A look inside the notorious EE Power Bar.

[@paschalconneely2374]

The "vice of Knowledge" and the "grips of overindulgence" Do you by any chance have a "hammer of persuasion"?

[@Spirit532]

+Paschal Conneely I wonder that too. And maybe angle grinder of militant invasion?

[@paschalconneely2374]

***** yes and im sure that was the "Dremmel of truth" we got a look at.

[@trojanwalrus2928]

I liked the anti explosion tray.

[@SupremeRuleroftheWorld]

+Paschal Conneely we need a list of tools people like us need. personally i find the "dremel of lost patience" and the "club hammer of fuck it" to be a must have in any tool kit.

[@paschalconneely2374]

flippynl and the "router of optimism"

[@Volvith]

Kind of sad that the media just completely obliterates products like these because a single unit failed. (likely due to rough treatment.)
Could have been a great product, judging from the concept.

[@ajpw6785]

Volvirth don't worry about ee they've got enough money

[@DisneyMarkUK]

Volvirth They were junk, didn't charge your phone much at all and EE charged you if you didn't swap it within a set period. We handed ours back as they just didn't work well.

[@gooseknack]

Volvirth money mate, plane and simple!

[@Alexander_l322]

Or now they can re make these with usb type C and they might be better?

[@Adkatka]

@Ellis The DJ there were only couple note 7 incidents

[@PaulApplebyphotography]

As our friend from AvE says, "the problem was between the seat and the steering wheel".

[@888johnmac]

+Paul Appleby.. one of my friends works in the IT helpdesk of a large company, a common error code they use is PEBKAC.. problem exists between keyboard and chair

[@danielw2139]

+888johnmac lol that reminds me of an old colleague who used to say "their seems to be a problem with the keyboard chair interface"

[@TheCoffeehound]

+888johnmac And, of course, the old ID 10 T error.

[@skylined5534]

@@TheCoffeehound
Also particularly pertinent to those looking for the 710 filler cap under the bonnet of their car...

[@topilinkala1594]

@@888johnmac My best was when I was responsible of some critical net connections on thick ethernet. The cable connecting from the thivk ethernet to the computer was not connected by screwdown connectors but just bajonets where a sliding arrest was keeping them in place. One terminal was notorious because it was on wheeled table and the connecting cable could get under stress if the table was wheeled too far.
So one night the terminal user calls and complains of not having network connection. So I asked him if he'd checked the connecting cable and he almost crawled through the telephone line complaing that he had definitely checked the cable. So I said him to calm down and I'd come and see what was the problem. I called a cab and went to the facility and to the terminal. Lo and behold the cable was loose from the thick ethernet side. The operator came in and I told him that like a sausage each cable has two ends. If you say you checked the cable connection I assume that you've checked both ends. He went quite red.

[@gl1500ctv]

They used glue so people couldn't open it, mess with it, and return it to the store for recirculation.

[@zx8401ztv]

I suppose all power banks could be dangerious under the wrong conditions, but that one did have all the protection, as you said.
What a shame, it looked quite a neat job :-(

[@jusb1066]

+zx8401ztv o hope he saved the cell, apparently they are panasonics decent ones (worth about a tenner each to buy) i wish i had a few of those to make my own decent powerbank. ive been trying to find out if there are any genuine powerbanks that actually have their mah correct, im wanting to buy a largish one, 20,000 or bigger but they all seem fake! and buying 6x panasonic cells is a bit pricey!

[@zx8401ztv]

+jusb1066 Err yes they would be expensive here, i keep hearing the numbers 18650 for some odd reason, im sure ive watched too many videos lol.
Anyway, what are you going to use a 20ah battery for, your just power crazy :-)

[@jusb1066]

zx8401ztv
well i actually have a 21ah lead acid battery that is semi portable, with cigar connectors and a voltmeter and aa charger on it, along with the usual car usb adaptors.....but thats not light! i was looking for something that was just about (large) pocket sized, the current powerbanks that pretend to be around 25000mah look fine for what i want, but they are full of lies!

[@zx8401ztv]

+jusb1066
Im not too supprised about the lies, i did find that portable work light that clive showed us a blatent lie, that battery was ridiculous , i just dont know how they sleep at night.
What about those ones designed to jumpstart a car, oh you would have to sell a kidney for one of those :-(

[@any1alive]

a 10000mah battery is 6ish 18650 batteries, if you were so inclined you could tear apart a old laptop battery, and use those cells, but yeah, usualy you wouldnt draw that many amps out of one to the cells can be pretty low quality the mainthing is just not overchargeing and undercharging

[@BillyJoe1305]

If I had to bet I'd say EE's mistake was thinking they made this idiot proof.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+BillyJoe1305 They made a valiant effort, but nothing is idiot proof.

[@jjwarner9419]

+bigclivedotcom Whenever you idiot-proof something, the universe invents a better idiot.

[@vxrjohn]

Glad I kept mine still going strong no problems

[@ChaossX77]

I've found this video hilarious! He paused to use "violence" as he says and then it cuts back to a decimated case.. And he's just so honest and off the cuff. Love it!

[@Forbiddina]

after watching it all kinda feel sad for EE... not that i have ever used them, i'm sure if i did i wouldn't. but still shame people don't understand QC, its like the "hoverboards" here in the states, a few cheap clone boards don't include a lipo charger and overcharge the batteries add one or two bad cells and mass panic ensues BAN BAN BAN now ya can't use them anywhere.
its also like how every quadcopter is now a "drone".

[@GrahamReid34]

+Forbiddina crikey how many moans did you get in there,
"Its like what came first... chicken or the egg"

[@Forbiddina]

+Graham Reid (Grizzle) XD apparently lots. I was just kinda thinking out loud there. sorry if it came off like a rant. I was just dumping what I've seen recently.

[@any1alive]

+Forbiddina pretty much, befor the whole drone shebacle, it was a fun thing flying rc models and multirotors now its jsut liek omg no get out of this park theres kids pedo around omg horrible person , when befor the kids would be like wow cool,
sbutyeahi do agree its a few bad eggs like a1or2% then bam shame the whole area of everything, funny they dont saydrunk drivers or mass panic over cars or things everyone uses, XD tis a shame they didnt do it on the persont hat got flouride poisioning then theyd atleast stop florinating our water u.u but if they did that people wouldnt be as much of sheeps
wow my mind went off then

[@sleeptyper]

+any1alive Liked the content you wrote, but for fuck's sake, get a grip on them typos. :)

[@TinBryn]

+sleeptyper I'd blame it on lack of flouride.

[@TheManLab7]

I'd say the reason it caught on fire was down to the user.

[@GeneralSeptem]

+Joshua Charles Campbell If you knew the person before the person before the person who used your power bank, you'd always use a condom.

[@jusb1066]

+TheManLab7 yes, clive said it was under her bed, that could be covered in clothes, in a ton of dust, the wire being trampled on and pinched under a chair leg, most peoples charging cables (except my own!) are yanked, pulled out, in the walk zone and like trips wires, and ive seen so many with wires hanging out, bits of tape, and people complaining they have to wiggle it etc, funny how my looked after cables work fine!

[@rjc0234]

+TheManLab7 but when the product is as basic as "plug your phone in" you cant really blame the user. its not like it was an extramly complicated piece of machinery that requires weeks of operational instruction.

[@SparkyWaffles]

+rjc0234 Never underestimate the ingenuity of a fool.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

+rjc0234 While assigning blame is not the best approach, the end user IS in control once a product is placed in service. They can easily get the product wet or wrap in a blanket so it cannot cool or plug into the incorrect voltage. They can drop or crush or use crappy cables, bake the device on the dash of their car, the family pet can chew on it.... the list of unintended types of abuse can be extensive. Also, in the madness of the moment, the user can choose to take action, sometimes causing an injury or simply making an injury worse. Sad but true...

[@rihndou]

I told that woman not to listen to my mixtape with the power bar plugged in

[@userPrehistoricman]

+Rikunius999 Reminds me of Brainiac's "You Can't Stop Rock and Roll" test.

[@Krytern]

Damn you've made me miss watching Hamster blow up caravans. A shame that show isn't on anymore!

[@ProudToBeNoob]

So you're saying that the British tabloids mislead the public by overreacting and dramatizing it? Nooo! They would never do that just to make some quick money... That's slander, sir! I demand you retract this libelous video immediately! *sarcasm*

[@divinity4053]

ProudToBeNoob you have a minecraft profile pic your words (even sarcastic) are invalid

[@edgeeffect]

In the past everyone would realise your comment was sarcastic and it wouldn't require labeling as such.... but this is the 21st Century SJW / Alt Right / flat Earth society and Dan Ashcroft recommends we label all jokes now.

[@snerttt]

@Bob Sacamano or /s

[@skylined5534]

You mean media outlets in general all around the world mislead people?!
*Cough* Consumer Reports *cough* Suzuki Samurai *cough*

[@whatr0]

@@edgeeffect what on earth are you going on about

[@HELLORLD]

It was quite incredible the amount of effort that EE went into making sure that all their customers received one of these for FREE. I receive one and it was recalled within a week of getting it. As I had to return it to an EE shop the assistant gave me a £20 voucher to spend in the on-line EE accessory shop. I got my wife a great set of fluffy headphones that double up a earmuffs when you detach the lead.

[@0aux]

watching this while holding my EE power bank lol

[@rubusroo68]

it looked a really neat & well engineered product. i suspect user error.

[@zlotvorx]

+Rubus Roo
Most probably yes! But this kind of equipment has to have thermal and overcurrent protection at minimum!
Most users have no slightest clue how this thing works and/or how dangerous can be. And they don't bother to use them correctly. The designer has to assume the output device will be a nail, or paperclip and design according.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

+zlotvorx This device did have those protections but any amount of protection can be circumvented. Perhaps this is why the user manuals are mostly devoted to warnings.

[@user-ex9tz9mp8p]

zlotvorx

[@TheNimshew]

Silly me! I always thought sliced bread was a good thing. One learns something new everyday

[@bigclivedotcom]

+richard wysham I screwed up and got my sayings wrong. Sliced bread is definitely good.

[@TheNimshew]

I know. I was teasing.Thanks for your work

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Could be Chinese "quality fade", and maybe later ones were more shoddily made.

[@jusb1066]

+mikeselectricstuff i think they were produced in a short production run, so no time for that to happen, i think the user is more suspect than the gadget

[@SupremeRuleroftheWorld]

+mikeselectricstuff seeing the pcb i put my money on dodgy cells. from the (numbers on the) cell i cannot recognise any notable brand name. probably they used cheap cells because they had all that protection going on thinking that would prevent dodgy cells exploding.

[@drkastenbrot]

Maybe the charger failed

[@jusb1066]

drkastenbrot
the internal circuit should have cut off when the voltage reached a threshold, so cant blame the charger, the crux of the problem is, lithium is the only battery that tends to go bang if you overcharge it, lead acid and nimhs/nicads tend to be forgiving.

[@EnricoConca]

+mikeselectricstuff Maybe fake devices that slipped into the supply chain? The TP4056 that controls charging is definitely faked, and some fakes overcharge the battery rather bad.
Or maybe lack of overtemperature protection? Assuming a constant overload not enough to trip the DW01 but enough to overheat the choke or the boost controller...

[@DrRawley]

LOLed at "vice of knowledge"

[@thebobman56]

+DrRawley ''the grips of over-indulgence''

[@DrRawley]

and I suppose that was the Dremel of certainty?

[@DrRawley]

*****
I have several...of various levels of persuasion.

[@CathodeRayKobold]

+DrRawley They worked, too. Look at all that knowledge we got.

[@scyther1141]

"the vice of knowledge" That was fucking gold.

[@alanhughes657]

It's August 2020 I still have my EE power bank and still use it. Never had a problem

[@dennell]

I've got 4 of these... Are they still any good at charging latest phones??

[@Connie_TinuityError]

@@dennell Unfortunately not as the battery capacity of the latest phones is higher than the battery of this power bank, so you can never get it to 100% charge.

[@BillyNoMates1974]

was the serial number E1-06 (the recalled version) ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+BillyNoMates1974 I didn't check that. And the shattered remnants of plastic were binned. They did recall them all though, didn't they?

[@Lancastrian86]

+bigclivedotcom Hi Clive, not quite, only the first model was recalled (the E1-06), are you able to check your serial number at all? It's quite possible that the non-recalled versions were a different design.

[@Ultra2040]

+Lancastrian86 yes e1-06 were recalled to start with then they asked for them all back in return for an EE voucher

[@lukehebb]

+Lancastrian86 +bigclivedotcom +BillyNoMates1974 they eventually recalled all power bars. Clive is correct

[@DavidGalletly]

+bigclivedotcom +BillyNoMates1974 They did recall only the E1-06 models at first but then went on to recall the whole lot a few months later. I sent back my E1-06 when they first made the announcement but we've kept my wife's non-E1-06 model around. It's been fine.

[@Azurren]

Whelp I'm glad I didn't send mine back :D
I use it everyday to recharge my G930 and goes back on charge every night. Depending how long I'm at the computer it often drains completely. Still going strong!
I used to use a Teknet battery bank with 8000mah capacity until it started bloating. I got concerned and popped it open to find one of the lipo cells had swollen badly. I discharged it and left it on my desk, overnight the cell had ballooned to about 3x its original size!
I'll stick with my EE powerbar thanks ;)

[@any1alive]

+Azurren lipos batteries can be amazign for its energy sendity , to size, but yeah they need balanced charged, im guessing it was only being charged by power going through em all

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

+any1alive One cell in this case. No balance needed. Yet balancing the cells with lithium is very important for longevity.

[@MagicRat]

2020 and I'm still using mine :-)
Also, is the the first appearance of the spudger?

[@crh231]

The difficulty you had getting into it seems like a good thing to me. If I am going to be picking up some random unit, putting it in my bag, plugging it into my home power and plugging my phone into it I want to be reasonably certain that no miscreants have had it open and had a fiddle with the internals. I can imagine a few malicious thing you could do just off the top of my heaf

[@crh231]

*head. Guess who's typing on a phone.

[@stevesteveson2435]

"The pie dish I use to contain lithium explosions" Great Video!

[@JoeCal.]

Guess you could say the news "blew-up"

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Joe Calvert The newspapers went into meltdown.

[@JoeCal.]

We'd better be careful what we say, don't want to get into a heated discussion.

[@jacobstephens6937]

+bigclivedotcom Or I guess you could say EE's competitors were "ecstatic"

[@TechyBen]

I know so many people who wiggle leads...
... wait I've got a couple of leads like that. X(

[@thra5herxb12s]

Great review. The units are probably glued together to prevent user tampering and the failures were possibly down to user caused problems.

[@morelenmir]

Fascinating analysis. I came here from a chance UA-cam suggestion on the eeVBlog. Top quality and heartily subscribed!!!

[@cap6733]

So the galaxy note 7 incident wasn't something new.

[@mayac4147]

Cap673 I mean exploding batteries isn't a new thing

[@bhume7535]

nope, those kinds of batteries explode more often then you think... the only reason the note 7 got big was because it was a flagship product of a high end company.

[@ChrisD__]

Bhume Yeah, a Xiaomi Mi Max exploded a week before the Note 7's started exploding. I'm not sure how much coverage Xiaomi got in Asia, but the news was pretty obscure in America.

[@russellhltn1396]

At least one tear-down has suggested that Samsung didn't allow enough space for the battery and it was too tightly squeezed, causing it to eventually short. That's why the replacement units burned up as well. It wasn't bad batteries.

[@jimporter]

Cap673 ask Boeing - search Dreamliner and battery. Also if you want real fun check for their solution.

[@majinjeff2365]

Weird, you sound EXACTLY like my dentist.

[@MichaelBennett1]

"Grips of over-indulgence" - I love you Clive.

[@Space_Moth]

I'm a proud owner of one of these power bars and have already deemed it too useful to return, so it is encouraging to see this video.
That being said, I've noticed the device seems to get pretty hot when discharging to charge a device, with the heat seeming to be coming from the full USB side of the circuit board. Could an overheat during normal charge and discharge be the cause of the spontaneous combustion feared? I am not sure how well the device will be able to dissipate heat while self enclosed.

[@Syndiball123]

weird question what pen are you using

[@bigclivedotcom]

Not a weird question at all. If you search my videos for pilot you will find it featured in a few. (Pilot V-sign)

[@Syndiball123]

thanks so much

[@ajpw6785]

Syndiball123 why did you ask?

[@Syndiball123]

Looks like a nice pen

[@ghost_ship_supreme]

It would seem in this channel, safety is number two priority. The first is k n o w l e d g e
Also it could have been the woman's fault that the power bank started on fire, as who in their right mind would pick up a flaming power bank and run with it outside?

[@pohuing3037]

Better than burning down the house, you never know if she didn't have a pair of scissors or something to grip it.

[@CrazySteve113]

Or, you know, go grab the fire extinguisher that every home is supposed to have.

[@tysonromaniuk7674]

CrazySteve113 no home I've seen has one

[@CrazySteve113]

I've lived in six different places, and every one has had a fire extinguisher in either the kitchen in the pantry or under the sink, or in the laundry room/closet that has a clothes dryer in it. That's a pretty important bit of responsible home ownership.

[@HaraldSangvik]

Yeah, but it's really expensive to clean up if you have a powder one. So really only for "burn your house down fires"

[@JasperPeters]

Actually quite happy to see you can not open the power-bank without it being visible. Could you imagine people deliberately shorting the cell to make it explode.

[@Turbo187KillerB]

I couldn't stop looking at the winking face on the power bank.

[@jusb1066]

exactly my thoughts! give a load of idiots a new gadget and some of them find a way to set it on fire and then everyone thinks they are dangerous!

[@GetGame1010]

Sad these things don't come with note 7's

[@jacob-gy8yj]

they are note 7s in disguise

[@OAleathaO]

6:24 - "...I had to get the _Vice of Knowledge_ into it and it failed." Next video: _The Pneumatic Press of Finality_ LOL

[@MikeColes]

Grips of over indulgence and anti explosion tray.. Love it!!

[@MothJosh]

"smoke the choke"

[@Elfnetdesigns]

And WHY was the thing under the womans bed???
I cant help but think there was some USB powered sex toy involved that she did not mention..
That or the whole thing was scripted, Yes people will injure themselves to sue a company and get some attention.

[@any1alive]

+ElfNet Gaming mhm, be like oh nao my bed leg was lifted and fell onto it and it punctured the cell and thenit started exploding and fire,
but yeahw hy would you grab a plastic melting thing thats burning, youd atleast throw a towel over it pull it outside and throw it down
and yeah you can throw towels over things and by the time itd not be in flames as much as holding melting plastic

[@astrangeone]

+ElfNet Gaming Ow. I wouldn't burn myself for the opportunity to sue a compnay.
I charge a lot of electronics near/under my bed, but I won't put anything with a 18650 battery on anything that's not fireproof.

[@Gambit771]

+any1alive maybe she had to disconnect her usb powered sex aid and that's why she picked it up.
she didn't want her mum to see it.
And find out she had 'borrowed' it.

[@rosiehawtrey]

You ever had a serious burn? If not you've no idea how much pain they cause, especially on the palm of the hand. Even a relatively small 2nd degree burn can kill (20-30%), just from the pain, the other issue is infection.

[@drkastenbrot]

I have a fairly high quality 2200 powerbank, which has three sot-23 chips. Controller, charger and protection. The protection chip is completely cutting the cell on either short or low voltage, which makes it very safe even if the controller chip fails.

[@Forbiddina]

oh god Clive i love the names of your tools "the anti explosion tray" XD

[@silverfortytwo9506]

The Molotov Cocktail is the precursor to the Napalm, as the EE Power Bar is the precursor to the Note 7.

[@bobbutyoutube3708]

ima plug one into a note 7

[@simonmillard8931]

I had one and never had a problem. I did return mine as part of the recall and got a £20 voucher for the EE shop.

[@huffdiggler]

still got mine, I know I should have sent it back, but it's a great bit of kit, and after watching this, I can feel smug about not sending it back, rock on!

[@nicgreen4234]

Any idea how many mAh's the 18650 has? It's usually a good pointer to the quality of the cell.

[@jusb1066]

+Nic Green i belive it was a panasonic with 3400mah

[@FntX-Video]

+jusb1066 something like the NCR18650B but it is in a grey shrinkwrap and these were never wrapped in grey so it can't be a panasonic cell. Now, given that the max. discharge current is 1A it is unlikely that the cell blew up just by overload. I'd suggest that this was a dodgy cell and this could have happened (and does happen probably) on any bank on the market. The usual ICR cell puts out 8A at 3400mAh capacity and there is no way the controller could pull more than 8A from the cell to achieve 1A current at the output.

[@jusb1066]

El Neuro Quila
yes by purely statistics, a few lithiums go bad, i guess this product got it's hit early and thus lead to a full recall, but there is nothing in particular wrong with it, i guess the only safety device i could think of would be a fuse between cell and circuit rated just over normal use (say 2 amps) i just assumed panasonic cell as due to the high capacity i didnt think the competition (sony, samsung) made anything quite so high. and i doubt they are using chinese fake capacity cells

[@FntX-Video]

I too think that was the case. Even the worst of the worst deliver at least 3A which would be way above the safety zone... But it even can happen to high current cells like the VTC4 or VTC5 from Sony which are tested stable up to 35A continous discharge but only deliver 2500mAh capacity.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Nic Green 2600mAh. Full charge only seemed to be 2200mAh though.

[@tylerhoban]

Did EE help Samsung with the Galaxy Note 7?

[@hellishgrin4604]

"Smoke the choke".. Now my favorite phrase!!

[@MrNotorius5500]

Lol I like that you name your tools. Vice of Knowledge. Grips of Overindulgence. Brilliant!

[@nahnope8581]

That's a push pop

[@obamagaming2443]

Nah nope no

[@zman1508]

you don't like sliced bread?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+zman1508 I do, but that was the first thing that came into my head under the pressure of a rolling camera.

[@zman1508]

+bigclivedotcom ha ha no worries I really do love your videos though rekindled my childhood joy of tinkering with electronics

[@jackwhite3820]

+Mike Oxlong
Ahh language, what an amusingly ambiguous thing you are.

[@GetCarterCarpark]

EE's concept of being able to just call into any EE shop and get your power bank swapped (and in some cases charged and returned the same power bank back to you while you wait/shop)
You were never in the position of being out shopping and ending up with a flat phone battery, so long as you have this very neat and petite power bank, even if your power bank is "empty" just call into an EE shop and swap it for a fully charged power bank and if you empty the power bank charging your phone, just go swap it again.
I used their swappable power banks up until the day they stopped allowing you to do so. I still have three EE power banks, though one needs a new 18650 due to simply being worn out through a great deal of use. Opening one of my EE power banks wasn't quite as traumatic as yours Clive, luckily for me the top popped relatively easily and nothing was stuck down internally.
This is just typical of the media blowing up out of proportion one or two incidents (from 1000s of these power banks that were in service) and without any explanation of how the power bank failed, they just blamed the EE power bank. What a great shame for an absolutely wonderful service that EE used to give to their customers.
Keep up the great videos, Clive.
My wife thinks I am having an affair with someone called Clive because of spending so much time watching your very informative videos.
Regards,
K Watt.
Yes, that is my name.

[@kasparroosalu]

Oh my! Vise of Knowledge, Grips of Overindulgence and Tray of Explosioncontainin'. You do keep a good company! Also, it sounds like a good RPG.

[@decoder7139]

There are these Powerbanks, with an additional aluminum cover, to buy in Germany. They are called Realpower Pb-260 Alu and have exactly the same circuit and even the same colored plastic case inside.

[@JamesMossR33]

Daughter was clearing some old crap out of her room and found hers (E1-05) in a box. I noticed she'd left it with the yellow cable connected to both USB ports, in and out. I was slightly alarmed at first but then thought it must be ok as the house hadn't burned down. It charged and seems to work ok.

[@TheOldHammer1]

ive still got mine that i got originally, i never swapped it in the store for a new one so brand new from box. i use it regularly and i have never had a problem with it. honestly i was worried about it after the media coverage but since not having any problems with mine... and now seeing this video, it does make sense to me that it is mostly down to improper usage from other people and as a result im very happy i never swapped mine in store or gave it back

[@danguy2009]

I still have 2 of these, one still sealed in its tube. I held onto them as it literally saved the day for me once when I got a puncture on my bike, I had to take a slow diversion down country lanes and got lost. Phone batt ran out sooner that I hoped and I'm glad I decided to bring it with me haha.

[@danielbyrne8684]

I have one of the very first ones. I don't use it and i haven't returned it. After watching this I'm glad i kept it. Still works fine.

[@wisteela]

It's great that you've done a video on these

[@garrygadget]

brilliant camera angle
brilliant articulate informative style
interesting accent
If you did this pre youtube era you would have been on "How" - wonder how many remember that programme.

[@simonmillard8931]

I had two of these and had no issue. I waited to the last few days of the recall and returned both and got a £20 EE voucher for each one.

[@honggao9610]

Just to keep you updated on this unit. It ended up on TaoBao.com for sale with a price around 1.6 pounds per unit(postage included). My guess is that after the recall, EE simply auctioned these recalled and unused units.

[@honggao9610]

You can try search ' EE power bar' on taobao.com .

[@LightTheUnicorn]

I still have one of those that wasn't (originally) recalled. It's been fine, nothing bad to report. My dad had one of the bad models and it did get warm when charging. There are a whole bunch of very, very similar designs available dirt-cheap, but it was a nice idea.

[@dr666demento]

''Yeah, this isn't opening, I'll have to use violence at some point''. ''The vice of knowledge''. ''The grips of overindulgence'' (channelocks) and ''the anti-explosion tray''.
Never change Clive :)

[@edwhitson9873]

As a born and bred hillbilly from Appalachian mountains I like the way you say" aint Poppin open!"

[@ItsAlwaysRusty]

The extra glue is there to add some color to the flames when it burns up. Nice of the company to think of that..

[@CaptSlog]

I came here because I found one of these power bars in a cupboard. I remember being given it in a shopping centre somewhere, and never used it. I also had an inkling there had been a recall, which i missed. The batch number for the recall was apparently E1-06,l and that's the one i have
So, mine is on charge outside to see what happens.

[@RalphBromleyMadmanRB]

Nothing like waking up in the morning and hearing explody noises

[@curtis133]

"smoke the choke" maybe a bumper sticker and tee-shirt line!

[@saaaaaaaaalt838]

I still have one and I find it quite useful. The distance between my bed and the plug socket is too long for a reasonably lengthed wire to reach. So I use this as an extendor.

[@dietbruboy]

Clive, I was in PoundWorld today and bought one of their PowerCell branded 1,200 mAH power banks. I've never seen these in store before and your recent review of the EE product made me wonder what £1's worth of lipo power bank bought us. It also comes with a usb cable and I thought that might make you even more concerned given the cheapness. Would you like me to pick another up and send you it? (Least I can do given all the hours of yours I've watched and enjoyed 😜). Best wishes, Roy.

[@raymondjudd5328]

Hi Clive
I still have mine and it still working just fine

[@channelsixtysix066]

Here on Classic Clive, I've found what looks like the introduction video of the now famous Spudger. Clearly the Vice Of Knowledge and the Grips Of Overindulgence are earlier videos I haven't encountered yet. Other gems to look forward to.

[@frankjaeger760]

It's probably glued to prevent tampering, as these things are shared between many people, and they don't want to risk handing over a unit that has been tampered with to people who expect it to be safe. That way, if someone fucks with it, when it is handed to the store handler, they'll easily be able to tell it's been opened.

[@urbanimage]

I have one of these and it still works fine. The light is very handy.

[@markpunt9638]

I wonder whether you had one from an early batch which were well made and, perhaps, in later batches corners were cut somehow to reduced costs maybe?

[@theirisheditor]

Another possibility is that they got water inside such as being dropped in a puddle, which probably affected its circuitry such as the charging cut-off voltage.

[@andrewarmstrong5629]

Brilliant video, really made me chuckle when you had to use violence and the various equipments of heavy measure to break into the darn thing!

[@ryew101]

A very interesting video, from what I understand (talking to someone that had one of these banks set alight in their office) the issue was with the cell itself. Apparently after X number of charges and discharges something breaks down inside the cells making them unstable and causes theremal runaway. I am by no means an expert in this at all, I'm just repeating what I was told.

[@aviaviavian]

Could set up an internal register or something, so that when you get so many recharges, it lets the shop know, and they send it in to replace the cell.

[@bobthecannibal1]

The Dremel of Ultraviolence. Because one always enjoys a spot of the old Ultraviolence.

[@Lakes57]

The "vice of knowledge" makes another appearance, along with the "pie dish of doom" :)

[@tennicktenstyl]

Something is burning? yay, let's give it a hug!

[@darrenfulwood3766]

No pictures now the Clive? Whats them tester gadgets there. Probably should wear my glasses when i watch these. Good video.

[@Dumiirr]

I got powerbank like this for 2 years now first time i hear for recal, i do always use genue cables for charging and replace them reguraly

[@phbrinsden]

“Smoke the choke”. Good one.

[@paulbignell6977]

interesting video. excellent presentation and quality. thanx for the info

[@Darkassassin09]

it's good that its build so tough, if your trading them around and plugging your devices into them, I wouldn't want people to be able to easily get in there and play with the circuitry.

[@SuperLabonte43]

I love that you have a pie dish for lithium explosions lol

[@urveen]

I wonder if the MOSFET suffered some ESD damage in the defective unit? Have smoked a few in my time due to improper handling...

[@youss321]

"Yeah this isn't opening, i'm gonna have to use violence" I pictured him just yelling at the power bar until it opened.

[@WKDPOWER]

"Smoke the choke" - my new catchphrase

[@82garrou]

I will add that the extremeley short cablethey were supplied with( maybe the length if the unit itself) did start to fail after about 5 charges from new

[@bytesabre]

I handed in my power bank for the voucher, spent the voucher on a much bigger power bank. Win win.

[@graemepriestley3403]

My EE Power Bar, is fine. When on charge, I rest it on the ceramic tiled Living room floor. Though EE, asked for it back, they are NOT, having it back !!

[@Ultra2040]

good to know Clive, still got 3 of these myself

[@lukewale6969]

I remember these, I used my credit to go and get a speaker, so rather than being blown up, I'll just blow my ears up now instead 😂

[@yuyuko_s75]

The USB lead you get with a PS4 is really good, try it out. It feels high-quality and is neatly shaped so that you don't put in the wrong way around. My controller's charging port broke before the cable did.

[@yuyuko_s75]

(cable never broke)