Can confirm the poundland 'glowbellied' 3W has completely fixed the annoying strobing cfl problem on my dad's landing light exactly as you suggest here. (he'd gone back to a tungsten bulb in the effected fitting so as not to be driven mad at night) He also enjoyed your babycutor and suicide shower series.
Koito rob well that is your opinion. I actually buy my audio books in chinese code an algorithm that converts chinese into morse then bianry then spanish, so that my spanish assistant can dictate the text i want to read to her chinese assistant, also the author i think. Do we have a problem ?
Hi. We run our systems below rated power and they last a long time, not creating stress is they key. The Victron inverter is about 10 years old and has been running continuosly, same with the solar trackers. Cheers
Hi Clive, Along with power use etc, it would be of interest to measure Lums output, as in most cases people buy the bulbs for the brightness and associated applications.
Thank you so much for all of your entertaining videos. You are a true inspiration. I modified a 3w led lamp with a 33n capacitor witch gave me the low lighting l wanted. I then added a flickering led in series and coloured the lense cover orange and red. It looks really good in my lantern styled lamp fixture.
May have been mentioned before, but I think the reason CFL and LED lights glow after power is removed is due to the phosphors that convert the UV light to visible light. You used to be able to see this on old tube TVs when they shut down with a wide horizontal band in the middle. The band would fade away last. Correct me if I'm wrong. Only way I'm going to learn.
Very interesting data. I'm using an led bulb that uses a microwave sensor to switch on, built into the lamp itself! Very useful when coming in at night, so many uses.
A really informative and useful video, Clive. Thank you. If anyone wants to reduce the brightness and power consumption as you suggest, an additional external capacitor - maybe a 470nF 240V ac one - in series with the lamp would avoid pulling the lamp apart.
He might not mind the cold that much, but even as a Canadian, I wouldn't want to sit around in a 13 degree C room naked for more than the time it would take to put on clothing.
For safety, and I mean not burning the house down kind of safety. What is the best type of China LED? Capacitive dropper Or Switch mode power supply Thanks for the insight.
Hi Clive, great channel :) Maybe time for a new Poundland LED lamps video? Their Electrek branded 5W range have changed from the use of plastic to hand slicing glass! Do be careful! After smashing mine I could list all the things I found inside, but probably will spoil the surprises. Still amazing value. So over to you :-)
the reason that capacitor is not flush with the pcbs is because the holes for the legs are at a shorter distance than the caps hence why it can't sit flush, this can be seen at 2:14
Cool video Clive ! Do you think there is any way to have the full brightness of the 5w version and use different components or a heat sink to lower the temps down from 105C ?
When you turned them on I briefly wondered if I was having an episode of I don't know what. Do those lights flicker? Or is what I see something to do with frames per second?
I really like the low powered lights, just wondering, on the half watt model was that current read before or after you took out the resistor? Also if you were going for a ultimate low power light could you change the circuit more to further reduce wastage in power?
Anyone else notice that when they click reply, TH-cam doesn't add the +Name at the beginning anymore? It only adds the reply name if I reply from the notifications box in the top right. And of course, you can't type the name manually anymore (god knows why not). Like WTF TH-cam?
I've also lost the "show more" button, so I can't read replies more than 4 long. Annoying. I don't think YT really cares since they've already got your ad-impression.
Google announced a few months back that they're phasing out Google+ integration from TH-cam. They had partially removed the functionality already (+Names would not link to the profiles anymore unless you commented from your notifications), and seems like they finally removed the rest now. I would think that the reason they didn't remove it from notifications yet is because the entire notification system is probably on the G+ side, so they will probably have to make a new system for TH-cam from scratch. Considering all the things that could break, that's no small feat.
I can still click read more. Has anyone else had their subscriptions bar disappear from the left hand side on the main page? What's really annoying is how often my posts get shadowbanned. TH-cam must either think I'm a spammer, or have dangerous opinions.
I tried these lamps (2X3W and 3X5W lamps) and they only lasted a few weeks. All 5 failed in less than 6 weeks. No reflection on Clive, he was not running an extended life test.
hello Clive could you please make a separate video for showing and discussing modifications for reducing the wattage to extend the LED lamp life? you have shown the calculation in this video but didn't demonstrate actual changes on the bulb PCB. it'll really be helpful for some viewers. in our area the higher watts lamps (10w) are quite easily available and price efficient while lower watts lamp tend to get into decorative lighting arena and are not very cost efficient.
i have to say. the longest lasting lamp i have ever had and still works is a general electric CFL. its 10 years old and it gets used everyday for many hours and has seen alot of use. it puts out very nice warm light, much nicer than the light that LEDs output, very bright too. Its possibly the only good CFL to be made.
the light is very warm because of how old the light is, our bathroom light is like that where the new bulbs look really bright and cold compared to old ones :P
I mentioned a while ago to you in another post that it was my opinion that these 5 watt bulbs were being pushed beyond their capabilities.Well it seems that Poundland have realized too as my local branch no longer stock or sell the 5 watt bulbs but the 3 watt bulb remains on sale.
Thanks for the informative videos, I just subscribed. I have a question on a project I'm working on if you can help. The bulbs in my car heater unit burnt out so I bought LED bulbs w/matching resistors from ebay specifically for auto applications but they keep blowing. I just bought a bunch of Greenlite LED 9watt (60watt eq) bulbs from the Dollar Tree, I took one apart and see 12 LEDs inside. I was wondering if I can use these in my car to solder on the circuit board. The LEDS are wired 3 per side so I hooked up a 12volt battery to one of the boards of 3 LEDS and wow it's so bright, then I hooked up a 390ohm resistor and it's really dim. I'm trying to figure out what resistor I need, if a resistor is even needed. I have no idea what each of these LEDS are rated for voltage wise. The original bulb that would replace the OEM bulb is a regular bulb Radio Shack 272-1141 12volt 25 mA.
Dear Clive, I have recently bought a plug-in power metre. It was the one you very briefly showed and said was rubbish in one of your vids, with blue buttons. Was this due to it being inaccurate or ........... Perhaps you could review the good and the bad in this area?
What is the feasability of adding an annular aluminium ring on the back of the pcb to help improve the heat dissipation so the 5W lamps last longer? For your 0.5W modified lamp you could have replaced the bleeder resistor with something like 1M or 2.2M.
I completely dont understand these capacitive droppers, its something that was never taught during my YTS days :( Im a little confused what would happen if the lamp was in the other way round with the series dropper on the neutral and live going straight in the bridge. I cant seem to find anything in layman's terms on google. I have a GNVQ 2 in electronics so I know what components are but never studied capacitive droppers or extreme detail on how and why components work. Do you have a video explaining in detail these droppers, I love watching them :) Thanks :)
Clive I have watched your videos for the last 2 + years and I watch your channel as you put them out?but like this one I can't understand how I don't see them? do you put them on another channel first or?
I tend to release a video to youtube every second day, but when I record them I now make them unlisted and post a link to my Patreon supporters. But the video still gets released to TH-cam for general viewing when it normally would. The pre-release to the Patreon posse also lets them spot errors before general release.
It's one from a UK outlet called Maplin, but it has a random bug in the software (or crashes) and puts out random voltages once in a blue moon. Shame, as otherwise it would be OK.
Would increasing the filter capacitor value get rid of the flicker, or how would you go about making it a solid light? Maybe these aren't so bad but I know some of my LED lamps are horrendous...
I purchased 5 or so of the completely sealed case poundland 5W golf ball style LEDs lamps and they lasted a week, died and promptly got returned. I have since substituted the ones I purchased for the 5W Elektrek ones with the slotted air vents, the exact lamps that Clive has torn down in this video and they are still going strong a couple of months on. I would sub the low value capacitors in, but for the fact you will loose the brightness / lumens which negates the reason for purchasing 5W LED lamps in the first place. So I'm just going to run them and see how long they last. Even if I get a year out of them and have to replace them it will be still be 6 or 7 years or more, before I would be out of pocket by comparison to purchasing a mainstream branded (Philips as an example) similar wattage LED lamp.
Have you taken apart a 12W globe yet? And how many LEDs are there other than those 10LEDs could see, where does the rest of the voltage gets taken up? Btw, what is the voltage drop per LED?
I took apart a higher powered lamp recently. The LEDs have multiple chips. I think the highest voltage I've measured across a single LED is around 35V. The voltage difference is dissipated as heat by the regulator chip if it's the simplest type.
Would you explain "The LEDs have multiple chips" what it means because I got confused now as well as during this video. Are you suggesting that a LED has a chip incorporated with it? I thought the greatest forward voltage drop on a pure LED is under 5 volts.
Hi Clive just watched a few of your videos on LED's and in one you talk about watts vs heat what would you say is the highest watt LED bulb for max light and max life ? 60w ? i'm about to move the house over to LEDs from the dull yellows we have had for a decade now and was just going to fill the house with =to 100w LEDs but i've read that some people are getting only 3 months max though this may be because they are from china and not a name brand
power of light source measured in lumens. Watt thing is thing from the past, from lightbulbs, which used Joule heating, those have really bad effectiveness (all of them had about 5-8% depending on modification in base construction). Effectiveness of LEDs greatly depends on various factors, on type of converter and type of LEDs for example, while for light bulbs power consumed and light power are proportional. For LEDs it is not, so LEDs are marked directly in lumens. What kills LED lamp is the excess heat, although as any semiconductor device they can have case of "infant death", due to hidden manufacturing flaws. Dissipted heat is proportional to power consumed. The converters is what usually go out if there is something wrong with power supply. You might have too low or too high voltage there, which may cause excess heat dissipating on elements, fluctuating voltage is a problem too. Another reason might be wrong wiring that leads in that breaker is installed on neutral wire instead of phase. Also, you never should use LEDs that are marked "not dimmable" with any kind of dimmer switches, it wouldn't guarantee documented life. Also LED life usually displayed for 4 hour/day work cycle, actual cycle - often switched on\off or constantly working - may change that value.
Like me I know you also prefer warm white light. When I wanted to replace my 40watt incandescent lamps I found out the Philips 2700K/350 Lm give out almost identical light. A tad less red, a tad more yellow but very close !
Led drivers typically use a transformer. Many led's like the ones shown in this video use a bridge rectifier and 400v capacitor. I wonder how do they compare? Are non-transformer ones more dangerous? Are transformer ones considered as non-isolated while transforner types called isolated?
The capacitive droppers are much simpler, but have poor power factor (voltage to current phase relationship). The capacitor circuitry also has no isolation like some of the transformer based drivers. The main advantages of the capacitive droppers are their simplicity, reliability and low electrical noise generation. But they are better suited to long strings of low current LEDs and not at all suited to high current applications.
So it wouldn't be a good idea for me to use a led light in my bathroom ,as the switch has a neon light built into it ,which makes a useful way to find the switch at night being pitch black and all , the led would probably not turn off , hum ?
I remember taking apart a failed LED bulb only to find that it had those 1W LEDs that ran so hot the thermal pad got blackened just because there was no thermal paste.
I have plenty 1 t0 4 cell rc lipo batteries. what led bulb setup with those would be best for reading etc. when our maine power goes out, yes actually the state and house power?
Hi Clive. Could I buy one of those 3 W LED lamps and replace my current Bayonet 42 W candle bulb for a bedroom (ceiling light)? Or are these only applicable for specific cases?
is there any relation between the size of a capacitor as in how big it is and its size in capacitoryness? because it seems to me that theyre just random sizes like you see 2.2uF capacitors twice as big as a 22uF one or a 470uF capacitor thats no bigger than a 4.7uF etc
I've replaced all the lights I can in home with LED bulbs of 6.5watt/10watt 120v Edison base(of course I'm in the US), but the bases for all the bulbs here are made of ceramic as a safety feature to act a heat sink, and they can get fairly hot if left on for a long period. I'm not sure yet about the longevity yet as I've only started replacing my bulbs as I caught them on sale the middle of last year, but I have noticed my power bills have dropped some, so I don't have to yell at the kids as much if they forget to turn off a light lol!
mharris1270 I've yet to replace the bulbs in some of my ceiling fans as they use the smaller candelabra base style bulbs, and I've yet to find any LED bulbs in that style on sale yet, same with the porch light, and the lights in my shop are still oldschool fluorescent light tubes, but everything else has been changed to LED. Also I to note I got tired of replacing CFL bulbs as I don't think I ever had one that got anywhere near their quoted lifespan.
I bought 2 sets of LEDs for use on 240V here in Canada....i got the 12 Watt range for a desk lamp. Out of curiosity, i tried the Phillips one (non multi voltage model) on 120V and it works .... at abt 9 or so watts (looks like a 75watt bulb vs the intended 100W on 240v). I then tried the cheapo no name brand one(also a 240V rated led bulb) on 120v but it didnt work. Why would that be? ....Would running the Phillips one on 120V also increase the life of the bulb....without mods ? Do you ever tear open a name brand LED bulb or are u a fan of no name ones ? 😆 Ive tried no name cheapo local bulbs and sometimes i find the CRI is a little off ... not as pleasant 2700K as the branded ones. So it ends up being outside for my driveway 🤣
I've gotten a LED light here, and would like your opinion on it. 9 W 110mA 120v 60Hz -- dist. by Dolgencorp, (made in China) sold in Dollar General Gets hot, but I don't know the temp. Has no vents like yours do. I thought that might not be such a good idea after watching your video. Are my concerns ill-placed? You might find it interesting to experiment on these types, as well. BTW, WTF? I haven't really looked, but ALL of your LED lights are a better wattage than any I've seen so far, here in America. Do we really need to be screwed *while trying not to be*, this badly? Dude!
Got a question for you, Clive...Our hardware shop here in Toronto sells Chinese-made Par 20 single LED chip lamps...The 7.5 watt one (daylight - roughly 10,000 Kelvin temp)...They are incredibly bright. My question is this: Why are automotive LED running lights so expensive? It seems that if you could modify the Par 20 to run on 12 volts DC (automotive power) and epoxy/silicone it into a standard waterproof 'fog light' housing or even the plastic integrated headlight unit where the 'running lamp' (usually a halogen lamp) resides...There's a project for you...(regards: mr. cheap - in toronto!) Love your videos!
Clive love how you keep it low tech video and stick to the tech none of the shiiit these young know it all bozos do for 1 minute . suggestion: maybe have a brief summary of the video subject matter ie: " in this video I'm going to show you how to "Safely" convert a pound store led bulb, into a more powerful one or a less powerful one that lasts longer"
You can't possibly tell if it's a resistor or inductor by looking at it -- they use the same coloured bands as markings, and often use the same colour backgrounds.
No ... more often than not, you can tell the difference. Trust me, I've been doing electronics stuff for years. Either that, or maybe you are bad at guessing? :/
Benjamin Esposti lol. Nice try. I'm an EE student. I work with components every day. Yes, you CAN tell them apart with a lot of experience, but trust me -- when something has heat damage, or the colours are close, you cannot tell by sight. Funny how you claim experience has helped you, all it means is you haven't had enough to see all the different kinds of through-hole inductors and resistors. Let me ask you, Mr. Has the Answer, how do you know for sure, when a resistor and inductor look completely identical? If you say reverse engineer the circuit, well duh. What if the circuit is vague? Or they've purposely obscured it? Hmm? Not so fucking on top of things now, are we. Of course, you can always use a bridge circuit that can determine the difference between the dominant impedance, either inductive or capacitive, along with a resistance reading... AKA an LCD meter. But we're talking about ON SIGHT.
_"lol. Nice try. I'm an EE student. I work with components every day."_ So, just because I am not an EE student in college, you aren't going to trust me, ehhh? _"Yes, you CAN tell them apart with a lot of experience, but trust me -- when something has heat damage, or the colours are close, you cannot tell by sight."_ I agree that heat damaged components can be harder to identify. But I was talking about regular components. _"Funny how you claim experience has helped you, all it means is you haven't had enough to see all the different kinds of through-hole inductors and resistors."_ Of course it's possible that some "experienced" person has never seen a certain inductor before! *You're acting like I claim to be perfect, even when I haven't done such a thing!* In my case, I've taken many things apart, repaired many things, and have done reverse-engineering as well (usually done when repairing stuff). So yes, I've seen a lot of inductors and resistors. Have I seen every single one in this world? Hell to the no! XP Is it possible for me to make a mistake? Yes it is! But it's been so long that I can barely remember what the situation was. It was at least a good ten years ago, and I don't remember every single little detail of everything that happens... _"Let me ask you, Mr. Has the Answer, how do you know for sure, when a resistor and inductor look completely identical?"_ _Mr. Has the Answer_ says: Because to me, they don't. I don't have trouble differentiating between things like that. I don't know why that is, but it just _is._ Do I claim to be better than others? No. I just merely hinted that I'm good at differentiating between the two. _"What if the circuit is vague? Or they've purposely obscured it? Hmm? Not so fucking on top of things now, are we."_ Well, that would have to be a really vague circuit, with those nasty "magic black boxes" n such. *Again, when did I ever claim to be "on top of things"? ... Hm?* I'd appreciate it if you didn't come up with such false accusations. :)
I guess the LED series resistor is a half hearted attempt to smooth out the current a little, otherwise each time the capacitor pumps above the LED voltage, it would very quickly discharge through the string, though at 40mA, there would only be 2 volts across 50 ohms. If they were in series, they would have more effect on damping the flicker to some degree
I offered Poundland quality LED lamps in 3-10 watt from £0.60p with delivery based on container loads for Globe bulbs, in own brand. Our Led bulb range will soon be supplied with a UK Utility with CE, RoHs and ErP This range of bulbs I sell into Africa for $0.45cents but not as a throw away when it fails, but can be serviced and put back in the market which angers the chinese who want to continue to see light bulbs thrown away when they fail
Something wrong with the numbers there Clive - if there are 10 multichip led packages the maximum power each led package would be dissipating is 0.3 Watts for the 3 watt lamp and 0.5 watts for the 5 watt lamp....and that's excluding any losses in the capacitive dropper circuit. If the current you measured was the current the whole lamp was drawing, then you can't use that current in a simple VA calculation on the LED side as that current is hugely out of phase on the AC side due to the capacitive dropper circuit and is not representative of the smoothed DC current.......this is all assuming the lamps total power draw is actually 3W and 5W etc
Those lamps must be consuming way more than their rating then! - 10 led packages @ 0.72 watts per package, that's 7 watts on the LED's alone on a lamp that's supposed to be 5 watts!
Damn, you're right. I've clearly screwed up. But the 5W lamps can still apparently go brown inside and have LEDs fall off when used for prolonged periods.
>mharris - that's only somewhat true. They also have a higher set of taxes, both at the corporate and local level, (plus VAT), so it's probably a wash. King Dollar, in Houston, has similar light bulbs for (now 1.25, but was a dollar when I bought them )
Can confirm the poundland 'glowbellied' 3W has completely fixed the annoying strobing cfl problem on my dad's landing light exactly as you suggest here. (he'd gone back to a tungsten bulb in the effected fitting so as not to be driven mad at night)
He also enjoyed your babycutor and suicide shower series.
Yay Clive's goodnight story time!
Clive should read audiobooks,his voice and accent are mesmerizing
he would be good voice for mystery and action books👍
You don't read audio books. You listen to them!
Koito rob well that is your opinion. I actually buy my audio books in chinese code an algorithm that converts chinese into morse then bianry then spanish, so that my spanish assistant can dictate the text i want to read to her chinese assistant, also the author i think.
Do we have a problem ?
Run things well within a safe range to last, like most things. An anthema to modern consumerist short termism. Cheers, Andy
Finally someone who doesn't like a lot of modern things ... or at least that is what I get from your comment.
:P
Hi. We run our systems below rated power and they last a long time, not creating stress is they key. The Victron inverter is about 10 years old and has been running continuosly, same with the solar trackers. Cheers
Hi Clive, Along with power use etc, it would be of interest to measure Lums output, as in most cases people buy the bulbs for the brightness and associated applications.
Thank you so much for all of your entertaining videos. You are a true inspiration. I modified a 3w led lamp with a 33n capacitor witch gave me the low lighting l wanted. I then added a flickering led in series and coloured the lense cover orange and red. It looks really good in my lantern styled lamp fixture.
May have been mentioned before, but I think the reason CFL and LED lights glow after power is removed is due to the phosphors that convert the UV light to visible light.
You used to be able to see this on old tube TVs when they shut down with a wide horizontal band in the middle. The band would fade away last.
Correct me if I'm wrong. Only way I'm going to learn.
Must be good weather down you're way.
Enjoy your vid's.
Did you think of also setting up the luminosity meter if it is at your current location to compare the light output as well?
Hi Clive,
Just out of interest what effect did reducing the wattage have on the lumen/lux output ?
I enjoyed this video a lot. Thanks Big Clive!
Very interesting data.
I'm using an led bulb that uses a microwave sensor to switch on, built into the lamp itself!
Very useful when coming in at night, so many uses.
Thank you Clive, I've learned a lot from your videos.
A really informative and useful video, Clive. Thank you. If anyone wants to reduce the brightness and power consumption as you suggest, an additional external capacitor - maybe a 470nF 240V ac one - in series with the lamp would avoid pulling the lamp apart.
Yes, that would work. I'd recommend a 1 Megohm resistor in parallel with the external capacitor to discharge it.
I kind of want to see a wide shot of your desk.
There is a video - I can't remember which one - where he drops the iPad and you get a brief shot of the rest of the room.
I understand he does his videos naked?
+flagpoleeip nothing but a sock wrapped around his todger
He might not mind the cold that much, but even as a Canadian, I wouldn't want to sit around in a 13 degree C room naked for more than the time it would take to put on clothing.
For safety, and I mean not burning the house down kind of safety.
What is the best type of China LED?
Capacitive dropper
Or
Switch mode power supply
Thanks for the insight.
Ashens would be proud
Clive and Ashens should do a meet up ;)
***** LMFAO!! brilliant
Well rather Jolly, but he is a Scot. ;-)
Send some pints with locks and give the keys to the other one?
No no no, he's Scottish! You know, those men that wear dresses and eat sheep stomachs stuffed with the gizzards and entrails of other animals.
Thanks for the Vid's.....
Interesting stuff as always....
Cheers
Hi Clive, great channel :)
Maybe time for a new Poundland LED lamps video?
Their Electrek branded 5W range have changed from the use of plastic to hand slicing glass! Do be careful!
After smashing mine I could list all the things I found inside, but probably will spoil the surprises. Still amazing value.
So over to you :-)
I've got the newer 3W version here and had noted that it's hard to remove glass.
Have you done a tear Dow not of a balance board I would love to see one done
Clive what bulbs do you buy ? all my corn cob LEDs are blowing up !
Would love to see one of these with a wifi esp8266 chip built in, turning them into wireless bulbs
the law of diminishing returns in action
would you be able to point me in the direction of a guidance video for LED specification for retro fitting ?
I like the early Samsung LED-bulbs. Nice warm light and lasting ever since.
the reason that capacitor is not flush with the pcbs is because the holes for the legs are at a shorter distance than the caps hence why it can't sit flush, this can be seen at 2:14
Cool video Clive ! Do you think there is any way to have the full brightness of the 5w version and use different components or a heat sink to lower the temps down from 105C ?
When you turned them on I briefly wondered if I was having an episode of I don't know what. Do those lights flicker? Or is what I see something to do with frames per second?
Illuminating video.
Could you tell me how you calculated or measured the LED temperature?
He has a Flir camera. Shows infra red heat as colours and also shows temperature of component zoomed in on. Cool bit of kit!
Had the exact bulb running in my bathroom for 4 years, Not bad for a quid.
hey bigclivedotcom how would the circut be for 15 cree xmlt6 led torch when the driver is putting out 15volts
Um good video....Thanks Clive, I've been running the 3 watt jobs, There good at the moment, and My electric bill is Very good to.
I suggest the input series resistor is a surge suppressor to save the bridge rectifier from overload.
noticed that poundland have rebranded these again. now have 6w rated bulbs. wonder what if anything has changed?
Clive do you have a PO Box where we can send you stuff to take apart?
At the moment I have a huge mountain of stiff already, so I'm having to decline offers of stuff for teardowns.
Fair enough.
I guess having a "mountain of stiff" to deal with could be time consuming, and moderately messy.
I really like the low powered lights, just wondering, on the half watt model was that current read before or after you took out the resistor?
Also if you were going for a ultimate low power light could you change the circuit more to further reduce wastage in power?
Before and after, but the LEDs were visibly brighter with the resistor removed.
Anyone else notice that when they click reply, TH-cam doesn't add the +Name at the beginning anymore? It only adds the reply name if I reply from the notifications box in the top right. And of course, you can't type the name manually anymore (god knows why not). Like WTF TH-cam?
I've also lost the "show more" button, so I can't read replies more than 4 long. Annoying.
I don't think YT really cares since they've already got your ad-impression.
wow shitit doesnt add the +name anymore
Google announced a few months back that they're phasing out Google+ integration from TH-cam. They had partially removed the functionality already (+Names would not link to the profiles anymore unless you commented from your notifications), and seems like they finally removed the rest now.
I would think that the reason they didn't remove it from notifications yet is because the entire notification system is probably on the G+ side, so they will probably have to make a new system for TH-cam from scratch. Considering all the things that could break, that's no small feat.
+Ameto this all worked better before they glued google plus to it.
I can still click read more. Has anyone else had their subscriptions bar disappear from the left hand side on the main page?
What's really annoying is how often my posts get shadowbanned. TH-cam must either think I'm a spammer, or have dangerous opinions.
I tried these lamps (2X3W and 3X5W lamps) and they only lasted a few weeks. All 5 failed in less than 6 weeks.
No reflection on Clive, he was not running an extended life test.
Good stuff indeed Clive, have you considered measuring the luminosity of the bulbs so that a factual value can then be compared?
Thanks Clive
Bib
Having tried several cheap light meters and got different results from each, it's not that easy.
@@bigclivedotcom thanks Clive
Got my first multimeter today. Vici VC97
How is it?, you know, for hobby level stuff.
+Gordon Freeman realy quite good. its accurate on all ranges. just dont trust it on mains. but for £16.99 its a bargin.
Andrew Millyard
Oh ok, thanks.
Is it still working .
You seem to have been able to take the diffusers off, giving access to lots of volts, without the use of any tool. Is that so?
Quite common with LED lamps, but I do have hands like vices.
hello Clive
could you please make a separate video for showing and discussing modifications for reducing the wattage to extend the LED lamp life? you have shown the calculation in this video but didn't demonstrate actual changes on the bulb PCB. it'll really be helpful for some viewers.
in our area the higher watts lamps (10w) are quite easily available and price efficient while lower watts lamp tend to get into decorative lighting arena and are not very cost efficient.
i have to say. the longest lasting lamp i have ever had and still works is a general electric CFL. its 10 years old and it gets used everyday for many hours and has seen alot of use. it puts out very nice warm light, much nicer than the light that LEDs output, very bright too. Its possibly the only good CFL to be made.
the light is very warm because of how old the light is, our bathroom light is like that where the new bulbs look really bright and cold compared to old ones :P
I mentioned a while ago to you in another post that it was my opinion that these 5 watt bulbs were being pushed beyond their capabilities.Well it seems that Poundland have realized too as my local branch no longer stock or sell the 5 watt bulbs but the 3 watt bulb remains on sale.
I was checking the local store recently and they were still selling the 5W ones.
Which component would fail first? Smart money's on the electrolytic capacitor.
Thanks for the informative videos, I just subscribed. I have a question on a project I'm working on if you can help. The bulbs in my car heater unit burnt out so I bought LED bulbs w/matching resistors from ebay specifically for auto applications but they keep blowing. I just bought a bunch of Greenlite LED 9watt (60watt eq) bulbs from the Dollar Tree, I took one apart and see 12 LEDs inside. I was wondering if I can use these in my car to solder on the circuit board. The LEDS are wired 3 per side so I hooked up a 12volt battery to one of the boards of 3 LEDS and wow it's so bright, then I hooked up a 390ohm resistor and it's really dim. I'm trying to figure out what resistor I need, if a resistor is even needed. I have no idea what each of these LEDS are rated for voltage wise. The original bulb that would replace the OEM bulb is a regular bulb Radio Shack 272-1141 12volt 25 mA.
For the lower powers, I'd be inclined to lose one of the parallel 100R, to try and smooth out the current a bit more
Transister... ... ?
Dear Clive, I have recently bought a plug-in power metre. It was the one you very briefly showed and said was rubbish in one of your vids, with blue buttons. Was this due to it being inaccurate or ........... Perhaps you could review the good and the bad in this area?
It will work OK for many loads, but for the odd ones like LED lamps mine produced weird readings.
Have you considered using a (cheap) light meter to measure the output variation when you do experiments like this?
Yes, I've got a couple, but really need some sort of permanent set up to give consistency.
Would've been nice if you could measure the amount of nits they'd output.
I agree, nits or lumens would have been interesting extra info, but a very interesting experiment anyway.
What is the feasability of adding an annular aluminium ring on the back of the pcb to help improve the heat dissipation so the 5W lamps last longer?
For your 0.5W modified lamp you could have replaced the bleeder resistor with something like 1M or 2.2M.
I completely dont understand these capacitive droppers, its something that was never taught during my YTS days :( Im a little confused what would happen if the lamp was in the other way round with the series dropper on the neutral and live going straight in the bridge. I cant seem to find anything in layman's terms on google. I have a GNVQ 2 in electronics so I know what components are but never studied capacitive droppers or extreme detail on how and why components work. Do you have a video explaining in detail these droppers, I love watching them :) Thanks :)
why would my inverter not run these lights. but will run the compact fluorescents?
Hey up Clive, did you use a laser thermometer pointing straight on the pcb to measure the temperature?
+pumpkin king Thermal imaging camera.
Can u modify these leds to work with multiple DC 12, 24, 48 banks??? without being too complicated?
I love good videos at the evening. Tell me, how are the views spread to different Countries?
United States 27%
UK 27%
Australia 5%
Germany 4.8%
Canada 4.7%
Yeah i am German. Well i think, those stats are very interesting! A shame, we Germans make "only" 4.8% while on the EEV Blog it are 20%.
+bigclivedotcom only abt 5 % germans... Thought they would make more of ur viewers...
And North Korea?
What about a video about our statistics?
Clive I have watched your videos for the last 2 + years and I watch your channel as you put them out?but like this one I can't understand how I don't see them? do you put them on another channel first or?
I tend to release a video to youtube every second day, but when I record them I now make them unlisted and post a link to my Patreon supporters. But the video still gets released to TH-cam for general viewing when it normally would. The pre-release to the Patreon posse also lets them spot errors before general release.
That's funny. Put them to work !
Have you used the GU10 bulbs from Poundland. I bought 3 and took 2 of them back because LEDs had blown
These videos a very interesting and strangely satisfying. Tick vg
Clive, do you have a bench power supply, and which one is it if you do?
It's one from a UK outlet called Maplin, but it has a random bug in the software (or crashes) and puts out random voltages once in a blue moon. Shame, as otherwise it would be OK.
bigclivedotcom Yeah I'm from the UK as well :P, I have a Aim-TTi EX355P (35V 5A), but I just wanted to know what you used :P
+bigclivedotcom what percentage of your viewers are from the UK vs America vs Isle of Man? Though mainly the first two.
27% USA, 27% UK.
but you ARE using it anyways ? I've never seen a blue moon but IF it would appear the then connected circuit would probably BANG
Would increasing the filter capacitor value get rid of the flicker, or how would you go about making it a solid light? Maybe these aren't so bad but I know some of my LED lamps are horrendous...
I guess no space to make a difference but, would it was possible to add extra heat dissipation? , wouldn't that help to cool down the bulb at 5w?
Thanks. Interesting.
Is this a Non Polar capacitor ?
so how would this be converted for a twelve volt or 24 volt dc system?
"Lets slit this open and see if its a choke or a resistor" *Clive proceeds to slice a finger instead.* Seems he is a resistor.
I purchased 5 or so of the completely sealed case poundland 5W golf ball style LEDs lamps and they lasted a week, died and promptly got returned. I have since substituted the ones I purchased for the 5W Elektrek ones with the slotted air vents, the exact lamps that Clive has torn down in this video and they are still going strong a couple of months on. I would sub the low value capacitors in, but for the fact you will loose the brightness / lumens which negates the reason for purchasing 5W LED lamps in the first place. So I'm just going to run them and see how long they last. Even if I get a year out of them and have to replace them it will be still be 6 or 7 years or more, before I would be out of pocket by comparison to purchasing a mainstream branded (Philips as an example) similar wattage LED lamp.
Have you taken apart a 12W globe yet? And how many LEDs are there other than those 10LEDs could see, where does the rest of the voltage gets taken up? Btw, what is the voltage drop per LED?
I took apart a higher powered lamp recently. The LEDs have multiple chips. I think the highest voltage I've measured across a single LED is around 35V. The voltage difference is dissipated as heat by the regulator chip if it's the simplest type.
Would you explain "The LEDs have multiple chips" what it means because I got confused now as well as during this video. Are you suggesting that a LED has a chip incorporated with it? I thought the greatest forward voltage drop on a pure LED is under 5 volts.
Hi Clive just watched a few of your videos on LED's and in one you talk about watts vs heat
what would you say is the highest watt LED bulb for max light and max life ?
60w ?
i'm about to move the house over to LEDs from the dull yellows we have had for a decade now and was just going to fill the house with =to 100w LEDs but i've read that some people are getting only 3 months max though this may be because they are from china and not a name brand
power of light source measured in lumens. Watt thing is thing from the past, from lightbulbs, which used Joule heating, those have really bad effectiveness (all of them had about 5-8% depending on modification in base construction). Effectiveness of LEDs greatly depends on various factors, on type of converter and type of LEDs for example, while for light bulbs power consumed and light power are proportional. For LEDs it is not, so LEDs are marked directly in lumens. What kills LED lamp is the excess heat, although as any semiconductor device they can have case of "infant death", due to hidden manufacturing flaws. Dissipted heat is proportional to power consumed. The converters is what usually go out if there is something wrong with power supply. You might have too low or too high voltage there, which may cause excess heat dissipating on elements, fluctuating voltage is a problem too. Another reason might be wrong wiring that leads in that breaker is installed on neutral wire instead of phase. Also, you never should use LEDs that are marked "not dimmable" with any kind of dimmer switches, it wouldn't guarantee documented life. Also LED life usually displayed for 4 hour/day work cycle, actual cycle - often switched on\off or constantly working - may change that value.
I've tried hacking a poundland light but never managed to get the connecting wires back in to the end of the light socket
If they're too short replace them with new ones.
Like me I know you also prefer warm white light. When I wanted to replace my 40watt incandescent lamps I found out the Philips 2700K/350 Lm give out almost identical light. A tad less red, a tad more yellow but very close !
could have sworn you said glow bellied bulbs at the beginning lol
Led drivers typically use a transformer. Many led's like the ones shown in this video use a bridge rectifier and 400v capacitor. I wonder how do they compare? Are non-transformer ones more dangerous? Are transformer ones considered as non-isolated while transforner types called isolated?
The capacitive droppers are much simpler, but have poor power factor (voltage to current phase relationship). The capacitor circuitry also has no isolation like some of the transformer based drivers. The main advantages of the capacitive droppers are their simplicity, reliability and low electrical noise generation. But they are better suited to long strings of low current LEDs and not at all suited to high current applications.
bigclivedotcom A set of Big Thanks to Big Clive !
So it wouldn't be a good idea for me to use a led light in my bathroom ,as the switch has a neon light built into it ,which makes a useful way to find the switch at night being pitch black and all , the led would probably not turn off , hum ?
I remember taking apart a failed LED bulb only to find that it had those 1W LEDs that ran so hot the thermal pad got blackened just because there was no thermal paste.
I have plenty 1 t0 4 cell rc lipo batteries. what led bulb setup with those would be best for reading etc. when our maine power goes out, yes actually the state and house power?
The thought of solder above potentially making its way down to the floor (or anything in between light & floor), doesn't sound too enticing... :S
is it worth a comparison with 2018 hardware?
I think most of them have gone to switching regulators now. I really should get a recent lamp and check it out.
Hi Clive. Could I buy one of those 3 W LED lamps and replace my current Bayonet 42 W candle bulb for a bedroom (ceiling light)? Or are these only applicable for specific cases?
yes
is there any relation between the size of a capacitor as in how big it is and its size in capacitoryness? because it seems to me that theyre just random sizes like you see 2.2uF capacitors twice as big as a 22uF one or a 470uF capacitor thats no bigger than a 4.7uF etc
I've replaced all the lights I can in home with LED bulbs of 6.5watt/10watt 120v Edison base(of course I'm in the US), but the bases for all the bulbs here are made of ceramic as a safety feature to act a heat sink, and they can get fairly hot if left on for a long period. I'm not sure yet about the longevity yet as I've only started replacing my bulbs as I caught them on sale the middle of last year, but I have noticed my power bills have dropped some, so I don't have to yell at the kids as much if they forget to turn off a light lol!
mharris1270 I've yet to replace the bulbs in some of my ceiling fans as they use the smaller candelabra base style bulbs, and I've yet to find any LED bulbs in that style on sale yet, same with the porch light, and the lights in my shop are still oldschool fluorescent light tubes, but everything else has been changed to LED. Also I to note I got tired of replacing CFL bulbs as I don't think I ever had one that got anywhere near their quoted lifespan.
Use a bigger value capacitor than the 5 W uses and melt one lamp pls.
I bought 2 sets of LEDs for use on 240V here in Canada....i got the 12 Watt range for a desk lamp. Out of curiosity, i tried the Phillips one (non multi voltage model) on 120V and it works .... at abt 9 or so watts (looks like a 75watt bulb vs the intended 100W on 240v). I then tried the cheapo no name brand one(also a 240V rated led bulb) on 120v but it didnt work. Why would that be? ....Would running the Phillips one on 120V also increase the life of the bulb....without mods ? Do you ever tear open a name brand LED bulb or are u a fan of no name ones ? 😆 Ive tried no name cheapo local bulbs and sometimes i find the CRI is a little off ... not as pleasant 2700K as the branded ones. So it ends up being outside for my driveway 🤣
The modern lamps use a very high voltage series circuit of LEDs that is close to the intended mains voltage.
Why use two100R resistors in parallel instead of just one 50R ?
Presumably to stay within the power rating of each resistor.
Cheers Clive.
Hi, do you think it's possible to under-volt an LED bulb like this? I'm trying to find a low wattage bulb I can run of 75vac.
Some lamps will work. Especially 120V ones.
my whole place is running poundland led bulbs of all descriptions.there like kellogg,s frosties ask tony
I've gotten a LED light here, and would like your opinion on it.
9 W 110mA 120v 60Hz -- dist. by Dolgencorp, (made in China) sold in Dollar General
Gets hot, but I don't know the temp. Has no vents like yours do. I thought that might not be such a good idea after watching your video. Are my concerns ill-placed? You might find it interesting to experiment on these types, as well.
BTW, WTF? I haven't really looked, but ALL of your LED lights are a better wattage than any I've seen so far, here in America. Do we really need to be screwed *while trying not to be*, this badly? Dude!
Wow. One of my LED bulbs has started a slight flicker; it does it every once in a while. Rated for 9 watts and 800 lumens. Branded Maxlite.
Sounds like classic LED failure. If you took the cover off you'd probably see that one LED had a black dot in it.
The resistor in the lead should be a metox resistor if it's intended to act as a fuse.
Is 1 British pound like a $1 bill here in the USA
The exchange rate is roughly $1.40 to one British pound at the moment.
You sound so similar to Stuart Ashen at times it is scary.
You must not be from the UK. They sound quite distinctive.
TheJohn8765
That is why I said *at times*.
He sounds nothing like Ashens. Search TH-cam for Scott Manley (popular TH-camr also) - now that's a scary similarity
We have a cheapo LED light and it constantly makes an arcing sound. Healthy...
Got a question for you, Clive...Our hardware shop here in Toronto sells Chinese-made Par 20 single LED chip lamps...The 7.5 watt one (daylight - roughly 10,000 Kelvin temp)...They are incredibly bright. My question is this: Why are automotive LED running lights so expensive? It seems that if you could modify the Par 20 to run on 12 volts DC (automotive power) and epoxy/silicone it into a standard waterproof 'fog light' housing or even the plastic integrated headlight unit where the 'running lamp' (usually a halogen lamp) resides...There's a project for you...(regards: mr. cheap - in toronto!) Love your videos!
Clive love how you keep it low tech video and stick to the tech none of the shiiit these young know it all bozos do for 1 minute . suggestion: maybe have a brief summary of the video subject matter ie: " in this video I'm going to show you how to "Safely" convert a pound store led bulb, into a more powerful one or a less powerful one that lasts longer"
You can't possibly tell if it's a resistor or inductor by looking at it -- they use the same coloured bands as markings, and often use the same colour backgrounds.
The low resistance reading makes it even less clear.
No ... more often than not, you can tell the difference.
Trust me, I've been doing electronics stuff for years.
Either that, or maybe you are bad at guessing? :/
Benjamin Esposti lol. Nice try. I'm an EE student. I work with components every day. Yes, you CAN tell them apart with a lot of experience, but trust me -- when something has heat damage, or the colours are close, you cannot tell by sight. Funny how you claim experience has helped you, all it means is you haven't had enough to see all the different kinds of through-hole inductors and resistors.
Let me ask you, Mr. Has the Answer, how do you know for sure, when a resistor and inductor look completely identical? If you say reverse engineer the circuit, well duh. What if the circuit is vague? Or they've purposely obscured it? Hmm? Not so fucking on top of things now, are we. Of course, you can always use a bridge circuit that can determine the difference between the dominant impedance, either inductive or capacitive, along with a resistance reading... AKA an LCD meter. But we're talking about ON SIGHT.
_"lol. Nice try. I'm an EE student. I work with components every day."_
So, just because I am not an EE student in college, you aren't going to trust me, ehhh?
_"Yes, you CAN tell them apart with a lot of experience, but trust me -- when something has heat damage, or the colours are close, you cannot tell by sight."_
I agree that heat damaged components can be harder to identify. But I was talking about regular components.
_"Funny how you claim experience has helped you, all it means is you haven't had enough to see all the different kinds of through-hole inductors and resistors."_
Of course it's possible that some "experienced" person has never seen a certain inductor before!
*You're acting like I claim to be perfect, even when I haven't done such a thing!*
In my case, I've taken many things apart, repaired many things, and have done reverse-engineering as well (usually done when repairing stuff). So yes, I've seen a lot of inductors and resistors.
Have I seen every single one in this world? Hell to the no! XP
Is it possible for me to make a mistake? Yes it is! But it's been so long that I can barely remember what the situation was. It was at least a good ten years ago, and I don't remember every single little detail of everything that happens...
_"Let me ask you, Mr. Has the Answer, how do you know for sure, when a resistor and inductor look completely identical?"_
_Mr. Has the Answer_ says: Because to me, they don't. I don't have trouble differentiating between things like that. I don't know why that is, but it just _is._ Do I claim to be better than others? No. I just merely hinted that I'm good at differentiating between the two.
_"What if the circuit is vague? Or they've purposely obscured it? Hmm? Not so fucking on top of things now, are we."_
Well, that would have to be a really vague circuit, with those nasty "magic black boxes" n such.
*Again, when did I ever claim to be "on top of things"? ... Hm?*
I'd appreciate it if you didn't come up with such false accusations. :)
Benjamin Esposti No, moron, "you both did this thing, and that thing".
Can anyone please explain the purpose of using 2x 100R ?!
They are in most AC LED lamps and always in parallel.
+ELECTRONTHORP But why using them in the first place? Isn't the capacitor(s) doing the job of lowering the voltage AND limiting the current?
I guess the LED series resistor is a half hearted attempt to smooth out the current a little, otherwise each time the capacitor pumps above the LED voltage, it would very quickly discharge through the string, though at 40mA, there would only be 2 volts across 50 ohms. If they were in series, they would have more effect on damping the flicker to some degree
I offered Poundland quality LED lamps in 3-10 watt from £0.60p with delivery based on container loads for Globe bulbs, in own brand. Our Led bulb range will soon be supplied with a UK Utility with CE, RoHs and ErP
This range of bulbs I sell into Africa for $0.45cents but not as a throw away when it fails, but can be serviced and put back in the market which angers the chinese who want to continue to see light bulbs thrown away when they fail
Something wrong with the numbers there Clive - if there are 10 multichip led packages the maximum power each led package would be dissipating is 0.3 Watts for the 3 watt lamp and 0.5 watts for the 5 watt lamp....and that's excluding any losses in the capacitive dropper circuit. If the current you measured was the current the whole lamp was drawing, then you can't use that current in a simple VA calculation on the LED side as that current is hugely out of phase on the AC side due to the capacitive dropper circuit and is not representative of the smoothed DC current.......this is all assuming the lamps total power draw is actually 3W and 5W etc
The current measured was the smoothed and actual LED current.
Those lamps must be consuming way more than their rating then! - 10 led packages @ 0.72 watts per package, that's 7 watts on the LED's alone on a lamp that's supposed to be 5 watts!
Damn, you're right. I've clearly screwed up. But the 5W lamps can still apparently go brown inside and have LEDs fall off when used for prolonged periods.
Yeah, regardless they are being cooked!
+bigclivedotcom would there be a way to run those lamps on DC battery's?? could you make video diy
can someone explain to me what poundland is
It's a British high-street store that sells everything at one pound (£) sterling.
In the US they have dollar stores. Very much the same thing.
Its like a dollar store or euro store.
Everything costs a pound.
A chain of shops that sells everything for one pound. The equivalent of dollar stores in the USA.
It's the UK's Dollar Tree, only with a bigger selection of items from the videos I've seen.
>mharris - that's only somewhat true. They also have a higher set of taxes, both at the corporate and local level, (plus VAT), so it's probably a wash. King Dollar, in Houston, has similar light bulbs for (now 1.25, but was a dollar when I bought them )
ok thank you