That plastic that arrives brittle as thin ice is getting very common, I noticed amazon selling cheap clothes pegs, a bucket of 100 and every single one explodes when you squeeze them lightly. ofc they had 5 star ratings only.
The brittle plastic and off-white colour makes me suspect this set was stuck in a sunny window for a few years, which might explain why it's so flimsy.
@@skylined5534 The manufacturer of this set kept them in the dim lit room for shortest time available. The thing is, they sourced the cheapest parts they could lay their hands on. I would guess that they got the very yellowed cases for free.
I like how the return trace snaking its way under the thyristors seems to rely solely on the PCB mask to provide enough insulation for 240 volts when the thyristors are in their off state.
In north america, incandescent mini lights that have controllers (aka do anything besides are just on steady) came with those exact same boxes as long as I can remember (35 to 40 years at least). But that was back when mini lights actually came with impressively thick copper wire, and weren't nearly as crap as these are
The cables in these are also horrifying, literally three strands of aluminium wire. So easy to break, complete death traps. This of course means my dad buys another set of these every year
The yellowing does suggest uv damage, who knows how long thats been sat in storage, nasty, have a strong feeling that was never intended for even an EU market, I'd no trust the wire insulation either Imagine whoever made this at a factory and thinking, yeah, we did a good job...
The short-term bean counters would be pleased. If they're really cheeky, they could market this as Christmas AND New-Year's lights in one. If you can get this to run throughout the Christmas days, it's sure to go out with a bang on one of the days after that, as an early kind of New-Year's fireworks. You might even get the fire as well...
The worst fairy lights by FAR are the ones on the Lebanese Pizza shop right outside my bedroom window that have been blinking on and off in strange electronically controlled patterns 24 hours a day for the past 3 weeks. (It's like they are trying to communicate with the mother-ship or something :-)
had last year an employee which asked me to repair his fairy lights because a wire broke off an led at the point of seing that the circuit board connected one of the two ac cables directly to the led's i just threw this hazard thing away i told him that this was dangerous as hell and refused to repair - well now he is mad at me and bought the same lights again... some people just want to be shocked or burned down i suppose...
What more could you want from fairy lights, but a fragile case and smell of plastic getting toasty.❤ HOW MUCH ALMOST A FIVER!!! That makes them even more worthy of the sh1test lights of the season. Well done sir finding such crap. 2x👍
Yes, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine as I was watching this. Not only is there no excuse for the revoltingly and dangerously poor quality of the plastic shell but I have no idea why they designed the LED strings to run at such a high current. The only thing I can possibly think of is that they offer this in multiple lengths and to economise on having to change the resistor values and thereby stock multiple components, just make smaller chains up for the shorter length product with the same value. I wish that a hell existed for such people to go to.
@@abcdefgh1279 Sadly I don't think it could be entirely put down to that, although it may well be a contributing factor. The wall thicknesses of the two parts are so thin that the plastic stock would have barely covered the surface dimensions of the injection moulding tool and it's surprising that it didn't come out with more distortion. I suspect the plastic chemistry was adversely affected in some way during production, likely polymer breakdown due to the lack of thermal mass in the tool or aldehyde contamination in the feedstock.
@@abcdefgh1279 Oh yes, and you're absolutely right that UV degradation can result in similar discolouration and fragility and it's entirely possible that it could have played a role. Terephthalate and aldehyde formation is one of the consequences of exposure to UV radiation as the reaction takes place from energy being absorbed by the material, along with the chemical changes of dye and brightener compounds, e.g. photocatalytic reactions of TiO2 which is often used in white plastics. Similar reactions can also happen from thermal conditions in production on both the feedstock and finished part sides, and in some cases a substantial period of time after moulding, so seeing a finished part in isolation always leaves a mystery behind!
I think that title should go to the versions of these that my sister once brought home. It was essentially the same as reviewed here, but had an extra mains socket, so you could daisy chain multiple lights. The mains socket used the same thin aluminium wire as the rest of the light, with the same flimsy see-through insulation, put a short circuit at the end and it wouldn't even trigger the circuit breaker but go up in flames instead.
I see more and more USB chargers featuring/advertising GaN semiconductor. It would be nice to get a lesson on these charges in comparison to silicon semiconductors…. just as to start the new year with a niiice educational lesson.
My coworker bought a snowflake set of these, otherwise identical. The plug molding is so bad, one of the leads had exposed wiring on the side of the plug where you would be holding it, and exposed in the stress relief portion on the other end. They remained unplugged wall decor. Between that and the feather light controller box, my first thought was "I should send these to Big Clive". So I'm glad you ran across them!
I just found you recently. I am at the point to do electronics as a hobby after working on industrial machines for many years. Things have changed and who doesn't like taking stuff apart. Above all the I can watch your videos for hours because your language skills are top notch. Thanks for doing videos and if you do a book let us know.
"grrr, I'm in angry mood, what's on YT? Not that one, that one will make me angry, no, that one will make me angry too... AHHH! A NEW BIG CLIVE VIDEO. That calm, radio announcer's voice with smarts and wit... now I can relax.
A few years ago, my wife bought a star shaped Christmas light off ebay, a load of lights in a star shape. No control box or anything, just two very thin wires (even thinner than the ones here) wired into a plug, with barely any insulation. I'm not sure what kind of light they were as it seemed to be just pure AC running them. I threw them straight in the bin. One snag or nick on the cables and you'd have a fire of an electrocution. Amazing what they get away with selling on the tat markets.
Back in the day European Christmas lights were just ES10 incandescent lamps wired in series to the then 220 V mains. Probably around the 70s they switched to smaller lamps with a different base with some kind of automatic bypass in the sockets. That means when one lamp failed the remaining ones had to dissipate more voltage, eventually leading to a chain reaction. That type of light was sold well into the late 90s, if not 2000s. I remember a classmate buying a set in early 1998, it came with one or two spare lamps in the box. I still own two sets of the Edison-base ones, always fun to figure out which lamps are loose or blown. I haven't used the lights in ages but when I did I'd unscrew one lamp at a time and test it with one of those old flat 4.5 V torch batteries.
Absolutely brilliant idea to use hot melt glue to hold a rather insulating plastic cover on a resistor that's dissipating 3x its rated current. I mean what could possibly go wrong?
IDk but maybe the 2MOhm resistor sense line isn't only for the 0X-ing point but also to get an oscillation signal for the timers without the need of an extra crystal.
Funny to see the title of this video. I got a big grin out of imagining how Alec (Technology Connections) might react at the thought of more awful Christmas lights. Yay. 😂😆
Given the oxidation of that control box I'd say those lights (or at least the box) are a decade or more old. If not, then they've been kept in a damn harsh thermal/UV environment.
I really like to watch when you are taking things apart, especially when it gives you time to wonder into stories of days gone by. I k ow you’ve stated you are trying to keep the videos shorter but those are so enjoyable. Would love to see less pausing. Request sent with much love. Thanks for all you do!
So good to hear that you still call those components 'Thyristors'... Some years ago, a young whippersnapper of a recently studied-off engineer told me that those are called SCRs...and NOT thyristor and that a thyristor is an outdated technology used by dinosaurs such as myself (referring to the vacuum tube era!) The reason why those resistors are running hot is to melt the ice off during cold European winters... it was done on purpose! 🤣🤣
£4.31 each. That "deal" doesn't even sound so cheap. I just recently bought few 120 outdoor light sets with a timer from a local home department store for 1.50€ per piece and they didn't seem like they'll zap me or burn the house down 😅
The plastic stars look very similar to some battery operated ones I bought in Poundland for just 50p after Christmas. One of the few items in Poundland that wasn't more than £1 (although they probably were before Christmas).
@@skylined5534 Lidl offer decent tools, their Parkside range has some surprisingly nice items. I've got their 4-in-1 battery tool (cordless drill/multi tool/reciprocating saw/delta sander) and use it from time to time.
Oh my... That was horrifying. I'd love to see you tear into one of these modern switching tube amplifiers with an smps supplying the B+ instead of traditional transformer and filter network.
Curious if this was originally made for 110 for the states but was repurchased or just free and someone thought they could slap another power outlet source This feels like someone not knowing enough or just enough but with ZERO thought for safety (blinded by just making a buck) Very nice and humorous watch. Kudos on the content as always!
I just saw one blown up with the same size pcb and the chip is a sot23-6 with the high voltage switches built in. A slight hint of moisture on high voltage across fine pitch sot23 pins and boom. The extra pads across the switch on your pcb is probably for pogo pin testing the module during production.
Every year that passes these things become more and more cheap to the point where literally you don't know how its even working or even just that it doesn't fall apart by its own.
Looks like the shop that moulded the control PCB housing found out that you can in fact mould styrene with 88 % calcium carbonate filler ... even though 20 % fill is the max advisable filler from most resin makers.....durable! (not exactlly) I'd be real cautious about the moulded clear "plastic" or TPE on the power plug - doesn't look OK to me re mechanical properties, and areas may be undersize for giving high voltage isolation. This one's a junker all right.
I've only just seen this. I bought a 3m x 2m net and very nearly contacted you about it. Very similar looking controller casing from the outside but with a larger board and a rotary dial. I go through quite a few sets (they're used on stage and get abused) but twice I've broken them by just knocking the controller... and when knocked (not even that hard) the microchip breaks. Not sure if it's physically breaking internally or if it's from something else briefly shorting / breaking with the rotary dial but they're incredibly flimsy. They also get really warm and smelly really quickly if you test them in the box they come in. And yes, I do run these through an RCD as they're near the public and I don't trust them for safety at all (even if they are listed as sold from within the UK)
Top quality plastic there, reminds me of a cat litter tray I'd bought that I went to pick up (empy, I must add!) that just disintegrated kind of like that case did, there's a lot of very shoddy plastics out there now, recycled most likely so is utterly unreliable... :S
The controller box looks yellowed (on the outside vs the inside). Does it feel like the plastic has deteriorated with age, or was it just never thick enough to withstand practical use?
Wow… the crappest of the crappest! Most eBay lights are danegrous rubbish but these take it to another level with the dodgy control and the resistors that get super hot, and all the other danegrous features. And that control box is very yellowed, probably overheating because it’s so dodgy 😂
Not sure if you're aware, but the 2 wire version of these sort of multifunction/annoying flickering lights use an AC signal of some sort and the LEDs alternate polarity. So when current flows one way, every other LED is lit, and when current flows the other way, the "other" every other LEDs are lit - if that makes sense.......
Hey Big Clive, I clicked on your video BEFORE all the others, because it had the word "fairy" in the title! 👍🤣 ... I do like a kink palculator and a cheap fairy!
Reminds me of the melty extendable christmas lights of death from about 10 years ago with the same mains plug, running directly from rectified DC with no smoothing that put 330VDC across the whole string and said they were indoor/outdoor! Shame i didn't get the set that had the socket right at the end, so it was also carrying full AC with no fuse. Remember those? I 'member!
Oh god, they cheapified even more the already incredibly cheap and nasty controllers these lights already used, I didn't know that was even possible! At least they have hot glue in them now, I guess... I had to add it myself to some old lights I have just to keep the wires from falling apart on their own and shorting out. Those old ones are also of the through hole component style, with a second board for the blob, so it's actually interesting to see how they've minimized them even more with recent ones. By the way, with now nasty that plastic is, I wonder if they're now messing with the chemistry of the plastic to make it as cheap as humanly possible, and I wonder if it's even fire retardant at all!
Would it be even remotely safe to use outdoors, (where it must presumably dissipate heat more readily?) or to be honest would you just recommend putting the whole thing straight into the bin? Great show as ever, happy new year to you and yours and thankyou for all the sage advice. On reading some of the comments, these are some of the best ever. What a great diescerning audience you have, seems we are all thinking the same way on this delightful item.
@@BigClive Yup and the plug isn't IP rated either. Speaking of which, something looks off about that plug. Either the body is unusually small or the pin size is non-standard (I live on the continent, so I see those plugs every day).
I got the same one for a dollar about 5 years ago... oddly enough they still work, put them on a tiny xmas tree. The wire is so thin it will break if you look at it wrong.
I noticed they're selling "extension cords" on the Chinese e-commerce sites that are made of the same CCA bellwire and plug/socket as these sets, for a quid each. What could possibly go wrong?
In America we have Underwriters Laboratories , UL , which is supposed to catch things like this but not sure if they work anymore . There is probably a a very good job opening , as a foreign representative , just waiting for you . Thanks for the share. :O)
I took a gamble on some cheap solar powered fairy lights for my daughter and strung them up along the back yard fence. Those things survived 6 snowy winters and 100F summers of being on all night every night and charging during the day, never being taken down and even getting violently stretched out when a bad windstorm knocked over a chunk of the fence. After 6 years they finally stopped taking a charge from the solar cell. I paid like 6 bucks and unfortunately can't find them again. If I'd known they would last that long I'd have gotten 3-4 sets. Every once in a while you find a hidden gem that was accidentally made better than they intended to, but I would only ever buy Chinese eBay crap if it doesn't plug into the wall. I like my house NOT burning to the ground, thank you very much.
Sometimes something pops in your head when you hear certain words, for example the slit; I slit a sheet a sheet I slit; and on the slitted sheet I sit.... Don't know why but I had to say it......
plastics can be brittled by using heavy uv light. the same level of uv that is used to etch semiconductors manufacturing i think is used for industrial disinfection and because of bio terror scares in the postal system it is possible that the item was pre brittled just by the uv/gamma ray beams used to fight bio terror weapons in the mail.
Definitely quality engineering right there! Just the thing for the kids to play with during the holidays - "extra excitement" (along with possibly an unplanned visit to Casualty perhaps??) Would the use of SCRs lead to electrical noise, since they are switching a moderate amount of current?
You buy the very cheapest so we dont have to :) Gawd bless ya gov'nor. Though I'm not much higher in the economic range half the time :D Always love taking anything apart and huge fan of the channel. I'm sure you must have covered it but could you throw in a recap power factor and what affects it?
Earlier last year my wife was standing on the patio during a thunderstorm. I was just inside. A bolt of lightning struck close enough to deafen and stun the both of us for a while. My wife was convinced she was struck, because she felt something not the side of her face. Turned out it was the control box.of this exact set that exploded when most of the circuitry was vaporized. It was strung up on our patio and unplugged and forgotten about. I was surprised that such a short run of cable could have so much induced to cause it to disassemble so forcibly, but it was a damaging strike that also damaged my fridge, oven, all my CCTV, garage door opener, irrigation, etc.
I commented earlier on this video about the plastic yellowing and blacklight, well, I dug out my old modem and some legos that I tried to whiten a bit a few years ago (for testing), they have been in dark boxes since then and the yellowing has come back! The modem's surface even fluoresced again, like it did before I treated it with the blacklight. So maybe the surface of said plastic has gone brittle from light exposure and lets oxygen do the yellowing/whitening. I Seriously lack information about it all, just saying. Seems like there are actually new videos about it now, interesting. I had to tell you this, because I was a bit wrong earlier and it keeps bugging me. 😂 You probably don't even remember my previous comment, but anyway, thanks for hearting and maybe reading these, it must be a lot of work.
Would probably be safer putting lit candles in your Christmas tree than this. At least with the candles they go out after awhile making them safe to leave on, actually no these will go out also once the resistor fries itself to death at 100C, always assuming the house hasn't quite burned down fully before they fail.
Now theese types of lights are more rare. Now most of new ones have power supply "brick". I have 2 of them but without controllers. They are not safest but more safe than this.
Nice to know clive about the 'TAT' obtainable in the uk . Im one of those who remembers the 'BRITISH KITE ' mark. Im a bit long in the tooth. Those were the days when we knew what we were buying. Instead of buying something like a computer power supply which tells us to expect interference. One such power supply ive seen sold in the uk. People really should be careful of what they buy WHEN it comes to mains voltage products IMO.
Particular LED strip with flimsy plastics look like it is refurbished strip with a history in sunny environment. Like it served as decoration in some shop window. I'll not say that selling these for pennies is bad thing. From environment point of view it is actually nice. However would be nice too to mention that in online shop product description.
Many thanks for the circuit diags, You always take trouble to trace and show us. Can the same kind of mains 'Power drop' circuit be used for some other circuits like for an ESP01 board, etc. with a smoothing cap and zener, etc? this would eliminate the need of other bulky components especially the transformer.
I can see someone placing those outside and getting a real star shower of sparks, all while they stand there with the controller in hand, unable to move, while chestnuts are roasted. Can you smell the season? Wow, just wow.
Now, after Christmas, I find many of these strings of LEDs som ewith broken wires, some with a resistor or LED burned and so, I have free color LEDs. Is better to reuse those LEDs instead of letting them to go to waste. Strangely (or not, after seeing your video) it seems that each year there are more of these lights broken than the previous years.
I bought something which outwardly looks similar to this light string minus the stars, but the control box holds three AA batteries. The control box has a flexible seal over the button and an O-ring under the battery door. Each LED is also sealed with RTV in its sleeve. There is no claim on the package of being water resistant, but I’d say it probably is. Why?, who knows, because it would be a very small outdoor display. I got it for about $3 US at Walmart. So much safer… and cheaper. 😊
Similar to these can be found for ( FREE ! ) in our local cardboard recycling bins at this time of year ( ? ) ... but the colour of the LEDs is pleasing ( ideal for making my famous nightlights , as mentioned previously ! ) .... DAVE™🛑
I have seen these being sold at an illegal Chinese market here in Budapest a couple of years ago. Those wires seem to be single insulated only and as such should not be used for mains voltage at all. There is no isolation transformer anywhere, so the strings are also at mains voltage and should be double insulated. There is no fuse in this anywhere. In EU countries there is no fuse in the plug as well. So I would be interested that in case of a short circuit, how would those thin wires trip a 13A or 16A circuit breaker. If the current is not sufficient to trip the breaker, this could be the perfect ignition source for a christmas tree. The wires also snap easily, which is also a shock hazard (if that box would not be enough).
Ahh yes, the control box plastic came aged like fine wine.
Or possibly milk. Whichever.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
That plastic that arrives brittle as thin ice is getting very common, I noticed amazon selling cheap clothes pegs, a bucket of 100 and every single one explodes when you squeeze them lightly. ofc they had 5 star ratings only.
Send it off to 8-bit guy to retro bright it?
I once had a switched 4 way power strip that was made of plastic like that! As soon as I realised, it went straight in the bin.
The brittle plastic and off-white colour makes me suspect this set was stuck in a sunny window for a few years, which might explain why it's so flimsy.
I think you're being extremely generous.
Probably left in a dimly lit room for about 2 weeks at best 😂
It also looks like it. Very yellow. Long UV exposure.
@@skylined5534 The manufacturer of this set kept them in the dim lit room for shortest time available. The thing is, they sourced the cheapest parts they could lay their hands on. I would guess that they got the very yellowed cases for free.
I'm wondering if they are recycled window decorations from a chain of shops.
It might actually be old PC cases they have melted and recycled
Looks like the sleeve around the resistor was tougher than the enclosure.
I like how the return trace snaking its way under the thyristors seems to rely solely on the PCB mask to provide enough insulation for 240 volts when the thyristors are in their off state.
With a splash of plastisol for good luck
To be fair, there was also a little bit of screen printing to help!
i think at this point the rule of thumb is if an led set has one of those control boxes its a sack of shite lmao
Had quite a few of them. They are usually fine.
In north america, incandescent mini lights that have controllers (aka do anything besides are just on steady) came with those exact same boxes as long as I can remember (35 to 40 years at least). But that was back when mini lights actually came with impressively thick copper wire, and weren't nearly as crap as these are
The description of some of these sets is misspelt, should be 'Firey Lights' 🔥. .
The cables in these are also horrifying, literally three strands of aluminium wire. So easy to break, complete death traps. This of course means my dad buys another set of these every year
The wire is the resistor!
You truely become an adult when you start buying your nearest and dearest better quality stuff to keep them safe.
@@turbokadett
That's never been an experience of mine.
The yellowing does suggest uv damage, who knows how long thats been sat in storage, nasty, have a strong feeling that was never intended for even an EU market, I'd no trust the wire insulation either
Imagine whoever made this at a factory and thinking, yeah, we did a good job...
The short-term bean counters would be pleased.
If they're really cheeky, they could market this as Christmas AND New-Year's lights in one. If you can get this to run throughout the Christmas days, it's sure to go out with a bang on one of the days after that, as an early kind of New-Year's fireworks. You might even get the fire as well...
The worst fairy lights by FAR are the ones on the Lebanese Pizza shop right outside my bedroom window that have been blinking on and off in strange electronically controlled patterns 24 hours a day for the past 3 weeks. (It's like they are trying to communicate with the mother-ship or something :-)
The mothership cannot answer due to political crisis
@@ellenorbjornsdottir1166 Probably. Even way out in the Galaxy there is political crisis. Lol.
🛰 🚀 🛸 🖖
Pull the little stars off and drop the rest in the bin.🤣
That's exactly what I did.
Only thing of and use?
I've only seen plastic break apart by slight pressure when it's a lawn chair that's been outside and not touched for 30-40 years
Maybe this is a repurposed lawn chair that has been outside and not touched for 30-40 years?
In electronics this is NOS (New Old Stock), stuff maturing in some warehouse for about that many years.
the 'economic' in the listing refers to the manufacturing and safety standards.
i absolutely love it when you take things to bits and reverse engineer them... even when you reveal krap in the process.
The same company that makes the plastics for that controller also make the plastic engine components for German cars.
had last year an employee which asked me to repair his fairy lights because a wire broke off an led
at the point of seing that the circuit board connected one of the two ac cables directly to the led's i just threw this hazard thing away
i told him that this was dangerous as hell and refused to repair - well now he is mad at me and bought the same lights again...
some people just want to be shocked or burned down i suppose...
What more could you want from fairy lights, but a fragile case and smell of plastic getting toasty.❤
HOW MUCH ALMOST A FIVER!!! That makes them even more worthy of the sh1test lights of the season. Well done sir finding such crap. 2x👍
You're working hard for us, Big Clive! Much appreciated
that control box looks like it's been re-used from something from 20+ years ago
Yes, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine as I was watching this. Not only is there no excuse for the revoltingly and dangerously poor quality of the plastic shell but I have no idea why they designed the LED strings to run at such a high current. The only thing I can possibly think of is that they offer this in multiple lengths and to economise on having to change the resistor values and thereby stock multiple components, just make smaller chains up for the shorter length product with the same value. I wish that a hell existed for such people to go to.
It looks like the enclosure had some exposure to UV, possibly crappy storage, or some return from on street seller?
@@abcdefgh1279 Sadly I don't think it could be entirely put down to that, although it may well be a contributing factor. The wall thicknesses of the two parts are so thin that the plastic stock would have barely covered the surface dimensions of the injection moulding tool and it's surprising that it didn't come out with more distortion. I suspect the plastic chemistry was adversely affected in some way during production, likely polymer breakdown due to the lack of thermal mass in the tool or aldehyde contamination in the feedstock.
@@andromedaturnbull3512 i just saw typical yellowing or discoloration, and what's more typical, different mould elements looked differently.
@@abcdefgh1279 Oh yes, and you're absolutely right that UV degradation can result in similar discolouration and fragility and it's entirely possible that it could have played a role. Terephthalate and aldehyde formation is one of the consequences of exposure to UV radiation as the reaction takes place from energy being absorbed by the material, along with the chemical changes of dye and brightener compounds, e.g. photocatalytic reactions of TiO2 which is often used in white plastics. Similar reactions can also happen from thermal conditions in production on both the feedstock and finished part sides, and in some cases a substantial period of time after moulding, so seeing a finished part in isolation always leaves a mystery behind!
Wow, one of the most dangerous christmas lights. And I have seen small candles to put in the christmas tree.
At least with candles you were expecting the smoke and flames!
I think that title should go to the versions of these that my sister once brought home. It was essentially the same as reviewed here, but had an extra mains socket, so you could daisy chain multiple lights. The mains socket used the same thin aluminium wire as the rest of the light, with the same flimsy see-through insulation, put a short circuit at the end and it wouldn't even trigger the circuit breaker but go up in flames instead.
I see more and more USB chargers featuring/advertising GaN semiconductor. It would be nice to get a lesson on these charges in comparison to silicon semiconductors…. just as to start the new year with a niiice educational lesson.
Some of those listings are using a blue LED in an ordinary charger to justify saying "gallium nitride technology".
Big Clive: I went on ebay
Me: time to strap in for another great video ❤
My coworker bought a snowflake set of these, otherwise identical. The plug molding is so bad, one of the leads had exposed wiring on the side of the plug where you would be holding it, and exposed in the stress relief portion on the other end. They remained unplugged wall decor. Between that and the feather light controller box, my first thought was "I should send these to Big Clive". So I'm glad you ran across them!
I got these same ones and im afraid to touch the plug every time i go to use them. The cable is so thin.
Cost was $2 US.😅
I just found you recently. I am at the point to do electronics as a hobby after working on industrial machines for many years. Things have changed and who doesn't like taking stuff apart. Above all the I can watch your videos for hours because your language skills are top notch. Thanks for doing videos and if you do a book let us know.
"grrr, I'm in angry mood, what's on YT? Not that one, that one will make me angry, no, that one will make me angry too... AHHH! A NEW BIG CLIVE VIDEO. That calm, radio announcer's voice with smarts and wit... now I can relax.
You definitely have met with the 'Tofu Dreggs' that's becoming common in the industry from the East. Happy New Year, Clive!
A few years ago, my wife bought a star shaped Christmas light off ebay, a load of lights in a star shape. No control box or anything, just two very thin wires (even thinner than the ones here) wired into a plug, with barely any insulation. I'm not sure what kind of light they were as it seemed to be just pure AC running them. I threw them straight in the bin. One snag or nick on the cables and you'd have a fire of an electrocution. Amazing what they get away with selling on the tat markets.
Back in the day European Christmas lights were just ES10 incandescent lamps wired in series to the then 220 V mains. Probably around the 70s they switched to smaller lamps with a different base with some kind of automatic bypass in the sockets. That means when one lamp failed the remaining ones had to dissipate more voltage, eventually leading to a chain reaction. That type of light was sold well into the late 90s, if not 2000s. I remember a classmate buying a set in early 1998, it came with one or two spare lamps in the box.
I still own two sets of the Edison-base ones, always fun to figure out which lamps are loose or blown. I haven't used the lights in ages but when I did I'd unscrew one lamp at a time and test it with one of those old flat 4.5 V torch batteries.
Wrapping the light string around your coffee cup would make for a fabulous cup warmer...
Absolutely brilliant idea to use hot melt glue to hold a rather insulating plastic cover on a resistor that's dissipating 3x its rated current. I mean what could possibly go wrong?
Every time I watch any of your videos I always get to hear your iconic catchphrase which is one moment please which I find cool , unique and iconic
IDk but maybe the 2MOhm resistor sense line isn't only for the 0X-ing point but also to get an oscillation signal for the timers without the need of an extra crystal.
I thought that also.
Funny to see the title of this video. I got a big grin out of imagining how Alec (Technology Connections) might react at the thought of more awful Christmas lights. Yay. 😂😆
Wow! What a truly great set of micro heaters! Very innovative!
Tip. Heatup the heatshrink with a flame. It will peel off easily (when you have a start cut)
Another nice teardown of a submediocre product! :)
submediocre is being kind, more like 💩
Given the oxidation of that control box I'd say those lights (or at least the box) are a decade or more old. If not, then they've been kept in a damn harsh thermal/UV environment.
One more plausible reason being a badly produced plastic that isn't chemically stable
@@NinoJoel Maybe they just melt down some of that plastic trash we ship back there.
I really like to watch when you are taking things apart, especially when it gives you time to wonder into stories of days gone by. I k ow you’ve stated you are trying to keep the videos shorter but those are so enjoyable. Would love to see less pausing. Request sent with much love. Thanks for all you do!
So good to hear that you still call those components 'Thyristors'...
Some years ago, a young whippersnapper of a recently studied-off engineer told me that those are called SCRs...and NOT thyristor and that a thyristor is an outdated technology used by dinosaurs such as myself (referring to the vacuum tube era!)
The reason why those resistors are running hot is to melt the ice off during cold European winters... it was done on purpose! 🤣🤣
It is odd that they ended up with two different names.
0:08 ‘terrible start’?
I think it’s excellent! 😁
Come on Clive, You gotta give us a tour of your pad! I picture lots of leds, garden and such, all over!
£4.31 each. That "deal" doesn't even sound so cheap. I just recently bought few 120 outdoor light sets with a timer from a local home department store for 1.50€ per piece and they didn't seem like they'll zap me or burn the house down 😅
The plastic stars look very similar to some battery operated ones I bought in Poundland for just 50p after Christmas. One of the few items in Poundland that wasn't more than £1 (although they probably were before Christmas).
In germany there where proper ones with waterproof low voltage power supply for 5$ in super market chains like Lidl / Aldi
@@NinoJoel
No experience with Lidl but most Aldi stuff is excellent for the price point!
@@skylined5534 they are pretty much the same and have good quality with their products.
Even if not they give 3 years warranty most of the time.
@@skylined5534 Lidl offer decent tools, their Parkside range has some surprisingly nice items. I've got their 4-in-1 battery tool (cordless drill/multi tool/reciprocating saw/delta sander) and use it from time to time.
Egg shell is the new ABS 😂 utter tat!
0:26 By "harder", you mean effing dangerous.⚡💀
Oh my... That was horrifying.
I'd love to see you tear into one of these modern switching tube amplifiers with an smps supplying the B+ instead of traditional transformer and filter network.
Curious if this was originally made for 110 for the states but was repurchased or just free and someone thought they could slap another power outlet source
This feels like someone not knowing enough or just enough but with ZERO thought for safety (blinded by just making a buck)
Very nice and humorous watch. Kudos on the content as always!
Clive, you've spoilt us...........three and a half renditions of "One Moment Please" 🙂 Lovin' it
I just saw one blown up with the same size pcb and the chip is a sot23-6 with the high voltage switches built in. A slight hint of moisture on high voltage across fine pitch sot23 pins and boom.
The extra pads across the switch on your pcb is probably for pogo pin testing the module during production.
Every year that passes these things become more and more cheap to the point where literally you don't know how its even working or even just that it doesn't fall apart by its own.
Looks like the shop that moulded the control PCB housing found out that you can in fact mould styrene with 88 % calcium carbonate filler ... even though 20 % fill is the max advisable filler from most resin makers.....durable! (not exactlly) I'd be real cautious about the moulded clear "plastic" or TPE on the power plug - doesn't look OK to me re mechanical properties, and areas may be undersize for giving high voltage isolation. This one's a junker all right.
I've only just seen this. I bought a 3m x 2m net and very nearly contacted you about it. Very similar looking controller casing from the outside but with a larger board and a rotary dial. I go through quite a few sets (they're used on stage and get abused) but twice I've broken them by just knocking the controller... and when knocked (not even that hard) the microchip breaks. Not sure if it's physically breaking internally or if it's from something else briefly shorting / breaking with the rotary dial but they're incredibly flimsy.
They also get really warm and smelly really quickly if you test them in the box they come in.
And yes, I do run these through an RCD as they're near the public and I don't trust them for safety at all (even if they are listed as sold from within the UK)
You're inspiring me to make a take-apart video on a scamera that I bought a month or two back on Temu.
Top quality plastic there, reminds me of a cat litter tray I'd bought that I went to pick up (empy, I must add!) that just disintegrated kind of like that case did, there's a lot of very shoddy plastics out there now, recycled most likely so is utterly unreliable... :S
The controller box looks yellowed (on the outside vs the inside). Does it feel like the plastic has deteriorated with age, or was it just never thick enough to withstand practical use?
That was my thought too, either age or UV exposure maybe?
It does look like it's had sun exposure. But was also much thinner than normal.
The box is not made of plastic, It's made of tofu dreg!
It looks as if it's been left on a shelf in full sunlight for about ten years.
This is what happens when you recycle plastic a thousand times. 😅😅
4:56 You forgot to mention you're using your Kink Palculator for a final estimation of this "interesting" design. 🤭😂
Wow… the crappest of the crappest! Most eBay lights are danegrous rubbish but these take it to another level with the dodgy control and the resistors that get super hot, and all the other danegrous features. And that control box is very yellowed, probably overheating because it’s so dodgy 😂
Not sure if you're aware, but the 2 wire version of these sort of multifunction/annoying flickering lights use an AC signal of some sort and the LEDs alternate polarity. So when current flows one way, every other LED is lit, and when current flows the other way, the "other" every other LEDs are lit - if that makes sense.......
Ooh the quality of the mains plug. Was this made with aluminium wiring, or the expensive copper coated steel.
Hey Big Clive, I clicked on your video BEFORE all the others, because it had the word "fairy" in the title! 👍🤣 ... I do like a kink palculator and a cheap fairy!
Reminds me of the melty extendable christmas lights of death from about 10 years ago with the same mains plug, running directly from rectified DC with no smoothing that put 330VDC across the whole string and said they were indoor/outdoor! Shame i didn't get the set that had the socket right at the end, so it was also carrying full AC with no fuse. Remember those? I 'member!
Oh god, they cheapified even more the already incredibly cheap and nasty controllers these lights already used, I didn't know that was even possible! At least they have hot glue in them now, I guess... I had to add it myself to some old lights I have just to keep the wires from falling apart on their own and shorting out. Those old ones are also of the through hole component style, with a second board for the blob, so it's actually interesting to see how they've minimized them even more with recent ones.
By the way, with now nasty that plastic is, I wonder if they're now messing with the chemistry of the plastic to make it as cheap as humanly possible, and I wonder if it's even fire retardant at all!
Would it be even remotely safe to use outdoors, (where it must presumably dissipate heat more readily?) or to be honest would you just recommend putting the whole thing straight into the bin? Great show as ever, happy new year to you and yours and thankyou for all the sage advice. On reading some of the comments, these are some of the best ever. What a great diescerning audience you have, seems we are all thinking the same way on this delightful item.
Outdoors the LED sleeves wick in water and pose a shock risk.
@@BigClive Yup and the plug isn't IP rated either. Speaking of which, something looks off about that plug. Either the body is unusually small or the pin size is non-standard (I live on the continent, so I see those plugs every day).
I got the same one for a dollar about 5 years ago...
oddly enough they still work, put them on a tiny xmas tree.
The wire is so thin it will break if you look at it wrong.
Thanks for another good video Clive 👍 have a great new year
Well , They are described as ‘warm’ white 😂 they should heat the room nicely until the fire brigade show up 🔥
LOL the pink calculator love it
I noticed they're selling "extension cords" on the Chinese e-commerce sites that are made of the same CCA bellwire and plug/socket as these sets, for a quid each. What could possibly go wrong?
🇨🇳 - Buying and using their own crap, not surprised if they are having electrocutions and house fires and they don’t care ⚠️
What were they claiming for amperage or wattage on that abomination?
In America we have Underwriters Laboratories , UL , which is supposed to catch things like this but not sure if they work anymore . There is probably a a very good job opening , as a foreign representative , just waiting for you . Thanks for the share. :O)
Worst light of the year award? 🤣
Just one of many contenders.
I took a gamble on some cheap solar powered fairy lights for my daughter and strung them up along the back yard fence. Those things survived 6 snowy winters and 100F summers of being on all night every night and charging during the day, never being taken down and even getting violently stretched out when a bad windstorm knocked over a chunk of the fence. After 6 years they finally stopped taking a charge from the solar cell. I paid like 6 bucks and unfortunately can't find them again. If I'd known they would last that long I'd have gotten 3-4 sets.
Every once in a while you find a hidden gem that was accidentally made better than they intended to, but I would only ever buy Chinese eBay crap if it doesn't plug into the wall. I like my house NOT burning to the ground, thank you very much.
Sometimes something pops in your head when you hear certain words, for example the slit; I slit a sheet a sheet I slit; and on the slitted sheet I sit.... Don't know why but I had to say it......
plastics can be brittled by using heavy uv light.
the same level of uv that is used to etch semiconductors manufacturing i think is used for industrial disinfection and because of bio terror scares in the postal system it is possible that the item was pre brittled just by the uv/gamma ray beams used to fight bio terror weapons in the mail.
Definitely quality engineering right there! Just the thing for the kids to play with during the holidays - "extra excitement" (along with possibly an unplanned visit to Casualty perhaps??) Would the use of SCRs lead to electrical noise, since they are switching a moderate amount of current?
You buy the very cheapest so we dont have to :) Gawd bless ya gov'nor. Though I'm not much higher in the economic range half the time :D
Always love taking anything apart and huge fan of the channel. I'm sure you must have covered it but could you throw in a recap power factor and what affects it?
Wow, those lights are craptastic.
Tesco were selling coloured 100 LED strings for £3 just before Christmas 😀
i still remember the glass poundland xmas lights
tbh im suprised i never got a shock off them from taking a tight bulb out while it was Pluged in
Earlier last year my wife was standing on the patio during a thunderstorm. I was just inside. A bolt of lightning struck close enough to deafen and stun the both of us for a while. My wife was convinced she was struck, because she felt something not the side of her face. Turned out it was the control box.of this exact set that exploded when most of the circuitry was vaporized. It was strung up on our patio and unplugged and forgotten about. I was surprised that such a short run of cable could have so much induced to cause it to disassemble so forcibly, but it was a damaging strike that also damaged my fridge, oven, all my CCTV, garage door opener, irrigation, etc.
Fun teardown. Definitely designed for the chinese market judging by the enclosure.
I commented earlier on this video about the plastic yellowing and blacklight, well, I dug out my old modem and some legos that I tried to whiten a bit a few years ago (for testing), they have been in dark boxes since then and the yellowing has come back! The modem's surface even fluoresced again, like it did before I treated it with the blacklight. So maybe the surface of said plastic has gone brittle from light exposure and lets oxygen do the yellowing/whitening. I Seriously lack information about it all, just saying. Seems like there are actually new videos about it now, interesting.
I had to tell you this, because I was a bit wrong earlier and it keeps bugging me. 😂 You probably don't even remember my previous comment, but anyway, thanks for hearting and maybe reading these, it must be a lot of work.
Unusual that they've yellowed again in storage. It may well be oxidation.
Would probably be safer putting lit candles in your Christmas tree than this. At least with the candles they go out after awhile making them safe to leave on, actually no these will go out also once the resistor fries itself to death at 100C, always assuming the house hasn't quite burned down fully before they fail.
So the bar has been reset for the worst. How long till a new standard is set? 😆👍
Now theese types of lights are more rare. Now most of new ones have power supply "brick". I have 2 of them but without controllers. They are not safest but more safe than this.
They're not fairy lights. They're Chinese decorated Christmas tree heaters with multiple ignition points to improve overall combustion.
Awesome Video Big Clive 😊
Nice to know clive about the 'TAT' obtainable in the uk . Im one of those who remembers the 'BRITISH KITE ' mark. Im a bit long in the tooth. Those were the days when we knew what we were buying. Instead of buying something like a computer power supply which tells us to expect interference. One such power supply ive seen sold in the uk. People really should be careful of what they buy WHEN it comes to mains voltage products IMO.
I’d buy 2 and hook them up in series to lower the dissipation.
Particular LED strip with flimsy plastics look like it is refurbished strip with a history in sunny environment. Like it served as decoration in some shop window. I'll not say that selling these for pennies is bad thing. From environment point of view it is actually nice. However would be nice too to mention that in online shop product description.
Many thanks for the circuit diags, You always take trouble to trace and show us.
Can the same kind of mains 'Power drop' circuit be used for some other circuits like for an ESP01 board, etc. with a smoothing cap and zener, etc? this would eliminate the need of other bulky components especially the transformer.
I would advise against powering things like that with non isolated supplies due to the high shock risk.
Best electronic videos on the tube.
Thanks Steve.
Maybe not for Birthdays or Weddings... but certainly something to kick off a Who-Dunnit-Party.
I can see someone placing those outside and getting a real star shower of sparks, all while they stand there with the controller in hand, unable to move, while chestnuts are roasted. Can you smell the season? Wow, just wow.
Now, after Christmas, I find many of these strings of LEDs som ewith broken wires, some with a resistor or LED burned and so, I have free color LEDs. Is better to reuse those LEDs instead of letting them to go to waste. Strangely (or not, after seeing your video) it seems that each year there are more of these lights broken than the previous years.
I'm sure they would be pefectly safe outdoors. LOL.
I bought something which outwardly looks similar to this light string minus the stars, but the control box holds three AA batteries. The control box has a flexible seal over the button and an O-ring under the battery door. Each LED is also sealed with RTV in its sleeve. There is no claim on the package of being water resistant, but I’d say it probably is. Why?, who knows, because it would be a very small outdoor display. I got it for about $3 US at Walmart. So much safer… and cheaper. 😊
Similar to these can be found for ( FREE ! ) in our local cardboard recycling bins at this time of year ( ? ) ... but the colour of the LEDs is pleasing ( ideal for making my famous nightlights , as mentioned previously ! ) .... DAVE™🛑
I have seen these being sold at an illegal Chinese market here in Budapest a couple of years ago. Those wires seem to be single insulated only and as such should not be used for mains voltage at all. There is no isolation transformer anywhere, so the strings are also at mains voltage and should be double insulated. There is no fuse in this anywhere. In EU countries there is no fuse in the plug as well. So I would be interested that in case of a short circuit, how would those thin wires trip a 13A or 16A circuit breaker. If the current is not sufficient to trip the breaker, this could be the perfect ignition source for a christmas tree. The wires also snap easily, which is also a shock hazard (if that box would not be enough).
I figured it out, you are actually the Don of the IOM wire smuggling family.
Can't wait to use those outdoors.. yikes.
I have a board from one of theese and it has a little 5pin ic controlling the thyristors