Chinese 120V to 220V LED lensed-globe string (with schematic)

This set of lights would fail most countries electrical safety tests, but is very typical of the grey imports from China.

With its ultra thin copper coated aluminium flex, very simple power supply and mains referenced LED string with resistors being run well above their normal rating, it makes me wonder if it's just naivety of the designer or if they want to hasten the failure of the product for future sales.

These WILL work on 120V, running at lower current and with cooler resistors. I've tested that and they still give a good effect.

Note that these lights are not safe for use within reach of pets or children. They should also be used with a fused adaptor with a low current fuse.

Other than that's they're quite nice lights and probably worth getting for the caps alone, which emit a nice pattern of dots. The two colour alternating LEDs are very common in these products.

If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

#ElectronicsCreators

[albanana]

Very generous of you to call a bridge rectifier and a pointless capacitor a "power supply".

[joshfriesen]

Clive is very good at describing what is going on on the video, so much so that I can sometimes turn off my phone and listen to it the video like a audio book. Great job and attention to detail!

[berndeckenfels]

Ok, if Clive does not dare to plug it in without protection you know something is wild

[pyromaniac]

That soldering inside the housing made me cringe. Those strands were just splayed everywhere, hadn't even twisted and tinned the wires!

[Addictedtocollecting]

I'm a simple man, I see bright colors...I click.

Love your channel! 🤟

[keithsquawk]

I have started saying 'one moement, please' without realising it at the time.
Perfet merch idea.

[WilliamWallace]

From my days of assembling mocel car kits, model cement fogs crystal polystyrene used for windows so it is suggested to use regular white glue for them.

[joeschmo]

Oh, and gotta love the almost 400Vpp going across what's essentially earphone cable.
One mouse chews on that cable and shorts it out, and the whole thing will go up in flames faster'n a pair of kid's pyjamas.

[Onio_Saiyan]

Unfocused LED with a translucent shroud inside the globes could make the effect more complete if a bit dim. A solid white light, perhaps a tad yellow, would look nice on an outdoor porch or garden sitting area.

[fredflintstone]

you just have to love mains voltages with single thin insulation from China 🙂

[moonshinepz]

Being a non-electrician, and one of those mugs who used to think a CE mark meant something, I have bought loads of shyte like this before I watched Big Clive. I'm surprised I never burned our house down.

[dashcamandy]

Before I click "Play, " these are my expectations:
a) the absolute cheapest "wire" available, essentially copper-coated gossamer, with thin crappy insulation
b) LEDs are referenced to mains if a power supply is included; if not, pointy solder bits capable of puncturing insulation will be on at least one resistor in the set
c) LEDs are being pushed to the limit
d) IF advertised for outdoor use, it is certainly not suitable for outdoor use.

Let's see how many of these I got right, shall we?

[BedsitBob]

"There's going to be a bit of flashing going on."

Disgusting. 😁

[ianhosier]

As usual for Chinese tat - no earth, no fuse and somewhere there will be a nasty tingly piece of metal. Quite funny how each resistor sees double it's rated wattage for the added risk of a house fire if they are left on for too long. If that tiny bridge rectifier blows with no current limit that's definitely fire time - I bet it's little box is made out of super flammable plastic.

[Wanton]

Pledge wood floor polish clears plastic, hotwheels restorers use it on the 'glass' and it takes sanded 'glass' to clear almost instantly

[stubo]

Hello dear Clive!Try some "Armor all" if you would like to clear up the covers.I use it all the time for cleaning up all kind of plastics.Works well for me.Greetings, Stuart from Germany.

[MostlyInteresting]

you might try washing the insides with few drops of acetone, that can smooth the clear abs and a few other plastics.

[oasntet]

I wonder if they'd look more interesting if you sanded down the straw hats to have less focused light in the orbs. Or just used the orbs with different light sources entirely.

[sparkyprojects]

Not sure how much influence that capacitor had, but with a smoothing cap you usually get 330V from a 240V supply, but without the cap i believe it's less than 240, so hopefully you reduced the strain on the led's and resistors.

[dcallan]

Nice balls the effect works quite well. I dont think I would trust them to run unattended Great video2x👍