I can't imagine what it's like for all those sad, helpless people who go through life not knowing how things work (generally speaking) and not even WANTING to know! Knowing how stuff works RULES!! Sharing that knowledge with someone who genuinely wants to understand it is EVEN BETTER!
@@Bob3519 Indeed! Perhaps to people who don't tend to know how things actually work, it all seems kind of like "magic." I guess that's why so many people can believe really stupid stuff, like homeopathy and free energy and what-not.
@@StubbyPhillips Caution. There is an old saying that goes: ignorance is bliss. It is impossible to know it all. Don't waste your life in this pursuit, because it is a trap. A trap for the mind. I don't know how a MRI works, but I know it saved my life. I know that someone else will know how it works when I need it.
As a retired professor of electrical engineering I can only sit at the feet of this wonderful natural teacher. I'm reading a biography of Kelvin and there are strong echoes of his introduction of experimental sessions in his Natural Philosophy course at Glasgow University in the 19th century. This video is marvellously clear and spoken with superb diction and a voice that should appeal to young and old alike. The economic and intellectual and practical importance of this material cannot be overstated.
Thank you Tim: as a child I grew up watching your secret life series on PBS here in the states and for better or worse I am a tinkerer now because of how simple and logical you and Rex managed to break down all these seemingly complex machines. Today I am an artist who often has to make his own devices out of what's available to me and your new series is ever more educational and inspiring than the one I grew up on. I am going to make an attempt at wrangling my niece (she's 8, the same age I was back in the PBS days) to watch and be inspired the same way I was with your new videos. :-) Thank you for everything you do and I can't wait to someday visit your arcades.
Mr. Hunkin's the man I wish I lived next to growing up. I'm imagining Saturday morning finishing my breakfast and being almost unable to wait to run over to his house for that day's lesson in off-the-shelf "junk" science. I taught electronics principles in US Air Force aviation maintenance in 1982-83 using mock-ups & illustrations. Oh what I would have given for a room full of his collection of true teaching aids. The on-the-spot made nail + wire electromagnet: GENIUS; same/same for the solenoid. I'm now going to have to go back and enjoy every single video of his . . .
I remember when the original series went out on TV . It explained how all sorts of machines worked from radio to washing machines ! Why don't we have interesting program's like that these days ?
we are in the age of build it; buy it and throw it away. The days of build once and hold for years are over. Lots of people want to go back now but all through the 90's if you remember it was credit cards and use once items. Its sad but yeah I'm with your story wish it was different. It really started to take off with the Client administration.
I think y'all would get a real kick out of watching Mr. Louis Rossmann's videos right here on the good 'ol Utubez (RU-vid). He is a truely awesome spokesman for the US Right to Repair movement, and he often makes videos about (new) products from Apple (and several other vendors of similar but also horridly difficult to repair products) all the while ranting about the bad design while (fruitlessly) offering design corrections to the manufacturers and ways to bypass and/or fix the product for consumers. He's currently screwdriver-deep into getting the individual US States to accept new Right to Repair legislation for both consumer and farm equipment. I really think you guys would like his videos, as he seems to be exactly our crowd (judging from you guys' comments and such), and especially is you use Apple products you *really ought to* watch his stuff! cheers guys, and I hope all you lads have a wonderful day!!
There are a lot of people on RU-vid doing just this sort of thing. However the big corporations like Apple actively fight against people learning and tinkering. This is strange because Apple was started by Steve Jobs and Steve Woz who were big tinkers starting with Phone Freaking and moving on to microprocessors and the first Apple computer.
"Eddies," said Ford, "in the current." "Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he. Is he." ... "What?" said Ford. "Er, who," said Arthur, "is Eddie, then, exactly, then?" Ford looked angrily at him. "Will you listen?" he snapped. "I have been listening," said Arthur, "but I'm not sure it's helped." Unlike Ford, Tim, as usual, has explained everything with exceptional clarity. I really like how he doesn’t dumb things down too much, and you come away feeling you understand how things work and can be used, but he never takes for granted the basics either. Always a good mix of the fundamentals through to the nitty gritty. And the demos and illustrations really help. For example I’d heard many explanations of how sewing machines work, but could never visualize it, until I saw The Secret Life of Sewing Machines, and the human sewing machine bit. I have no interest in the subject, but that was an enjoyable video!
Just when I thought these videos couldn't get any better, you just start playing music from the radio out of a bloody crisp packet in about as nonchalant of a manner as possible! I'm fairly familiar with speakers and the like, but this has just blown my mind!
Hello Tim -- that was an excellent presentation on solenoids and relays - both myself and my Dad (RIP) are industrial electrical engineers and solenoids and relays were always part of our weekly schedule of works - my Dad taught me a lot about them -- sadly no longer with me - greetings from Ireland - Paul
"I found posh packets of crisps work better than cheaper ones...". I don't know why, but this comment aroused a burst of laughter and made my day! Tim, thank you for sharing your infectious joy of the things that make up our world!
Oh my god, back when we had hair on our heads...I too watched your series on TV in the UK all those years ago, nice to see you've continued to keep your hands in with all sorts of mech items.....appreciate your "new videos" on here, and glad I re-found you, best regards and thanks for sparking my interest in machinery and engineering all those years ago.....47 years now in the Injection Moulding maintenance trade....best wishes Tim....thankyou...
I remember a ‘Ladybird’ book that explained electromagnets and motors, with instructions for making your own, there was another book that covered pulleys and levers.
Huge fan of Tim here in the US. I remember watching Secret Life of Machines as a kid and I've recently rediscovered him on this channel. He is such a treasure! I hope to visit the UK soon and check out his arcades.
Awesome to see these videos. I am a machinist by trade, but I don't know much outside of my sphere of work. These videos as well as your excellent series has taught me a whole lot! Thanks for posting more of these.
Avoids the curse of knowledge and uses common terms that explains the principles of electromagnetism, to unknowledgeable people. This well crafted narration has no wasted words, and has great demonstrations, which makes the principals easy to understand. Even with my experience, this video improved my understanding of electromagnetism. Over all this a great video! And it is a pleasure to watch this wise teacher sharing his wisdom.
Yes, Sir. Mr. Tim o grew up watching your show. I'm 61 on the 8th of 2024. Watching the. Secret Life Of Machines was like magic. Well, on the very special occasion, our TV could pick up LPB in Lafayette. Louisiana. God bless you and yours. Thank you for the many wonderful video logs you've given us..
Tim, thank you again and again! One tip for enhancing the force of solenoids is to use the duty cycle to calculate the on time at higher voltages. Some manufacturers mention the pulse time with the maximum voltage you can use to do so. You can dramatically change the starting force as you shown and switch to a much lower level to maintain position. I once made a beer tap with a rotating solenoid at 8 times it's 100% duty cycle for 0,1s. Worked like a charm for many years (8 x 24VDC = 192 VDC). It only took 12 Volts to maintain position during pouring the glass full. Maybe another tip; for arc suppression on dc loads an antiparallel diode works great to catch the reversed high voltage and dissipate it into heat. All the best! Job
You can do this in a simpleton way by using a hefty MOSFET(Nowadays very cheap) and a capacitor for the initial kick. Charge the capacitor to a fairly high voltage trough a resistor. Connect the + of the cap to the low voltage by a diode. Connect the load between D and the + capacitor. S to gnd. The limitation is the time it takes to recharge the capacitor. Worked nicely for me to extend the useful pull stroke of solenoids. Also connect a back diode over the MOSFET if not included in the package, which it most often is nowadays.
It does seem "old" to see relays and solenoids being used today with so much having been evolved to using things like solid state components & the like, but the sound of relays and solenoids doing their thing is just so pleasing, well, unless you're in a telephone exchange during their mechanical heyday... :)
Awesome. Ive been fixing cars forever. I never had a problem diagnosing, replacing, or rebuilding starters. I did not , however, fully understand the electrical path through a starter until now. The solenoid engages the gear...AND completes the circuit on the motor. Great video! The machines are incredible!
Your programs are amazing, they must take ages to make and the knowledge that you share is absolutely invaluable. Id love to see you do a series of shorter videos going through the whole process of creating one of your machines - Im sure they would be really popular. Thank you!
He should be training a replacement. There are a lot of people who use electro-mechanical devices and lots of people who service them, but few who could maintain a custom arcade full of EM amusement machines. Tim ain't getting any younger!!
He did one on PET OR MEAT a few years ago. The latter half is a bit rushed because he forgot to film but it covers the prototyping stage quite thoroughly.
Somehow it suddenly feels very wrong, this lack of a feature that would allow me to subscribe multiple times as the video unfolds... Great job! Thank you so much
Thank you Tim for inspiring me as a kid. Watching your shows "The Secret Life Of xxxx" inspired me to become an engineer and has enabled me to travel the world installing and repairing industrial machinery which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am unable to create machines as I just don't have the creativity in me of which you have in abundance. Love your work and I am extremely happy to see you are still demonstrating electrical and mechanical principles which are so important to the youth of today.
Synchronome slave, Wow that big one is a monster. Wonderful unidentified mechanism from the pre digital era. That hard drive coil setup would make a lovely siesmometer pick up (the small one) Crisp packet loudspeaker, genius, best before date's getting on a bit. What a great two voltage solenoid with its own relay contacts. Pure pleasure to watch.
For any young man or woman watching this series join the British Army as a REME technician! Now this might sound odd to some but the skills I learned there gave me the most wonderful life there and in civilian employment afterwards using all these techniques and being able to calculate them!
I wish I had all of your videos when I was in graduate school. They would have taught me so much about how to build and construct a lot of my lab equipment.
When I was a young guy here in Australia 1980, I was building custom panel vans. I had made a full back tailgate for my holden hj van and installed gas struts to hold it up when open.. I fitted a starter solenoid from a Mini Minor to a lock under the van, So I could open the back door from the driver's seat.. It worked well for 10 years. I was quoted $650. To have one supplied and fitted buy a car sparkie, I made mine for $5 and fitted it in 1hr.
Man, this brings back memories of "Machines". No one on earth makes learning so much fun while also being so relaxing at the same time as Tim. Pure therapy.
Thank you very much for the great shows and the great memories. I grew up watching your shows, we watched them over dinner as a family. Great memories that I cherish. Thank you!
man im a 46 year old kid watching your video and an instant subscriber. i too have a bit of what others call junk i keep around that now i know a little more about and i know more about what isnt junk .
The mechanism around 13:35 is very similar to an early electric fence charger that predated electronics I believe they were common in the US from the 30s->50s and were still in use into the 1980s and though only 6volt dc had quite the kick compared to modern units.
I worked doing manteinance to a boiler, and the water lever relays that control the opening and closing of the intake water valve were mounted on a lever attached to a float that moved a pair of glass bulbs filled with mercury as the ones you showed. They were double action, so when water level was down they would open the water valve and fill up the boiler, and when the water level went to the max, it would close them.
Re:AC solenoids. The shorting ring , that loops through the laminations is essential to maintain the magnetic field as the AC current cross zero . Any electrical resistance in the loop will cause the solenoid to buzz
Your use of electronics is mesmerizing, but more so your creativity in the games you come up with. I pretty much understand many of the topics you cover, but the clear cut refresher is very useful. The Micro Break game is a hoot; NONE of the digital games today have anything on you! Simply clever beyond measure and thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.
Tim has posted a video about solenoids and relays, and I am anticipating as enjoyable a time as I believe I had upon first watching "the secret life of machines" for the very first time in 1988.
Great video as always. One thing I'd add is LATCHING RELAYS. They hold the contacts closed without constantly energizing the coil. They will hold the position until either the coil is energized in the opposite polarity OR energize a separate coil, depending on the type of relay. Great for battery operated circuits to cut down on power usage.
Great to see all those examples! We forgotten and forget how smart humans are to solve problems and everything we have now seems so usual but in fact it is not. Great examples of (analog) logic. There is one trick for young players here when using relais and solenoids, back EMF. Everything with a coil needs a flyback diode to dissipate the build up reverse high voltage when turning off the coil. For people that don't understand what I am talking about, google it. Just mention this, has nothing to do with the great content you provide. Great video and very entertaining the way you explain complex (for most people) things, a great teacher. Schools need this! Compliments.
Years ago I gave an apprentice a task to order a box of 4X400M Mensrace relays - eventually he spent ages on the phone to RS tech support who kept him wound up for a good half an hour taking about French and Belgian manufacturers "who use different order numbers for 4-way relays you see - let me check another supplier list gimme a minute" etc etc :)
I watched the entire video……incredible! Thank you for the explanation of the differences, strengths and limitations of each component. I will likely watch it several more times. Extremely good visual examples…..people learn by seeing things work. Thank you for your time making this video!
Omg I want to visit London now just to see all those magnificent machines lol. I love learning how things work but electrical components have always eluded me. I now understand how solenoids and relays work. Thank you!
About the best place to study solenoids and salvage (if they are beyond restoring) are pinball machines. They use a large variety of them to keep the action going on the field. Now I am NOT advocating salvaging any old pinball machines, only those that are structurally ruined and are not worth the effort to restore. The huge voice coil head actuator, that reeks of either a HP, Burroughs, or IBM cabinet type hard drive unit. Most cabinets back then honestly didn't have a need for high speed head movements, so they used gear- or even belt-driven heads. They were built for durability. I'll keep an eye out to see if I could spot where that massive beast originated. Be careful around it, that magnet maybe powerful.
This was great, Also it triggered so many memories. The first relay and solenoids I used as a kid were on my model railway layout. My first job was working for GEC General Signals designing railway fail safe relay circuits in the late 1970s. Going into the relay rooms full of massive relays was a sight to behold. I then went on to become an electronics design engineer that used all the devices you described until microprocessors became ubiquitous and high power solid state semiconductors now used in every EV. I was surprised how much I had forgotten in my now distant memories. TY.
An excellent episode. When I was in the workplace PLCs didn't exist, entire processs lines were controlled by cabinets full of relays that handled everything including time delays and responding to inputs. You got a free soundtrack that somehow made the machine all the more impressive with alll the clacking and clanking and the occasional contact flash. Marvellous stuff.
Tim I love the bit some time in the 1970's where you are showing the washing machine solenoid working (guess that makes you over 70 my friend!) Time flies...
Another excellent video, thanks. I know you're a hoarder but I have to ask why you have a crisp packet with a best before date of Aug 2003 in your parts store 😂
I love the crisp packet speaker - in particular the idea of controlling the volume of a speaker by mechanically moving the magnet away from the coil, rather than by reducing the voltage supplied to it. Very cool.
Here's my relay story.... One of my summer jobs during my engineering college days (about 50 yrs ago) was working for small Mosler Systems subsidiary that designed custom drive-thru banking installations using pneumatic transporters. Initially my job was limited to drafting but I guess I impressed the manager enough to be assigned more difficult tasks. About 3 week before I was scheduled to leave, the manager, who rose through the ranks as a design engineer, asked me if I would be interested in investigating a redesign of one of their transport control systems that was based on relays. They had been using the German version of the control system, but it irked my manager that it required the use of expensive (German made) 4PDT & 6PDT relays. He said: "I know this can be redesigned with simpler, less expensive relays." I told him I'd try my best to provide the solution he was looking for and after two weeks I had it using standard DPDT relays. The manager was elated and gave me a very nice letter of reference and a bonus. He also said that I could take any one thing with me from their design shop when I left. I walked out with a HUGE transformer.
The simplicity in which Tim explains and teaches just show how much he's a master at what he does!! This is just amazing!! Hats of to you Sir, may God bless you!🙏🏼
Just discovered this guy and I must say, THIS IS A DAMN TREASURE! The way in which the things are explained is so simple yet spot on with info it's a joy to watch and learn. And man my mind is on overdrive right now because I am a novice inventor and these things are exactly what I need because honestly my ADD get in my way when things get a bit overly boring (even if it's stuff I'm interested in) so yeah I love it. Just subscribed
Tim I’m 25 and live in Australia, I’ve watched all your videos and you are an absolute inspiration! I’ve always been a tinkerer since a very young age and I love your can do attitude and so long as it works that’s all it matters!
This is great info presented absolutely clearly! I've been fascinated by electricity, electronics, and computers all my life and I still learned things in this video that I didn't even realize I didn't know. Like his offhand mention of why AC transformers have laminated layers of thin metal (to prevent eddy currents). Reed switches were used in old pipe organ pedalboards, relays in all sorts of vehicle electrical controls including turn signals. Many of these are now replaced by solid state substitutes like MOSFETS and Hall Effect Sensors, but basic principles remain.
So simply explained. Now I actually understand how an object could be propelled using several solenoids for example (if that's what someone wanted to do). Your simple demonstration 'nailed' it 🙂
Hello From the Western United states! You and Rex Garrod are are my all time hero's! The Secret Life series' are my all time favorites! Thank You So Much!
Tim! I've loved your shows for decades! So glad you are still kicking! I have high regards for your approach to understanding! This is the way real engineering should be! I have lots to watch now! Thank you Thank you!!!
Nitpicking, but the issue with your door lock strength isn't about distance, it's about reluctance - "magnetic resistance", if you will. When the two parts are in contact the field flows easily. As soon as they are separated even a little, the field cannot flow through the air very well, so the overall strength decreases very quickly. EMR loses strength by the inverse square of the distance, but your demonstration shows something much worse. There is a thing called a magnetic vise or magnetic chuck for machining steel, they are immensely strong as long as your contact is direct and you cover as many poles as possible, but even a sheet of paper will dramatically reduce the holding power. That confuses people, they try to put something with a poor finish on it and it doesn't hold well.
I thought I recognized that Micro-Break machine from somewhere! I visited Novelty Automation two years ago when I was visiting London with the missus. It's nice to see the face behind all those wonderfully absurd machines.
This is great, I used to love your show “the secret life of machines” can’t recall which network it aired on in Canada but I was in my early teens and curious as could be, your show was a treasure back then, to me. To hear your familiar voice and see you again is so nostalgic.
My childhood was spent taking apart electronics and trying to make new things with them. As a child taking apart an old mechanical 8 track player was a treasure hunt of discovery.
I belong to a model railway club that dates back to 1949 and most of the switches were controlled by solenoids. Every time we would throw a switch there would be a loud “clomp” as the solenoid switched the track. We have been replacing them all with modern switch motors in the last ten years since changing the layout to a digital control system.
Thank you so much for this, Tim. This is what your fans and the world needed most right now. Love and respect. Hope to run into ya in San Francisco some time. Keep up the excellent work
I am so glad you are still producing videos and doing well, from all appearances. I loved your original secret life series way back when. I can still remember your giant sewing machine demonstration, along with many others. You are an icon of makerdom.
Excellent video. There is an arcade on southwold pier, UK crammed with machines like this. So many great examples and you are cracking me up with your collection of solenoids and you compulsion to remove them from things - I am same with old compute bits and have 50 neodymium magnets, you remind me a bit of Norman Lovett, the bloke who is in the computer of Red Dwarf. This is great education too.
