Dangerous GU10 LED Spot Light is Cheap and Bright but could Kill You - Seriously
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ม.ค. 2013
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This GU10 LED spot light is cheap (£3 including postage) and bright. But it's also lethal! There's a 50% chance of putting live mains within a few microns of the metal casing (which is what you'll be holding when you insert it) and there's no earth to protect you. It's like playing Russian Roulette with 240v AC mains. This sort of thing gives new technology a bad name. Avoid it if you want to stay alive.
See a very similar 'corn cob' lamp described and expertly tested by AintBigAintClever here: • Dangerous LED "corn co... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Another dangerous 'corn cob' LED lamp using a dropper circuit, described and expertly tested by AintBigAintClever here: th-cam.com/video/n3ci4nlKhEk/w-d-xo.html
mysock351C
Leakage current is no problem unless the diodes are faulty.
But - you're right it will be live in 100% of the time and not just 50. Thats simply becuse the mains is AC - one half cycle (0,01 seconds at 50 Hz) the live is positive, but the next (0,01-0,02 sec), it's negative before changing back to positive again.
As the diodes in a rectifier bridge always connect the side that have positive potential at the moment to the DC positive side (and opposit with negative side) means that both sides will be connected to the live 50% of the time. There will always be a pulsating DC half wave at about 340 V peak to ground on those "live parts" (if mains have 240 V rms AC voltage) - regardless of how the lamp is put in the socket.
So who cares!! You TOOK IT APART, nobody really does that. The just pop that in their lamp. And the do not touch all that shit....
Michel Linschoten ummm, Did you miss the part where the only thing between the aluminum (conductive) heat sink and the live wall voltage is a bit of paint? Touching the heat sink fins (which would be where you grip this bulb when putting it in) could be all that's required to get shocked.
(Granted you should have the power off anyway when changing bulbs, but this is still pretty darn hazardous!)
Michael Graziano True but atleast its not "deadly" like described , it would just damn hurt lol. Iv connected to a light socket before as a kid , just a pretty painfull jab. My friends house was not exactly up to code haha
Will Scott Most countries use 230 volts for residential and I'm not kidding that shit hurts. You almost don't even need to touch it. In the US it's only for ovens 40A and dryers 30A.
7 years later, youtube, let's recommend this video now
same here...
9y
In my recommendations today 30 oct 22
would have been good to put your meter across to show the voltage
and that's why turning power off when replacing light bulb is your first step
***** just one that you use to turn lights on/off on the wall should break a hot, right?
Victor Galayda yes. Even with AC, you still got to have a closed circuit for electricity to flow.
***** I am sure that the breaker box still only breaks one of those active wires, which is how a light switch turns the power off. In Australia our mains are AC Alternating Current. That means, the active and neutral will switch between positive and negative, while being opposite each other (unless they are at absolute zero).
Matthew Tremain while ac does switch polarity the only energised wire is the one you brake with the switch. You can hold on to neutral as long as you want it has no potential in relation to a ground. In many industrial applications in US when single phase 120 needed and all you have is 3 phase 480, 4to1 transformer installed with primary hooked between two phases 480. On the secondary side one leg is 120 and other leg is grounded to make a neutral.
I was going to say that :p
I bought a batch of GU10 LEDs about 12 months ago and stupidly proceeded to fit them with the lighting circuit live, the first one was fitted without incident but the second gave me quite an invigorating "tickle" across the major organs! (I was holding the earthed metallic luminaire with one hand as I fitted the bulb). Fortunately I was saved from coronary failure by the distribution box RCD tripping - I WAS LUCKY!
Once my heart rhythm had returned to something near nomal I decided it might be prudent to fit the rest of the bulbs with the circuit dead and then being of an inquisitive nature tested for voltage to ground on the bulb heat sinks; I found voltages ranging from 18v to 190v AC with over 50% of them over 140v, the one that bit me had a touch voltage of 180v on the heatsink. Oh and of course they had CE stickers. BE CAREFUL there is some seriously dodgy electrical equipment in circulation these days. Cheap imports from good old China may not always be the bargain they appear.
Sorry for the length!
Actually, you should still go to hospital and have your heart properly checked. Although your heart rhythm may *appear* to have gone back to normal, it may not have done and you could have problems years later. Explain what happened and they can check you out. This is a common occurrence.
YES.... I ALWAYS TURN THE POWER OFF WHEN INSTALLING GU10 bulbs plus Edison Screw bulbs too....You need to be very careful ...
50% chance of death, eh? I like them odds, Mister!
Thanks for this video. Nice to know your out there attempting to keep us alive. Cheers from across the pond in Newfoundland, Canada
So I guess licking it would be out of the question then? I need a bulb I can safely lick.
lol - top comment
agreed..fuck im guessing we all should move out our homes and quit driving too ,,and oh yes knives they cut ,, isnt rubbing alcohol flamable as well? never mind ,,ill opt to just let stupid people either buy cheap shit from china or even better ,,not warn them about touching uncovered wires.or circuitry.
RXFARM1 Really? I suspect his intent is that everyone can't be as smart as YOU. I bet if your kid bought one of these and took a jolt that damaged his heart you would just slap him for being stupid?
Konichi Wawa i wouldnt ,,,but the light would lolllllllllllllllll
Konichi Wawa i would slap my kid just for being on the internet
What's with all the dislikes on this video? Was the whole staff of the manufacturer forced to downvote it?
Inappropriate thumbnail.
@@briantw
What's inappropriate about it?
Ok, let's see...
50% chance of having mains on one of the soldering joints on the front of a very, very bright, very, very HOT bulb...
Risk of touching it on purpose = 0%
Unknown% chance that the insulation on the front board is also insufficient to keep that already 50% chance of mains from extending to the very, very hot heat sink... Risk of touching this on purpose while bulb is lit = 0%
So, pull out your calculators and figure out the potential risk of accidental death by electrocution from touching this bulb, while it is receiving mains, AND after the insulation has been proven to have failed, AND while you are touching something that is grounded for the damn circuit to be completed, AND that grounding is not the same hand that is touching the bulb, i.e. across your heart so that it can, in fact kill you...
How fucking anal retentive can you guys get?!
Constantly bending over backwards to find fault with anything that was not made to your insanely stringent standards that were written as if every single member of your society is a fucking moron!
That's why there are 1300+ dislikes on this video!
Just Julian is wrong :)
*EDIT:* This post originally read
"Remind me not to buy lighting from China."
it should probably read
"Remind me to check the reviews of a product before I purchase it"
However, several commenters have pointed out that shoddy merchandise or electrical components could be made in any country. My original post was a bit Jingoistic on my part, however I am leaving it up because It is a mistake that I made, and I don't hide my mistakes.
I generally enjoy purchasing affordable electronics from China, but I think I will avoid anything that doesn't use batteries.
Yes, but they generally wont electrocute me.
Wang Cian hahaha if was made by Germans it's still not good rofl...you can find lighting not made in china and not with chinese components, with longer warranties too, but just be prepared to pay for it
in my opinion one of the most important factors is the assembling process ... and which country is famous for accurate assembling ?
If you don't edit it, then how will people know that you have learned from your mistake? I would edit if I were you. It's a bit too honest to display your previous mistakes.
my GU10 LED is like that but is as a glass cover over it, will the glass make is safe?
Thank you very much Julian Ilett for this informative video, it might save someone's life.
Never seen one without a lense over the LEDs!
This was so educational. Thanks a bundle!
Why not plug it in, show the voltage on a meter if it is lethal?
Julian I must say I learn a lot from you!! thank you very much . do you think people in regular market sell it too ? ( same model )
rectifier bridge means AC is rectified to dc before exit to circuit
+David Meritt You are correct. A bridge rectifier can also be used to make sure DC ends up configured in a desired manner. If the positive/negative source leads of a DC powered device are connected where AC input is normally connected on the bridge) the output of the bridge will always be in the desired configuration, even if the source leads are accidentally reversed positive/negative - as it is just as if the other cycle of AC had happened and the bridge reacts accordingly. I have seen mobile equipment deliberately configured this way to keep users from blowing things up by connecting the power leads incorrectly... :-)
+Mark Magill
You'll have rectified AC voltage with a charged capacitor on the positive wire if the circuit is for some reason interrupted. i.e. 230VAC turns out as 325VDC if there is no load to the capacitor. The missing thermal compound between LED aluminium circuit board and heatsink makes this scenario a lot more likely. nasty shit that shouldn't be on the market
+David Meritt why would he actually test it when he could just make wild claims out of nowhere with no evidence to back it up?
I'd separate the LED disc and apply the appropriate DC power to it. Might be good for a mobile spotlight or for camping.
Jeff Flowers That would be the safest option
Jeff Flowers i was thinkin the same thing for a couple bucks
+Jeff Flowers What kind of current are we talking? What kind of voltage/ampere? I need a bright light, batteries or rechargable, for on my bicycle. And I mean bright.
+Julian Ilett That doesn't quite work, all LEDs are in series, speaking of that, it's high voltage DC applied.
+Jame Gumb A fairly typical LED used on these types of bulbs operates between 5 and 6 volts and pulls around 20-30 mA. For 16 of them like in this bulb, it'd be around 4.8 A or 24W.
Might be more than met your eye on the tiny drop circuit. Perhaps a voltage tester on those front contacts showing a reading would be more convincing since LED generally are not a direct connect to 220-240v.
I'm assuming that the ac first runs into the rectifier, if so the positive dc voltage would run through the resister no matter which way you insert it. Switching up the input on a fwbr does not switch the output.
If the circuit uses a full wave bridge rectifier and a capacitive dropper then the voltage on the plate is in theory a low DC voltage, not mains although its non isolated and should be double insulated. There is no 50-50 issue though either. It doesn't matter which way around the bulb is plugged into the mains live is always directed to the dropper first via the rectifier diodes in the front half of the bridge, not directly to the plate. Insulation or the lack of it makes the design potentially dangerous.
Superb review Julian. Aluminium power plate has been in use for around 20 years in my experience, (I saw them used back then for the power stages of industrial motor drives, and they are now widely used for power LEDs too). They are basically single sided PCBs but with an aluminium substrate rather than FR4 or phenolic resin. The insulating layer is a ceramic, and when manufactured under carefully controlled conditions, has a good withstand voltage rating. Power plates are excellent design solutions for many applications requiring good thermal management. However, I would never trust such a thing as safety insulation unless it had a UL rating or similar, (which I've never seen), and I'm sure cheap Chinese jobs like this have nothing of the sort. You are absolutely right about the danger of electric shock here. Have you notified Trading Standards of where you bought this?
Julian thanks very interesting video about safety since some of us just buy stuff thinking its been tested for safety already then end up injured. Gonna watch out what I buy now. Thanks keep it up man!
Hi, Julian. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I'm curious to find out what you might think of CREE LED bulbs.
Fancy a nasty shock?
death pretty much
+Julian Ilett Here in the USA we might get away with a nasty 115v shock, but in the UK the mains voltage is double or 230v. This has a much better chance of killing you.
yes because the current is basically unlimited on a non-GFCI outlet which means practically every overhead light fixture in the USA, & even most up-to-code indoor wall outlet recepticles.
+ArJuna22 Not true. You're making the age-old mistake of thinking that more volts means more danger. I have been zapped plenty, in both the US and EU, and I will attest, the US is a tad bit more uncomfortable. You see, 240 at 50Hz is 1/6th slower than the 115 at 60Hz.
+Julian Ilett No UL stamp? Do you have a similar organization in the UK?
and you didn't even try to plug the voltmeter to the metal round thing to check if it was really running power
Great video! now i know what to look out for when buying my first led gu10
Hello,
I bought 4 of this.
If i put the lamps and never touch them again, its still dangerous?
How would the LED's work with the current going in the opposite direction? LED's only work in one direction so how can it be 50/50?
A bridge wave rectifier will convert the AC to DC and doesn't care how you hook the AC up to it. How you hook AC to it is merely a safety issue as discussed by the presenter. You can with even more political prisoner excrement encrusted examples find just a diode and resistor and enough LEDs to do the half wave rectification providing only half of the AC for use. It too can be hooked up to AC either way. It's why strings of LEDs will flicker as you move them or move your eyes quickly.
It would have been nice if he showed us the danger with a multimeter. Talk is cheap. So are multimeters.
a spare light and scrap wire can be a test light, will do the same thing, and cheaper
Appreciate the breakdown on this, you've probably prevented some nasty accidents!
In other news, I strongly like your videos about stuff like this and all other electronics.
Keep It Up, Julian!
Thanks Gustav - I appreciate your support.
You plug it in 220V and on the other end you get 12V so it is not killing power there in that bulb(thats is why you got a diode,capacitor and resistor in it) , so did you measure voltage on the other end??? When you do share the results with us! :D
Wrong - the 12V is only there if the LEDS are working. If one led dies, there may be an open circuit and nothing to clamp the voltage to a 'safe' level.
The driver here is not a voltage limiter, it is designed to limit the current to prevent frying the leds. The leds themselves keep the voltage clamped.
Remove or destroy a led - the volts on those two terminals will hit 240 V ( 120 V usa ) , and supply a nice potentially lethal current.
rowifi it is not logical ,if one dies voltage stay the same 12v there is no reason for V to go higher.
Vladan Umicevic Imagine that there are NO Leds connected. The circuit is then just a capacitor, with a rectifier. Connected to the mains. There is no voltage regulator that we can see on this circuit. The voltage on the two wires will be mains - ( DC ). The same would be true if there was a high value resistor instead of the capacitor. The voltage will be mains. The capacitor is acting like a resistor to limit the current when it is connected to a load ( the leds ).
If there are no leds, the load will be anything that touches the terminals, and the current that flows will be dependant upon the capacitor value and the resistance of .... you.
The Leds actually are acting as individual mini voltage regulators. Look up Led / Diode forward voltage. No matter what voltage you apply to a led ( provided there is a series resistance to limit the current ( i.e. the cap ), the led or leds will maintain a couple of volts across each of themselves. That's what diodes do. Just like Zener diode regulators - but in reverse.
So, lets assume that all the leds are in series in this circuit. There would be about 2V x 16 leds, about 30 volt across them in total. So while all leds are on and working, the voltage across the terminals will be set at about 30V. If you touch across the terminals you would probably be OK. The leds are taking the most current - your resistance to earth ( or where ever ) would be higher than the leds effective resistance - so (probably ) no shock.
If any of the leds went open circuit, none of the leds would be conducting, and so they would not be taking current and therefore not 'locking' the voltage at 30V.
If you touch the terminals, you would get mains voltage at whatever current the capacitor together with your body resistance would allow - nasty.
Remember, there is no voltage regulation before the leds - the leds themselves are clamping the voltage to a lower level - so long as they are ALL operating correctly.
I hope that helps.
Vladan Umicevic
There would be dangerous voltages present. Go off and study properly. Rob Field is right.
it doesn't matter which way round the input is as the output of a bridge rectifier is always the same. bridge rectifiers not only convert AC to DC but also polarize the output in the correct way regardless of input
But what eventually goes on heat sink is a 10-30 volts, right? Do you believe such voltage may hurt one?
Thanks for the reveal on these bulbs. There are quite a few of this kind of badly engineered bulbs on ebay and aliexpress. Thank you for spreading the word.
I'm not sure what is going on when some claim this is scaremongering, but maybe it's an expression of hopeless ignorance (sorry). Any circuit powered by> mains supply< without transformer carries hazardous voltages whether there are rectifiers, resistors, capacitors and what else included. Such circuits are only safe if they are installed in isolated box with at least 8mm safe distance from the curcuit (legal requirements) to any conducting material that can be touched and it's obviously not here. I have worked with electronics for 50 years ...I have learned something.
To all doubters ... please accept dangerous voltage despite the diodes are operated with low voltage. So it is with these circuits that I learned already when I was 14 years old.
Thanks for trying to explain to those who need to know better. You are right of course.
i don't mean to troll, but doesn't the bridge rectifier prevent that from happening?
Araon pottor Nope - the entire circuit that comprises the voltage drop and DC conversion is only on one wire. Go back and watch the video again - of the two pins, one goes through the fancy circuit, and one goes directly up to the surface of the bulb. Now in normal operation is is okay-ish as the entire circuit will operates as a circuit. But if you were to screw the bulb in 'backwards' and get 240V at the surface of it, when you touch that bare wire you don't have a bridge rectifier or capacitor in your hand. So your body just provides a ground path for raw mains power.
holysirsalad Wow, a bridge rectifier that works with one lead, now that is cutting costs to the bone. Uh, how's that work?
Just curious. If you cut out the intermediary circuitry, would this be work from a 12V battery and would it be bright enough for a camper. Obviously with the lower voltages and DC, it would be much safer im thinking?
curious could I cut the wires of this and hook it up to meanwell led driver and be good as long as the driver supplies correct voltage and current.
noice video but you should have actually demonstrated it by plugging it in the wrong way and measuring voltage and current at the heat sink.
+xxBlackpspxx I have a similar GU10 spot and I felt Bett dropped the ball on this by not measuring the voltage across the exposed pins. For the right price I'd be willing to wire those up to a pair of nipple clamps and subject my man boobs to the live circuit, I'm *that* convinced the LED is powered by DC.
There is no such thing as a "AC powered LED" right?
there is
cannibis sativa no there isn't. They are just AC-DC converter and an ledin the same unit.
@@fredrikcarlen3212 You can power an LED on AC with just a simple resistor but the light will flicker and it will shorten the life of the LED.
More dangerous shite from China. Bloody good illumination, let down by shoddy design.
To silence all the "it's not as dangerous as it looks" folks, I'd suggest testing it with a probe attached to an incandescent light bulb rather than a meter or neon screwdriver. If the bulb lights, there's no argument - the bloody thing's live.
Very tempted to buy a load of random ones from eBay and put them to the test, especially as not all GU10s end up out-of-reach, they can find their way into desk lamps and other easily-accessible locations (a friend of mine has GU10s in a sloping attic wall/ceiling).
Hello , cool video. thx for that, the one I ordered didn't work at all.
So what could we do to modify it to have it working in a safe way? because the technology is not bad, the one I have is supposed to be good color to use on house plants so possibility to make really cool decoration with living plants in your house. if only it was safe.
One way to tell if the live is wrong is to tap to exposed metal quickly with a least favourite finger. If it hurts the switch off and turn the bulb around. This tip comes courtesy of Darwin Awards Safety At Work Videos 1958.
Make sure to use your left hand.
Well it's not mains voltage at the LED's is it so I don't get what your on about. What are the actual voltage of those LED's? Whatever they are it won't be over 12 volts, probably more like 4.5 volts and it's DC. I'll stick my tongue across those connection points any way round you want to plug it in and enjoy the pleasant tingle!
Why don't you buy one of these, stick it in the mains, then use a AC voltmeter to measure the voltage between those "safe" LED contacts and ground. 50% chance there will be more than 100V AC. Yes across the LEDs themselves there's 4 Volts DC but the 4V DC comes with a free AC imposed on it. For proper electrical insulation a transformer is needed, I did not see one in this lamp.
Peter-Paul Vervoort
Out of interest, have you had a shock off this before?
Such a product: No because I do not buy such crappy products. Of some AC voltage that would show up on a meter: yes unfortunately when I wasn't carefull enough. I think you still don't believe you could get a shock from such a lamp. So here's a thought experiment: imagine a LED flashlight on batteries with a metal case, it is switched ON, so there's 4 Volts, right ? You cannot get a shock from this. Now I am evil and connect the metal case to the Live pin of the mains (110 or 220V AC, whatever you prefer). LED still on so still 4V right ? But would you touch the metal case ? I would not as it is Live ! But also 4 V, the LED only sees 4 V. You would only see 4 V if you were isolated well enough (rubber shoes or floating in air). But your feet are on the floor and that is enough to see the 100 V AC from which you get a shock. Hope that explains it :-)
Well if that's the case report it to trading standards and save someone else from being juiced up. Is there no quality control in the UK anymore or something?
There is (I assume there is in UK, I live in NL), in NL for sure an unsafe product like this will not be allowed on the market. It would never pass a KEMA certification. But Julian bought it on Ebay directly from China circumventing all safety and quality control checks. It's cheaper but comes with a risk so you better know what you're doing.
It sure does! I had my first (and last) major shock when I was about 12 years old. I put an inline connector into a TV lead and decided to open it up. I thought I was opening the TV side, but it turned out to be the still-connected mains side. I'm pretty sure (if I remember this correctly) I grabbed one connector with one hand and the other with the other. It was one hell of a belt, and threw me back across the room. Felt quite wobbly for an hour or so. Pretty lucky to survive that one I reckon.
the mains power is being reduced by the time it comes out the two wires that touch the leds. so like someone mentioned below you wouldnt be getting shocked with the power of the outlet -- just whats being given to the bulbs. not likely to be much.... possibly enough that the few microns of insulation can handle it.
wtf are you talking about poles in an AC device?
either end should be hot every 1/50th of a second...
difference of 220V and 120V lies in the 120 forcing the muscles to contract as opposed to 220 actually pushing you away. doesn't the 220 there lie with 110 on each leg? I am not sure of the configuration of the AC where you are from, but in the US, one leg is 110 and the other is neutral (tied to ground at fuse box). The power is going through a rectifier and filtered by the caps and limited by the resister circuitry. Have you actually measured the voltages you are speaking about or are you merely theorizing based on the AC characteristics there? I see some issues with the ground (reference) being lifted or modified as the delivery voltage is dropped to around 12VDC for the LEDs to work properly... remember that reverse current through an LED even of minuscule amount is death for them, so we are talking DC on the output side you are examining.. even if it is ripply and not filtered completely out. I am not doubting your conclusions because I do not know the circuitry you are examining, but I have looked at some COBB lights here in the US.. but they are 110V units with E27 connections. Here they are isolated via a cap, so ground reference is removed (which I think you are eluding to as the shock hazard if I understand correctly).. Can you provide a schematic of your bulb for more clarification as a way to help understand the concerns? I am trying to understand how you are seeing full AC (or even half-rectified AC) at the LED leads exactly without the LEDs turning into tiny mushroom clouds... :-)
+Stan Skaggs It is the current that kills (or burns) - you need a voltage to push the current through the body and anything above about 50V alternating current (120V Direct Current) can be lethal - it depends very much on the contact path. Damp skin lowers your body resistance.
Geoff Ryan That would be true, except these bulbs are fully rectified and capacitively decoupled. If one were to pour water into the bulb to arc the current over to the DC side (part that you touch), I could see danger there like you are trying to describe. I work on these all the time and do not see your point exactly since the open side is the DC side. Any reverse current like you are describing would annihilate the LEDs via reverse current flow (definition of AC). Do you have a schematic to review of these lights to see what I am trying to convey to you? If the AC side were to make contact with the DC side, I could see your point, but that is just not the case... Sorry, but it is wrong..
***** You are correct to a point in that current is the factor in which fibrillation commences. The point that I think you are missing is that alternation of that current is necessary to form fibrillation cycles though. A typical fibrillator in a hospital surgical suite is a DC device which MUST be changed to AC in order to scramble AV node current. The fact is that DC is highly subjective to resistance than AC is. This makes DC current damage more likely to be convective than intrusive as AC is in the form of fibrillation (largest concern for AC shocks).
You guys are making statements regarding electricity safety which are in fact valid and mathematically correct, but DC damage is more heat related where AC is invasive to the nervous and thus the cardiovascular system.
Here in our hospital, we test constantly for electrical leakage on equipment powered by AC mains, but anything DC related is simply ignored to that fact. Even NFPA99, as well as the NEC regulations point this out very clearly and substantially. If I short my radio to AC the radio will blow for sure as well as I would be shocked via the AC mains.. as will these bulbs if the AC drifts over to the DC side of the circuitry.. That is known as being "broken" of "shorted" to mains.
The simply truth behind these bulbs and nearly all our modern home electronics is that these are DC devices rectified in the exact same manner to perform their functions.
Sorry if this is long winded as well, but these are simply the cold hard facts.
Back when Edison and Tesla fought over the harnessing of the Niagra Falls for power production, Edison pointed to the dangers of the AC current, killing animals in public to point that out. This is another extension of this case argument in reverse, and not accepting the nature of the consumer-side of the bulbs being pure DC just like a D-cell or car battery.
Come on!
Thanks for this, saw these for sale at a major retailer, opted for Phillips.
Julian, Great video and quite educational. Thanks.
Always thought it was interesting how you guys across the pond pronounce Aluminum. 3:09
Well done video, good narration
That's because everywhere else in the world, other than the USA, spells it aluminium.
Gray or Grey? Practise or Practice?
You can thank the Compendious Dictionary for bastardizing the english language.
It's so interesting how we have two nations separated by a common language.
Mosin, ghost500 is Right. the Brits' pronunciation is more correct that the US in pronouncing Aluminium. It is a Latin word which originally is pronounced as Aluminio and SO the Whole LATIN-speaking world pronounces it. (and the rest of the world for that matter)
So.....here in the US the MONOlinguals says Aluminum and the Bilinguals (or MULTI as Me) we say Aluminium or Aluminio.
Therefore Mosin54R it is YOU who pronounces it FUNNY
Jess Cast Oh I know, out of all the subtle differences between American and British English; I do have to admit i never noticed THAT spelling change
Great review Julian! There is a lot of misconception here about the way AC works, and Isolation. First off.... A bridge rectifier provides NO ISOLATION, full wave or half wave. The diodes are connected directly to the mains, and the rectifier's job is to change AC to DC. This is all the 4 diodes do in a full wave configuration. The only way to isolate you from the mains is to use an isolation transformer. Those two exposed wires on the top of that lamp carry DC, completely un-isolated from the mains. Secondly.... AC in most houses, has what is called "Neutral Phase" which is simply the center tap of the secondary winding on the pole transformer. By making neutral phase, common in every house, reduces electric shock by keeping this a Common Situation between all houses..... Hence: "Common."
Here's where people get confused, AC is alternating, which means that both sides of your outlet are really hot, only at one half of the cycle. The large slot here in North America is Neutral Phase or Common, or the center tap of the tranny on the pole. The small slot is called "hot" because it is one outer leg of the pole transformer's secondary. Again, both hot and neutral are alternating meaning at one point of the cycle, the neutral could actually be called Hot. Realistically, in all AC outlets, at one half of the cycle, one side, or the other, is hot. This applies to everywhere in the world.
Hope This Helps.
What you're saying about the neutral being hot at any point of the cycle doesn't make any sense. In North America the neutral (large slot) is wired to ground at the breaker panel. When properly wired it is electrically connected to the round ground slot in the outlet through the wiring to the breaker panel. The neutral should never have any significant voltage on it, only the very low voltage drop from the panel ground to the outlet caused by current flowing through the very low resistance in the wiring to the outlet neutral. The AC Hot changes from being positive potential for half the cycle to negative potential for the other half of the cycle. For 240 volts, one phase is positive with respect to neutral/ground and the other is negative wrt neutral/ground. The two 120 Volt AC signals out of phase 180 degrees add up to 240 VAC. The neutral should never be live!
Wa Buzzoo Quote: The two 120 Volt AC signals out of phase 180 degrees add up to 240 VAC. The neutral should never be live!
Ok, In North America our appliances run on 120V and we have a large slot in our plug that is considered common. If you look at the situation from a schematic point of view, the center tap of the pole pig is connected to that large slot, and the center half moon of the outlet is the safety ground, tied at the panel, to a ground rod pounded into soil. This is why it's considered ground and you don't get a shock. It's "common." The bottom line is, It's AC. So for 120Volts operation, Picture This:..... If you ignore the other winding that we are not using in this 120V circuit ( from center tap, to the other outer leg ), we have one leg classified as common and one hot. What difference would it make if we use one outer leg or the center tap of the transformer in this situation? Remember, we only have 120 coming in. It makes no difference, because technically we would have a single ended transformer then. My point being is, AC has no polarity. Since we have a center tapped tranny on the pole to provide 240V, grounding the center leg is the only option to get two 120V lines, 180 degrees out of phase from each other. So at the normal house outlet, we have technically a single ended ac signal, with one end classified as common that's tied to ground, and one that's hot.
So again, think of it this way, if we only had 120V coming into the house, and you made the first decision "EVER" to pick what side would be neutral? What side would you pick? Well, take your pick! Then make that neutral "common" to all houses and pound in a ground rod. ( Its still AC, and now in phase with all the other houses. ) Now you have your large slot and safety ground so you don't get a shock, and the other side that you can call "hot."
But since we have 240 running to some larger appliances, it only makes sense to ground the center tap of the tranny and make that common. Remember it's AC, there is no + or -
So this is why neutral or common isn't classified as LIVE, and why we all don't get shocked.
Mr Carlson's Lab In conventionally wired systems (i.e., not the hypothetical system with transformer having an end tap tied to ground that you mentioned) the neutral is tied to the ground connection in the panel. So the neutral is zero volts with respect to the planet, given that the ground is actually tied to a rod driven into the earth, a pretty consistent and stable zero voltage reference point. The 60 Hertz wave on a 120 Hot line switches polarity with respect to the planet 120 times a second. So on a average time frame there is no + and - with AC, but instantaneously the hot could be positive or negative with respect to the planet; so yes there is + and - and it changes but only on the hot of the outlet. 60 times a second the 120 volt hot peaks at +169.7 volts, and 60 times a second it peaks at -169.7 volts. You could see this on an oscilloscope that was connected from ground (planet) to the hot. The same scope on ground to neutral will show zero. The neutral is kept at the same potential as the planet.
One side or the other of the outlet are not hot for half the cycle. Don't spread that around. Only the hot can supply voltage that will drive a current. Stating that at one point in the cycle the neutral could be called hot is false. The neutral is never hot if properly wired. You should never be able to draw any power through the neutral to ground. If you can (indicating a hot neutral), your wiring is wrong and you should get an electrician to fix that.
Wa Buzzoo Quote: You should never be able to draw any power through the neutral to ground.
Well of course you won't because they are tied together. I think you are looking at this through electricians eyes.
Ok...... AC alternates between 2 leads. What are the two leads in your AC outlet? The only reason we classify one side of the outlet Hot, is because its the outer leg of the tranny. The center tap has to be tied to common, neutral for two 120V lines. (and for safety too) Yes the common is held at Earth ground, but it is still AC. AC means "Alternating" ....... the current is alternating between 2 wires. Meaning both wire carry current. If both wires carry current, is one "really" neutral? Get the picture? In your quote you say it yourself :
60 times a second the 120 volt hot peaks at +169.7 volts, and 60 times a second it peaks at -169.7 volts.
Ok, so when it peaks at -169.7V, which side is positive in respect to that?
Could that be the Neutral, Common?
If you are still confused, get a center tapped transformer that has a low secondary voltage...say 12 Volts ct. Make sure the primary and secondary windings are isolated, Don't want you getting hurt. Get your oscilloscope out, set the time base to 10ms per division, That will give you a nice display. Now apply the center tap of the tranny, to the scope probe center. Then remove probe, reverse wires and apply center tap to probe ground, then tell me what side is hot.
If your not confident in your electrical skills, don't try the above!!!
Mr Carlson's Lab Oh ya, WA Buzzoo, I'm taking for granted that you know how to use a scope, So I trust that you realize how to connect the other lead of the oscilloscope probe. I was a little vague in the description.
I wonder if coating in layers the led board with CA glue would add some protection?
Thanks for this information and presenting it so sensibly.
I saw one diode. I didn't see a bridge rectifier.
Whatatay T No, but he has a "bridge" to sell to you.
*****
That's nice but it only had two pins
Very interesting; unbelievable that this products is on sale.
pourquoi ??
***** Je suis pas fort en anglais mais je comprends pas mal de mots techniques:
Il démonte une lampe à LED conçu n'importe comment et qui est très dangereuse.
En gros elle s'alimente avec le secteur et les isolations circuit électrique/corps métallique sont dérisoires ce qui fait qu'on peut s'électrocuter en agrippant la partie métallique.
Il provient d'ou le danger des led ?
Neymar 213 Non il dit que le danger provient des fils (rouge et blanc) qui arrivent sur le plateau ou se trouvent les LEDs. Et il insiste sur le fait qu'il n'y a que quelques microns entre l'endroit ou la phase arrive et le dissipateur de chaleur qui n'est mis a la terre. Bon maintenant j'ai du mal a piger pourquoi c'est si dangereux puisque le 230v passe a travers un circuit qui a mon sens doit diminuer le voltage sur les fils qu'il decrit (12 volts?).
Manu Delmarche ""puisque le 230v passe a travers un circuit qui a mon sens doit diminuer le voltage sur les fils qu'il decrit (12 volts?).""
12 V +/- ou autre ne veut pas dire inoffensif: certes le circuit additionnel fait chuter la tension qui arrive au niveau des LEDs MAIS vu la manière dont il est conçu il n'apporte en aucun cas une isolation galvanique.
C'est se qu'on appel parfois une alimentation dite "sans transfo" ou capacitive.
Tu obtiens de la TBT entre les bornes de sortie mais il existe toujours une tension dangereuse entre une de ses bornes et le corps humain (potentiel de la terre).
This is good information. I installed 3 similar bulbs I bought from ebay in each of my 2 kitchen light fittings. One of them literally blew up in the light fitting, shattering the glass face and shooting glass shards and the inner workings of the bulb, all over the kitchen. Furthermore, the remaining bulb contents which were now hanging from the ceiling light fitting, actually caught fire and there was a bare flame dangling from my kitchen ceiling. I immediately removed the bulbs from each fitting and reported them to the local fire service who have told me to talk to trading standards to have them analysed. Nothing came of that though. Beware!
I have a variety of new LEDs in my house that I purchased on Amazon.com in the USA. How do we know which LEDs are safe or not?
I'll take your dodgy GU10 bulb and raise you two dodgy houses I've lived in where the light switches cut off the neutral instead of the live. Imagine the consequences of both combined! :-)
Unbelievably unsafe.
Also unsafe are the comments being made by people who think they understand electronics.
1. IF the circuit does not have a voltage limiter - it is simply limiting the current to prevent frying the leds. The LEDS themselves will clamp the voltage across them to a 'lower level'. But if a led dies and the circuit goes open , then the voltage on those terminal will rise to mains and supply the same current that the leds needed - presumably more than 30mA.
The 370K resistor would only allow 0.6mA to pass - nowhere near enough to power the leds. It is probably used to discharge the cap - preventing a shock from the terminals if unplugged. It's in the right position to assume that.
That means the current is only limited by the capacitor as normal for a dropper like this - the diode ... well that just gives you a DC shock instead!
Didn't look like the cap was a safety X or Y rated one - so could go short circuit .. even more current - or fire.
2. It cannot possibly be deemed safe if there is no protection against touching any 'directly live' terminal - regardless of where its fitted.
3. Safe design considers what happens if a part fails ..
I had the same experience with a iPhone USB-charger. It exploded and the mains fuse went off! After inspection there was almost no insulation between mains (directly) and the USB metal shell... but it was cheap! Why the explosion? I just tried to put the USB connector in and shorted between mains and USB :)
Excellent review, wow it's amazing this thing is on the market.
You're obviously an electronics guy. Instead of telling us how bad it is, why don't you show us how bad it is. Put a meter across the leads on the face plate. Then put a meter between each of them and ground. It would do several things, including putting all the fighting to a swift end, showing exactly how much potential is there, and show how dangerous it is. 4:34 of telling us it's bad, you couldn't find 15 seconds to meter it?
elitejohnlp strange v tac daylight 600 mm lamp supply gives 265 volts a home cocket 235 v tac shit?
elitejohnlp he likes the sound of his own voice.
I am an electrical engineer with several years experience designing power electronics so I can speak with some authority on this subject. Now while I may not agree entirely with everything said in this video, I must say that anybody arguing that somehow the connections to the LEDs on the front panel are safe is propagating misinformation and making themselves and others candidates for a Darwin Award.
Anything connected to mains is considered a 'hazardous voltage' until it is isolated by an appropriate barrier. A transformer is one way, but there are others. This lamp has NO ISOLATION between the mains and 'accessible conductive parts'. The electrical safety standards do not allow for this. This lamp would never achieve compliance with any electrical safety standard I know of.
But while you are considering this lamp have you ever looked inside a phone charger. The type with a USB socket on the side? I can tell you now, they should meet EN60950 (almost everywhere except Germany who use a VDE standard) which requires the primary (mains) conductive parts on the pcb and the conductive secondary (5V output) parts on the pcb to have a minimum clear space between them of not less than 6.4mm across the surface of the pcb or 3.2mm in air provided the parts are well anchored (so they cannot move closer together even if the thing is dropped or hit).
I have yet to find a phone charger that meets EN60950.
Typical clearances are not 6.4mm, but in some cases even less than 1mm.
This lamp is no better and may be worse except for the fact that lamps are not usually so easily touched
Whether this lamp gives you a shock or not is a matter of luck more than anything else. There is very little that need go wrong before this lamp would be dangerous to touch while powered.
If you are a budding electronics enthusiast, that's great but don't start talking about things of which you clearly know very little. Julian may not be 100% accurate, but anybody arguing that he's 100% wrong is an idiot. Just think about this: what separates the mains voltage from the exposed conductive parts? Here's an acid test to see what you really think of the isolation barrier: would you be happy with your child for example playing with something connected to mains and having only that same thing separating the mains from your child? If you still think this lamp is ok then I am bewildered by the fact that you have survived long enough to be old enough and managed enough education to use a computer to make your stupid posts on here. I mean, what are the chances!?
Thanks for sharing this important safety info!
How do you get a shock if the power is off, I would never try to install this without turning the breaker off
This whole video can be debunked in the first 3 minutes. He says it himself "There is a bridge rectifier, a smoothing cap, and electrolytic cap". The bridge rectifier immediately converts mains to DC. He then goes on to say that mains AC will be on the terminal 50 percent of the time you plug it in depending on which way you plug it in. Not true. The bridge rectifier rectifies both halves of the AC wave and combines them into DC before any of the other circuit. Lastly... electrolytics blow up when you hook them up backwards. LOL. Simple
one sensible person..... ive used a lot of these mains Capacitor power supplies myself ..... it does give a slight tingle if you touch even the led side of the wiring .... but nothing lethal
atomgonuclear .
Vijay Kumar r
+1, You are correct in the rectifier would prevent "live mains". The producer of this video sounds like he knows what he's talking about, but he doesn't . Glad to see someone else correct him. Good Job Adamgonuclear. Thanks
Atomgonuclear - when you have a theoretical knowledge of electronic circuits, you laugh at other people. The bridge rectifier will not protect you from mains. It maybe DC between output terminals, and even safe low voltage DC. However, if you touch, you introduce a new path for the current; you will have the full mains voltage, minus one diode drop of 0.6v, across your body.
Useless information and hypothetical. Do make a REAL test with a multimeter touching the heatsink? I changed over 200 bulbs of this type in 110v and 220v and none have electrocuted me.
Anecdotal evidence doesn't really hold up any more than his assertion, now does it?
I have some LED lights with an identical-looking plastic body and aluminium heatsink, but they do have a transformer-based power supply inside and a plastic lens covering the front. Still, the GU10 socket is pretty tight, and when I tried to take the light out of the socket, the heatsink started unscrewing from the plastic body instead. The socket was pretty deeply recessed, so I had to unscrew the heatsink completely, and then grab the plastic body with pliers to get it out of the socket.
all LED bulbs here ( usa) have plastic on the LED part and are a screw in type base but still.. true they get HOT but I have wondered myself if even those could zap you?
This is why I only will buy UL tested lights (underwriter laboratories)
@panda44r Not necessarily, that's a little bit of a weird interpretation. They have guidelines for all different subjects (my expertise is lighting) and I can't pass UL/cUL even if I state that it's a lethal luminaire. The subject category defines the risk factor.
Meaningless since they get a UL listing then slap it on whatever they cram out the next day.
Nasty. Just like the bad old days of live chassis TVs.
I got a nasty shock from a record player in France because of their non-polarised mains...
I've bought several dodgy Chinese LED products - but knowingly - I didn't really expect any MR16 to be a genuine 12 watts - but I was shocked to find Amazon warehousing them.
Just out of curiosity.. was it Amazon itself that was selling these, or one of the various 3rd party sellers? These days, Amazon acts a lot like eBay. In fact, many of the items for sale on eBay are also identically sold on amazon
***** Mine were warehoused by Amazon in the UK, so arrived within a day or two.
. Rest assured I left damning reviews and exchanged some emails with the people in China - though there wasn't the out and out attempted bribery I had when I did the same thing on Ebay.
Amazon didn't seem to care.
Luckily I'm only using my (MR16) lamps on my bike and I doubt they would actually catch fire used indoors - though running so hot, I doubt they would last very long.
I'm just a little disappointed they aren't a bit brighter. So far as I know it's only Philips who make a genuine 10 watt MR16 and then only because they fitted a fan in it !
It seems amazing to me that when the EU can ban the sale of inefficient incandescent lamps, they can allow the sale of "replacements" that bear no relation to the supplied specs - some of them apparently with bogus safety markings.
And why don't Cree do something about a Chinese manufacturer calling themselves "Rotundity Cree" ?
yangtse55 Nice comment man, lots of truths be told! It's surprising Amazon would warehouse illegal stuff, that's really not like them. Though I think Amazon also warehouses incandescent bulbs in the UK, at least that was the case last time I checked? Well whatever, they probably stock-piled a million of them before the ban initiated and claim it's old stock now XD. I'm not sure about MR16, but GU10 can definitely go up to 5-6W of led, above that is certainly fake as you said. How bright do you want your lamps anyway? I have 2 led lamps of 500-600 lumens each above my kitchen table (the 2700k type) and it's bright as fuck.
A better question is; why did the EU ban a perfectly safe lamp, which will be replaced by a mercury-containing alternative? That's the standard energy-saving bulbs. Also, as far as I know, it takes a fair chunk of extremely rare metals to produce leds. So resources will eventually run out, whereas tungsten is present in much more abundant quantities on earth. I can understand the reasoning of wanting to save electricity, though the effect of it causes more damage than incandescent ever could!
What did you mean by "Rotundity Cree" ?
This video is mentioned at the beginning of the main article in this month's Lux Magazine. Well done Mr Ilett
Thanks Peter - is it the March issue?
Julian Ilett Yep, March issue. You should be able to get Lux Magazine based on the fact that you make videos aboutlighting and therefore work in the lighting industry worked for me. However, if you sign up now, you might not be able to get March's issue, so maybe contact them.
might i suggest you show people how you use a DMM and identify the HOT side
this is so common and i use lots of them
on a side note being that these run on AC can you tell me what is the required to run the led board without the driver can these be battery powered ???
thank for you video
This would fail CE and C-Tick approvals. This would make the product ILLEGAL in pretty-much the whole country...
Nope. The circuit used is reliable from a safety standpoint and very inexpensive. What is not acceptable is how easy it was to disassemble. You'd be required to glue or ultrasonically seal the parts together in the US. What fails from an engineering standpoint is how susceptible to transients and mains fluctuations this would be. I suspect failure rates will tell the tale. It's a passive RC impedance matching circuit where a lot of the excess AC voltage is dropped in the capacitor and a few volts of "margin" in the resistor to arrive at 64VDC at probably 140mA (9W to give the equivalent of 40W incandescent lighting).
Are you serious!? Ok for safety? There is a direct connection from mains to an exposed terminal on the front of the lamp and you think that is ok? What country do you live in? I'll never visit, you have my word!
Stephen Walsh Where do you live? 64 VDC mains and 140mA power? Seriously...
BMan18 Where did i say i have 64VDC mains???
I stumbled upon your video here in the dredges of TH-cam. Thanks for posting. Unfortunately, you do not appear to understand how LED's (or diodes in general) work. I confess that I didn't read all of the replies or comments here, but on the first page no one mentions that diodes only accept voltage in ONE direction. Even though you can cross wire the input, the voltage to the diode remains the same. If by some chance that the + is on those exposed leads, it could pose some risk to you though likely not deadly. Consider a diode to be a type of check valve if you were dealing with a fluid in a pipe. They can be used to convert AC voltage to DC, since they only allow passage of voltage in one direction.
I'm getting tired of this; GO BACK TO SCHOOL - A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING! In the meantime, listen to the bit where he talks about a thing called a "bridge rectifier". I hope your ears burn!
Is a four minute video already to much for your attention span? (btw. you'd only need to make it to about 2 minutes to hear where your first mistake is).
And have you looked at his other videos? Do you really think that with the stuff he builds he has no idea how diodes work? Be honest and state that you understand and can explain the contents of his other videos. Then you have the right to call him out on "not understanding".
Wow, excellent demonstration. Chief lesson: quality electronics are your best option.
Really well spotted, thanks for sharing. I try to avoid anything with 'nese in it, but sometimes at their prices, you just can't resist...
Keep 'em coming :)
These are _perfectly safe._ Remember LED's are _low impedance diodes_ fed through a _dropping resistor._ Assuming that the LED's are run in _series_ There will _never_ be more than *_27 volts_* present at the point you touched.
He talks first of a bridge rectifier, unsmoothed that would give pulsating DC.
Then there's a dropper resistor + cap (still DC) and I suspect a parallel zener to the final small electrolytic cap (if it's 1100uf it's certainly not 400v!).
Now we have a smooth DC Voltage to match the LEDs' requirements..
Let's prove the danger is there by connecting a meter to Earth.
This is what he should have done rather than scaremongering.
Why can't that electrolytic capacitor be 400V? How can you prove that a 400V 1100 uF electrolytic capacitors don't exist? I have plenty of 400V 3300 uF electrolytic capacitors in my parts bin. There is no zener diode. Your comment has some flaws. Remember that live can go directly through the bridge rectifier and onto the LED board and then through the capacitor dropper if the lamp is switched around. He knows what he's talking about, the only thing that needs to be checked is one of the pads with that little mains tester screwdriver he has over there. I assume he tested the lamp with that and got a positive result.
Safety is always based on worst case, risk averse, design. Better the be safe, than dead. The analysis was spot on. 1100 was referring to the series capacitor in pF not uF. Never states the value of the electrolytic. Never said the line was shorted to the heat sink. Only that it was insulated from the heat sync by a few mils of plastic ink that could easily (implied) fail and punch through by a line spike. Then the heat sink will kill you. I have seen this many times on line powered products.
A 400V 1000uF cap would be far too big to fit inside the housing. And the small (polyester) cap in the video must be wired _before_ the bridge or it will simply block everything rather than drop some.
Interesting point about the resistor only being on one side, is there a way to make such a circuit work with resistors on both sides? DOuble the components and half the values? (or is that double the value with the capacitor?).?
I'm guessing that after the rectifier the voltage is less lethal as it is going to be DC not AC so i would imagine that you would only get a little shock if any, has anyone tried it to see :D Jullian did you try measuring voltage between the exposed wires and earth?
was going to put these in my bathroom to replace my 50w halogens, but now I might reconsider, I'm afraid condensation might cause a shock within the lamp, unless i put some protective glass in front of it. You're last remark however is a bit dodgy: I assume whenever you replace a lightbulb you leave the power OFF. then return to the switch and flip it back on to see if your bulb works.
I used to use a tyre machine outside, 240 v straight up my arm every time it rained wheather I was standing on a big rubber mat or not and I'm still here ..come to think of it I've had cancer twice, i've smashed into the front wing of a car doing 30 mph on a pushbike, stuck a moped into a tree, stuffed many cars into trees - bushes, once jumped over armco sideways in a 2 litre mondeo, fell down an open manhole, fell off a horse, and I've kicked the shit out of many a bigger seeming man than me, and vive versa there isn't an Un dangerous light bulb on the planet - why pick on this one? plug it in and let the house fuses decide if it's dangerous or not. better to light a single candle than rally around in the dark .
Hi Five Bro
Sounds like you may have super human traits. Most humanity are kept in the dark, we're just barely leaving "the dark ages" or Kali Yuga.
If indeed true, you may be part of one of The Agendas. If one is unaware of their higher directives, they shall meditate/look within daily to attain clear vision and realization of them.
After reading some of the comments, I'm beginning to really concern myself with the intelligence level of mankind?
You mean by powering everything in your house with 240 volts?
I have noticed that a lot of top stores sell lamp stands made of metal that have the mains going through the centre of the tubing, they twist and bend and yet they are not earthed. I always have to think how do they end up in these top stores.
Hi, so has this been called out to Trading Standards, and the organisations (Amazon,ebay etc) that allows this non certified stuff to be sold on their sites? Also your MP could take it to the H&S Executive.
scaremongering BS a white led has a Vf of about 3.5v DC. If it had 230v ac it would fry. It's a classic transformerless power supply/series capacitor and dropper resistor with bridge rectifier and probably a zener to regulate the probable 12v dc that appears across the front plate on the pink and white. Don't believe me ? put your tongue across it then
Please. This is bs and you know it.
maybe i'm mistaken but doesn't the transformer in the LED convert the power to 12V? so far as i know you cant be killed by that little voltage (I know amps are what kill you but it would be hard to complete the circuit through a body with 12V)
Are you sure that there is nothing reducing the voltage to the leds? It is possible to reduce the voltage using a bridge rectifier if the diodes have a resistance across them. I was hoping you would check the voltage at the wires where the leds are connected. I use a similar light in Australia and the voltage is 48V DC. Still enough to be dangerous but not lethal.
Why is anyone questioning this- the design is clearly dangerous. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing as some of the replies demonstrate.
Hope you have a split load CU to cover your lighting.
Before you criticise the video go and learn a bit more about electronics.... oh and it IS a 360K resistor.
Thank you for sharing this.
What the heck is 3 quid?
gtracer66 3 British pounds
Educate yourself. There are other countries than US in this world.
I was going to say 3 quid was Squiggy son III from (Laverne & Shirley)..LMAO
I bought one on eBay for $1.31 with free shipping to the US, but I got the E27 base instead. It had a clear plastic cover. Great light to replace incandescent!
There are no other countries, sorry. We know what a pound is. It's 16 ounces. Thanks for nothing.
Is it not DC voltage on the front of the bulb on the two point you call lethal? If not then what is the transformer for?
I'm trying to understand... LEDs needs lower voltage compared to 240V and needs DC, not AC. So, I think that there is a "step-down"... So if you touch the bulb it would be a lower voltage, not right?
Please put a stipulation in your description or just take the video down all together. The information you are presenting is incorrect. The components in the back of the bulb do 2 things: 1- drop the voltage and 2- rectify the current from AD to DC. Additionally, LED lights only work in one direction (+ must go to + and - to -), this is the purpose of a diode (light emitting or otherwise). This light bulb can't be considered dangerous. At least in the sense you describe.
+YourBusinessGeek: It absolutely is dangerous.
The issue here is that the active phase is 'dangerous' because pretty much everything else around you, normally including yourself is at the earth potential, which is normally bonded to the neutral. This means that you should be able to safely touch the neutral conductor. However touching the active conductor will generally electrocute you. Regardless of if the active has then been through a rectifier. Rectification just adds to the danger, as it removes the zero crossings that can help to relieve the muscle strain, allowing release from the conductor. Rectified AC has a very large DC component, so your muscles will clamp until the power itself is turned off (hopefully from an RCD / circuit breaker action)
+Bevan Weiss there is no neutral in DC! nor are their phases! jeez! i got three of em on a mobile-thingie above my sons crib, and he puts his slobbery fingers all over them, and even chews on em. aint heard him complain. not once. well, he did get pissy when i handed him a charged photo-flash cap for a binkie, but he mellowed out after a few burns from a hot crank pipe..
but YourBusinessGeek: youre right. why are there no MODERATORS to remove shteeeww-pid videos like this? next thing ya know: "recepticles can kill! one could easily jam a key into a wall socket by mistake and get a DC shock!" and everyone would be that much dumber. and dumber.
Matt Loiselle You honestly have no idea Matt. The voltage is not isolated from the mains supply, so there very much is a neutral connection. If you follow the wire all the way back to your switchboard, it will connect to an earth bar, which will then connect to an earth stake outside. It's possible that you have three different LED lamps, that have isolated DC for the LEDs. The issue with this one is that it is not isolated. Do you know what isolated means when discussing electricity? If not, then you should bow-out of this conversation.
Can we make a full 720p video where all the people who say that they understand 'electrical stuff' and that the video is total BS and and that the lamp is perfectly safe are encouraged to probe a live one with their bare fingers (preferably nice and damp) in front of a camera (with sound), so we can make a TH-cam video of it?
This would accomplish at least three very useful things; we would all have a laugh and secondly, Charles Darwin's theory would gain more acceptance and thirdly, several dumb people would stop spouting about things they don't understand by virtue of the fact that they were either in hospital or dead.
Not that the lamp is safe or anything, but I would have no problem touching it with however wet and bare fingers anyone may want me to. That is, as long as I don't have to be part of a circuit. Bare-hand work on conductors up to hundreds of kilovolts is safe with correct work methods ^^
Jimmy Rönnholm Amusing, but I think you are 10,000 light years ahead of some of the people on this thread. A significant proportion of them will read your comment and come to the conclusion "Oh, he said he's O.K. with touching it, so it must be safe!" ...BZZZZZZZT!
Still, I suppose it might be fun to break out the full isolation suit and struggle up to the lamp and grasp the portion of it that, as you say, would not make me part of the circuit. Observers might think I'd lost it though and was trying to play 'space men in bright yellow rubber suits' in the living room. Call in the men in white coats! ;-)
Jimmy Rönnholm Do you know the precautions that you take when doing hot work? I do I've done it and its a pain in the ass! You think the average person is going to take the precautions just to change or check a lightbulb?
Gary L
Yes I do, and as the original comment I wrote stated, I would have no problem touching the lamp in the video as long as I am isolated from other potentials. Then I mentioned high voltage just to state it can be done there as well - OF COURSE with the right work methods, just as I said.
We use 3 barriers in sweden just working with low voltage(
ahh ok
By using E27 socket, screw type, live will be always on central pin.Why use GU10?
That makes perfect sense I am an electrician and we had to change a load of these one day at a pub. The customer had brought them cheap an i did receive a shock of one, it was a down lighter so i presumed id touched the terminals at the top. But when looked they were all covered. I took the lamp out put it back in, turned power back on couldn't find any problem. Bet that's what had happened
He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. When the current goes through a rectifier it changes the current from ac to dc for starters. Diodes only except current from a single polarity configuration. The voltage going to the led array is between 3-50V max depending on the configuration of the LEDs. The could be configured in series or in parallel or a combination. Furthermore it's likely low amperage as well.
capatainzarlon: He knows one hell of a lot more about this than you do. Fact is the LEDs are connected to mains, irrespective of the voltage across the LEDs the voltage to earth or ground may still be at full mains potential and therefore lethal. And how does the current draw of the LEDs change anything? This is where you prove you know NOTHING so best you shut the xxxxx up and not lure people to death traps with bogus argument.