Inside a LIDL insect zapper - with schematic

Not completely what I was expecting. I thought there might be a traditional electronic ballast for the tube, and while there is, it is somewhat simpler than I thought it would be. The zappy bit lacks the zest normally found in the eBay versions, and the manual is basically just warnings not to open the unit or let children play with it, so they may have tamed it down for that reason.

Interesting ballast though, and while the zapper section took longer than expected to reverse engineer, it is fairly conventional.

This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

#ElectronicsCreators

[andrewfrance]

I love that comment about replacing the tube: "not for normal people". Most people would consider that an insult. Here it's a compliment.

[terrym]

Have a 40yr old Sears Craftsman UV "bug zapper" with two large(16-18in)fluorescent UV bulbs that still "Zaps" with a vengeance.. It's located at the far end of the back yard and draws bugs away from the seating area, so satisfying to see the arc and hear the devastating zap from 100ft+ away😉

[CrazyOregonBeaver]

It looks pretty weak, I think it would just piss off a wasp, and then he would come over and sting the hell out of you. 😂

[Muonium]

The tube is almost identical to a "nightclub black light", and uses a europium doped strontium tetraborate phosphor emitting around 370nm in the UVA, but rather than using a dark blue nickel doped "Wood's glass" envelope to absorb the visible light emission of the mercury lines and phosphor to give a purer UV emission, it simply uses the much less expensive common soda lime glass envelope and allows the visible to pass through, giving a more light blue emission.

[Tocsin-Bang]

WE had to get rid of fly zappers when I worked for Sainsbury. The food hygiene inspectors kept finding bits of fly on fresh meat & fish on the counters.

[ElvenSpellmaker]

_"Is this a 6 inch tube?"_
_"Hmm, it's quite a short tube, 5 inch"_

Classic over-exaggerations I see! 😉

[CBdesigns]

I just replaced the tube in my Aldi insect zapper and it was just a standard T5 4w UVbrite (R) tube available on lots of "market place" sites. I got one from the fleabay delivered for £5. think the top end by the electronics had the the little t5 connector but the bottom end had heat shrink barrel style push on connectors.. In the years I have had it and used it I have never heard to kill anything and never had any bug bits in the tray..

[Legomanfred]

I love when you get into the "nuts and bolts" of things. 🤔👍 Always learn something watching your videos. Kudos.

[electroshed]

Nice to see a proper lamp and somewhat proper driving method, two now I've taken apart have what I can only describe as "test tube" lamps that are oh so dim. Zaps leave a lot to be desired, probably why used cheap units are so clean, now we need a "Big Clive" special, beefed up version, please!

[seriosertyp]

The picture of the circuit board looked so real my brain went „Oh look, BigClive built a miniature model of the circuit board“
Really appreciate the effort you put into every video.

[PappaBear_yt]

A proud owner of this same model - this summer it fried hundreds of bugs, flies, mosquitos and what not - and didn't let out a single word of complaint! 😁

[pedroferreira]

I have an old one of those, about 2014. Had to make a change in the capacitors, because they failed and never had a good satisfying spark. Can't remember the exact change, but it started sparking nicely. Still use it occasionally. A long lived thing...

[bertblankenstein]

Seems like a reasonably well built product.

[EatsLikeADuck]

I just looked up the term "zappypoos" in my electronics manual and couldn't find it.

Impressive stuff. Photonic induction is a channel i love, Just learning electrical world at 50 yrs old.

[SeanBZA]

I do remember the big brother of this, with a 4ft tube, though that had been modified by removing the tray, because it would in general make a nice 4 foot long pile of well crisped insects each night. Pile would be at least 15cm high on particularly good nights, and there were always a few very fat geckos on the floor by it, along with a truly enormous African bullfrog, that would sit there eating, till it could eat no more, every night.

[dcallan]

Shame its so well protected with discharge resistors, we do love a gadget that might bite.⚡⚡ Interesting video 2x 👍

[cremationpete]

Standard T5 6” 4w actinic fluorescent lamp. Fluorescent lamps are measured pin to pin

[almostthere]

That seems really tame! My bug zappers go off with a loud crack that can really make you jump if your not expecting it.

[SmoochyTea]

I usually like a bit more than just a 4 inch long active area…