Next generation LED candle?

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Although these have been about for a few years now, I've stalled with buying one to take apart because they were initially overpriced for what they are. Their claims of being the most realistic candle effect didn't justify them being more expensive than the dancing flame type LED candles.
Now they are at a more sensible price I bought a couple and took one apart so we could see what's inside them. It turns out there's not a lot inside.
Now I just have to find a source of this newer generation effect LED, as all the ones on eBay are unnatural colours with a lurid pulsing effect. Or maybe just reincarnate an old project which ran a standard warm LED from a PIC microcontroller with a similar effect. I sharpened a glue stick in a pencil sharpener for the flame and drilled a 3mm hole for the LED, and it gave a very similar effect to this one.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- www.bigclive.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of RU-vid's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators

Опубликовано:

30 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 274

@panqueque445 Год назад

It actually looks pretty nice. On the camera at least. The color looks very close to a real candle, and the "flickering" effect is also pretty on par with what you'd expect from a real candle.

@markfergerson2145 Год назад

I agree, the ftlickering is quite convincing. I was wondering if the chip in the LED is some kind of random number generator... and if it modulates the current the package draws so you could put an ordinary LED in series with it (at higher supply voltage) such that both would rlicker.

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

I think it's following a loop of intensities.

@markfergerson2145 Год назад

@@bigclivedotcom Yeah, I keep forgetting how much RAM can be stuck into tinier and tinier packages these days. Still like to see the series test some day, but I can't find such toys near me.

@rickyreynolds17 Год назад

Where’s this from?

@charliedobbie8916 Год назад

@@bigclivedotcom ...I read that as "intestines" and became utterly confused.

@tuttocrafting Год назад

When I was a child i visited a castle, to make the ceiling chandelier lamps looking like candles they used custom made ones. They were looking like this one but they also had a way to wabble the flame similarly to other candle you see online magnetic stem and an electromagnet. They told me that they were so exclusive and expensive like around a couple of 100EUR for each candle/lamp. Now cheap one are coming up everywhere for everyone. You unlocked a memory from my childhood!

@phil4977 Год назад

Such a shame we missed all the destruction action. I look forward to seeing dismantling and ultimate destruction. The best one to date for me was the lithium battery pack with the nail and hammer in the garden.

@tncorgi92 Год назад

I agree. I like to see the Vise of Knowledge in action, or at least a hefty set of pliers.

@zeberto1986 Год назад

While the effect looks good on camera my mind started wondering if it would be better to use a joule thief circuit to power the led. Shame this candle cant be retrofitted with one. Time to break out the 3d printer!

@Jamal_Tyrone Год назад

Wotch ya mince pies, the light is cumin back!

@HowToChangeName Год назад

Finally my brother can no longer blow my birthday candle ever again!

@Omensan Год назад

I'd love to see a 10x10 array of these LED on a badge to see if the flickering is according to some preprogrammed loop state or if it's some kind of capacitive trigger subject to component variation. AliExpress did you say?

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

I think it's a loop. It would be nice if it used a randomiser.

@erikdenhouter Год назад

@@bigclivedotcom I guess these use a white noise generator, so pretty random. The tri-color LEDS (slow and fast types) use a real program that runs on a slightly shifted speed per LED, so they all start the same colour and same change, but slowly drift from each other. After a few minutes there's no pattern to be recognized anymore.

@RIXRADvidz Год назад

Another Enlightening Chat. did I detect a note of sadness having to crush the candle and cut open the flame? you've dissected tonnes of electronics, with gusto at times, this was the first note of sadness, after all , it was a very nice candle.

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

I prefer things to be hackable, but when glued shut to the point you have to break them apart it spoils that aspect.

@PipeManPeep Год назад

Top tip: when the wires are that thin, fold the stripped end back over the insulated portion, then put the clip round the lot.

@knucklecorn Год назад

🤣Big Clive putting the heart on almost every comment except a few special

@BrianG61UK Год назад

@@knucklecorn A valid strategy for increasing your youtube earnings. Brings commenters back to watch more. One could argue that he'd be daft not to.

@kyoudaiken Год назад

@@BrianG61UK Knowing Clive's character, he really likes a comment he puts a heart on. I'm a viewer since his channel was quite niche and unknown.

@gudenau Год назад

I must say that the candle itself doesn't look super realistic, but the light it gave off was pretty good. Like the halos in the camera it made would be what I'd expect from a candle. Maybe for future ones you might consider lighting a real candle too for the sake of comparison?

@theelmonk Год назад

The horizontal flame is a bit of a giveaway

@gavincurtis Год назад

Wonder what a hexaputer panel loaded with those LEDs would look like? 🤔

@idjtoal Год назад

@BreatheScotland Very odd, this isn't making the cut under "Top", have to hit "Newest" to see it. Can't say "bee you are en" now maybe?

@franktuckwell196 Год назад

So where did you get it from? How long would you estimate the led would last and was it worth the cost? Unfinished business here. No cicuit board but no real answers either.

@keehandowd Год назад

These look great - so much so I bought a 20 pack of tealight candles with this LED in them and hot-glued them in a bundle at staggered heights, paralleled them all with 32 gauge magnet wire (almost invisible to the eye) and powered them with an old USB phone charger. I now have an island of flickering tealight candles on my mantle that looks awesome!

@Dodgerm1cbo Год назад

Hi, where did you get the candle from please

@michaelraath3164 Год назад

Glad you could shed some light on this LED light

@frankowalker4662 Год назад

It's rather effective. It's also amazing what they can cram into a 3mm LED these days.

@jam99 Год назад

I guess you mean the silicon functionality they 'bother' to put in in terms of market sales? I guess setup and production costs are getting cheaper as time goes by for 'hybrid' modules like this. The flashing LED type has been around for quite a while, for example. Much the same build technique I would guess?

@frankowalker4662 Год назад

@@jam99 Yeah, but it's still amazing when you think about it. :)

@LakeNipissing Год назад

This one did look quite convincing. If I am in the market for a LED candle, this would be the one. Was this from Poundland ?

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

Alas no. It came from a local retailer. But I think Aliexpress may have them.

@JohnClulow Год назад

Ah hawp tae god if ye fin' yin o' thae fin' candles at a local retailer, then ah hawp tae god ye dinnae dae tae it whit he dane 'n' ruin it, tearing it tae bits sae it wull ainlie be fit fur th' garbage fur cryin oot loud

@JohnClulow Год назад

@BreatheScotland yes I did :))

@jeremyvoshage2410 Год назад

Damn I want a whole string of these for next years Christmas tree. If only the leds could be bought.

@oldman1944 Год назад

They seem to be available from Ali Express under "flickering LED"

@oldman1944 Год назад

@BreatheScotland True. I saw a few there with product videos that looked similar if not the same as the one in the video.

@estherstreet4582 Год назад

I was working in e-commerce a while back for a shop that sold these candles, I took a fair amount of photos messing around with them and managed to alarm at least one of my friends who thought I was playing with a real candle. They work really nicely with candle holders that you don't want to ruin with fire or wax.

@RS-Amsterdam Год назад

They should also integrate some sort of heater so that besides having candle light you can also burn your fingers !

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

And set fire to curtains.

@twocvbloke Год назад

Surprisingly a nice candle, compared to the flickery crap that is the norm (I bought & dismantled a bunch of some from poundland during pandemic year 1 cos they were crap, one even had used the new fangled "invisible solder" too!), this one seems rather realistic, and as for that "crash", could it be a "hidden feature" where you briefly turn it off and back on to go between two modes (Flicker vs. Static-on)? would be neat if it was... :)

@BRUXXUS Год назад

It does look quite nice! If we could find those particular LEDs, I'd love to attempt designing and 3D printing a version of this that's rechargeable with USB. Maybe with a little switch.

@trevorhaddox6884 Год назад

A panel of these could be used for bigger effects, they may also come in different sizes.

@InsideAlan Год назад

Looks like you could fit a small vape battery and charging circuit in the stem.

@GlasPthalocyanine Год назад

We've always used these at Christmas, but the flickering flame effect also helps with "feeling warm", while saving on gas consumption. I'd really like to break free of the need to buy batteries, too.

@AgentPothead Год назад

These are probably great for candle chandeliers. Don't have to worry about a fire hazard anymore.

@dosgos Год назад

We have similar recent candles (2xAA battery and plastic tube). The flame effect is realistic and pleasing, even over the long-term. There must be a lot of tricks: LED colour, random brightness & timing, and the frosted plastic flame housing. They were expensive but I can't over-emphasize how much people enjoy them.

@MyMy-tv7fd Год назад

strangely I go nuts trying to find the right glass container which enables a good smooth draw for a tea light and also protects from stray air currents in the room - a dead steady flame being the near-impossible desideratum

@dosgos Год назад

The newer "premium" candles have evolved and gotten pretty good!

@infernaldaedra Год назад

@@MyMy-tv7fd the volcano or hurricane lamp style globes raised up a centimeter or two would work perfectly

@MyMy-tv7fd Год назад

@@infernaldaedra thanks good thinking

@davejblair Год назад

Let me get some tools..... So many times I've said that and used my shoe.

@gazzaka Год назад

They are good suspended in the air by a thin cotton thread. A Harry Potter floating candle !

@petersage5157 Год назад

Please let us know in the describey (or maybe a separate video?) if you find a source for the bare LEDs; I think these would pair nicely with an adjustable switching regulator (3-3.6V) for a dimmable LED candelabra or chandelier.

@craignehring Год назад

Did I miss the price? I hate AAA cells not much capacity Nice tear down

@michaeltempsch5282 Год назад

What looks to be these on AliExpress, first found (could be available from multiple sellers) - 2 pcs 37.48 SEK w/ 8.79 SEK shipping. Divide by about 12.8 for UKP Also found 12 pcs w/ remote (unclear if more than on/off, remote has buttons for dimming, mode: candle/light, and timer: 2/4/6/8h in addition to on/off for 270 SEK w/ 14 SEK shipping

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

I've ordered similar looking ones from AliX to see if they are similar.

@rhiantaylor3446 Год назад

I presume it will only work while the AAA cells are delivering well over 1v each - pity as a single AAA plus Joule Thief might have made better use of disposable batteries - or perhaps one of those small Lithium Ion cells from an E-cig though, again, you wouldn't want it drawing current much below about 3v.

@interestingoldthings4889 Год назад

My, how times have changed. About 20 years ago, I built a flickering candle effect for a production of "Juno and the Paycock". It used a BASIC Stamp, driving 4 MOSFETS, to flicker 4 model railway grain-of-wheat bulbs, which were embedded in a silicone flame shape. Lots of work, but it looked great.

@davidg4288 Год назад

I remember visiting Disney World's Haunted Mansion in 1981. The chandeliers had flickery bulbs, obviously incandescent back then but quite a convincing candle flame effect. Each bulb seemed to flicker independently. I wonder how they did that in 1981? I think they either had a wiring setup with enough channels that it looked random, or possibly circuits like yours but with a simpler microprocessor or even hard wired logic with no microprocessor.

@paranoiia8 Год назад

I can't wait for candle that have 512 led 3d matrix chips shaped like cone, accelerometer, gyroscope, sound meter and pressure sensor so it react to not only movement but also wind in the room to give realistic flame movement. Oh also speaker that give really light sound of cracking flame. And of course bluetooth connection to phone so you can light it remotely

@Benbearjones Год назад

You forgot to say "the light is back" I'm so disappointed! Hahaha that hands down is my most favourite Clive moment!

@DrHouse-zs9eb Год назад

The animation there is very smooth... Why did it take so long to get that realistic? :D Its not rocket science...

@simontopley4771 11 месяцев назад

I bought some of these, they turned out to be remote control, and all six are linked to one remote, sort of defeated what i was trying to do, which is sell some lamps as a hobby, they'd be better for me with no remote, just a switch, they do look pretty good, with the remote you can alter all of the brightness levels etc.

@adagioleopard6415 Год назад

We build some pcbs for a similar product. The guy said he doesn't make them realistic anymore because the people tried to light them not knowing they were electronic

@Orxenhorf Год назад

Everything inside the LED.... time to bust out the microscope and do a Ken Shirriff style reverse engineering of the silicon.

@TheUnknownCatWarrior Год назад

The only thing keeping it from looking realistic is the moving flame effect.

@piconano Год назад

A trick I use, is to bend the thin wires back on to the insulation, and clip the alligator clips on to the insulation.

@flippy9133 Год назад

Just needs rechargeable battery and USB charging port and I am sold

@AdricM Год назад

you can sometimes listen to the led's programming by shining it on a solar cell connected to an audio amplifier.

@erikdenhouter Год назад

Simple idea. Also an LDR in series with a small battery should work. I used a non-contact probe like the one from Paul Carlson.

@TheDiveO Год назад

seeing the thumbnail the thought crossed my mind: oh, Clive is in very metaphorical mood calling multi-purpose tools "candle".

@paulstaf Год назад

That was really a nice effect.

@JohnClulow Год назад

"Was" past tense, until the fah pie-eatin' basturd took it to bits !!! His mum was like, "Clive 'tis why we canno' hav nic hings...." He wis forever tearing hings tae bits as a bairn ... Ralfy tried tae halt 'im bit didnae succeed Noo whaur does it end, ah ask ye? whaur does it end?

@atkelar Год назад

I used one of these LEDs from a smaller candle in my "Lost Treasure" build: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lVRS24nYYw0.html - it still works quite nicely and is a neat effect with the little statue.

@Muonium1 Год назад

If an alkaline aaa is 1200mAh, 2 should last 400 hours in one of these or over 2 weeks. LiFeS2 batteries should power it for over 3 weeks. I bought one of those automatic IR detector foam soap dispensers on ebay after you tore it down to show the remarkable pump mechanism 2.5 years ago on here. It's been used 5-10 times a day every day since and the original Li batteries are still going strong. A single 32oz $9 bottle of castile soap diluted to 1/2 strength is still 1/3rd left after as many years refilling the unit when needed.

@BPantherPink Год назад

OD is too small for me 😝

@nathanaelsmith3553 Год назад

I had a power cut in a storm about a year ago and ended up using an LED candle to navigate my house. Took me right back to the 1980s .... Ahh - galvanized dustbins, saturday morning cartoons, smoking in public places, BMX, Casio watches and dog shit on the pavement. Those were the days!

@neilfarthing3888 Год назад

Would that be white dog shit?

@HooverLux Год назад

I’ve just bought a pack of 6 of these and done the video, then I saw this, I’m glad I got them now as I liked them too.

@Hecxa Год назад

We also have a bunch of candles like those ones. Ours also has a timer function that turns the candle off after six hours but turns the candle on at the same time you turned it on (so it must have 24h clock/counter). Pretty "spooky" when for example five candles turn on by themself one by one at 5pm ( in the same phase you turned them on ), and one by one turn off at 11pm. And yes, they look pretty realistic.

@TheLukemcdaniel Год назад

From a distance, or on the other side of a curtain, it looks real enough.

@TomCarlson Год назад

We have some similar ones, a set of 6, only they come with a remote to turn them on, adjust brightness, and even turn off the flicker. I have to say, I really like them. And if you turn them all on at once, their flicker rates all differ, so they’re not all flickering as a synchronized group.

@phonotical Год назад

Please to put it in line with a speaker? 😂

@threeMetreJim Год назад

If you use a photo-diode detector connected to an oscilloscope, you can maybe see how the LED is being driven, assuming it is some sort of PWM, and not linear control. I used the same trick to see that a bar code scanning laser had a carrier frequency of around 100kHz (ambient lighting flicker rejection).

@neilfarthing3888 Год назад

You could even detect if it is being driven by a "happy birthday" chip! Could ac-couple it into a small audio amplifier and listen to the tune being transmitted by light. That would be fun 😀

@lesallison9047 Год назад

Like it, very nice. ✌♥️🇬🇧

@DeeegerD Год назад

Call me old school but I prefer real candles.

@joejoe-lb6bw Год назад

What candle is this? Amazon, for example, just shows the older style of LED candles.

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

These are Flickabrights. I bought some similar looking ones on AliExpress and they only have standard flicker LEDs in them.

@Lumibear. Год назад

How interesting, I’m always thrilled to get a new style of LED myself, imagine this one in a string of Christmas lights, can’t wait for that!

@Stormcloakvictory 9 месяцев назад

How much could you boost this you think? Like I'd like to know if I could use one as a night candle for walking around the house in the dark

@bigclivedotcom 9 месяцев назад

It's more for decorative effect. You might have to improvise a custom extra bright candle.

@KeritechElectronics Год назад

Interesting. I was wondering what kind of circuitry would make the LED flicker... nada! zilch! it's all in the teeny tiny part!

@Tomd4850 Год назад

The color and effect looks a lot like the flickering IKEA candles. I actually would want to try one to see if they match.

@rivkahlevi6117 Год назад

I really like the IKEA ones. They can be quite convincing from a distance or out of the corner of your eye. Haven't had one fail yet so haven't had an excuse to take one apart.

@vladthe_cat Год назад

"Cut through the flame" I like that sentence for some reason.

@bernds6587 Год назад

Finally such a "candle" with AAA batteries, and not with ridicilous priced button cells. Now if that one would be shorter, it'd be perfect

@snowdaysrule Год назад

I never knew LED's could have embedded integrated circuits inside of them. I recently took apart a flickering led candle and was surprised when the only things inside were a battery and an led!

@kennmossman8701 Год назад

it has been around for quite a while - starting, I think - with blinking/flashing LEDs

@DisorderedArray Год назад

If you have some magnification, you can normally see the tiny IC in the encapsulation, next to the LED chip and joined with super fine gold wires. Normal LEDs only have one chip inside.

@snowdaysrule Год назад

@@DisorderedArray I actually did this! I have a stereo microscope so took a look at the led under 30x magnification and could see 3 gold bond wires.

@snowdaysrule Год назад

@@DisorderedArray I remember seeing what looked like a silver metal bowl half full with some type of white epoxy-like material and then a square "floating" on top the epoxy with the 3 gold bond wires coming off of it. There may have been additional contents below the square within the epoxy but I couldn't tell as the visibility through the epoxy material was poor.

@phils4634 Год назад

Looks pretty authentic, and a quick survey of the "usual suppliers" indicates these are very affordable 🙂 Might get a few in for "emergency romantic occasions" (power cut with "added romance" might appeal to The Mrs!)

@davidfalconer8913 Год назад

Kodak™ batteries ? ( thinks , he's been to Poundland™ , Ho - Ho ! ) ..... FYI .. the " tea light " LED candle lamps are also very realistic , ( powered by Lithium coin cells ) ............. DAVE™ ............

@carolineseno5955 2 месяца назад

The big question is does its brigther than the real one or less brigther?

@bigclivedotcom 2 месяца назад

It's more for ornamental use than illumination, so not as bright as a candle with a big flame.

@electroniquepassion Год назад

it couldn't be simpler 😃👋

@dustinhipskind7665 Год назад

I could see using a AAA sized lithium ion cell in this with a AAA sized spacer with a resistor in it

@kneau Год назад

Seems ideal for crowded vigils.

@KJFMZ Год назад

You sound almost disappointed, Clive! How do you feel about the progress in lighting technology? Do you feel that the simplification takes away from it, or do you enjoy seeing how minimal they can get? Thanks for the countless hours of education, mate. 👍

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

I was hoping there was going to be a small PCB. It's very hard to work out if any of the flickering/candle LEDs sold online have this more subtle style.

@kyoudaiken Год назад

The battery lasts about 5 days with no visible brightness loss in my calculations with generic AAA alkaline cells. Not too terriffic IMHO. They should make these so you can connect them to a bus bar with a USB plug. I'd put in Eneloops or LADDAs, which should last more than a week but glow a bit dimmer, then the light will get pretty weak for another week.

@celticqaidbear Год назад

I saw candle lamps dipped in silicone and shaped like flame.

@lightcapmath2777 Год назад

You like this one i see....Ummm any chance on getting to see if there was a "chip" in bedded in the LED?...I liked it too...Thanks DVD:)

@bigclivedotcom Год назад

It's usually a separate chip inside the LED package.

@lightcapmath2777 Год назад

@@bigclivedotcom Thanks for the clarity..DVD:)

@esecallum Год назад

The flickering led is based on quite complex mathematics and you can google the article. i was amazed

@Matt19matt19 Год назад

Hi Clive. Have you got a po box for me to send you something potentially interesting? I bought two pir motion sensor light bulbs. Standard b22 fitting and it's just a light bulb that you leave switched on and it comes on when you walk under it. Then goes off after 30 seconds of not sensing movement. From Amazon. But when I received it the bulb was in bits. I've managed to put it back together and it does work. But there's no way I'm trusting it especially as you're leaving the power to the light socket on all the time. Just thought it would make an interesting video and if it's safe 🤣

@martintspedersen Год назад

Mine are more realistic it has a chip controlling af long COB led and the flicker is really great. Sometimes they flicker alot and other times it dont do it as much. That make the very realistic,with flicker op and down. The name is UYUNI led candles. Had them about 2 years know. See them on youtube they are great.

@generaldisarray Год назад

I'm disgusted that you didn't do a schematic, how are we supposed to know how it works without a schematic??? 🤣🤣 Just kidding, it looks candle'esk but I don't think it would fool anyone up close. It would probably be good in a window, as one of those lightsfor a family member who's away or has died to remember them.

@Erdie5 Год назад

Do they have a version where the wax is melted a bit to simulate being used? Seems like a decent idea to have; it is simulating a candle after all.

@spokehedz Год назад

Makes me wonder what the 'waveform' is, if any. Maybe they changed it to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" this time!

@cwcordes Год назад

Somewhere in this 'kingdom' of mine I have some LED candles that have an 8 hour ON and 16 hour OFF timer. This was great, I just put the batteries in at sunset and they would operate for 6 months on AAA cells.

@stepheneyles2198 Год назад

How long do they last if you put the batteries in at sunrise? 😁

@cwcordes Год назад

@@stepheneyles2198 prolly the same . The idea is they turn ON at dusk when I need them and OFF during the day.

@maniacse Год назад

I have crazy idea: install bunch of these LEDs in my old car as dashboard lights and mainly instrument cluster lights...

@134StormShadow Год назад

After spending a lot of time here under candle power (rolling power cuts in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine due to constant rocket n missile attacks 😔), it'd be nice to see how much actual light these put out and how long the batteries last.

@joeschmo622 Год назад

Makings of a new Department of Villainy display? 🤡🔥💯😈💩🍆🤣🤡

@loddude5706 Год назад

At last! - a 'tail light' with NO fluff burn hazard . . . we do live in truly wondrous times . . . waxed too : )

@jamesvandamme7786 Год назад

Our church has a bunch of these that don't flicker, but they're remote controlled, which is nice if you don't want to be changing batteries all the time or climbing up on the windows to switch off 30 of them.

@moth.monster Год назад

I would love a few of these LEDs for fun projects. Could easily slap it into a 3D printed enclosure with a button cell for unlimited holiday tat!

@veraxis9961 Год назад

I have to say, it is a small thing, but I am actually a big fan of this "innovation." I have always found the flickering in traditional candle LEDs to be far too aggressive and not realistic to a real candle in a room with relatively still air. A welcome change, in my opinion!

@Ass_of_Amalek Год назад

I think they could have made it better if they had put a colour gradient on the flame - either just red towards the top, using this yellow LED, or blue-yellow-orange from the bottom to the top with a more white LED.