Inside a COB LED head torch. 

You are one of the more interesting technical people on you tube, I always enjoy the disassembly of many things, I once drilled out about 30 rivets from a power supply just because we sent it in for repair and Motorola said it had lightning damage, which was BS the power supplies were made by Onan and were defective, they can't sue me cause they know there were problems with them wow, I just libeled myself with two companies, I doubt if they will say much it was more than ten years ago..and true.

I've always been a fan of flashlights and headlamps with good spill. I can understand that in certain situations some throw might be good to have, but there are very few situations calling for throw-only flashlights, which seem to dominate the market. Everyone seems to get excited about the kilometres of range.... which is useless in real life.

Some footage of how it's light looks would have been nice

I´ve recently bought a similar but crappier headlight with a 9 chip COB. It has the typical black blob instead of the six pin chip and there are no resistors or capacitors at sight (might be something below the blob, at least one resistor for the "low" setting). The box says "3W" and, surprisingly, it actually is. Not so surprisingly, it runs extremely hot (95C less than 2 minutes after turning it on in high) so I added a 2.2Ohm resistor... and a li-ion battery installed in a dangerously precarious manner (I look forward to earn a Darwin Award one of these days). It is very bright, I really like it.

I was hoping to see a comparison of this with a focused lens one.

Yep. I've got something similar but the COB LED is mounted in a torch hand held version with magnets. Great for blackouts and working on engine bays. The even diffuser light is nice especially in a blackout and you don't need concentrated focus light.

I have a bike light from aldi with a long COB LED. Has 16 chips I believe. Its actually very good, I use one on each side for all round illumination and and a torch (like the other headlamp) for a more direct beam.

I used these type of headband lights for my mastiff we used to go to the park at night I worked nights and these are great to stick on the dog and let em run around you can keep a good eye on them and them being leds they lasted weeks on a few aaa lol

I like cob lights, I use larger 12v ones for shed lighting and for car camping and they make a great diffused light. Maybe we will see some headlamps combine a small cob and normal lensed led's in the future for a more versatile light?

I got an Eveready torch with a COB area light on the side. I keep looking at the heads lamps too. I wish they were available in a better tint than angry blue, perhaps a neutral or warm tint because I heard the COB ones are capable of having a better CRI!

I got one of these (different brand, identical hardware) and it is *brilliant* for taking the dog out at night. So much more useful than a focused beam.

These eat through AAA batteries at a very rapid pace, btw. Even at low brightness. But it's still awesome, and plenty bright.

Clive I'm seeing a lot of small cobs like this being used in torch applications - torches such as car mechanics inspection ones. An interesting look inside. Thanks for sharing.

Funny this video popped up as I have been using one of these exact lights all week doing electrical switchboard works in the dark. Im pretty impressed with it even though battery runtime is a little short.

Nice to see a on hands man, shows by the plaster and scratches.

I wonder, has Poundland approached you yet with an Endorsement deal for those screwdrivers?

Nice little light, I like the idea of a floodlight as a headtorch as opposed to a solid beam (which is never aimed right on a lot of torches!), as most of the time you just want a fill light to work on something rather than a tight beam... :)

Nice idea for camping / walking around at night. where a diffuse light is more helpful. I wonder if head-torch manufactures would ever combine a spotlight and diffuse light into one device? That would save having to carry two different ones.

I've wanted manufacturers to make use of COB LEDs more often. Ever since my first pen light with a COB I've wanted everything with them. Sadly, nobody seems to agree. It's only taken them a few years to put out some basic work lights at walmart at a bit of a higher price than expected. Plus the high/low/flash settings on other lights is just annoying. Why not on/off? Who needs a flash with this stuff?

Several people have mentioned Clive making audio books. Adobe are going to release some software that, given enough audio, can make them say what you want(although I hear it will have censorship). This could become a possibility. Clive audio books for all!

agreed, a neat little light

I had similar head torch, but it actually had focusing thick plastic with "cutouts"(those lines like on car lights). It had nice effect of bright light area in front of you, and less bright that was illuminating area around. Sadly it was sucking power from batteries like hell, and plastic that hold head strap just crack after week... But still they should make more(and cheaper) head lights like that(focus light in front and illumination around) in small compact form

Is the headstrap quite stretchy? This looks like it would be perfect for me to use in the shotblaster at work, as the lighting in there is terrible. It would just have to fit over the shotblasting mask (basically a big red, busted, filthy astronaut helmet).

Bigclive, are you by any chance the voice behind the Timbersource ad on the AvE channel? ? ps love your show 👍👍 👉👌😲

hmm 2-3 hours run time on max? not great, wish they would use a boosty converter and 2xaa's be much better and hardly any larger (and run about 8-10 hours)

i have a 'normal' led headlight. I use it (or tried to) when i'm beach casting I thought that brighter and more powerful the better. its really not the case. even with it on its lowest setting and the focus as wide as it goes, theres still way too much light to work with close up. think this one would be way better

The Poundland screwdrivers are multiplying.

Giving me an idea to use one as a headlight on my RC Scooby

I agree a great little light.

Just bought one that takes an 18650. Will have to test it for lifespan when it turns up. edit: Headlight turned up and the listing was an (almost) total lie. Turns out it takes 3 AAA batteries. Works fine, nice and bright and the stap's a decent length, but I'm still a bit miffed.

measured mine to be 300ma and 100ma in hi-lo, so would be around 2-3 on max and maybe 9 on low

cool one of my neighbors just bought this from Dollarama in Canada

Something different i wonder if these are available with red led cob's?.

2 months ago they had mini work-lamps in one of supermarkets in Poland. They had very similar LED modules and also took 3 AAA batteries. There was only an on-off switch, no strobe function or dimmer. It was said that the lamp was 93 lumens bright. I bought one, very useful in the basement. Link to the shop's official site: biedronka.pl/pl/product,id,11499 (You cannot buy this thing through internet and there are only a few last lamps in some shops).

Whats the best led to use with 5v? Most leds i use burn out under 5v.

So... a flip down lens would be the best of both worlds.

Some china flashlights will have hidden SOS Mode.Activation this mod is possible by holding few seconds power button if flashlight is on.

His Shaking that everyone keeps talking about is the D.T's, he mentioned this in another video of His, something to do with distilling your own Whisky with warm white Led's

poundland are selling mains usb adapters, if you spot any at your locality could you do a tear down to see if they are safe?

Always a new plaster or cut, you must launch those hands at electronics! aha

I like those screwdrivers. They have a "Doctor Who" look

hi there some of those cob led torches got hidden sos light pattern. if you press clicky soft switch and hold it it should start flashing ...- - -... at least one that come from homebargains do it.

A surprisingly complex switch setup.

AvE just did a video on one of these. (mining/industrial grade)

I would be interested te know how the dim light is powered, does it work with a pulsed current?

Sounds more like a normal bulb but white :-D

Let's do some numbers. 4.5 V * .36 A = 1.62 W total. 3.4 ohm * .361 A=1.22 V drop over the resistor. 4.5 V - 1.22 V = 3.28 V over the LED. 3.28 V * .36 A = 1.18 W.

hi can u do video for yugi led which mimics sunlight with cri of 96

there are quite a few of these on ebay.

Do you know of iFixit Clive? If you don't you should check out their kits. I feel like their spudgers and similar tools would really help some of your teardowns.

Heya Clive, sorry to hijack this comment section but these really peculiar TEXET powerbanks are running in Iceland for 3 pounds right now, so I was wondering if you could do a teardown/analysis of them. They claim to be 2000 mah but I'm only getting about 20% on my galaxy S7 (which has a 3000 mah battery) so it would be really interesting to see what's actually inside. And if they have a lawsuit on their hands with this big of a misleading advertisement.

Probably needs a bit of a lens or a reflector to optimise the beam a bit - looks like it'll shine a good proportion of light upwards - which isn't very useful for a head torch cos your field of view doesn't go that way.

I take it that it's the cold 🌨☃️❄️ white light?

Very nice little light, but those AAA Alkalines won't last too long on full power. Heat dissipation from within that sealed case might be a problem too - so how about losing the battery holder, drilling a few small vent holes top and bottom, and maybe helping the aluminium "heatsink" with a few Polulu driver heatsinks - amiyoled.es/2824-thickbox_default/5x-disipador-de-calor-pololu-a4988-a4983-aluminio-reprap-3d-heatsink-printer-5-almohadillas-de-silicona-adhesiva.jpg. Run a cable to an external battery pack (AA or rechargeable), and you've got a nice little headlamp.

Hey Clive, where did you find the black magnifier? Would love something similar

I am going to mod one of 6 LED with Q5 18650 into COB Q5 LED. Will be interesting

hey clive i have one of these and it runs off two 3.1 ohms resistor and is not bright at all ?? any ideas why yours seem diffrent

Where can I get one of these or what would I be looking for?

dear you got sample？

what screwdrivers are those?

Different cob & smd headlights are 2 euro-ish on fleabay (cob example: 112112692613 )

How many of these headlamps can a guy own before it is considered too many and an unhealthy practice? I keep finding reasons to buy more of them.....

do you know issac dyer

+bigclivedotcom Many thanks for showing this light. It looked interesting and I bought one of very similar design on eBay from Glasgow for about £5 to check out (it's many miles to our nearest pound shop!). They're way better than any of the head torches my wife and I have ever tried for casual walking on our unlit roads and paths here in the Highlands. Lightweight, simple, and most of all a superb broad spread of light that doesn't leave darkness in front of you if you turn your head a little to one side. Only downside I could see was that they eat through AAA batteries quite fast because of the high power of the light. After a bit of measurement and research, I've found that rechargeable 850mAh Lipo batteries will fit inside with no modification to the case (ie it can still take AAA batteries instead). And you can get 5 of those batteries and a 5-way micro charger for about £11. At first I just kludged the battery wires into the battery clips, but of course wiring in a small plug for the socket prewired on the batteries makes it a lot easier to swap them for charging. They also see to last longer with a more steady light level through discharge than the AAAs. That's where I am now, but it has occurred to me that with a couple of studs on either end (and maybe a protective fuse inside) I could just fit one edge of the light into my multiple 18650/26650 battery charger to charge them in situ, so I shall be trying that. A possible but more spatially challenged option will be a cordless charging coil and receiver! The icing on the cake is finding that they are three-quarters the weight with the Lipo battery than they were with the AAAs - 47g instead of 63g, and they are available form China for £1.68 post free! Thanks again for a great channel, and a great find on these torches.

You should buy a head lamp so you can read the chip..*****

Clive's hands seem a bit jittery in this video... too much caffeine ?

I got the key chain version

The board looks a very odd shape. Almost as though it was intended for a different design of light.

great light, stupid battery, they should make li-ion/li-pol one with micro usb charging port, I have one, I'll modify it...

if you are not 100 percent sure, fit warm white led's

I like LED cobs than just those little bitty leds.

Just wondering... any chance of doing something more expensive on these vids? You get a few quid from Patreon. And most pound shop garbage is the same, cheap LEDs and maybe a COB. Sometimes they have ingenious features to get the price down, but mostly it's just corner-cutting crap. There must be millions of things, still cheap, for a few tens of quid, that yield treasure when you open them up. Be better than the absolute bargain basement 1 quid / B & M stuff. I'm reminded of the radar strip light, another example of corner cutting unsafe unreliable garbage. It'd be nice to see something WELL MADE for a change!

AA or AAA batteries?

I struggled with wanting to watch this one. It seemed like it was going to be similar to so many other videos.

Weird, no sound for me when I play this..

Is the pinout compatible with one of these: www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-8127-AVR-8-bit-Microcontroller-ATtiny4-ATtiny5-ATtiny9-ATtiny10_Datasheet.pdf

hi

Its just me or he's shaking a little? Seems nervous or something. Hope everything ok.

Why are you shaking, sir?

must be warm on the head clive being a cob..lol

Clive you're a bit shaky in this video and veiny. unless you've been up all night on coffee it's time to see a doctor. meant with all honesty and affection.

I use mine for reading, but it eats batteries now I know why !

Do you get paid more if we "watch" the entire commercial? I will put the time in for a good cause!!

Three AAA's as everyone loves a loose useless AAA from a pack!

First time I'm early

AND>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> totally `forgets` to show it lighting a bloody room !!!!!!! ?

Hey, i'm early! Give me a Ferrari. XD

Get yourself a real haedlamp made by Zebralight, Armytek, Olight, Nitecore, etc instead of these crappy no name POS's.

Who would you have voted for? You have a typical Arkansas accent so I am guessing Hillary