787 Volts From a $2 Board!

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I've been experimenting with high voltage filaments from some old Philips boards. Today, I'm playing with a new voltage generator based on the MC34063 IC that I found on AliExpress. I also have a neat voltage/current meter to test it out. In this video, I'm tackling some terrible flashing issues with the current board, checking if a capacitor might help, testing with a resistive load, and trying out a different board. Remember, if you'd like to support the channel, check out my Patreon or grab some goodies from the shop. Plus, join our Discord for more geeky fun!

Flying sparks #electronics - Just playing around with some high-voltage experiments for fun!

Lots of Stuff - And a NEW PCB! It's a rare mailbag video. - In today's episode, I'm unboxing some goodies from PCB way - my super tiny esp32 breakout boards, which I'm planning to use to recreate a mini TV complete with speakers and a display. Also received some convenient adapter boards for easier testing. Excited to explore a new Arduino Nano esp32 based on a different, tinier module, and contrasting it with other products like the Tiny Pico. Also up for testing is a new mini wear electronic load compared to my old one, and an ATX power adapter for more USB ports. I'll be testing power banks, playing with inexpensive yellow displays and nunchucks for fun gaming projects, and testing out an RGB bead curtain with hackable possibilities. Also, under my ongoing experiments is a Raspberry Pi zero, turning into a 'Doom' playing device with added sound and game controllers. Finally, an air quality measuring device for detecting air particles, CO2 levels, humidity, temperature and other parameters is up for exploration as well. A whole array of fun projects queued up, so stay tuned!

Surprisingly not CR*P - Vibing hardware - Hey folks! In my latest adventure, we're taking a break from the vibe-coding game and diving straight into some hardware magic. Get ready as we haphazardly (but enthusiastically!) piece together components, hunt for missing wires and rogue capacitors, and finally emerge victorious with our very own PCB board. Shoutout to PCBWay for keeping the good vibes and great circuits flowing!

Soldering up another ESP32-S3 board and a 3in1 Oscilloscope - So in this video, I had a fun time experimenting with the cool gadgets sent over to me by Fury. I unwrapped this awesome USB soldering iron that looks quite promising and useful. The tiny solder stand, a Galium nitri power supply and a collection of soldering iron bits that they sent over were quite appreciable. The video took a spin when I introduced the novel 3in1 oscilloscope. This tool bundles an oscilloscope, a transistor tester and a signal generator. Well, that's a triple threat! I went on to test the soldering iron and it showed some remarkable results. The video ended with me trying out the oscilloscope and I must say, this little toy packs a punch! All things considered, pretty pleased with my new tech. Can't wait to get down and dirty with all the nitty-gritties these gadgets offer!

Danger danger high voltage - In this blog post, I explore my experiments with high-voltage circuits, trying to light up LED filaments salvaged from broken light bulbs. Despite some explosive mishaps with capacitors and MOSFETs, I decided to try a proper DC-DC converter. Unfortunately, the one I got turned out to be faulty, highlighting some rough soldering and component failures. I've ordered replacements and hope to successfully light the filaments soon. Follow along on my troubleshooting journey with plenty of learning curves!

More fun and games with high voltage - Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since the last video, but things have been crazy busy with shipping off the ESP32 Rainbows. Lately, I've been diving into the world of high voltage again. My last endeavor with a high voltage board led to some gnarly waveforms and flickering LEDs, so I tested with beefy resistors but wasn't thrilled with the results. Fortunately, I've found some nixie tube driver boards that work wonders with LEDs, providing smooth output with little ripple. Still, playing with the old boards has its thrill—hello, 787 volts and some wild sparks! Stay tuned for more high voltage adventures!

No Power? No Problem! A Wireless Pi Doom Machine - In my latest wireless charging experiments, I got my hands on a set of wireless charging PCBs and dove into testing different voltage inputs and their efficiency levels. It was interesting to realise that the 5V input managed to provide a decent efficiency of 73%, while 12V input struggled and heated the receiver board excessively. With the perks and limits of this setup explored, I took a whirl at creating a wireless Pi Doom machine. It worked like a charm! However, I quickly noticed the need to split charging and boost board into two different modules - a project to look forward to. Half the fun is getting there! Check out the video [here](https://youtu.be/glCIuOoFm7U) for more detail on the project.

The PCBs are in production - what have I messed up? - After some stress and trepidation, I finally took the plunge and sent my PCB design off for manufacturing. My design centers around building a large seven-segment clock with LED filaments. Jumping hurdles such as voltages, pin usage, and limiting the load on my power supply, I've settled on the ESP32 as the system's heart and come up with a final circuit design. While doing this, I've quickly realized I could improve my layout and fixed a small mistake. Also, I've prepared for either types of LED filaments - the high-voltage ones or the larger, 3v ones. However, I did bungle up a couple of things on the enable line of the shift registers and board layout. But hey, this is a learning curve, right? Can't wait to get the boards and see what other exciting errors surface!

Dave come see - it's beautiful man - Hey folks, I revisited my flame lamp project from 2020 and gave it a serious upgrade - we're talking a leap from 300 to a whopping 1024 LEDs thanks to these nifty flexible WS2812 panels. I've kitted it out with a versatile PCB from my Crystal Balls project, tackled power injection challenges and kept things cool with a current-limiting power supply. I had to wrestle with 3D printing and getting the panels to behave inside the lamp's tube, but the end result? A mesmerizing blaze of colors with gorgeous fire effect, all orchestrated by the WLED software. It's like my very own Phoenix rising from the 2020 ashes. Curious to see this electronic inferno come to life? Check out my videos for the full, fiery scoop!

Thanks to https://www.PCBWay.com/?from=atomic for sponsoring the channel.

I’ve been playing around some more with these high voltage filaments that I got out of some dead Philips boards.

Previously - I’ve been playing with this voltage generator: YH11068A - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oDMUJrV

I’ve got a new one based around the MC34063 IC - you can find quite a few on AliExpress - e.g. https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oC8zi6e

And the voltage/current meter is this one - quite handy: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_ol0trxx

0:00 Some fun :)
0:30 Terrible flashing on the current board
2:33 Does a capacitor help?
3:56 Testing with a resistive load
6:54 Trying out a different board
8:28 BONUS content!

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787 Volts From a $2 Board!

Written by

Chris Greening

Supported by

atomic14

A collection of slightly mad projects, instructive/educational videos, and generally interesting stuff. Building projects around the Arduino and ESP32 platforms - we'll be exploring AI, Computer Vision, Audio, 3D Printing - it may get a bit eclectic...

787 Volts From a $2 Board!

Related Videos

Related Posts

Written by

Chris Greening

Supported by

atomic14

A collection of slightly mad projects, instructive/educational videos, and generally interesting stuff. Building projects around the Arduino and ESP32 platforms - we'll be exploring AI, Computer Vision, Audio, 3D Printing - it may get a bit eclectic...