Modifying Temu LED bulbs - really neat circuitry
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ธ.ค. 2023
- Having ordered a box of what I thought were going to be at least 220V (Chinese voltage) bulbs I was a bit disappointed when they arrived and were 120V. I ended up keeping them, and I'm glad I did as the design is minimalist and interesting, making it quite easy to modify them.
The filaments are actually using phosphor on blue LEDs to match the globe colour, which helps make up for the inefficiency of the circuitry. This is the first time I've seen such a minimalist approach, where the resistor leads aren't just the connection to the base, but also support the filament.
If I'd had some here I'd have used half watt resistors, but all I had were quarter watt or 1W in that value. The half watt resistors would have fitted into the plastic sleeves better, although I'm not sure how wise it is to have hot resistors stuffed into a plastic base like that.
In higher voltage countries they could have made a two filament "vee" for much higher output and efficiency. I'm quite tempted to do that by merging two bulbs into one.
There is a dedicated video just about the lamp base crimping tool. It's used to pinch the metal into the base of plastic globes:-
• Chinese factory lamp b...
The caps and crimping tool came from this seller on AliExpress:-
www.aliexpress.com/item/20537...
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of TH-cam's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
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I never fail to be entertained by the fact your soldering “helping hands” are just your hands!😆 Manual dexterity to the max 👏
And super-human level heat resistant too!
When you have been doing electronics for years you get used to it,
Clive, last year Technology Connections did a video on Tru-Tone, a US manufacturer of LED Christmas bulbs and strings. I just ordered two sets because they seem to be very high quality (fused, 20 AWG, brass fittings), and, according to TechConnect, also have a vintage incandescent feel.
i came here to mention technology connections looking at the same colored plastic / glass arrangment, and i would of been the first to if it wasnt for you meddling members
Would love to see Clive take a look inside one of those bulbs!
Treasonous Two-Timers !
. ; )
No Scooby Snacks where your going.@@superfly108
rutrow @@andymouse
That work with the side-cutters on the base is hacking in the most literal sense!
Yes. Clive is a true hacker 👍
A little hack I use for crimping the end caps onto LED bulbs is: A PVC Water Pipe (large enough for the cap to fit in) with 6-8 screws screwed around it towards the end of the pipe. Then I just drop the bulb in and tighten the screws, the cap is crimped. I've never had one come off again, but it's a slightly slower process.
great idea!
I'm going to try that next time I open a 💡. Nice tip.😉👍
I think I'm lucky to be watching this video. Earlier today, I tried to modify my operating voltage from 0v to 240v from one hand across to the other, just in a rush grabbing an earthed housing in one hand while pulling out a multi contact connector that I forgot was connected to a generator without RCD, I was working alone and in an awkward position, honestly I think that's what saved me, as I tipped over the circuit was broken, I had to phone my girlfriend to make sure I was alive, and have burns on my finger and small cuts from the muscles clamping on sharpedges...scared the crap out of me..flash of Clives description of electrocution replaying in my head as I felt the 50hz .
Glad you survived. Sometimes it takes an incident like this to make you more aware of what can happen. You may find this video very useful:-
th-cam.com/video/9webTbqTH5E/w-d-xo.html
That is why I like the US system of 120/240, because most shocks are to ground, you will only get 120v. Even if you are working on a 240v line, you would have to touch both hot wires, not impossible but more likely from one hot to ground only giving you 120v shock.
@@ericmaurer3337On UK building sites, 240V tools are not permitted - they have to be 110V and the supply transformer is centre-tapped to ground, so if you come in to contact with either side it is only 55V with respect to earth. With the advent of cordless tools I guess this is less relevant now.
Brit plugs are enormous enough to fit a type A RCD, as well as a MCB. Should be a legislated requirement.
@@rossthompson1635ironic, because some of the best high power construction tools in the US are 240v
Clive has a superpower when soldering. Saying "oh that's quite hot", but still getting the job done.
I really appreciate this time of year when Clive starts tinkering more with Christmas lights. 🤓
Always a pleasure to watch your graceful hands expeditiously dismantle cheap Chinese products! Thanks
I get to see the magic Edison base crimper in action, hacking cheap LED bulbs. What a happy day! Love these build videos.
Cool. I'd probably combine two bulbs into one and series the filaments to get more of the power into the LEDs and less in the resistors.
Or just wire pairs of sockets in series…
I was going to comment that
@@flyingmoose I was thinking the same.
This is what I commented in the main thread:
Still can't see why you cannot get rid of all the 6 parts, the 2 resistors and 4 diodes. LED's placed in two strings counter parallel (or individually counter parallel and then a series string), and enough of them to divide the full peak voltage into their cosy zone should work. We never did because it was outside of such globe and as such quit dangerous, but with these techniques here used and placed inside a globe it would be safe. Why less reliable ? And the 2x 47K + 4 diodes dissipate 4/5 of the power, 1/5 is for the LED's 🤔 Where does my thinking go wrong ?
I woud also guess, a rally driverless or AC LED is reliable but yeah the flicker rate so a more True ultra efficiënt LED lamp that stay lukewarm instead of griled LEDs ant heat goes to the drivers and capacitors
One way to remove the lamp caps pretty much intact with minimal damage to the lamp is to drill out the indentations where it was crimped in with a 1.5-2mm drill bit and then unscrew the cap off the lamp.
good grief! really? i prefer to spend days writing CNC code, then get a 2 million quid machine to do it for me. i am surprised you do it this old fashioned way. lol
CNC software is not very expensive these days@@KarldorisLambley
@@KarldorisLambley lmao !
I came here to say the same thing but yours was the second comment. You can be just as quick as Clive is tearing it apart, with a cordless drill. And you can reuse the base with some glue or dimple it again in new spots.
That last resistor would have been going Super Saiyan! love the content mate!
I love it when you read my mind and put the unmodified lamp in the socket !
"Exponential dissipation" = 💥🔥
This reminds me of a quite fun anecdote from my childhood:
My dad had brought from the US a pair of fluorescent blacklights that were of course designed to run on 120V and had wired them in series in order to be able to use them in France without having to buy a step-down transformer.
But it came to my mind many many years later that he could have swapped the ballasts in the fixtures for 230V ones instead since fluorescent tubes themselves don't have to match the line voltage like for example incandescent lamps thank's to the ballast doing the job of supplying the tube with the right voltage if you take care to choose the right one to match your grid.
Also he didn't seem to know that running a 60 Hz ballast on a 50 Hz supply might not have had been the brightest idea either even though the tubes seemed to have worked fine despite all that.
(They didn't however get much use as far as I know, that might explain why they didn't fail I think).
These fixtures might also have been of the manual preheat variety since the (rocker) switches on both of them had 3 positions including a momentary and two latched ones and my dad had told me that you had to hold both switches in the momentary position at the same for a few seconds before setting them to On.
I found however that it was actually quite easy to get the tubes to light even without pressing the momentary side of the switches.
The way those lamps were packed, I am surprised you did not receive a box of broken colored plastic and lamp bases.
Plastic is usually quite durable, just clonking about in a package shouldn't break them
All you need do now Clive is start running competitions for the stuff YOU make safe. 👍
This crimping tool looks amazing
7:15 Big old Clive sure loves stuffing things into holes
Loved the pause at the end, I could hear the little vice in your head say 'ah, sod it, what's the worst?'
Colored S14 patio light bulbs! ❤💛💚💙
Just need purple 💜 to "complete the color wheel" ☺
I'd be inclined to replace that limiting resistor with a cap, around .1µF/630v or 240VAC if you can get one small enough.
Clever circuitry in that LED 'filament'. The only ones I've seen are just either a series string or all in parallel.
The efficiency of this setup would be far better by putting a green LED array into the green bulb, blue in blue, etc. The coloured bulb is a filter that removes the unwanted colours produced by the 'white' LEDS thus reducing the overall efficiency.
I love a build video. Thanks Clive!
Deliciously educational, as always :) I really like the idea of the replacement bulb base that you can fit back and crimp on an existing bulb.
Two of my favorite things on TH-cam are: 1 Watching Jimmy Diresta use a band saw, and, 2 Watching Big Clive solder. Artsts both.
"i don't know if i can use it again, but i'll keep it anyway". lol. that is _exactly_ what I say. for instance one day i may need an adapter to connect a 20 year old mobile phone, i don't own anymore, to a peripheral i have never owned. you never know!
Congrats on 1 million subscribers!
Wow, doing that 24 times plus having to buy extra bases, resistors and the China, Inc. crimper seems like more work than I would want.
That's why I'm planning to make table/bedside lamps feet to repurpose some led bulbs with broken electronic circuits. No socket, simply glued to the base.
Yeah, same here. Its very fiddly and boring and its not much of a reward when you've finished. One lamp would be ok but modifying 24 would take all day. Would be easier to just wire 2 in series or use a small step down transformer.
@@simontay4851 I was thinking the same thing. If you’re making a string of party lights, just supply a dropper or transformer for the whole string or wire the string with adjacent sockets wired two in series.
Sitting at the end going just plug the 110v bulb in, do it, now. 😂
Worth trying the returns.
Have complained about a couple things, and both times I've been refunded and told to keep the item
Neat. The problem with most these simple designs is the 50/60Hz power. That gel stuff is better than the old days (maybe even better now?) but if I see the lights in my peripheral vision they flicker which is annoying.
This design would run on DC if you want flicker-free light.
wow that engineering is really cool
Love it. I do enjoy your brute force and hack and slash
Living on the edge at the end of the video. 😆👍
I wonder if the mystery resistor a fusible resistor? They are typically low resistance.
all resistors can be fusible, if you apply enough voltage and/or current (^_^)
I never ever thought I’d hear myself saying “Hmm. Nice doodle Big Clive” 😂😂
I can remember my uncle doing things like this, and I would always ask "Why not just order the right thing to begin with?" I would just get a blank stare, like I was missing the whole point. I am pretty sure he did things like this on purpose so he would have an excuse to hack things, since ordering the correct voltage would just be too easy.
Automatic/clueless sales people can't handle that .
@@johndododoe1411 Right... But if YOU were ordering lights from overseas, would you check the voltage first, and/or email them to verify it would be correct, or would you secretly hope it would be wrong so you had an excuse to hack it?
@@azrobbins01 They didn't say and it's a robotic shop .
@@johndododoe1411 Then I think you did not understand my original post.
Those lightbulbs can also be used as indicators great video
That 0.3 watt heat dissipation could be helpful in self-clearing the snow off the lights. ❄
You can also use a class X type capacitor to provide the required voltage drop for the LED circuit. I have used 22 nF for my night orientation lights in series with a 220 Ohm resistor as a fuse in case that the capacitor fails. As rectifier I have used two anti-parallel LEDs, so the voltage will never exceed the relatively low voltage in backward direction.
Lovely design and nicely shining color is like a voltage devider and the led is the second resistor for the devider circuit as much the leds are as much voltage will dropp down
"That's gone horribly wrong. Not a problem. We have ways of making it horribly worse."
Temu really has great stuff. 🎉
The dot and cross on the diodes remind me of the representations of 3d vectors on a flat piece of paper/a plane, with the dot inside a circle (.) representing the "tip", i.e. the vector is directed from the paper towards the viewer, and the cross inside a circle (X) representing the "back", i.e. the vector is directed from the paper away from the viewer.
P.S. the vectors in question are always perpendicular to the paper!
Very interesting, thank you Clive.
-----
Removing and then replacing the two existing resistors would be a bit too finicky and time-demanding for me, especially if a large quantity of bulbs needed modification.
Instead of doing that, could one cut a section out of the long vertical lead, and solder-splice in either a new third resistor, or a high-reverse-voltage-tolerant diode, or a capacitor? Doing so would create either an ugly visual blight or a cool techy look, depending upon one's willingness to rationalize.
Whatever one puts in the gap would have good air-circulation for cooling.
I bought a 1W nightlight for my daughters bedroom, well I bought a pack of 5 with the intention of dismantling one to inspect safety and circuitry before putting it in her room as a night light. same filaments you have here but 2 in series with a resistor, super super simple. testing prior to final install showed it to not get too hot and light output was lovely and low.
did flicker a bit.. but i guess thats what happens as the diodes most only light on the half cycle.
Thanks for the making this video and screwing in the unadulterated lamp.
Nice video, always interesting to see what is inside. Congratulations on the 1M subscribers!
I'm using these lights in hallways and they consume 0.8W and light up to 90 lumen (the yellow one). I believe the version I have is with one resistor and it is on the short leg of the LED, close to the socket. 90 Lumen is enough to see where you are walking at night.
It's actually quite refreshing to hear someone be positive about Chinese made stuff.
They do actually make a lot of good fun stuff.
The plastic bung thing inside the bulb neck looks useful, I haven't seen seen one like that before. interesting video 2x👍
3d print that
That initial work with the side cutters got me cringing ready to see a slip and copious blood letting! I was relieved that it did not happen!
Clive I was down in Buckfast last Sunday so I had to pop into the abbey for you ! x ( I also called into the steam railway, that was the real reason) but you can't go to south Devon without a visit to Glasgow's finest brewery !
You should make a 240v to 120v lamp holder by running two lamps in series 😅
Yeah, that's what I would do, wire two lamps in series 😉
I do that over in 120v land by poking both plugs into an older extension cord, each plug with one leg having missed its target, then clipping the spicy bits together. It tames the heat lamps to a gentle warmth.
At 1:07 I have found it possible with some crimped bulbs to stick them in a bulb socket and carefully wiggle it until I can remove the metal cap from the bulb and after I am done I can almost always push it back in. Hope this helps Clive!
All LEDs like this, should hang a bit to the left as you have it.
It's very natural.
Neat design, and decent looks.
Awesome Video Big Clive 😊
Technology Connections would be very interested in these bulbs :) Too big for a tree, but the right colors :)
Somehow... and I might be wrong... I recall that Tekconnec did show/mention them in one of his vids
@@willthecat3861 They're tru tone bulbs that he reviewed. C7/C9 bulbs with colored glass and warm white LED filament
@@willthecat3861 Hmmmm - I will have to go back and look. He might've. I just saw the yellow and thought of him :)
@@solinus7131 Ya... I know; but, I wasn't referring to the Tru-tone ones. Tru-tone, IMO... looks like Temu the same way a turtle looks like an elephant.
I often buy 110 volt lamps because they are cheaper.
Then just wire two [or three] in series.
the three in series gives a warmer light and much longer life.
I've removed the base of a lamp several times by levering all around underneath the crimp points on both plastic and glass bulbs. I do lack the tool to crimp it back on. Though the glass ones are epoxied on, some gentle squeezing and slight deforming to crack to cured epoxy helps on those.
Love these hacking videos, good sir! Very interesting and useful 👍🏻
You’re Acing It At my Desk : Clive: All Are : Chris
Try an X-Acto razor saw. They have a very thin, fine blade with a rigid back and are good at delicate metal cutting. They fit the #5 or #6 handle. A jeweler's saw is another option. They are surprisingly inexpensive.
It does make me wonder how quickly those LED dies in the 120V bulb heat up running on 240V, and if the regular diodes heat up slower since they look like they have much larger dies. Also I'm guessing that unmarked resistor is custom. The lead looked quite a lot longer than usual, not to mention a thicker gauge. And judging from the different colour, possibly a genuinely fusible resistor as opposed to "fusible once the carbon has finally burnt enough to stop conducting".
I promised myself an explosion at the end Clive! Feeling a bit short changed if I'm honest 😂
Great modification, initially the filament strip almost looks like a small HPS arc tube.
unless you want to replace only one incandescent bulb that failed, there is no point to hacking every bulb - just cut the entire string in the middle and connect halves in series.
Very festive, I hope the wee piece of coal gets to you before Christmas. Good solution to a problem that probably has caught out quite a few 220 - 240 volt users. Thanks Clive 👍
Maybe it has 2 resistors so they can change the "dummy" one for another value for the 240V version?
10:30 I have a tool like that for crimping hydraulic lines and gas lines, funny thing is that these E27 fittings fit into it too...No pins though....Nice hexa or octagonal crimp....Not as good as this one (for lampfittings) but it works....Place it in a bench-vise and crimp.
Having no energy storage cap, along with the non-trivial value of the series resistor, makes the power factor good. The efficiency (efficacy, really) would be improved by having a longer LED string. The yellow phosphor means the LEDs are making white light, and the tinting of the bulb makes the color. An even higher efficiency/efficacy would come from using a clear bulb envelope, and having colored LEDs with little or no phosphor (but that would make the LED string manufacturing a lot more complicated, and it would be a bit confusing for customers, since otherwise identical looking bulbs would be different colors.).
8:39 Clive demonstrating, once again, the value of asbestos fingers... ;-)
How about using an X capacitor instead of a resistor? It would use less power and run cooler. A small resistor would still be required to limit the current surges. A 68nF capacitor and 6k8 resistor would give decent brightness and longevity.
i would assume the middle resistor slot is for a dual filament lamp with a center support. might actually be nice with 2 opposing arrays/strips.
"let me show you Watt`s inside"
True words
I wonder if the low-value resistor is how they adapt it to the lower voltage. For 240v bulbs they use 2 15K resistors, and for the 120v design they just replace one of the resistors with a low-value link.
If you ordered them to a US address you probably would have got the 240V version
Looking forward to the 4 chamber vape cell tear down, as my colleague uses them at work of which I have been liberating the huge cells.
A very generous capacity without giving any spoilers.
I have one here. Quite tricky to open, but I now have a charging port on one that can also power external loads.
@@bigclivedotcom any ideas when you're going to release that tear down as I'm quite looking forward to the schematics?
it could be interesting to extract filaments from two lamps and combining them into dual filament with them in series to drop more of the voltage on the LEDs
I've been toying with doing that.
I was going to suggest that.
My approach would have been to run these bulbs in series pairs, but that would have been just as inefficient.
I'm not fooled, that's clearly a fire-resistant hand being used (8:38). I was going to suggest two lamps in series or put an extra resistor inside the end cap to avoid further destruction, but quickly ameliorated myself.
Nice going
The green one would be my choice for modification as the peak response of the human eye shifts towards green in low light. I have already tried modifying a cheap LED lamp, but I need to make further changes because it is still too bright. I use it as an uplighter. The trick is set the brightness so it looks grey instead of green, which is how you know your eyes have adapted the dark. Set optimally, with a different light source, I found the results amazing in that I could read comfortably and without straining my eyes in what would otherwise seem an insanely dim light level.
If this was realised as the norm for night illumination then the benefits to the environment would be significant is several ways. Nature would no longer be tormented by artificial light, people would get proper sleep as well as be able to see the amazing beauty of the night sky from anywhere in the land, and CO2 emissions from energy driving lighting would be very significantly reduced if the power generation was proportionally shut down. Alternatively, this energy would help charge electric vehicles overnight and drive the pumps for hydroelectric power.
Hoooly cr@p! I honestly find this super insane! The electronics to run a freaking LED light bulb is only two resistors? Whoah! I got a super cheapie LED light bulb from your equivalent to Poundland, the .99¢ store here in So-Cal. back in 2015. That light bulb had many IC's an -aluminum- , aluminium disc to hold the LED's and other large electrical components.
LED cost-cutting tech is moving at warp speed! If cost cutting is the game, the Chinese manufacturers have it hands down. Albeit not always in a safe way to do so. I would love to see you run that lower voltage lamp in your higher voltage. Just for the science! Yes, the science.
well, this cheap design is simple but the downside is efficiency, as a lot of power is lost through resistors, and flickering, as it only lights up a bit less than half of the AC frequency. A few more component and a bit more filaments per bulb could easily improve the circuit, but as you said: cost-cutting is their motto !
You should check older videos on this channel, one is particularly insightful about different led lighting linear circuit designs.
I hear you roud and crear ! Velly good !
Marks and Spencer sell a set of lights with bulbs that look like this . Large plastic with same filament - but low voltage transformer plug included
You could have fitted a 30nF capacitor in the available space, Clive! (Thereby improving the efficiency by a factor of three, compared to the purely resistive dropper. Perhaps.)
If doing that I'd have gone for a higher current.
Could those strange resistors be some sort of fusible device? Try leaving one of the 110V bulbs on for a while and see what melts first.
"Messy, but it will do" … It's the same thing I always say when soldering ...
An interesting integrated FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER - keeps the whole thing very simple, but lack of a filter cap is a big drawback. I'm so tired of all those cheap-ass flickering LED lamps.
Clive made it less flickery though, by buying 120V lights which will have a lower off-time when running on 240V.
@@rexsceleratorum1632 🤣
@@rexsceleratorum1632 Wouldn't they have a HIGHER off-time, since we're pushing twice the rated voltage through them? 😆
The second resistor, without any markings looks like a soviet MLT (metal film) resistor. They used similar reddish brown lacquer on these.
🤔 I'm wondering if you could put two (or even three, if you could make it fit) of those filaments in series to make the lamps hugely more efficient. Then again, I'm all about effective lighting, and not so much about decorative lighting.
I've been considering doing that.
It looks like there would be enough room for a capacitor to put in series with one of the existing resistors.
Yes but then you'll have introduced a weakness into the design
I have been waiting for the crimper to come into action 💪😁
Could the dummy looking resistor be a fuse?
I love that the AnTai has a ‘FUN’ button!
EDIT: I know that it is an abbreviation of ‘function’, it just seemed hilarious to me. Very Chinese.
A bit less enjoyable than breaking in with side cutters but drilling the crimp like is sometimes done to remove spot welds?
very interesting
szx
thought i was told the more one terminal had over the other was to be defauly postive
as in the terminals on batteries? least for cars, was the larger post was postive?
In that dangerous led repair video some years back, you mentioned you could get your own filaments as well, I guess you could hook up more on this and even leave more of the work to them instead of the resistors there? Or even - just slaughter a lamp and take its filament and install two (or three) into a lamp. That could be neat :)
This would require the filaments with integrated rectifier.
@@bigclivedotcom
I guess the ones it comes with could do the rectification and the other(s) just ride along?
I've actually had a good experience with returns through temu.
Considering you have double the voltage - would you consider adding two gel-filaments in series and doubling the resistance (instead of increasing the resistance 3x to 4x)?
I have considered blending two lights into one. I'm not sure of the availability of the LED filaments with built in rectifiers.