Given the ubiquity of 3-phase and stepper motor drivers, I wonder if it would actually be cheaper to put coils that directly couple to the stir bead instead of a motor spinning a magnet. And that would make twitching it or reversing direction very simple.
Thanks Clive. Your channel is the reason that I first started using youtube and it's still the only channel that I watch every single upload. Much appreciated.
If this didn't have those few bubbles in it it'd be PERFECT, I would absolutely own one of these. Reminds me, as a kid I begged for lava lamps and had one or two over the years, but the lamp I liked the most when falling asleep was one of the lamps with glitter in it. The patterns it made at night lulled me to sleep
... " Lurid pink glitter clam"... That is weapons grade intrigue right there. Easy to spill a bucket of love all over that. I will now watch the video you have posted., dear sir.
The hidden screw makes sense - kids dragging it around by the clam top would produce a lot of stress on the case, esp. if it was a tightly locked together - so makes sense. Now the 6 (seriously, SIX?!) screws on the bottom are equal proof of serious overkill. Kudos to the designers trying to make this thing robust against over-enthusiastic children.
Kind of an oddity, most of these kind of items are engineered to within an inch of their life, strange to see something (especially so novel) made so well. They sell "tactical flashlights" to adults with less engineering than this cute little lamp lol
@@deang5622 More a matter of that liquid ball being released... But as for "just 5 volts"... Some of the USB bricks that get sold where Clive buys are flat out terrifying.
@@Cassandra_Johnson Actually no, because there are multiple screws and only one is "hidden". Devices are designed to prevent kids from getting to anything dangerous. If a kid is found to undo several screws then they are more than capable of finding the hidden screw and have the desire to dismantle the device, one more screw isn't going to stop them. And if the kid does get into the device by undoing screws, the manufacturer has more than satisfactorily discharged their obligation under product safety legislation. Think about this: a child could use a screw driver to unscrew mains socket outlets at 230 volts and then contact live exposed parts inside. And those USB bricks when outputting more than 5 volts, are defective. Anything is possible if a mains appliance is faulty.
I opened a lurid pink glitter clam once. Had to be on penicillin for like 3 months after. Hopefully Clive was following the proper recommended protection protocol 😁
When I first started watching your videos I remembered a bit from technology class in highschool but I can say without a doubt I understand it better than I did in school now, great work and great videos!
I have to admit, this is the first time I've ever seen a pink clam getting unscrewed.... and a super obvious hack would be to add more resistance inline with the motor to get it down to the slow drifting of a thermal convection type glitter lamp.
or how about a variable resistor with remote control so you can adjust the speed from the comfort of your armchair while watching the tv it is sitting near.
@@vsvnrg3263 going that far, it'd be a cinch to be able to add all kinds of effects with that stirrer. And it'd be more entertaining than most of the shows on TV!
One of those 'pearls' filled with the correct fluid would actually look quite decent. I'm thinking of the stuff that uses pearlescent pigment to look like moving molten metal. I can see also someone with an artistic hand repainting this and making something genuinely pleasing.
Clive's search for the ultimate of tack has almost reached perfection, but I'm sure there will be more enhanced tackiness to come. A hidden screw...... Well might slow Clive down. but it certainly didn't stop him....
If you've been around this channel for any time, you know Clive's a bear and an electronics engineer. What kind of pink clam were you expecting? ...although this reminds me of an apocryphal story about a woman going for a pelvic exam and mistaking her daughter's body glitter for talcum powder...
Somewhere, the individual responsible for making this "Big Clive-proof" is probably taking a long drag on their adult beverage, before muttering to themself, "Back to the drawing board."
I have a glitter lamp that functions in a similar manner. However mine is in the form of one of those old kerosene lamps and lights with soft-white LED's. Very nice ambient light. Good for a night-light in a hallway or as a decorative light. But I have mine in my bedroom. While it does provide a soft light, the occasional reflection from the glitter swirling around will streak across my eyes and cause a sleep disrupting, random flashy effect. Even with my eyes shut, it's bright enough to be a disturbance. So unless you wear a pretty pink eye mask to bed like I do, I wouldn't suggest using one of these in any form, as a bedroom night light. On that note, It would also be disruptive to be in the peripheral vision of anyone trying to watch a movie or do other tasks. But if you want to sit and chill with music like Pink Floyd or some Sizlacks or Earthless etc. while enjoying the swirl of soft, random beams of light in a darkened room, aided by a particular little green plant, if that's your thing, it's a great way to chill.
You can lithium swap this. Just splice a BMS/charger card into the power board. There's plenty of space inside for your cells as well. Like others in the comments, I would also slow the motor down a little, which would both give a more "thermal convection" effect and help extend battery life. Not too much though, as the stirrer is so small that it still needs to be moving pretty quick to get the full globe agitated.
A suggestion for Clive, could you put a rating (maybe 1-5 stars) on the complexity of the schematic? I'm barely technical sometimes things go way over my head so it'd be nice to be able to see at a glance how complex the analysis will be so that firstly I'm not scared off and stop watching :D and secondly so that I could watch the lower rated videos and build up my understanding by watching more and more complex schematics. Suggestion aside, I vigorously applaud you're calm and clear voice do have to say that it's always amusing that such an apparent muckle of a man could be both so delicate and patient. Never judge a book is very much in effect. Thank you for all these interesting things and the education.
We have a Christmas decoration which is styled like a candle. It's a cylinder filled with glittery fluid, and has a magnetically coupled agitator which spins for a few seconds then sleeps for a period, so the glitter is a little less aggressive that the clam here (more like the gentle motion of the heat operated lamps). The candle has a flickering led in a plastic moulded tip as a flame effect
A; Always a treat to see Big Clive open up a....? B: Amazing that there's a country that produces so many things we didn't know we needed...C: Yes, there are in fact, small punch presses that have a bunch of Tungsten Carbide pins that just punch these by the 100,000 before they need changing out...the pins that is... D; Looks like plenty of other people have made plenty of comments about....'clams'...funny thing... Here in California, there was a sea-side restaurant named the Happy Clam...pretty nice place... all sorts of seafood. Redondo Beach...S. Calif.
An Xbox glitter lamp I have (and broke) has EXACTLY the same PCB and agitation mechanism. Just 3 green LEDs instead of RGB. Looks like its being used in a lot of products, nice use of a standardized design.
I had considered buying a magnetic stirrer not too long ago (chemistry projects and such) but the simplicity of it never actually crossed my mind. I may have to add it to my ever growing list of projects! Also...I wonder if a stepper motor would be better for creating a multitude of swirly type patterns? Might just end up with choppy seas but it could also be super cool. Need to actually tinker with stepper motors first I guess 😅
@@gabotron94 True but I tend to overcomplicate things and I also haven't dabbled with any PWM yet. Haven't invested in any sort of controller for those types of applications.
I came, I saw, and I left wanton for the schmoke...😂 Perhaps a 10k resistor across the time pads might adjust it...or bring out the magic schmoke! Thanks for a great video Clive!
I've noticed that pink features a LOT on your channel, Big Clive! ... The famous Kink Palculator springs to mind! ... I too enjoy pink things! ... Pink rubber gloves spring to mind! Yes, I enjoy those very much! ... Err, did I just type that out loud again? I'm always doing that, typing what I'm thinking! 🤣 EDIT: Perhaps you could rebrand your channel, Pink Clive? ... Like Pink Panther, only human, not a panther, and electronics, not cartoon comedy?
Why do I feel that the inventors of such amazing magnets said silently to themselves "now we can FINALLY make stirrers for brite pink clamshell stirrers!!"
WOW Dr Clive can time travel. Glasgow on clip IOM the next. 🤣😂 I think I would 3d print a new stand for the globe just to get rid on the clam shell and maybe change the LEDs to slow colour change to give a colour mix of relictions up the wall. Interesting bit of tat 2x👍
I repaired one of those the other week as liquid had dripped down onto the motor which had siezed. Needed a new motor. When topping up the globe, I added a bit of water and saw changes in the liquid, so whatever was in it already, wasn't water, but maybe some kind of oil ? Topped it up to the max so they bubble is really small now.
Glad to see the comments section living up to the high standards I have come to expect. A veritable trove of smut, innuendo and double entendres. Carry on ladies and gentlemen, carry on.
It would probably benefit from a reverse biased diode in parallel with the motor to kill back EMF pulses although the capacitor provides some protection.
I just picked up one of those 3D printed moon globes at a street market; they have a usb-coax charging socket whigh also acts a mystery touch sensor to switch on and off, change from warm to cold white and change brightness - it would be a challenge to open one non-destructively . . .
Take a sharp X-Acto knife and run it round the base very close to the charging port, you will see that the knife slips in between the printing layers and you can then cut right round.
Oddly enough they're not 3D printed, just made in a mold as per usual. Someone noticed "3D printed!" was a good marketing term, and so faked it. Weird world we live in. Makers Muse channel had a video on it a while back.
@@j.f.christ8421 Strange, The one's I have are clearly 3D printer, you can see the print layers and on the inside you can see remnants of the supports. I guess there is many ways to make this type of thing.
@@andchip.s You must have gotten one of the early ones. The "fake 3D printed" ones are spin cast so are smooth inside. But yeah, weird world when "3D printed" becomes are marketing term, and when you can use a mold to crank one out in 10 minutes rather than wait all day for the printer, people will take advantage of that.
I bought one of those Two years ago from a gift shop in skegness. They only had white ones so i had no idea you could get them in different colours. The lid on mine is removable, cos its stored detatched in the box it came in.
I don't know why but this thing reminds me of a toy I got for a short amount of time when I was a little kid. I'd like to know more about it. It was a yellow plastic sort of treasure chest with a slide switch and red LED inside it, and switching it on made the led flash and it also played a horrible greeting card-type tune and that was pretty much it. ( *Read more* ) Just before giving it to me my mom opened the chest and after having tried the switch I tried closing the chest back, not knowing that it was not possible for whatever reason. Therefore it snapped and as a result my mom took it off of me right away and most likely binned it afterwards. (I actually asked her about that toy not long ago, however she doesn't remember it at all, which isn't surprising given how much time has passed since). I tried to find pictures or mentions of this toy on Google without any luck so far. So if anyone knows more about this mysterious to me toy, please let me know. Thank's !
I think the missing LED and resistor was for the cheaper version. Remove all the components on the board except for the power and slap in one of those self blinking LED's.
I love watching your videos, for some reason this one had the auto subtitles activated when I played it and it was made even more amusing than normal because it mistranslated your Scottish brogue. Glitter pearl was translated in the captions to 'glitter peril'. 😀 Be very careful of those glitter perils I understand they can be dangerous.
Hi Clive! Interesting pink thing! But by the way: the sound is slightly different. Somehow 't' and 's' sound a bit harsh?! Do you use another microphone?
How are these mass-market PICs programmed? Mask? One-time fuse? Or flash? If they're flash-based, it would be tempting to reprogram their guts. For example, to switch motor direction periodically or change the way the LEDs are changing color. It might not be possible to read out the "factory" program, but a bit of trial and error should be enough to get things going.
I could pull it apart to make a mini acrylic paint mixer for my modelling needs. I tiny magnetic stirer in the bottom of a glass lided jar situated on top of this circuit which is housed in a project box. The only thing I would chance is the motor 75 ohm resistor to a variable pot to adjust the motor speed on a high, mid or low rotation.
" im a Barbie Girl " " life in plastic , its fantastic " " giving me a whirl , lets me ahow my clam shell pearl ..... " " oh its fantastic " " made of plastic " " im a Barbie girl "
It looks cool. Get rid of the shell and start telling fortunes ha-ha. Could try using a fine syringe through the bung to remove the air. Mirrors on the sides of the motor magnet may make a nice effect.
In my part of the world, the shiny round thing found in some clams (and then strung into necklaces) is pronounced "purl", but my English Canadian ears would swear you're calling it a "peril". Both language and the world are fascinating things ...
