. In tests, where at the time using apple’s 2.1Amp charger with single socket, it was drawing 1.6Amps at the charging phase that the iPad was in. So it looks while the charger will output 2.1 amps on spec, it will not output more than about 1 amp on each port, unfortunately. But it’s still useful because of its dual 1.1(?)amp output capabilities, but not that useful for charging a single beefier device quickly... a bit of a shame...
Very satisfying seeing the quality of insulation on that transformer, compared to some others you've taken apart.
Great video, as usual. Can you take apart an Anker 60W charger? That should be skookum as frig
I'm an Anker fan, and I second this! Would be a breath of fresh air to see the insides of a "unsurprisingly good" charger look like.
Ave,
They make good stuff. I've had some of their Micro USB cables for about two years and none of them have become wonky like all the cheap cables I had inevitably did.
Lol. You sir know how to have a good time!
I've just taken apart the best solar motion sense light ever... eating Mamba candy... drinking an ice cold coke with grenadine... and now watching Big Clive.
"Cuz we eat wee babies!"
You sounded too much like
*The Demoman*
you're the best. i love learning what i can from your videos. thank you.
Alternative title: _"Old man eats edibles while trying to retro-engineer a Poundland smarphone charger."_
Great vid again big man. I just wanted to let you know i have ended up buying some stuff because you go into such depth. I have been stung so many times on cheap chinesium crap that i had almost stopped purchasing. These vids are so informative that they can swing it for me... Off to poundland to grab a couple of these. Good job!
They don't use glue for the most part on plastic cases, the word your looking for is ultrasonically welded.
Additionally, I'd imagine that the ones that do use "glue" are actually solvent welded rather than using anything that could be on its own called an adhesive.
"the word your looking for is ultrasonically welded". That's two words, lol. And it's "you're" not "your", hehe
Dear Clive, You are rather lucky to have such a good Poundland. The 2 by me only do the one amp power supply.
Clive, when you say the plug is red, I would say it looks orange. Pillar box red or even RUclips red, it is not. :)
Dave Lennon-Copeland Life is mauve, I am orange. Hic hac hoc.
Dave Lennon-Copeland Colour is in the eye of the beholder... but it's close enough to red for me 😜
Mark 1024MAK - I get ya... maybe it is his new lighting that makes the colours look out.
NEVER trust orangg
Who Nose - Mauve is a nice colour too! :)
Can you do a full usb power supply comparison amongst the top 10 models on Amazon - with outputs at varying load examined using an oscilloscope?
Along with circuit design and decide quality/strength assesses?
A low cost charger shootout would be so cool!
Are we still doing phrasing?
bdot02 Yes, for fun and profit! We just quit doing Archer.
These are £2 and I have used one for some time now without any problems at all. Good buy for £2 and the phone does charge a bit faster, maybe this is because the original charger gave up and I used another one that did not belong to the phone, the phone always complained it would charge faster if I used the charger that came with the phone (It is dead so it would never charge at all using it. lol) so I bought one of these. It still complained about it not being the charger that belongs to the phone, however, it does charge a lot faster. Can be used as a power supply for 5v at around one and a half amps, but one amp continuous.
Nice one Poundland.
5:15 - 5:45 ...Clives first Bra removal experience.
APPROVED - nice thorough review! (as usual)
>8.6c room temperature
I'm at 23 wearing a sweater, but low humidity. 8.6 for an extended period would render my hands next to useless as they'd work in slow motion and no strength, let alone all the shivering and organs shutting down.
Not interested, thanks for your interest anyway
South Spain, been around that for weeks. So much for global warming.
THX 1138 Maybe some people just don't like the cold? I'm a male and only weigh 135 pounds, the cold gets to me rather quickly as I have no insulating fat layer to protect me.
Scotland
I opened up a USB PSU on the weekend that also had a very similar looking diode that also got quite hot. But the good news it they put a electrolytic capacitor across the top of it which was acting as a heat sink. The capacitor was looking a bit swollen, but it was doing an excellent job conducting the heat away from the diode.
Can it supply the full 2.1A to each usb socket at the same time or does it split the 2.1A across the sockets when two devices are plugged in.
The two ports are completely commoned, so the 2.1A he got from one port will be the max you can get from the supply in total.
Bought one of these purely based on this video, sponsorship should be in place
You can get Jelly Babies in the US - and we're hardly dignified ;).
Yes, and many of us in the States also use the phrase "brute force and ignorance". I've even worked at a couple places where it was abbreviated to "BFI".
I've only watched 70% of the video yet, but two things I already like: 1 you're not wearing any plasters so you've clearly been taking care recently and 2 the warranty void sticker on your flash tester has been cut through :-)
Jelly bebes
They are £2 from Poundland, I bought a few of them, great very informative video.
Nice presentation sir. One day in the not too distant future, all electronics will no longer have the high voltage AC input voltage and that will save the consumer a small fortune. And lives. The "DC Home" will become a reality. Central Smart Inverter and Smart HOME DC wiring / EMI appliances......
Admiral Preparedness Not going to happen anytime soon... Manufacturers have yet to take on board the suggestion of a universal power adapter "standard" voltage...
The nearest we have is USB, but USB was intended only for computer peripherals.
Since when is DC safe? DC is much more dangerous than the equivalent AC voltage.
Daniel I Which type of DC? Rectified AC (has a peak voltage 1.4 times the RMS value, similar to AC), or "smooth" DC (like from a battery, or regulated DC PSU).
In telecommunications, a lot of equipment uses 48V to 55V DC supplies. In older exchanges, there are no safety insulation barriers.
Mark 1024MAK I'd rather touch a 240v AC supply than a 240v DC supply, AC pushes you away, DC pulls you in.
Not only that but DC is much harder to switch mechanically as it arcs much worse. This would lead to premature failure of switches and plug/sockets.
If you are talking about having an extra low voltage (12v for example) supply in the house, then this would either need MASSIVE conductors to supply household equipment or it would need to be a separate circuit in addition to the low voltage AC supply.
The most dangerous kind of DC is Washington DC
One of the ones I got just failed that I got less than a yr ago from Pundland. The case wasn't quite so easy to penetrate but I went in dry regardless,
then prised the super-glued base (with no clips like Clive's). I initially thought I'd broken the wires connecting the L&N to the PCB but I realised that pointed strips were cleverly spot-welded to the Mains Pins on the back-panel, that fit snugly into 2 corresponding slots on the PCB, near where the wires are soldered on Clive's) The Slots are made 'Live' by the use of a small bridging wire soldered across each slot, that the pointed strips push against once the case is pushed back together. Mine has a seriously cooked Output Diode that has turned the PCB black with the prolonged heat. The Cap on the opposite side was ballooned and had leaked some of its life-blood. The square black insulator had been melted where it was next to the over-worked diode, Interestingly, the one I have lacks the white plastic divider, separating the _hot_ side from the _not so hot_ side. Its presently voltage and current limited but rather than pishing around and digging a large SMD replacement diode and Cap, it's destined for ze bin like so many things in this day and age, when electronics stuff gives up the ghost (magic smoke) its often destined for the bin - as the cost/effort to repair stuff invariably outweighs the price of new replacements. Still a good stable 5V 2A PSU for £2 quid!
I didn't mention.. the output diode had got so hot for so long that it had unsoldered itself at one end! I'd say by Clive's analysis with his Flir also suggests that it may be cause for concern @ the supplier/mfr. Clives looked like an overhead heat-map of Chernobyl with that diode so hot
The output diode is the weakness of this unit. It gets far too hot at the full rated current. The power supply is still ideal for single 1A loads or two low current loads.
@@bigclivedotcom I've just received an email back from Poundlands tech people wanting some images of the failed charger. I told them I wasn't looking for recompense but let them know about the excessively hot smd diode when under full load. Thanks Clive
Maybe you can just stick with "cheap shitty stuff" without saying "from China"? Since the good stuff (including most electronics we use, including big brands) also comes from China...
It's reference to coming directly from Chinese sellers on eBay, but you're right. I do sometimes correct myself. I've definitely nothing against the Chinese.
Tom I think you blew a fuse buddy ...Big Clive is right to say from China since the stuff he buys IS FROM FUCKING CHINA !
Tom De Mulder tell all the British workers that when they face redundancy from all the shit flooding great Britain
Well, wrong. If you do find a cheap shitty piece of electronica, chances are it's made in China. That country became synonymous with crappy plastic products that are mass produced with little to no care about quality and safety for the end user. True that it also produces the best there is as well, but that's besides the point. I'm sure that when he will review something expensive made in China, he will say the opposite, so shhh....
A vast majority of products coming from China ARE junk. It's just a fact. There are a couple cities where components are manufactured in China where they're actually quite good like bearings but they're an exception to the rule. I have friends from many parts of the country including regions of Asia and even they warn against buying full assembled products from China. Over here we have Harbor Freight - a huge hardware store chain (if you're not from here). 99% of their stuff comes from China. 75% of that is considered a disposable, one time use tool. Granted - they're stepping up their game finally and bringing in better stuff but their electronics are still from China and still mostly junk. Basic world trade economics, manufacture subpar products to offer a lower bulk price to other countries to compete with local companies while making better products within your own country for your citizens
As always, so informative.
Picked up a nice red one today! Cheers Clive!
01:05 going forward..... spits lager over keyboard and screen.... a brilliantly aside..!!
Those who have bought from the outlets mentioned (also B&M) will appreciate the humour.
Bringing a bit of sharp wit to electronics.... Subscribed!!
Watching this via Bluetooth speaker and iPad while lying in the bath drinking cherry brandy is the best 35 minutes of my week.
This type of input rectifier/filter arrangement is susceptible to mains voltage surges. A proper X rated filter capacitor and a common mode choke after that is far superior in keeping much of the surge away from the rectifier and electrolytic capacitor. At least they have the fusible resistor, without that series impedance there is no chance of passing even the lowest surge requirements.
Absolutely fascinating.
I've had no luck with two of these so far. Neither seemed to want to throw power out of each port and down my USB-C cable. Possibly a bad batch in our local store or my S8 just hating them.
Clive have you seen Poundland's wireless charger? I was contemplating it the other day, took to your channel but couldn't see if you'd ripped it's innards out, to see what makes it tick and if it's ticking correctly. So I err'ed on the side of caution and left it.
What an incredible amount of work is involved in making something that is sold at £2. I cannot help wonder how much of that transformer was built in an automated system and how much was done by hand. Which also makes me wonder how much the people who assembled the components and made the things got paid? Or more precisely did not get paid??
There is a 'maximum frequency' set by the slow rate at which the applied H field penetrates the core material, which determines whether the full inductance (caused by magnetizing all the volume of the core) is available. And, there is another 'maximum frequency' set by the losses, both magnetization hysteresis and eddy-current induced in the (slightly conductive) iron. At any given drive level, exceeding that maximum frequency will melt your wiring.
Because iron is a nonlinear material, the only way to get useful data for power applications, is to experiment at high power drive.
Such cores as these may be used for filtering (where 'power loss' is a good thing), or resonators (where 'power loss' is a bad thing), or transformers (where 'power loss' depends on the output impedance as much as on the core). The core, as such, doesn't have any hard maximum frequency of usability.
havng a wee sip during the course of every video makes them all the more entertaining.
Thanks Clive :)
Seen them in Poundland for a little while but debated whether I should get one. Think the answer is now yes :)
hey clive, I have one of them variable load testers, pretty much the same one but its a revision. They now make them with the tester displays built in.
best part is, it also has both watt hr measurements and input resistance.
Mines got got pretty much every usb port from mini to type c reverisble, even has an apple thunderbolt connector. only paid 8 bucks for mine. (little under 6 pounds for you folk.)
Clive is such a good watch, really knows his shit too!