Great! You repair things instead of destroying them. That‘s the next level, so please make more repair videos. Repairing is already a forgotten skill. Who repairs shoes, clothes or home appliances? Yes, we throw away and buy new. This is why we need repair teachers. For a better world, for skill development, or just for fun.
Hopefully his video will inspire more people to try to fix their own items. I've run in to more and more people who don't know electronics and are not classically trained but still feel comfortable to hack together their own projects from stuff they buy cheaply online. One such fellow was at a movies in the park project for GhostBusters movie and he managed to make a really good replica of the Ghostbusters ambulance in the movie.
I love fixing and repair things but I don't know anything when it comes to electronics. I'll test basic components n replace them if needs be, but if that doesn't work, then 🤷🏻♂️
@@TheManLab7 That does a lot of it, actually, You are way ahead of most people and really that is the majority of what it takes. Checking your PSU are first and then divide and conquer (AKA half ) is second. 95% are jut bad connections.
@@TheManLab7 Keep fixing those things. Your skills will only get better and eventually all your buddies will be bringing their stuff over for you to fix, if not already. :)
There's far too much waste these days, people chuck out things that would be relatively simple fixes. Companies of course approve of this waste because they get more sales, some of course don't even want people to have the right to repair their own things.
I wonder if Clive ever sits back with a fizzy glass of Jaeger and contemplates why 6,000 people (in less than an hour) have watched him repair a head torch.
It's very random. I sometimes put up videos that I think will be unpopular and they take off. Other times I spend a lot of time and money making videos about specialist technology and they get low views.
@@bigclivedotcom I would be willing to bet money that most everyone has had one of these switches go funny on them, they're on absolutely every chinese LED light these days it seems. This video is shockingly relatable, where more specialized equipment might not be.
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@@bigclivedotcom Reminds me of all the millions BT spent on the video phone, thought it would be the next best thing, it was a flop. You never know what takes off, Texting was packaged in a bundle they thought no one would use it.
@@AK-sb6us that's it, yeah - specialist stuff will garner interest from exactly two groups of people: a) the incorrigibly curious and b) the specialists themselves; and the thing is, _both_ of those are minorities.
A small cable tie around the main cable, just inside the casing makes for easy strain relief. A dab of rubber grease around the switch seal and casing O ring improves water resistance. Both reduce the likelihood of similar problems in the future. Love your work pal, keep it up.
Wow, i seriously never thought to put flux on the desoldering braid. I hated that stuff so much that i spent quite a bit on a weller desolder/hot air station. I do not regret buying it and it works awesome. But i had tried the sucker ball, the spring loaded plunger type, and the braid, all with mixed results depending on the size of solder joint. I got to using the sucker ball on small joints, the plunger on larger joints, then very big joints i used the braid to get most of it then the plunger type to get the rest. The desolder station though changed my life. I could never go back now, if it fails ill have to buy another. I was amazed how well it worked and now i can remove components like capacitors or diodes just to test them out of circuit then put them right back in if its good. Before i had about 50 percent change of damaging the components and occasionally a pad on the board as well due to over heating because of frustration with my tools.
For a long time I tried to use de-soldering braid, but with mixed results. A previous BC vidjeo mentioned flux on the braid, and what a huge improvement using liquid flux from a bottle. I then went out an bought some good quality braid from Amazon, where the main positive review comments were regarding the amount of flux already on the braid.
I've tried all sorts of solder suckers with varying results until Dave of EEVBlog mentioned the SolderPullt; I bought one and I'm so impressed with it that it's now my go-to solder removal tool.
@@Mark1024MAK Well the last roll of Solder Wick brand I bought they must be skimping on the flux. I have been having to add flux to get to work in spots... :-( LLAP
I've watched you solder, probably hundreds of times. Every time I'm amazed by the way you use one hand to hold solder, the thing being soldered, and not just hold the item but support it so pressure can be applied with iron. All in one damn hand. Make it look easy to. You go boy. LOL! Remember ppl used to say that back in the 90s.
Watee in switches with electronic controllers is always a problem. The tiny amount of leakage between contacts can muck things up. I have a Kubota tractor that was outside on a sales lot when I bought it, and when I got it home the turn signals and 4-way flashers would work erratically or not at all. I pulled the switches out and dried them out. That solved the problem. You'd think a tractor that is expected to be outside in the elements would be equipped with waterproof switches.
Or at least if it is digital and not old school, have a bit of wiggle room for voltages (0-1.5 being low and 5-14 being high, that way low battery weak contact will work and it still won’t give false positives or think you failed to release the button after pressing)
Just a thought Clive , before you put the rubber button cover back pack a small amount of plumbing silicone grease around the switch which will prevent it happening again.
I might not catch every video you produce Big Clive, but everyone I tune into I learn more and have a good laugh at you humour. Thanks and keep up the great work. Steve Cheshire
A useful habit with (metal) screws in plastic holes is to begin by turning them CCW. When you feel/hear a 'click', the lead thread is aligned with the formed thread in the plastic. Driving from there, there's no risk of manglement.
I've had to replace those kind of switches in lots of stuff. I used to steal them from broken TVs and VCRs but now those are getting smaller now and not being used much. I bought a kit of them on Amazon with TONS of them with different length buttons but you can file them down as needed.
@Dave Micolichek Unfortunately those switches aren't used much anymore, they use even smaller ones which you'll end up destroying them trying to get them off.
@Dave Micolichek I hate surface mount components. Very hard to solder to. If something surface mount is broken I just part it or toss it, not worth messing with in my opinion.
The joy of fixing these things never quite leaves you does it? This week I are mostly modified a wee programable flashy 3 led unit for my daughters school project and rebuilt the trigger switch on my ancient jigsaw. My stock value in the household is running high currently. My eyesight isn't what it was but my son has purchased for me a new soldering iron set with a solder sucker that I absolutely love. Wish I was as dexterous as Clive though.
Clive coat the rim of that rubber switch bung where it contacts the metal with a small amount of dielectric grease or spa lube. It will help prevent water ingress. I have a non-technical-daftomatic brother as well. Any dingus-prevention is welcome to the things he operates. Love the channel, and keep up the great work.
Ha! I have the exact same problem with my headtorch. Everytime I see one of your videos I feel the need to turn on and pick up my soldering iron... oh my, that came out wrong.
I cringe now when I see guys using de-solder braid anymore. I finally talked myself into getting a Hakko FR-301 de-soldering gun. I am officially spoiled. I figured I was stuck at home and save tons of money during the Covid lockdown so I got the Hakko with some of that saved cash. That thing is so sweet. No more damaged circuit boards or traces. For such a simple switch configuration they seem very reliable if kept dry.
@Dave Micolichek It is meant to promote foot electrical contact and reduce oxidation/corrosion. That's why you put it on car battery terminals and on headlight connections. That's why they sell it as "bulb grease" at any American auto parts store. :)
@Dave Micolichek Deposit is specifically formulated as a contact cleaner that leaves a dielectric coatong to promote good conductivity. Dielectric grease will promote conductivity but will not short or change the resistance. The folks that make DeoxIT even sell a grease specifically for using inside potentiometers to fix scratchy volume knobs. They call it "FaderLube." It helps electrical contact and doesn't hurt it. :)
Woaha best soldering pro tip in a long time. I've always used a solder sucker and recently tried the wick for the first time and it just wouldn't flow into it. Flux pen to the rescue! Thank you!
On the bright side, "knowledge is power". The holder won't put up any resistance to a larger capacity pair of cells. And neither will Ralfy/Ralphy, though he'll likely appreciate being lit for longer on those Dark and Stormy nights.
Over the years I replaced quite a few similar switches of delicate instruments. Those instruments often had been placed close to a source of water vapour.
@Dave Micolichek Hopefully you can get it under control with a few capacitors and resistors. I also have a few pedals for my bass guitars (as you may already have derived from my UA-cam alias 😁). One of them needs cleaning from time to time, due to poor contact.
A head torch getting repaired, great work Clive. Clive is your middle name McGyver? It should be, really. Great trouble shoot/fix video. Fun stuff to watch.👍
Ah, all sweetness and light. . . Ralfy is the sweetness, and Clive is the light! - This reminds me, I need to find my LED-Lites 'Photon Pump' head torch, and fettle its hit-and-miss switch (which it has had since new).
Now see, Clive is a good brother. He didn't put a fast-blink RGB LED in there. I'm not so sure I would have been able to resist the temptation... Imagine pulling out your headlamp to just have it blink RGB and not the brilliant white you expected. Now I want to buy a bunch of cheap ones on ebay and make disco headlamps.
HELLO CLIVE, YOUR VIDEOS ARE GETTING MUCH MORE INTERESTING NOW. NOT ALL ELECTRONICS ARE DESIGNED EQUALLY, SOME ARE REALLY COOL AND OTHERS NOT. DONT ALWAYS BRING CHEAP CHINESE STUFF TO THE TABLE. YOUR AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIGHER END ELECTRONICS BEING REVERSED ENGENDERED. THANKS 👍⭐️
Side mountable switches (with extensions that provide a good amount of support against the pressing force) do exist, but ive never found them on ebay or amazon, which suggests they aren't made at the same volume scale as the bottom-mounted ones such as this. Therefore nowhere near as cheap.
I bought a Sony 14" CRT TV a few months back and one of the buttons wasn't working, and on investigation, it seemed someone tried to "repair" it, except they neglected to put the tactile dome disc back inside, so of course wouldn't work at all, thankfully I had a few similar switched hoiked from dead CD drives which I extracted a disc from one and popped it in, clipped it together (cos it wasn't a plastic-welded thing oddly) and fixed!!! Gotta love fixing things not designed to be fixed... :D
Speaking of finger cots, I have a Nintendo Virtual Boy where a finger cot from the factory has gotten stock in it. I haven't removed it because I think it's hilarious. One of the eye pieces has also died on me, so I've just left it as a decorative piece for now. You can have a look at it if you feel like it, it's relegated to the shelf life either way :P Edit: Yes, I know how random this comment is! I must be the only one who caught onto the finger cot comment...
I'm going to take this opportunity to tell my true finger cot story. I once worked at a technical ceramics company where we used finger cots to keep from grinding the skin off our fingers while grinding the ceramics. The father of a high school student we employed part time to maintain the plantings around the building called our CEO one day quite irate and threatening to not let his son work there any more because his son kept finding tiny used condoms discarded around our outside break area. He asked "What kind of place are you running there, Brown?" The employees were encouraged not to litter around the property, especially not finger cots. Oddly, no mention of size was made.
This happens alot. The contacts don't necessarily have to get wet or anything. They just kind of wear and get dirty and fail to make contact reliably. I often fix "junk" Gameboys with this problem. A wiping with rubbing alcohol tends to be all that is required.
This matter of switches reminds me of a question for Big Clive. Perhaps he'll see this... Big Clive, I had the (dis)pleasure of repairing my Panasonic microwave oven today, and took a good look a the interlock switch assembly, consisting of three "micro"-type switches in a complicated plastic housing. You'd think that the operation would merely be a matter of fingers in the latch actuating these switches, but there appears to be much more to the operation, as one of the switches is only temporarily struck by part of the finger mechanism, which then stays in place with just-enough pressure to keep the switch actuated, but, in actuality, (no pun untended), not held firmly from continuing pressure from the finger. In other words, some design involving specific values of momentum and inertia play a rather complicated role in the operation, perhaps as a means to make the interlock hard to defeat. So, would you consider dissecting one of these mechanisms, and offer your excellent analytical ability regarding how it works? I did a US patent search, and found miles of patent rhetoric, which, as usual with patents, was very hard to understand, but perhaps you already know, and can explain, this strange mechanism. Thanks... I love your channel! (The problem with the oven, as it turned out, were not the switches, but the incredibly flimsy bracket that held the interlock assembly in place... with a year of moderate use, it gradually bent out of shape, and caused the door latch fingers to misalign with the complicated interlock mechanism.)
I have one like this and its great except for one thing -- that rubber compartment tends to let one battery slip out of range on the contacts. I do love the thing dearly as its so handy looking into the back of dark storage areas or as an auxilary light while biking. I even used mine recently to pick the tree clean of apples just before the hard frost. Mine even has the cheap UltraFire batteries which have a similar rating. I've been told they were awful batteries. I expect the ratings are about the same as yours but they keep working OK. They've never started on fire or even gotten too hot. If it was really important to be I'd pop in some samsung cells I have but I see no need to.
I have the same torch... the batteries supplied with mine also tested aroudn 1200mah, replaced them with 3300 panasonic cells and very rarely have to charge it.
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One hour's time of an electrical engineer to fix the torch £20, Torch value £12. Good job you cost your brother nothing.
Water is so tricky. The other day the remote for my stereo quit working, or rather, it was working overtime, and whenever I pointed it at the stereo, without even pressing a button, it kept doing the same thing over and over. I took the batteries out, and of course, there were no screws holding it together, but it was only held by clips, and not glue, so that was good. I got it open, and it was just water on the board under the rubber pads. I'm guessing I spilled a bit of vodka on it after I had a bit too much. Dried it off and it is still fine.
Clive - do you recall the mini head torch you reviewed a few months ago. Bought one; and it's a honey. Even survived a trip through a double-load washing machine. It has essentially replaced the MagLite Mini I wore for decades as a Stagehand and Shop Carpenter. Thanks for the tip
I had that exact head torch a year ago or so. Worked amazingly until it set alight with my head buried in the dashboard of my car. Took a minute to realise it was going nuclear as I was trying to fix the heater...
I am disappointed. I was expecting at least a 300 Amp rated knife switch in a transportable solid oak enclosure ;-) Just kidding... Love your videos, BigClive!
Those switches last forever if you put a little silicone grease on the contacts. However, you mustn't do this for switches where arcing occurs because the arc makes the silicone form a glass-like barrier!
I have more than a couple of those headlamps sitting around waiting for me to learn how to do what you just did. What Annoys me the most is needing just the first click mostly and having to click all the clicks every time.
"The battery test indicated that the cells have half the capacity that is printed on them. 1100mAh instead of 2200mAh." That's more than obvious Clive. They're sold as pair, can't be sold separately.
I have a number of LED torches with this intensely annoying multi-mode functionality. I don't want 1/2 or 1/4 light intensity, I don't want it to flash - either regularly or in an SOS pattern. I don't want to keep pressing a button to cycle between this crap. I just want ON or OFF. Is it too much to ask for? Even if it were two buttons, one for power and one for mode, as long as it stored the mode I wanted, I'd be happy.
@@UmbraS909 why not? It may be handy to use two lights: one flooding the road in front of you and the other - flashing rapidly to keep others aware of your presence.
If I don't need the light to see where I am going, I've found that pointing the light straight down and putting it in strobe mode lights up my bike (and all of its reflectors) and a pool on the ground around me that makes me very visible. It extends the life of the battery considerably and reduces heat build up in the unit, which in turn extends LED life. Strobe mode can also be used to screw up the camera shots of all those pesky paparazzi that are always hounding me. :)
Hi Clive Do you have any recommendations for decent 18650 batteries? Bike touch I bought was also shipped with the sh*ttiest 18650 there could be. Light as a feather. Cheers
What could be a good cure against this form of oxidation by water getting into such a switch is to open it, and fill it with silicon grease (dielectric grease) at every pore. Maybe even the stuff you can buy at your plumber, for water valves. The silicon >does not allow any water< to reside. This is ONLY good for static contacts or contacts that do not spark, because with sparks something isolating like silicon carbide (?) will be formed, and that is in affect a stone, and not a good electrical contact at all. But in this switch in this application it seems perfect.
I wonder if there's any good soldering irons that connect directly to the socket. Mine just doesn't heat up well at all. And I'll spend minutes holding it against the pads or the cable, and by then it starting to melt everything else
My dishwasher has the same switches for the front buttons and they started failing after 3-4 years of use. I have so far replaced three of them as they begin to fail to register presses.
Good idea. The better switches used to have various platings but you don't see that as often anymore. I picked up some 110VAC switches from a dollar store once that had silver cadmium contacts. They've been bulletproof.
The old and crazy ones will henceforth be tunneling in from the side, _in situ,_ and applying switch cleaner (or similar) and a conpressed gas (CO2 from a de-trashed SodaStream) to effect the repair. Iff that fails…
My every day camcorder for the tinkering videos had a broken "joystick" switch. Since it's the only way of setting up the camera, I poked in and cleaned the domes. It works again now, but the joystick version has five domes overlapping in a clover style setup and it is *very* fiddly to put together again... sadly, I have no video of it, due to... well, hopefully obvious reasons ;)
Great! You repair things instead of destroying them. That‘s the next level, so please make more repair videos. Repairing is already a forgotten skill. Who repairs shoes, clothes or home appliances? Yes, we throw away and buy new. This is why we need repair teachers. For a better world, for skill development, or just for fun.
Love how you fix things like this seems so simple but a lot of people in this wasteful society would just chuck it. Great to see.
Hopefully his video will inspire more people to try to fix their own items. I've run in to more and more people who don't know electronics and are not classically trained but still feel comfortable to hack together their own projects from stuff they buy cheaply online. One such fellow was at a movies in the park project for GhostBusters movie and he managed to make a really good replica of the Ghostbusters ambulance in the movie.
I love fixing and repair things but I don't know anything when it comes to electronics. I'll test basic components n replace them if needs be, but if that doesn't work, then 🤷🏻♂️
@@TheManLab7 That does a lot of it, actually, You are way ahead of most people and really that is the majority of what it takes. Checking your PSU are first and then divide and conquer (AKA half ) is second. 95% are jut bad connections.
@@TheManLab7 Keep fixing those things. Your skills will only get better and eventually all your buddies will be bringing their stuff over for you to fix, if not already. :)
There's far too much waste these days, people chuck out things that would be relatively simple fixes. Companies of course approve of this waste because they get more sales, some of course don't even want people to have the right to repair their own things.
I wonder if Clive ever sits back with a fizzy glass of Jaeger and contemplates why 6,000 people (in less than an hour) have watched him repair a head torch.
It's very random. I sometimes put up videos that I think will be unpopular and they take off. Other times I spend a lot of time and money making videos about specialist technology and they get low views.
@@bigclivedotcom I would be willing to bet money that most everyone has had one of these switches go funny on them, they're on absolutely every chinese LED light these days it seems. This video is shockingly relatable, where more specialized equipment might not be.
@@bigclivedotcom Reminds me of all the millions BT spent on the video phone, thought it would be the next best thing, it was a flop. You never know what takes off, Texting was packaged in a bundle they thought no one would use it.
Sometimes you just want to hang out with someone who does weird things like you do.
@@AK-sb6us that's it, yeah - specialist stuff will garner interest from exactly two groups of people: a) the incorrigibly curious and b) the specialists themselves; and the thing is, _both_ of those are minorities.
A small cable tie around the main cable, just inside the casing makes for easy strain relief. A dab of rubber grease around the switch seal and casing O ring improves water resistance. Both reduce the likelihood of similar problems in the future. Love your work pal, keep it up.
@Dave Micolichek Thanks Dave, I'll give that a crack.
For a moment at the beginning of the video I was hoping for another giant red button retrofit.
Wow, i seriously never thought to put flux on the desoldering braid. I hated that stuff so much that i spent quite a bit on a weller desolder/hot air station. I do not regret buying it and it works awesome. But i had tried the sucker ball, the spring loaded plunger type, and the braid, all with mixed results depending on the size of solder joint. I got to using the sucker ball on small joints, the plunger on larger joints, then very big joints i used the braid to get most of it then the plunger type to get the rest. The desolder station though changed my life. I could never go back now, if it fails ill have to buy another. I was amazed how well it worked and now i can remove components like capacitors or diodes just to test them out of circuit then put them right back in if its good. Before i had about 50 percent change of damaging the components and occasionally a pad on the board as well due to over heating because of frustration with my tools.
For a long time I tried to use de-soldering braid, but with mixed results. A previous BC vidjeo mentioned flux on the braid, and what a huge improvement using liquid flux from a bottle. I then went out an bought some good quality braid from Amazon, where the main positive review comments were regarding the amount of flux already on the braid.
I've tried all sorts of solder suckers with varying results until Dave of EEVBlog mentioned the SolderPullt; I bought one and I'm so impressed with it that it's now my go-to solder removal tool.
The better make of desolder braid / solder wick has plenty of dry flux already in it.
@@Mark1024MAK Well the last roll of Solder Wick brand I bought they must be skimping on the flux. I have been having to add flux to get to work in spots... :-(
LLAP
Don't no why people gets upset when you help family that's what should happen in life good job love your vids
I've watched you solder, probably hundreds of times. Every time I'm amazed by the way you use one hand to hold solder, the thing being soldered, and not just hold the item but support it so pressure can be applied with iron. All in one damn hand. Make it look easy to. You go boy. LOL! Remember ppl used to say that back in the 90s.
Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Clive: "I look after Ralfy because he's my brother, you wanker."
Watee in switches with electronic controllers is always a problem. The tiny amount of leakage between contacts can muck things up. I have a Kubota tractor that was outside on a sales lot when I bought it, and when I got it home the turn signals and 4-way flashers would work erratically or not at all. I pulled the switches out and dried them out. That solved the problem. You'd think a tractor that is expected to be outside in the elements would be equipped with waterproof switches.
Same thing happened with my LED light, water started to turn it on by itself._
Or at least if it is digital and not old school, have a bit of wiggle room for voltages (0-1.5 being low and 5-14 being high, that way low battery weak contact will work and it still won’t give false positives or think you failed to release the button after pressing)
Just a thought Clive , before you put the rubber button cover back pack a small amount of plumbing silicone grease around the switch which will prevent it happening again.
Clive and his "finger gymnastics" win again! 10/10
I might not catch every video you produce Big Clive, but everyone I tune into I learn more and have a good laugh at you humour. Thanks and keep up the great work. Steve Cheshire
The few people that disliked this video miserably failed at fixing their head torches
Well well well... I think this is the first time I've seen you assemble stuff back :-)
I usually reassemble stuff after the videos have been made.
A useful habit with (metal) screws in plastic holes is to begin by turning them CCW. When you feel/hear a 'click', the lead thread is aligned with the formed thread in the plastic. Driving from there, there's no risk of manglement.
I've had to replace those kind of switches in lots of stuff. I used to steal them from broken TVs and VCRs but now those are getting smaller now and not being used much. I bought a kit of them on Amazon with TONS of them with different length buttons but you can file them down as needed.
@Dave Micolichek Unfortunately those switches aren't used much anymore, they use even smaller ones which you'll end up destroying them trying to get them off.
@Dave Micolichek I hate surface mount components. Very hard to solder to. If something surface mount is broken I just part it or toss it, not worth messing with in my opinion.
I enjoy the way you talk. Love from Iowa!!!
"You no fast enough! You no do 1000 an hour!"😂😂😂
Are you sure you don't want to replace it with an oversized red button?
Fascinating video and channel. Cheers for giving your time to post these gems.
I've reverted to cleaning up the little tactile disc on a failing mouse button. 2 years later and still going strong!
Ralph must be glad with his handy brother !
The joy of fixing these things never quite leaves you does it? This week I are mostly modified a wee programable flashy 3 led unit for my daughters school project and rebuilt the trigger switch on my ancient jigsaw. My stock value in the household is running high currently. My eyesight isn't what it was but my son has purchased for me a new soldering iron set with a solder sucker that I absolutely love. Wish I was as dexterous as Clive though.
omfg, what great timing xD My one of these got wet while working on an outboard engine last week! Will get it fixed up nicely now. Thanks, Clive :)
Clive coat the rim of that rubber switch bung where it contacts the metal with a small amount of dielectric grease or spa lube. It will help prevent water ingress. I have a non-technical-daftomatic brother as well. Any dingus-prevention is welcome to the things he operates. Love the channel, and keep up the great work.
Ha! I have the exact same problem with my headtorch. Everytime I see one of your videos I feel the need to turn on and pick up my soldering iron... oh my, that came out wrong.
I cringe now when I see guys using de-solder braid anymore. I finally talked myself into getting a Hakko FR-301 de-soldering gun. I am officially spoiled. I figured I was stuck at home and save tons of money during the Covid lockdown so I got the Hakko with some of that saved cash. That thing is so sweet. No more damaged circuit boards or traces. For such a simple switch configuration they seem very reliable if kept dry.
Big Clive uses every finger like a separate hand...it's really amazing. I'd have clamps and helping hands everywhere...and still struggle.
If you do disassemble a switch like that to repair, put a little bulbs grease (dielectric) to keep it from corroding again.
Silicone grease in the UK.
@@manolisgledsodakis873 Indeedy. I lube up the threads on all new torches with the stuff.
@Dave Micolichek It is meant to promote foot electrical contact and reduce oxidation/corrosion. That's why you put it on car battery terminals and on headlight connections. That's why they sell it as "bulb grease" at any American auto parts store. :)
@Dave Micolichek Yes, and no more scratchy-scratchy noises when changing batteries...
@Dave Micolichek Deposit is specifically formulated as a contact cleaner that leaves a dielectric coatong to promote good conductivity. Dielectric grease will promote conductivity but will not short or change the resistance. The folks that make DeoxIT even sell a grease specifically for using inside potentiometers to fix scratchy volume knobs. They call it "FaderLube." It helps electrical contact and doesn't hurt it. :)
What a considerate brother, getting his light light wet so you could make a video from fixing it 😂
Clive, it's funny how you point at the metal strip going up the side and at the same time point on the text "Rechargeable battery with PCB"
Woaha best soldering pro tip in a long time. I've always used a solder sucker and recently tried the wick for the first time and it just wouldn't flow into it. Flux pen to the rescue! Thank you!
Bonus on the batteries I was expecting a 1/4 of rated mah.
And I sure hope he bought him some real batteries. Letting him use those is like asking him to die when they explode right beside his head!
On the bright side, "knowledge is power". The holder won't put up any resistance to a larger capacity pair of cells. And neither will Ralfy/Ralphy, though he'll likely appreciate being lit for longer on those Dark and Stormy nights.
Over the years I replaced quite a few similar switches of delicate instruments. Those instruments often had been placed close to a source of water vapour.
@Dave Micolichek Hopefully you can get it under control with a few capacitors and resistors. I also have a few pedals for my bass guitars (as you may already have derived from my UA-cam alias 😁). One of them needs cleaning from time to time, due to poor contact.
"PCB life is around 10years: It Is GREEN" that really tells about the QUALITY RIGHT THERE :) good video as always
A head torch getting repaired, great work Clive. Clive is your middle name McGyver? It should be, really. Great trouble shoot/fix video. Fun stuff to watch.👍
Ah, all sweetness and light. . . Ralfy is the sweetness, and Clive is the light! - This reminds me, I need to find my LED-Lites 'Photon Pump' head torch, and fettle its hit-and-miss switch (which it has had since new).
Watching you unsolder that switch with 24 fingers reminds me of an octopus trying to play the bagpipes - lol
Fenix! The last headlamp you’ll ever buy.
Now see, Clive is a good brother. He didn't put a fast-blink RGB LED in there. I'm not so sure I would have been able to resist the temptation... Imagine pulling out your headlamp to just have it blink RGB and not the brilliant white you expected.
Now I want to buy a bunch of cheap ones on ebay and make disco headlamps.
Nice to see someone else that uses the same burny finger technique as me! 😂
HELLO CLIVE, YOUR VIDEOS ARE GETTING MUCH MORE INTERESTING NOW. NOT ALL ELECTRONICS ARE DESIGNED EQUALLY, SOME ARE REALLY COOL AND OTHERS NOT. DONT ALWAYS BRING CHEAP CHINESE STUFF TO THE TABLE. YOUR AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIGHER END ELECTRONICS BEING REVERSED ENGENDERED. THANKS 👍⭐️
I've just realised that little 'thunk' noise has gone from the start of your videos :)
In one of the live streams he mentioned that a firmware update would probably get rid of that. I kind of miss it.
It was indeed a random firmware update that made it disappear.
@@bigstusexy I miss it too! :-(
LLAP
I should count how many projects like this I have disassembled, never fixed, but in a box somewhere in case I get around to it.
I like how we can learn from the text on the batteries, that green pcbs last around ten years. :D
Side mountable switches (with extensions that provide a good amount of support against the pressing force) do exist, but ive never found them on ebay or amazon, which suggests they aren't made at the same volume scale as the bottom-mounted ones such as this. Therefore nowhere near as cheap.
In this unit there's was a dedicated part of the housing to support the back of the switch.
I've got a headlamp with a switch on the back. XML(?) 6 cree LED Had it like a decade with no problems. It's super useful.
I bought a Sony 14" CRT TV a few months back and one of the buttons wasn't working, and on investigation, it seemed someone tried to "repair" it, except they neglected to put the tactile dome disc back inside, so of course wouldn't work at all, thankfully I had a few similar switched hoiked from dead CD drives which I extracted a disc from one and popped it in, clipped it together (cos it wasn't a plastic-welded thing oddly) and fixed!!! Gotta love fixing things not designed to be fixed... :D
My favorite head torch is the Nitecore NU20. Not waterproof but very light and easy to use with gloves.
Speaking of finger cots, I have a Nintendo Virtual Boy where a finger cot from the factory has gotten stock in it. I haven't removed it because I think it's hilarious.
One of the eye pieces has also died on me, so I've just left it as a decorative piece for now. You can have a look at it if you feel like it, it's relegated to the shelf life either way :P
Edit: Yes, I know how random this comment is! I must be the only one who caught onto the finger cot comment...
I'm going to take this opportunity to tell my true finger cot story. I once worked at a technical ceramics company where we used finger cots to keep from grinding the skin off our fingers while grinding the ceramics. The father of a high school student we employed part time to maintain the plantings around the building called our CEO one day quite irate and threatening to not let his son work there any more because his son kept finding tiny used condoms discarded around our outside break area. He asked "What kind of place are you running there, Brown?" The employees were encouraged not to litter around the property, especially not finger cots. Oddly, no mention of size was made.
Good job Clive!
This happens alot. The contacts don't necessarily have to get wet or anything. They just kind of wear and get dirty and fail to make contact reliably. I often fix "junk" Gameboys with this problem. A wiping with rubbing alcohol tends to be all that is required.
10:50 "enhance... enhance... enhance..."
Green crusties on the switch
Oh, I think I've seen this head torch a while ago.
Glad it's not gonna go out with a huge red button as it was last time.
yay ... Flux on braid who Knew :) very cool thank you
I knew. Been doing it for years.
i've had those go 'iffy' as well, in most cases a squirt of contact cleaner and a good wiggly pressing session seems to help...
This matter of switches reminds me of a question for Big Clive. Perhaps he'll see this...
Big Clive, I had the (dis)pleasure of repairing my Panasonic microwave oven today, and took a good look a the interlock switch assembly, consisting of three "micro"-type switches in a complicated plastic housing. You'd think that the operation would merely be a matter of fingers in the latch actuating these switches, but there appears to be much more to the operation, as one of the switches is only temporarily struck by part of the finger mechanism, which then stays in place with just-enough pressure to keep the switch actuated, but, in actuality, (no pun untended), not held firmly from continuing pressure from the finger. In other words, some design involving specific values of momentum and inertia play a rather complicated role in the operation, perhaps as a means to make the interlock hard to defeat. So, would you consider dissecting one of these mechanisms, and offer your excellent analytical ability regarding how it works? I did a US patent search, and found miles of patent rhetoric, which, as usual with patents, was very hard to understand, but perhaps you already know, and can explain, this strange mechanism. Thanks... I love your channel!
(The problem with the oven, as it turned out, were not the switches, but the incredibly flimsy bracket that held the interlock assembly in place... with a year of moderate use, it gradually bent out of shape, and caused the door latch fingers to misalign with the complicated interlock mechanism.)
There are a lot of safety interlocks on microwaves. A last resort switch may actually short the supply to blow the fuse.
I have one like this and its great except for one thing -- that rubber compartment tends to let one battery slip out of range on the contacts. I do love the thing dearly as its so handy looking into the back of dark storage areas or as an auxilary light while biking. I even used mine recently to pick the tree clean of apples just before the hard frost.
Mine even has the cheap UltraFire batteries which have a similar rating. I've been told they were awful batteries. I expect the ratings are about the same as yours but they keep working OK. They've never started on fire or even gotten too hot. If it was really important to be I'd pop in some samsung cells I have but I see no need to.
lmao the same happened to me once, drove me crazy until I could fixed it
Nice how you fredded it fru !
I have the same torch... the batteries supplied with mine also tested aroudn 1200mah, replaced them with 3300 panasonic cells and very rarely have to charge it.
One hour's time of an electrical engineer to fix the torch £20, Torch value £12. Good job you cost your brother nothing.
Water is so tricky. The other day the remote for my stereo quit working, or rather, it was working overtime, and whenever I pointed it at the stereo, without even pressing a button, it kept doing the same thing over and over.
I took the batteries out, and of course, there were no screws holding it together, but it was only held by clips, and not glue, so that was good. I got it open, and it was just water on the board under the rubber pads. I'm guessing I spilled a bit of vodka on it after I had a bit too much. Dried it off and it is still fine.
Clive - do you recall the mini head torch you reviewed a few months ago. Bought one; and it's a honey. Even survived a trip through a double-load washing machine. It has essentially replaced the MagLite Mini I wore for decades as a Stagehand and Shop Carpenter.
Thanks for the tip
I would ask Ralfy for a wee dram of single malt in compensation !
Can you show how to make this a simple on off torch with out the flashy disco mode. Please
Remove the LED controller, install a switch, regulate the current through the LED. That's it.
Clive answered this one in another comment. "That involves replacing the main chip with a custom programmed microcontroller."
@@chrisk8208 one of the ways, yes.
I had that exact head torch a year ago or so. Worked amazingly until it set alight with my head buried in the dashboard of my car. Took a minute to realise it was going nuclear as I was trying to fix the heater...
I am disappointed. I was expecting at least a 300 Amp rated knife switch in a transportable solid oak enclosure ;-)
Just kidding... Love your videos, BigClive!
Oh to be able to solder while holding stuff like that ! I use the old radio shack helping hands or I would burn myself every time I tried .
"it's missing most of the presses right" whenever i hear someone end a sentence with "right" i think of applied science
Morning Clive
Another great video thank you 👍
HA THESE! They're sold also as "Cobiz" for like £20 and they're pretty good, and some of them develop the same fault too! Had to fix one.
Those switches last forever if you put a little silicone grease on the contacts. However, you mustn't do this for switches where arcing occurs because the arc makes the silicone form a glass-like barrier!
I have more than a couple of those headlamps sitting around waiting for me to learn how to do what you just did.
What Annoys me the most is needing just the first click mostly and having to click all the clicks every time.
I find the solder wick works better if I compress it slightly longitudinally. That spreads it sideways a bit and opens the pores between the wires.
"The battery test indicated that the cells have half the capacity that is printed on them. 1100mAh instead of 2200mAh."
That's more than obvious Clive. They're sold as pair, can't be sold separately.
Now I don't feel so bad, if a master of one handed soldering can manage to singe a finger then I am in good company.
I have a number of LED torches with this intensely annoying multi-mode functionality. I don't want 1/2 or 1/4 light intensity, I don't want it to flash - either regularly or in an SOS pattern. I don't want to keep pressing a button to cycle between this crap. I just want ON or OFF. Is it too much to ask for? Even if it were two buttons, one for power and one for mode, as long as it stored the mode I wanted, I'd be happy.
I assume the flashing modes are for cyclists to play "now you see me, now you don't" when riding at night?
Specially designed to prevent drivers from judging their speed when deciding if it safe to come out of a junction.
Cyclist never use flashlight like this
@@UmbraS909 why not? It may be handy to use two lights: one flooding the road in front of you and the other - flashing rapidly to keep others aware of your presence.
I think it's for longer battery life. I once had to use it, but it's very annoying in traffic.
If I don't need the light to see where I am going, I've found that pointing the light straight down and putting it in strobe mode lights up my bike (and all of its reflectors) and a pool on the ground around me that makes me very visible. It extends the life of the battery considerably and reduces heat build up in the unit, which in turn extends LED life. Strobe mode can also be used to screw up the camera shots of all those pesky paparazzi that are always hounding me. :)
Hi Clive
Do you have any recommendations for decent 18650 batteries? Bike touch I bought was also shipped with the sh*ttiest 18650 there could be. Light as a feather.
Cheers
A good source is often vape shops.
What could be a good cure against this form of oxidation by water getting into such a switch is to open it, and fill it with silicon grease (dielectric grease) at every pore. Maybe even the stuff you can buy at your plumber, for water valves. The silicon >does not allow any water< to reside. This is ONLY good for static contacts or contacts that do not spark, because with sparks something isolating like silicon carbide (?) will be formed, and that is in affect a stone, and not a good electrical contact at all. But in this switch in this application it seems perfect.
You're quite dexterous at soldering using your bare hands. Do you ever find the need for workholder clamps?
I do still use them for very small stuff or when I run out of fingers.
Hi clive what do you use for the zoomed in photos? Those are really good detail
A moto G6 and good lighting.
I wonder if there's any good soldering irons that connect directly to the socket. Mine just doesn't heat up well at all. And I'll spend minutes holding it against the pads or the cable, and by then it starting to melt everything else
Could you put a little silicone grease help stop the problem while reassemble ?
Love your vids Sensei!! Great work!
My dishwasher has the same switches for the front buttons and they started failing after 3-4 years of use. I have so far replaced three of them as they begin to fail to register presses.
You can clean it and use dielectric grease and it will last a very long time
Good idea. The better switches used to have various platings but you don't see that as often anymore. I picked up some 110VAC switches from a dollar store once that had silver cadmium contacts. They've been bulletproof.
Well done.
Oh the switch is prone to tarnish on the unused contacts and what not... how come you didn't just dap a little protective solder cap on?
Is it true that they wear finger cots to avoid wearing down their finger tips? Or do they wear them for ESD damage prevention?
probably the former. Just like thimbles for a sewer.
after a few of them i found filling the torch switch and pcb with hot melt glue makes them last more than a year
good video thank you question : what dye sub printer do you use ???
It's an ordinary Epson ecotank inkjet with bulk ink reservoirs.
@@bigclivedotcom wow very good picture quality !!!!!!!!! as good as dye sub
failing that, a little spritz of DeoxIt will fix it for a little bit too.
trust Clive to pull the microswitch apart and find out the reason why it failed!.. most of us just change em and are done with it!...
Us old and lazy ones try to get WD40RP7 into the switch :)
The old and crazy ones will henceforth be tunneling in from the side, _in situ,_ and applying switch cleaner (or similar) and a conpressed gas (CO2 from a de-trashed SodaStream) to effect the repair. Iff that fails…
You should do a video on replacing them micro switches in car key fobs...Ive done a couple and they are very fiddly..
Like this? ua-cam.com/video/LmHdkCW0AaM/v-deo.html
@@bigclivedotcom awesome.. I didnt know if you had done a video on these...
My every day camcorder for the tinkering videos had a broken "joystick" switch. Since it's the only way of setting up the camera, I poked in and cleaned the domes. It works again now, but the joystick version has five domes overlapping in a clover style setup and it is *very* fiddly to put together again... sadly, I have no video of it, due to... well, hopefully obvious reasons ;)
Big filthy table dot com.
Sign of a busy workbench dot com
But, won't it happen again when it gets wet
Thought you were going to change the colour out for a pink led😛