I can't imagine what it's like for all those sad, helpless people who go through life not knowing how things work (generally speaking) and not even WANTING to know! Knowing how stuff works RULES!! Sharing that knowledge with someone who genuinely wants to understand it is EVEN BETTER!
@@Bob3519 Indeed! Perhaps to people who don't tend to know how things actually work, it all seems kind of like "magic." I guess that's why so many people can believe really stupid stuff, like homeopathy and free energy and what-not.
@@StubbyPhillips Caution. There is an old saying that goes: ignorance is bliss. It is impossible to know it all. Don't waste your life in this pursuit, because it is a trap. A trap for the mind. I don't know how a MRI works, but I know it saved my life. I know that someone else will know how it works when I need it.
As a retired professor of electrical engineering I can only sit at the feet of this wonderful natural teacher. I'm reading a biography of Kelvin and there are strong echoes of his introduction of experimental sessions in his Natural Philosophy course at Glasgow University in the 19th century. This video is marvellously clear and spoken with superb diction and a voice that should appeal to young and old alike. The economic and intellectual and practical importance of this material cannot be overstated.
Hello From the Western United states! You and Rex Garrod are are my all time hero's! The Secret Life series' are my all time favorites! Thank You So Much!
Thank you Tim: as a child I grew up watching your secret life series on PBS here in the states and for better or worse I am a tinkerer now because of how simple and logical you and Rex managed to break down all these seemingly complex machines. Today I am an artist who often has to make his own devices out of what's available to me and your new series is ever more educational and inspiring than the one I grew up on. I am going to make an attempt at wrangling my niece (she's 8, the same age I was back in the PBS days) to watch and be inspired the same way I was with your new videos. :-) Thank you for everything you do and I can't wait to someday visit your arcades.
Mr. Hunkin's the man I wish I lived next to growing up. I'm imagining Saturday morning finishing my breakfast and being almost unable to wait to run over to his house for that day's lesson in off-the-shelf "junk" science. I taught electronics principles in US Air Force aviation maintenance in 1982-83 using mock-ups & illustrations. Oh what I would have given for a room full of his collection of true teaching aids. The on-the-spot made nail + wire electromagnet: GENIUS; same/same for the solenoid. I'm now going to have to go back and enjoy every single video of his . . .
Thank you very much for the great shows and the great memories. I grew up watching your shows, we watched them over dinner as a family. Great memories that I cherish. Thank you!
Yes, Sir. Mr. Tim o grew up watching your show. I'm 61 on the 8th of 2024. Watching the. Secret Life Of Machines was like magic. Well, on the very special occasion, our TV could pick up LPB in Lafayette. Louisiana. God bless you and yours. Thank you for the many wonderful video logs you've given us..
Just when I thought these videos couldn't get any better, you just start playing music from the radio out of a bloody crisp packet in about as nonchalant of a manner as possible! I'm fairly familiar with speakers and the like, but this has just blown my mind!
Oh my god, back when we had hair on our heads...I too watched your series on TV in the UK all those years ago, nice to see you've continued to keep your hands in with all sorts of mech items.....appreciate your "new videos" on here, and glad I re-found you, best regards and thanks for sparking my interest in machinery and engineering all those years ago.....47 years now in the Injection Moulding maintenance trade....best wishes Tim....thankyou...
Hello Tim -- that was an excellent presentation on solenoids and relays - both myself and my Dad (RIP) are industrial electrical engineers and solenoids and relays were always part of our weekly schedule of works - my Dad taught me a lot about them -- sadly no longer with me - greetings from Ireland - Paul
I watched the entire video……incredible! Thank you for the explanation of the differences, strengths and limitations of each component. I will likely watch it several more times. Extremely good visual examples…..people learn by seeing things work. Thank you for your time making this video!
I remember when the original series went out on TV . It explained how all sorts of machines worked from radio to washing machines ! Why don't we have interesting program's like that these days ?
we are in the age of build it; buy it and throw it away. The days of build once and hold for years are over. Lots of people want to go back now but all through the 90's if you remember it was credit cards and use once items. Its sad but yeah I'm with your story wish it was different. It really started to take off with the Client administration.
I think y'all would get a real kick out of watching Mr. Louis Rossmann's videos right here on the good 'ol Utubez (RUclips). He is a truely awesome spokesman for the US Right to Repair movement, and he often makes videos about (new) products from Apple (and several other vendors of similar but also horridly difficult to repair products) all the while ranting about the bad design while (fruitlessly) offering design corrections to the manufacturers and ways to bypass and/or fix the product for consumers. He's currently screwdriver-deep into getting the individual US States to accept new Right to Repair legislation for both consumer and farm equipment. I really think you guys would like his videos, as he seems to be exactly our crowd (judging from you guys' comments and such), and especially is you use Apple products you *really ought to* watch his stuff! cheers guys, and I hope all you lads have a wonderful day!!
There are a lot of people on RUclips doing just this sort of thing. However the big corporations like Apple actively fight against people learning and tinkering. This is strange because Apple was started by Steve Jobs and Steve Woz who were big tinkers starting with Phone Freaking and moving on to microprocessors and the first Apple computer.
Huge fan of Tim here in the US. I remember watching Secret Life of Machines as a kid and I've recently rediscovered him on this channel. He is such a treasure! I hope to visit the UK soon and check out his arcades.
Omg I want to visit London now just to see all those magnificent machines lol. I love learning how things work but electrical components have always eluded me. I now understand how solenoids and relays work. Thank you!
Man, this brings back memories of "Machines". No one on earth makes learning so much fun while also being so relaxing at the same time as Tim. Pure therapy.
"Eddies," said Ford, "in the current." "Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he. Is he." ... "What?" said Ford. "Er, who," said Arthur, "is Eddie, then, exactly, then?" Ford looked angrily at him. "Will you listen?" he snapped. "I have been listening," said Arthur, "but I'm not sure it's helped." Unlike Ford, Tim, as usual, has explained everything with exceptional clarity. I really like how he doesn’t dumb things down too much, and you come away feeling you understand how things work and can be used, but he never takes for granted the basics either. Always a good mix of the fundamentals through to the nitty gritty. And the demos and illustrations really help. For example I’d heard many explanations of how sewing machines work, but could never visualize it, until I saw The Secret Life of Sewing Machines, and the human sewing machine bit. I have no interest in the subject, but that was an enjoyable video!
Awesome to see these videos. I am a machinist by trade, but I don't know much outside of my sphere of work. These videos as well as your excellent series has taught me a whole lot! Thanks for posting more of these.
Somehow it suddenly feels very wrong, this lack of a feature that would allow me to subscribe multiple times as the video unfolds... Great job! Thank you so much
Avoids the curse of knowledge and uses common terms that explains the principles of electromagnetism, to unknowledgeable people. This well crafted narration has no wasted words, and has great demonstrations, which makes the principals easy to understand. Even with my experience, this video improved my understanding of electromagnetism. Over all this a great video! And it is a pleasure to watch this wise teacher sharing his wisdom.
Thank you Tim for inspiring me as a kid. Watching your shows "The Secret Life Of xxxx" inspired me to become an engineer and has enabled me to travel the world installing and repairing industrial machinery which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am unable to create machines as I just don't have the creativity in me of which you have in abundance. Love your work and I am extremely happy to see you are still demonstrating electrical and mechanical principles which are so important to the youth of today.
"I found posh packets of crisps work better than cheaper ones...". I don't know why, but this comment aroused a burst of laughter and made my day! Tim, thank you for sharing your infectious joy of the things that make up our world!
Awesome. Ive been fixing cars forever. I never had a problem diagnosing, replacing, or rebuilding starters. I did not , however, fully understand the electrical path through a starter until now. The solenoid engages the gear...AND completes the circuit on the motor. Great video! The machines are incredible!
Tim, thank you again and again! One tip for enhancing the force of solenoids is to use the duty cycle to calculate the on time at higher voltages. Some manufacturers mention the pulse time with the maximum voltage you can use to do so. You can dramatically change the starting force as you shown and switch to a much lower level to maintain position. I once made a beer tap with a rotating solenoid at 8 times it's 100% duty cycle for 0,1s. Worked like a charm for many years (8 x 24VDC = 192 VDC). It only took 12 Volts to maintain position during pouring the glass full. Maybe another tip; for arc suppression on dc loads an antiparallel diode works great to catch the reversed high voltage and dissipate it into heat. All the best! Job
You can do this in a simpleton way by using a hefty MOSFET(Nowadays very cheap) and a capacitor for the initial kick. Charge the capacitor to a fairly high voltage trough a resistor. Connect the + of the cap to the low voltage by a diode. Connect the load between D and the + capacitor. S to gnd. The limitation is the time it takes to recharge the capacitor. Worked nicely for me to extend the useful pull stroke of solenoids. Also connect a back diode over the MOSFET if not included in the package, which it most often is nowadays.
This is great info presented absolutely clearly! I've been fascinated by electricity, electronics, and computers all my life and I still learned things in this video that I didn't even realize I didn't know. Like his offhand mention of why AC transformers have laminated layers of thin metal (to prevent eddy currents). Reed switches were used in old pipe organ pedalboards, relays in all sorts of vehicle electrical controls including turn signals. Many of these are now replaced by solid state substitutes like MOSFETS and Hall Effect Sensors, but basic principles remain.
Tim has posted a video about solenoids and relays, and I am anticipating as enjoyable a time as I believe I had upon first watching "the secret life of machines" for the very first time in 1988.
I wish I had all of your videos when I was in graduate school. They would have taught me so much about how to build and construct a lot of my lab equipment.
Great to see all those examples! We forgotten and forget how smart humans are to solve problems and everything we have now seems so usual but in fact it is not. Great examples of (analog) logic. There is one trick for young players here when using relais and solenoids, back EMF. Everything with a coil needs a flyback diode to dissipate the build up reverse high voltage when turning off the coil. For people that don't understand what I am talking about, google it. Just mention this, has nothing to do with the great content you provide. Great video and very entertaining the way you explain complex (for most people) things, a great teacher. Schools need this! Compliments.
The simplicity in which Tim explains and teaches just show how much he's a master at what he does!! This is just amazing!! Hats of to you Sir, may God bless you!🙏🏼
man im a 46 year old kid watching your video and an instant subscriber. i too have a bit of what others call junk i keep around that now i know a little more about and i know more about what isnt junk .
Tim I love the bit some time in the 1970's where you are showing the washing machine solenoid working (guess that makes you over 70 my friend!) Time flies...
Synchronome slave, Wow that big one is a monster. Wonderful unidentified mechanism from the pre digital era. That hard drive coil setup would make a lovely siesmometer pick up (the small one) Crisp packet loudspeaker, genius, best before date's getting on a bit. What a great two voltage solenoid with its own relay contacts. Pure pleasure to watch.
Your use of electronics is mesmerizing, but more so your creativity in the games you come up with. I pretty much understand many of the topics you cover, but the clear cut refresher is very useful. The Micro Break game is a hoot; NONE of the digital games today have anything on you! Simply clever beyond measure and thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.
This was great, Also it triggered so many memories. The first relay and solenoids I used as a kid were on my model railway layout. My first job was working for GEC General Signals designing railway fail safe relay circuits in the late 1970s. Going into the relay rooms full of massive relays was a sight to behold. I then went on to become an electronics design engineer that used all the devices you described until microprocessors became ubiquitous and high power solid state semiconductors now used in every EV. I was surprised how much I had forgotten in my now distant memories. TY.
Tim I’m 25 and live in Australia, I’ve watched all your videos and you are an absolute inspiration! I’ve always been a tinkerer since a very young age and I love your can do attitude and so long as it works that’s all it matters!
I am so glad you are still producing videos and doing well, from all appearances. I loved your original secret life series way back when. I can still remember your giant sewing machine demonstration, along with many others. You are an icon of makerdom.
Tim! I've loved your shows for decades! So glad you are still kicking! I have high regards for your approach to understanding! This is the way real engineering should be! I have lots to watch now! Thank you Thank you!!!
Just discovered this guy and I must say, THIS IS A DAMN TREASURE! The way in which the things are explained is so simple yet spot on with info it's a joy to watch and learn. And man my mind is on overdrive right now because I am a novice inventor and these things are exactly what I need because honestly my ADD get in my way when things get a bit overly boring (even if it's stuff I'm interested in) so yeah I love it. Just subscribed
Excellent video. There is an arcade on southwold pier, UK crammed with machines like this. So many great examples and you are cracking me up with your collection of solenoids and you compulsion to remove them from things - I am same with old compute bits and have 50 neodymium magnets, you remind me a bit of Norman Lovett, the bloke who is in the computer of Red Dwarf. This is great education too.
It does seem "old" to see relays and solenoids being used today with so much having been evolved to using things like solid state components & the like, but the sound of relays and solenoids doing their thing is just so pleasing, well, unless you're in a telephone exchange during their mechanical heyday... :)
Great learning demonstrations both informative and entertaining. Especially liked the different high power relay circuits useful for motor control. Keep up the great work.
An excellent episode. When I was in the workplace PLCs didn't exist, entire processs lines were controlled by cabinets full of relays that handled everything including time delays and responding to inputs. You got a free soundtrack that somehow made the machine all the more impressive with alll the clacking and clanking and the occasional contact flash. Marvellous stuff.
I remember a ‘Ladybird’ book that explained electromagnets and motors, with instructions for making your own, there was another book that covered pulleys and levers.
When I was a young guy here in Australia 1980, I was building custom panel vans. I had made a full back tailgate for my holden hj van and installed gas struts to hold it up when open.. I fitted a starter solenoid from a Mini Minor to a lock under the van, So I could open the back door from the driver's seat.. It worked well for 10 years. I was quoted $650. To have one supplied and fitted buy a car sparkie, I made mine for $5 and fitted it in 1hr.
For any young man or woman watching this series join the British Army as a REME technician! Now this might sound odd to some but the skills I learned there gave me the most wonderful life there and in civilian employment afterwards using all these techniques and being able to calculate them!
Thanks for this video, that remembered me when I was young I made a simple doorbell with an electromagnet and a sheet of metal it was so simple before studying Maxwell equations.
Thank you so much for this, Tim. This is what your fans and the world needed most right now. Love and respect. Hope to run into ya in San Francisco some time. Keep up the excellent work
Loving your videos, Tim. I work with PLCs, relays, and contactors on a daily basis (industrial electrician). As someone only recently (5 years) in the field, seeing the basics again is very good for embedding my learning. Thank you. My wife and I visited your installation at Southwold years before I trained as an electrician (and years before I knew of your channel here), and we really enjoyed it. I have a whole new level of appreciation for the automata now I know more about how they operate. I very much admire your work, and creativity.
I can't imagine what it's like for all those sad, helpless people who go through life not knowing how things work (generally speaking) and not even WANTING to know! Knowing how stuff works RULES!! Sharing that knowledge with someone who genuinely wants to understand it is EVEN BETTER!
I agree. Even watching magic . When I find out how the magic trick is done, I am usually just as impressed.
@@Bob3519 Indeed! Perhaps to people who don't tend to know how things actually work, it all seems kind of like "magic." I guess that's why so many people can believe really stupid stuff, like homeopathy and free energy and what-not.
@@StubbyPhillips Caution. There is an old saying that goes: ignorance is bliss. It is impossible to know it all. Don't waste your life in this pursuit, because it is a trap. A trap for the mind. I don't know how a MRI works, but I know it saved my life. I know that someone else will know how it works when I need it.
It's amazing how many of them there are. Don't know. Don't care. Leave me alone. Football is on.
@@tarstarkusz "The Greeks also invented a kind of theater for stupid people, known as _Sport._ " Philomena Cunk
As a retired professor of electrical engineering I can only sit at the feet of this wonderful natural teacher. I'm reading a biography of Kelvin and there are strong echoes of his introduction of experimental sessions in his Natural Philosophy course at Glasgow University in the 19th century. This video is marvellously clear and spoken with superb diction and a voice that should appeal to young and old alike. The economic and intellectual and practical importance of this material cannot be overstated.
I wouldn't object to his story's if he was my grandfather
Hello From the Western United states! You and Rex Garrod are are my all time hero's! The Secret Life series' are my all time favorites! Thank You So Much!
Thank you Tim: as a child I grew up watching your secret life series on PBS here in the states and for better or worse I am a tinkerer now because of how simple and logical you and Rex managed to break down all these seemingly complex machines. Today I am an artist who often has to make his own devices out of what's available to me and your new series is ever more educational and inspiring than the one I grew up on. I am going to make an attempt at wrangling my niece (she's 8, the same age I was back in the PBS days) to watch and be inspired the same way I was with your new videos. :-) Thank you for everything you do and I can't wait to someday visit your arcades.
Tim and Rex taught me most of what I know.
You need to grab a copy of Tim's book, "Almost Everything There Is To Know", it's utterly brilliant!
Mr. Hunkin's the man I wish I lived next to growing up. I'm imagining Saturday morning finishing my breakfast and being almost unable to wait to run over to his house for that day's lesson in off-the-shelf "junk" science. I taught electronics principles in US Air Force aviation maintenance in 1982-83 using mock-ups & illustrations. Oh what I would have given for a room full of his collection of true teaching aids. The on-the-spot made nail + wire electromagnet: GENIUS; same/same for the solenoid. I'm now going to have to go back and enjoy every single video of his . . .
Thank you very much for the great shows and the great memories. I grew up watching your shows, we watched them over dinner as a family. Great memories that I cherish. Thank you!
Tim is a real treasure of knowledge. I enjoy this series a lot
Thanks
That he is. Just wish Rex Garrod was with him.
Just found his video today ! I'm not sure how I missed this guy channel ?
Simply brilliant. I don't know if this guy is a qualified teacher, if not, he has a natural way of getting it across. Thanks very much.
How on earth have I never heard of this guy until today? What a gem!
Yes, Sir. Mr. Tim o grew up watching your show. I'm 61 on the 8th of 2024. Watching the. Secret Life Of Machines was like magic. Well, on the very special occasion, our TV could pick up LPB in Lafayette. Louisiana.
God bless you and yours. Thank you for the many wonderful video logs you've given us..
Brilliant video. I made an electro magnet & electric bell with my grandpa when I was a young boy & you've just brought the memories back.
Ooooo you're spoiling us Tim!!!
Ditto
Just when I thought these videos couldn't get any better, you just start playing music from the radio out of a bloody crisp packet in about as nonchalant of a manner as possible! I'm fairly familiar with speakers and the like, but this has just blown my mind!
Oh my god, back when we had hair on our heads...I too watched your series on TV in the UK all those years ago, nice to see you've continued to keep your hands in with all sorts of mech items.....appreciate your "new videos" on here, and glad I re-found you, best regards and thanks for sparking my interest in machinery and engineering all those years ago.....47 years now in the Injection Moulding maintenance trade....best wishes Tim....thankyou...
I thought this would be boring because it’s just relays and solenoids…. But I couldn’t stop watching! Thank you!
Hello Tim -- that was an excellent presentation on solenoids and relays - both myself and my Dad (RIP) are industrial electrical engineers and solenoids and relays were always part of our weekly schedule of works - my Dad taught me a lot about them -- sadly no longer with me - greetings from Ireland - Paul
I watched the entire video……incredible! Thank you for the explanation of the differences, strengths and limitations of each component. I will likely watch it several more times. Extremely good visual examples…..people learn by seeing things work. Thank you for your time making this video!
Thank goodness there's people like Tim in the world,real teaching without ego,brilliant and like affirming,
I remember when the original series went out on TV . It explained how all sorts of machines worked from radio to washing machines ! Why don't we have interesting program's like that these days ?
we are in the age of build it; buy it and throw it away. The days of build once and hold for years are over. Lots of people want to go back now but all through the 90's if you remember it was credit cards and use once items. Its sad but yeah I'm with your story wish it was different. It really started to take off with the Client administration.
It is much more important to know what the Kardashians are doing 😥
I think y'all would get a real kick out of watching Mr. Louis Rossmann's videos right here on the good 'ol Utubez (RUclips). He is a truely awesome spokesman for the US Right to Repair movement, and he often makes videos about (new) products from Apple (and several other vendors of similar but also horridly difficult to repair products) all the while ranting about the bad design while (fruitlessly) offering design corrections to the manufacturers and ways to bypass and/or fix the product for consumers. He's currently screwdriver-deep into getting the individual US States to accept new Right to Repair legislation for both consumer and farm equipment.
I really think you guys would like his videos, as he seems to be exactly our crowd (judging from you guys' comments and such), and especially is you use Apple products you *really ought to* watch his stuff!
cheers guys, and I hope all you lads have a wonderful day!!
There are a lot of people on RUclips doing just this sort of thing. However the big corporations like Apple actively fight against people learning and tinkering. This is strange because Apple was started by Steve Jobs and Steve Woz who were big tinkers starting with Phone Freaking and moving on to microprocessors and the first Apple computer.
@@wayland7150 Ahhh... BS.
From the U.S. never got to see you as a kid but I found you when I was grown and see you as close to a real wizard as there will ever be.
Greetings from Turkey to my father Tim Hunkin 🙏👏
Huge fan of Tim here in the US. I remember watching Secret Life of Machines as a kid and I've recently rediscovered him on this channel. He is such a treasure! I hope to visit the UK soon and check out his arcades.
Love this!! I’m making that electro magnet next weekend with my 7yo daughter….she’ll love doing it!!!
Wow, I very VERY rarely watch full videos of this length, but this was very entertaining!
Solenoids and Relays were always cool to me. This will be awesome!!!!!
Omg I want to visit London now just to see all those magnificent machines lol. I love learning how things work but electrical components have always eluded me. I now understand how solenoids and relays work. Thank you!
A visit to see your machines would justify a visit to the UK! Thanks for sharing. 😊
thank you for the time you have invested in making videos
Man, this brings back memories of "Machines". No one on earth makes learning so much fun while also being so relaxing at the same time as Tim. Pure therapy.
I love that the background carpet is still the same ~40 years later and the workshop has just grown around it.
"Eddies," said Ford, "in the current."
"Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he. Is he."
...
"What?" said Ford.
"Er, who," said Arthur, "is Eddie, then, exactly, then?"
Ford looked angrily at him.
"Will you listen?" he snapped.
"I have been listening," said Arthur, "but I'm not sure it's helped."
Unlike Ford, Tim, as usual, has explained everything with exceptional clarity. I really like how he doesn’t dumb things down too much, and you come away feeling you understand how things work and can be used, but he never takes for granted the basics either. Always a good mix of the fundamentals through to the nitty gritty. And the demos and illustrations really help. For example I’d heard many explanations of how sewing machines work, but could never visualize it, until I saw The Secret Life of Sewing Machines, and the human sewing machine bit. I have no interest in the subject, but that was an enjoyable video!
Awesome to see these videos. I am a machinist by trade, but I don't know much outside of my sphere of work. These videos as well as your excellent series has taught me a whole lot! Thanks for posting more of these.
To be able to stand at the elbow of a master craftsman and learn from his experience is a very valuable thing indeed. Thank you for sharing.
Somehow it suddenly feels very wrong, this lack of a feature that would allow me to subscribe multiple times as the video unfolds...
Great job! Thank you so much
Avoids the curse of knowledge and uses common terms that explains the principles of electromagnetism, to unknowledgeable people.
This well crafted narration has no wasted words, and has great demonstrations, which makes the principals easy to understand.
Even with my experience, this video improved my understanding of electromagnetism.
Over all this a great video!
And it is a pleasure to watch this wise teacher sharing his wisdom.
Thank you Tim for inspiring me as a kid. Watching your shows "The Secret Life Of xxxx" inspired me to become an engineer and has enabled me to travel the world installing and repairing industrial machinery which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am unable to create machines as I just don't have the creativity in me of which you have in abundance. Love your work and I am extremely happy to see you are still demonstrating electrical and mechanical principles which are so important to the youth of today.
"I found posh packets of crisps work better than cheaper ones...". I don't know why, but this comment aroused a burst of laughter and made my day! Tim, thank you for sharing your infectious joy of the things that make up our world!
APPRECIATED THE WAY YOU EXPLAINED IT PRACTICALLY. THE ONLY THING MISSING IS AN ELECTRIC BELL.
Wow! I never believed a 47 min video on solenoids and relays can be so interesting and enjoyable.
yes, given that it is just a coil and a piece of metal.
Awesome. Ive been fixing cars forever. I never had a problem diagnosing, replacing, or rebuilding starters. I did not , however, fully understand the electrical path through a starter until now. The solenoid engages the gear...AND completes the circuit on the motor. Great video! The machines are incredible!
Tim, thank you again and again! One tip for enhancing the force of solenoids is to use the duty cycle to calculate the on time at higher voltages. Some manufacturers mention the pulse time with the maximum voltage you can use to do so. You can dramatically change the starting force as you shown and switch to a much lower level to maintain position. I once made a beer tap with a rotating solenoid at 8 times it's 100% duty cycle for 0,1s. Worked like a charm for many years (8 x 24VDC = 192 VDC). It only took 12 Volts to maintain position during pouring the glass full. Maybe another tip; for arc suppression on dc loads an antiparallel diode works great to catch the reversed high voltage and dissipate it into heat. All the best! Job
You can do this in a simpleton way by using a hefty MOSFET(Nowadays very cheap) and a capacitor for the initial kick. Charge the capacitor to a fairly high voltage trough a resistor. Connect the + of the cap to the low voltage by a diode. Connect the load between D and the + capacitor. S to gnd. The limitation is the time it takes to recharge the capacitor. Worked nicely for me to extend the useful pull stroke of solenoids. Also connect a back diode over the MOSFET if not included in the package, which it most often is nowadays.
@@erikisberg3886 I did it exact like that too. Capacitor bank switched so series for the initial bang. I also limited it in time. Something like 0,1 s
WOW!!!! I NEED AN UNCLE LIKE THIS MAN!!! WAY TOO COOL!!!
This is great info presented absolutely clearly! I've been fascinated by electricity, electronics, and computers all my life and I still learned things in this video that I didn't even realize I didn't know. Like his offhand mention of why AC transformers have laminated layers of thin metal (to prevent eddy currents). Reed switches were used in old pipe organ pedalboards, relays in all sorts of vehicle electrical controls including turn signals. Many of these are now replaced by solid state substitutes like MOSFETS and Hall Effect Sensors, but basic principles remain.
Hello from San Antonio, TEXAS!
thanks for the video Tim, you showed the AC solenoid and it stands to reason you can get AC relays as well.
So nice to watch this class! Thank you kindly! Greetings from Brazil.
Greetings to you, my teacher, you have a wonderful way of analyzing things. I wish you good health and wellness
Tim has posted a video about solenoids and relays, and I am anticipating as enjoyable a time as I believe I had upon first watching "the secret life of machines" for the very first time in 1988.
I wish I had all of your videos when I was in graduate school. They would have taught me so much about how to build and construct a lot of my lab equipment.
Love this series. Gonna go wrap some wire around an empty chip bag now.
Great to see all those examples! We forgotten and forget how smart humans are to solve problems and everything we have now seems so usual but in fact it is not. Great examples of (analog) logic. There is one trick for young players here when using relais and solenoids, back EMF. Everything with a coil needs a flyback diode to dissipate the build up reverse high voltage when turning off the coil. For people that don't understand what I am talking about, google it. Just mention this, has nothing to do with the great content you provide. Great video and very entertaining the way you explain complex (for most people) things, a great teacher. Schools need this! Compliments.
The simplicity in which Tim explains and teaches just show how much he's a master at what he does!! This is just amazing!! Hats of to you Sir, may God bless you!🙏🏼
Love the passion and the history. You are a wonderful teacher
Thank you, Sir! for teaching us how things work in electrical mechanics and magnetic fields.
man im a 46 year old kid watching your video and an instant subscriber. i too have a bit of what others call junk i keep around that now i know a little more about and i know more about what isnt junk .
Tim I love the bit some time in the 1970's where you are showing the washing machine solenoid working (guess that makes you over 70 my friend!) Time flies...
That coin dispensing solenoid is a great addition to any workshop. It seems like it would pay for itself in no time.
Synchronome slave, Wow that big one is a monster. Wonderful unidentified mechanism from the pre digital era. That hard drive coil setup would make a lovely siesmometer pick up (the small one) Crisp packet loudspeaker, genius, best before date's getting on a bit. What a great two voltage solenoid with its own relay contacts. Pure pleasure to watch.
Your use of electronics is mesmerizing, but more so your creativity in the games you come up with. I pretty much understand many of the topics you cover, but the clear cut refresher is very useful. The Micro Break game is a hoot; NONE of the digital games today have anything on you! Simply clever beyond measure and thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.
These videos are an incredible resource, thanks Tim 👍😆
This was great, Also it triggered so many memories.
The first relay and solenoids I used as a kid were on my model railway layout. My first job was working for GEC General Signals designing railway fail safe relay circuits in the late 1970s. Going into the relay rooms full of massive relays was a sight to behold.
I then went on to become an electronics design engineer that used all the devices you described until microprocessors became ubiquitous and high power solid state semiconductors now used in every EV.
I was surprised how much I had forgotten in my now distant memories. TY.
Always a pleasure to weak up to one of Tims videos
Tim I’m 25 and live in Australia, I’ve watched all your videos and you are an absolute inspiration! I’ve always been a tinkerer since a very young age and I love your can do attitude and so long as it works that’s all it matters!
I am so glad you are still producing videos and doing well, from all appearances. I loved your original secret life series way back when. I can still remember your giant sewing machine demonstration, along with many others. You are an icon of makerdom.
That's the best video I've ever listened to about relays and solenoids thank you TIM very much 👍👍👍
You're amazing Tim!
I wish I'd have had you as my teacher. You're an amazing man. Thanks.
I'm learning now things i should've learned 50 years ago.
Tim! I've loved your shows for decades! So glad you are still kicking! I have high regards for your approach to understanding! This is the way real engineering should be! I have lots to watch now! Thank you Thank you!!!
This is Awesome brother God bless Shalom..
This man is a national treasure.
So grateful for the new series!
Excellent videos Tim , I remember your original videos from school ,keep them coming please
Wow ..! That's great.! Loved all of it. Hard to imagine we loosing this type of fun.
Magic, as ever! Thanks Tim.
Another informative and educational master class. Thank you 👍
Just discovered this guy and I must say, THIS IS A DAMN TREASURE! The way in which the things are explained is so simple yet spot on with info it's a joy to watch and learn. And man my mind is on overdrive right now because I am a novice inventor and these things are exactly what I need because honestly my ADD get in my way when things get a bit overly boring (even if it's stuff I'm interested in) so yeah I love it. Just subscribed
You've had that crisp packet speaker for a while!! Expiry 2003!! Great work Tim, love your enthusiasm!!
you are the best teacher so far!!
Excellent video. There is an arcade on southwold pier, UK crammed with machines like this. So many great examples and you are cracking me up with your collection of solenoids and you compulsion to remove them from things - I am same with old compute bits and have 50 neodymium magnets, you remind me a bit of Norman Lovett, the bloke who is in the computer of Red Dwarf. This is great education too.
Greatest teacher of design technology.
I am just impressed by not knowing this channel before, this is a gem!
It does seem "old" to see relays and solenoids being used today with so much having been evolved to using things like solid state components & the like, but the sound of relays and solenoids doing their thing is just so pleasing, well, unless you're in a telephone exchange during their mechanical heyday... :)
I'm so happy to have found this channel! My children will most definitely be giving this video a watch later 😅
No words to me, such a clean explanation...thank you verymuch.
I'm enthralled, yet amazed I've not stumbled upon you before given your long history. Great channel and I very much look forward to seeing more.
I really enjoyed this video. It has cleared my mind of how Relays and Solenoids worked. Now I clearly know. Very Awesome video.
You are such a big inspiration, you are an idol of science.
That donation box was a welcome surprise🎉
Heavens Tim, I feel you have only shown us a small fragment of your potential body of work.
Great learning demonstrations both informative and entertaining. Especially liked the different high power relay circuits useful for motor control. Keep up the great work.
An excellent episode. When I was in the workplace PLCs didn't exist, entire processs lines were controlled by cabinets full of relays that handled everything including time delays and responding to inputs. You got a free soundtrack that somehow made the machine all the more impressive with alll the clacking and clanking and the occasional contact flash. Marvellous stuff.
Did you also have the person who had worked there for ten years and could diagnose faults just by listening to the clicks?
@@vylbird8014 Yes!
I remember those days, the circuit diagrams the contacts drawn like capacitors ----| |----|/|-----
I remember a ‘Ladybird’ book that explained electromagnets and motors, with instructions for making your own, there was another book that covered pulleys and levers.
When I was a young guy here in Australia 1980, I was building custom panel vans.
I had made a full back tailgate for my holden hj van and installed gas struts to hold it up when open..
I fitted a starter solenoid from a Mini Minor to a lock under the van,
So I could open the back door from the driver's seat..
It worked well for 10 years.
I was quoted $650. To have one supplied and fitted buy a car sparkie,
I made mine for $5 and fitted it in 1hr.
For any young man or woman watching this series join the British Army as a REME technician! Now this might sound odd to some but the skills I learned there gave me the most wonderful life there and in civilian employment afterwards using all these techniques and being able to calculate them!
Thanks for this video, that remembered me when I was young I made a simple doorbell with an electromagnet and a sheet of metal it was so simple before studying Maxwell equations.
I was half expecting to see Rex's infamous car flip using a solenoid when you did the flash back insert 😀
I miss Rex & his Brum😢
Was very pleasantly surprised to see this channel!
Thank you so much for this, Tim. This is what your fans and the world needed most right now.
Love and respect. Hope to run into ya in San Francisco some time. Keep up the excellent work
Loving your videos, Tim. I work with PLCs, relays, and contactors on a daily basis (industrial electrician). As someone only recently (5 years) in the field, seeing the basics again is very good for embedding my learning. Thank you.
My wife and I visited your installation at Southwold years before I trained as an electrician (and years before I knew of your channel here), and we really enjoyed it. I have a whole new level of appreciation for the automata now I know more about how they operate. I very much admire your work, and creativity.
This is not only a great resource as an introduction to selenoids and relays, this is a masterclass in pedagogy.