Q&A while making a custom LED lamp. (storytime) 

So wrong, but so true

Hard thing on 240😂 aa a bit of a shock is good fore the hard 🤣

​@@new-kids-on-the-blockhad a guy at work get shocked today. I noticed, but he was trying to make it subtle. About two minutes later he was shocked again. Out came the "sonuvabitch!" and "god fucking damnit!" I guess you only have the energy to attempt to hide only one shock.

Thomas Levy I found out that there were competing standards for the light bulb base, including push-in bases. There would have been a great market for the adapters. You've also reminded me of nonstandard plugs, particularly UK plugs, which would be used in public areas of buildings to prevent theft of the electricity. There were, and may still be, a type of plug used on construction sites to designate a lower voltage to reduce electrical hazards.

That's brilliant!

In the uk the standard 3 pin 13 amp plug had a few variants. Usually the earth pin was vertical but there were some systems with horizontal earth pins and even some with t shaped earth pins. This was less for theft, more to stop people plugging things in places they shouldnt! I dont think they are made any more, and when you see them you have a double take.

This is true - UK worksite tools are 120v tools running on a centre-tapped isolation transformer using yellow IEC 60309 plugs.

@@stevecraft00 this is true with analogue lighting systems. We call them "Barrel pins" because the pins are usually completely round so people can't plugin stupid stuff into an old dimmer based lighting array and blow something up

Ground the wrist you are grabbing things with, or ground them both for good measure. Caution: Shocks hurt going in AND going out, but at least you keep your life.

I don't see as many apprentices around these days. I wonder why.

Can confirm electric shocks going from hand to hand are bad. I was working with a circuit that had a 400uF or so capacitor array charged to around 600V and accidentally touched it while the other hand completed the circuit It didn't really hurt my hands but it felt like I was kicked in the chest and I sat down hard and nearly passed out. Good thing it wasn't attached to the power circuit, or was any larger, as I probably wouldn't be writing this.

It took me 40 years of work and shocks to finally start using a non contact voltage indicator and wear a thick rubber glove on one hand. I have come close far too often, had a couple of days in hospital once after touching a line transformer output that burnt a hole through my finger. The shock I have had the most often is the one across the mains input terminals, after repeatedly plugging in and unplugging and getting the sequence wrong.Clive is right people are mostly lucky and survive but not always, it’s like running across the road with your eyes closed.

This is why woodworkers shouldn't be screwing around with l Lichtenberg fractals using microwave transformers. Because, ya know, holding both ends of 10kv at "melt your heart" amps... with gaffer tape insulated wooden handles... isn't exactly clever. 😂 Honestly... search it on here and prepare to facepalm like never before! 😂😂

it is really very calming right very calming it is kind of like really having a friend in real life ...... well at least for me

Came in handy; I had to take a long dump! :D

+Madness832 you might want to add more fiber in your diet

Late night at Taco Bell.

happy 100

Those arent all diodes idiot, in fact there are only 4. At least fucking learn something dumbass.

@@ATLTraveler toxic

Quintin K are you really surprised Look at that name

@@reedy_9619 It's the internet, I'm not surprised.

He's an international treasure!

It's automatically required viewing once Clive mentions the ECPD (Explosion Containment Pie Dish). And the X-Ray machine (that's hammer to us). GREAT!

Против Глобал HAHAHAHAHA

Hahahahahha that's awesome. I'd hate to be either one of them though.

"1 week 😁training crazy , in Germany its like 3 years ..." It gets crazier than just that. I don't know the name for it in Germany, but the same qualification is recognised and awarded throughout the EU, electricians from all over have an established system for proving their qualifications on any site or to any householder. Only not quite. The UK refuses to recognise the qualification. My "handyman", who is from Hungary is a qualified electrician, he was 'apprenticed' for five years in total. But he can make much more money in the UK sticking tiles up. Of course he installed all my electrics as well. I just had to pay one of the "one weekers" a hundred quid to certify it. I had to tell him I did it myself. Clive is right of course, nobody tests the ring mains properly anyway. The whole ring main system should have been abandoned fifty years ago, it is especially redundant now with people having huge numbers of low current devices. The funny thing is this: everywhere else in the world we'd be looking for huge corporations who would be profiting from this nonsense. But in Britain it's just a bunch of old tossers in the EICCIICCC(?) who rule the roost. That, and not a single civil servant or politician who can wire a plug... apparently. Whilst in gripe mode... has nobody noticed that the way we wire lighting in our houses should be changed? The reason we can get away with multiple lights on one circuit is because of the tungsten bulb. When it blows, it fails safe, the filament breaks. So, if a bulb failure blows the fuse, it is a simple matter to repair the fuse, or reset the breaker. Illumination is restored, and the culprit candle is obvious. Not so with LEDs, they will keep blowing fuses or breakers, they should be properly fused internally. But nobody bothers. And another thing: WTF do I need an electrician to wire an oven? Clive will have used 10kW incandescent luminaires and bigger, using plugs and sockets. Why can't we have plugs on our cookers??? Sorry, it's been a bit hot lately, I'm going for a lie down now!

nicktecky55 😂 wiring an oven is 50€ here ...so i do it myself all the time😂

nicktecky55 we can , just don't tell anyone.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen ovens wired in on Commando sockets before just as you would find in a commercial kitchen 🤔

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes I Like your Last name.

Then you understand why lots of technically inclined people (like me) like to do everything themselves, from home reno, to maintenance on a car. Its hard for me to find someone to trust, and when I find someone, I tend to stick with them. I try to do most of the handy stuff around the house and to get it inspected after that, if necessary. But that can drive my wife completely nuts at times!

It's a shame many people of that age group avoided (and still avoid) learning how to use computers and the Internet. But the irony is that so many young "experts" today who grew up with the technology really aren't any more knowledgeable. Sure they can post the latest meme to the latest network, but as soon as their device's bootloader crashes or something else goes wrong it quickly becomes apparent that using modern technology practically since birth doesn't actually teach you anything about how it works! My mother (in her 60s) tells me surprisingly often how she had to give someone in their 20s directions or help them work out which train to catch, and how surprised they were when she told them they could look that information up on their phone. It seems many old people don't know what the Internet is for, and many young people don't realise the Internet is more than just social media.

@@vink6163 Its the same with anything, in any age group. Most people don't know how a vehicle even works, but they've driven all their lives. Most people don't know how a fridge, or television, or ceiling fan works, but they've used them all their lives, so to try to imply younger generations are moronic because they don't know exactly what every little piece in a cell phone is for, is in fact, pretty moronic on your part.

Nope, my point was that it's inaccurate to say it's mostly older people who don't understand technology, when there are plenty of people of all ages who don't understand it. Sorry for not being clearer.

Started building it*, most everything you originally worked on is vastly different now. From the micro chips to the new versions of protocols used by the internet. Things are so different now so the odds of you keeping up with that change in literally everything is a bit shocking to most of us.

Sadly much of the Internet still runs on the original protocols from the 1970s. Heck most of it still hasn't been upgraded to IPv6 which came out in the 1990s! I was at a very technical IT conference a few years ago and this 70 year old guy gets up to give a presentation - complete with hearing aid - and proceeded to discuss the modern TCP protocol in more detail than most of the experts in the room had any idea about. It turns out the guy was Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the protocol back in the 1970s. The fact that this old guy knew more about how the Internet worked than any of the professionals in the room who relied on it for their livelihood (myself included) was amazing to see. The kicker was that despite being in his 70s he was talking about how the existing protocols are not practical for interplanetary communication due to the time lag, and so he was busy designing a new protocol that could better cope with data transmission to Mars. He was putting a case to NASA to have it on their Mars orbiters once the missions were over, so that instead of a bunch of dead space probes, we'd gradually end up with a network of high bandwidth communication relays so that future Mars missions could send more data back to Earth. Inspiring stuff, that's for sure.

I loved the arc welders. Such a powerful ripping electrical lightning sound.

Happy times with hit-and-run dial up to collect all the latest posts on email and the newsgroups. Turnpike was actually a very slick and reliable piece of software.

Yep. Before working there I'd be regularly dialing in at 6pm on the dot and disconnecting as soon as all my newsgroups had refreshed. I used to work in the same office as the Turnpike team - what used to be Locomotive Software, responsible for things like BASIC on the Amstrad CPC computers. It was great software - except when we accidentally released a CD on Dispatches magazine that killed everyone's computers!

Me too, I remember busy tones on local POPs and dialling farther afield to get connected but it staying on long due to paying long distance rates. I probably moved on through PRESTEL, BBS, Demon.

Brings back a memory....."your telling me I can have 1200 baud & BBS access for only $9.95 a month!"

I was on there. My account name still shows up from time to time in other things.

I remember the semiconductor era of the 60's. I bought my first "red spot" transistor around 1962. By 1966 I was repairing vacuum tube/valve TV sets.

I see more and more companies using unskilled labour that has been crash-certified in electrical work. It's become more of a disclaimer thing now. I believe it's called transfer of liability.

Aka, blame the new guy

Forgot to mention, if you want to see something similar to what you describe, i'm sure you know about Fred Dibnah, there's several videos about him climbing chimneys

The trick to learning how to solder is to just do it. The techniques fall into place naturally.

Unions solve that problem...

The early Maplin catalogues were incredible.

I'm gutted about Maplin's demise :( Working in the Film & TV industry, they've saved a shoot many times when we needed some electrical or electronic thingymebob to keep us working away from home. Miss them a lot.

I had a temp job producing the Maplin catalogue one summer in late '80s... it was well paid, lots of overtime due to tight deadlines, but sweaty - the computers chucked out heat and the Linotronic imagesetter nicked our cooling fans (keeping it running was more important than human comfort!), one chap was let go due to falling asleep at his keyboard and we ended up on caffeine tablets to survive... it was the first time I'd seen remote control car central locking gadgets being used when the owners and other engineers arrived. Fascinating, but I didn't think they'd catch on! Lol

I couldn't even have guessed it predated Marrs by that much. It's all just a blur of electronic music in that era.

buying ex juke box records from second hand shops back in the day and i remember buying kraftwerk autobahn . Added to Tubeway army and then donna summer - i feel love followed by my dad buying Jean Michell jarre - Oxygene/equinoxe made my childhood an electronic music orgy !

I bet that tickled a bit.

Mark Howards I don’t know, but the guys I work with were impressed.

What? Why the hell would you not have sent someone to the substation and trip the recloser??

Chad Michels Because Folks burning to death want help a little faster than that would allow.

I'm not a firefighter, but I am a first responder, trained in confined space, SCBA, hazmat, etc, so I have a bit of knowledge on the subject, I'm no expert, but I'm also not just some asshole on the internet. But dude, scene safety is stuff you learn day one. Chopping a live power line "hopefully before the electricity notices the other guy didn't go at the same time" does not fall into being safe. I get you are a firefighter, and it's kind of your job/calling/whatever to put yourself in harm's way, but you probably should have died. That would not have helped those burning folks, or the next set of burning folks.

The safety authorities don't realise that most electrical diagnostic work requires the power to be on. I cover this in my video "The Unofficial Guide To Electrocution".

The 555 and 4017 combo had instant satisfaction of chasing LEDs at a time that it was a really special thing.

I actually asked that question ^^ Got my lingo wrong

zh84 yeah, people forget that “electrocution” is a makeshift word created from “electricity” and “execution.”

a portmanteau word.

Mine too. It bugs me no end when the media get this wrong.

There is a difference between the general UK and US usage of the word. In the UK it is not necessarily fatal.

As long as it is a "FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER!" we will be ok, I guess.

Culturedropout indescreet the will be when the smoke comes out

you mean one built into its own package? I dont get it they look like any ic.

AvE generally pronounces “rectifier” as “rectum-fryer”

I think Clive reviewed one of those some time ago... XD ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ClSch3zLC0k.html

Alan Reader the usual storey...

Crimsonknight3 You obviously need glasses.

oh yeah > ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B2qI6UDD2uQ.html i first heard that on a MW radio in an old morris van and it was captivating. Added effect of it fading/phasing in/out too.

Or Soft Machine, Terry Riley & Can in the late 60's. Karaftwork came a little later in 1970. I think Limited Edition by Can had many tracks called EFSnn [nn=number] which was short for something like Electronic Funken Sound.

Juncus Bufonius don't forget silver apples.

I admire the American work ethic, but there's more to life than work and I think American workers should get more free time.

bigclivedotcom I live in Lincoln Nebraska. Heartland USA. Warms my heart to hear somebody even say that, let alone from the UK. I lost a job once for voicing an opinion of that nature. Nowadays I just try to keep my mouth shut (unless I'm online) as much as possible. Thanks for the video✌️

I completely agree. However, I believe there is a difference between my “work” and my “job”

35 hours a week is more then enough. And if it isn't it's time they hire more people until it is enough again. There are loads of people without jobs that want one too.

@ No no it doesn't help that in America, unless you work for someone constantly, you don't work for them at all. There's no such thing as "freelance" in the skilled trades unless you run your own shop.

Yes! Let the force flow through you.

That made me laugh, too.

I was going to say the same thing! Have a look here Clive! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3R3-YwDZrzg.html

Luke Lovatt- NO WAY Man!!!! I just watched that Dude climb all the way to the top without even a safety harness or line hooked to him my stomach was flip flopping the whole time!!!!! yep Not me brother you couldn't pay me enough to climb those ladders Lol Thanks for the link Luke!

BTW - He was awesome to climb that but then I thought about who the hell put UP the ladders in the first PLACE! !!!! lol

PetergdWard watching this on phone, but th sentiment is agreed with.

Not quite true, as 20A circuits/breakers are roughly equally as popular in my experience (but usually residential 20A circuits still use 15A receptacles). Still, it's a small difference and your point about easily exhausting a circuit with power-hungry devices remains. We have to have special dedicated circuits for things like pumps, electric cookers, clothes dryers, etc.

*looks at 3kw kettle* bwahahahahaaaa :)

Yeah, I guess that's part of the reason they don't often have kettles in the US....you'd be there all day.

"you'd be there all day" and it still wouldn't boil. That's where the myth of "water won't boil if you look at it" came from

It is pretty common to have multiple 20A circuits for the kitchen counters.

The side emitting LEDs are sometimes referred to as concave lens LEDs. You may have to go to aliexpress to find them.