Inside Poundland's £2 bubble machine.
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- This is a very good bubble machine for the money. It puts out a lot of bubbles consistently.
The unit doesn't come with bubble fluid, but that is readily available in large bottles or packs of smaller ones with individual wands.
One of the neatest bits about this machine was the common motorised fan and wand rotator module. When mounted in a case the motor contacts are exposed for soldering in situ in the final product.
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Walking down the street when you see a bunch of bubbles all over.
"Hm, there must be some sort of event put on, maybe a kid's party."
Curious, your eyes slowly track the trajectory the mass of bubbles is coming from to see a large, bearded man on the third story in a quiet and dark room nodding thoughtfully as his bubble machine spews the prismatic orbs into the wild.
Nice
Bubbles are spherical, not prismatic.
KineticWasEpic other definition of "prismatic" referring to color, not shape.
@@KineticWasEpicVideos hmm.. as the other user pointed out, there are a few meanings to prismatic. but if we're really getting down to it... wouldn't a sphere be an infinitely-sided prism/shape? actually curious. cue word being infinitely-sided
@@treysawyer A cylinder would be an infinitely-sided prism, a sphere is not
"As is common in these things" Only on this channel can you expect to get expertise on bubble machine operation. I like it.
"Let's just whip everything out. Well, obviously not that." That's why we adore you, Clive.
Because he *doesn't* whip that out? ;-)
Because he doesn't whip *that* out!
*Because* he doesn't whip that out?
because he doesn't whip that out‽
Because *he* doesn't whip that out?
The reason it doesn't have an option of just clipping shut is for safety. This thing's meant to be toddler-proof, and you don't want tiny fingers managing to get those delicious batteries out.
Those of us from generations that didn't eat the batteries from our toys struggle to understand the need.
"those delicious batteries" i'm laughing man... thanks
@@BaronVonBiffo The kids from your generation that ate the batteries are dead now. Survivorship bias.
I don't know what you mean by "delicious". I find battery acid to be quite bitter.
@Joe Blogs The liquid is basically detergent and water anyway. Wiping it up will give your couch and carpet a bit of a clean. Drink it, and they'll be farting bubbles til Michaelmas.
Yeah I never ate batteries either, but I do have a distant memory of trying to stick stuff into the mains sockets. Not sure if shuttered sockets were everywhere back then.
And anyway just cos your kids have the brains to not eat batteries doesn't mean nobody's will. Sticking stuff in their mouth is how babies learn about the world, for some reason.
I'm always impressed to see how much tech is used in a £2 toy.
Plastic costs next to nothing to mold.
@@lovelyheiferdev still somebody designed all these parts, selected subcomponents, made molds for injection molding, there is actually many injection molded parts in this toy. etc. Plenty of things going on there.
@@lovelyheiferdev £2 toy - extract storage and shipping costs, extract the profit of the retailer, what are you left with?
The costs of molding is not the base material, designing, making and running the mold are.
A simple mold starts at about USD 500 - 1000 e.g. for a dice. More complex and durable molds go up to USD 500,000.
You have to run the molding machine i.e. energy for heating the base material and the mold, cooling the mold, energie for a several tons machinery AND you have to pay the operators.
After that you have a bunch of plastic parts that still need the electrical components and assembling.
Do you still think "Plastic costs next to nothing to mold."?
@@ZZtop-gg3lu if you get the mold for free because it was used somewhere else with higher marging you can run cheaper, this is not a 2pund toy...it is now but wasn't some years agio. Sell it for pounds then we are talking
@@kitecattestecke2303 Every mold has a limited lifespan, the mold is made for the expected product count.
Nothing in life is free, not even a mold. A worn mold needs extensive maintenance.
Anyway, you still need the machinery, the energy for heating, skilled operators, assembling, base materials and shipping.
It is more likely a rest stock from a bankrupt company.
Only £2 well done Poundland!!
The same bubble machine sells for between £5 and £25 elsewhere.
... exactly. I was about to get one just for the lolz, but both here and AliExpress start around $18 for this. Even shittier gun-type like ones start around $8...
Those ones are the musical ones, surely (you know, song royalties)... /s
Screw over the battery door is some regulation on kids toys
Yes, but they could still have a catch.
@ Catch 22 ;) :P
@ No, that would enable you to violate the battery door regulations by not bothering to put in the screw. We can't have that now can we? The Battery Screw Police do not approve.
@@sootikins Surely it would be better for the batteries to be covered than left open if the screw was lost? Batteries are toxic and killers to kids who swallow them.
@ Valid point. Not sure what "they" want us to do if the screw is lost. Maybe bin the thing? Ideally the screw would be captive but that might add a few pennies to the cost.
Those motors have to be a design classic - pretty much the same in various toys/low end products for perhaps 50 years.
The only improvement I can see is that the reservoir has a square bottom, so when the fluid level dips below the wand depth, there will still be some fluid in the reservoir. If the bottom were rounded to match the shape of the wand wheel, there would be less unused liquid.
A larger outside reservoir with a float valve would be good. I have one like this that I run for a Xmas light display. It makes lots of bubbles but the liquid runs out too quickly and I have to keep topping it up. Just checked, mine has a rounded bottom reservoir. But the bubbles still stop when the liquid goes below the bubble wand loop.
2 pounds for a gearmotor and blower, also battery holder and switch. Not bad . All kinds of new toys could be built those parts.
Possibly, except it's all moulded together as one big part. So you're stuck with the basic function of it.
Immediately I'm thinking add an led to illuminat the bubbles.
@@simonhopkins3867 One of those self-changing RGB ones would be nice. Just give them 5V (I think) and they do all the nice rainbow stuff themselves.
4.5V from 3xAA would probably do.
@@greenaum yes 4.5v would do it. 👍🏻
Not to mention adding music as intended in the original design. The musical one would probably be in the £5 Poundland range though.
Indeed there is a musical version, but I don't know where it would be bought. I remember not that long ago, with a mad glint in my eyes, reaching for something to flatten the irritating thing that churned out Three Blind Mice (I think it was) as the bubbles issued forth in copious quantities. Thankfully the cheap batteries that were supplied with it didn't last very long! 😉
I would have cracked it open and neutered the speaker. Bubbles are great. Bleepy cheap kids toy music is not.
Ply a friend with booze,
Encourage him to gibber and swear,
Play musical bubble machine......
Rap music!
I use mine to blow bubbles as part of a Xmas lights display. I got some 'bluetooth speakers 'cheap', incorporated into a 'frisbee' of all things. I think I'll have a go at putting one inside the bubble machine so it can play Xmas tunes too.
AppleTom9091 Why not tunes from the old hit duo "Soap"?
My guess is they are air intake holes not speaker holes
4:20 - "The Bubble Machine has defeated me." Wouldn't that be something funny to see on a gravestone? ;)
Aleatha Vogel it would indeed, funnier things have been written on gravestones ! Id like to see a Dalek blowing bubbles !
Now they just need to produce a model that runs on mains voltage.
Stick a speaker in it and have it play some death metal - that could be highly amusing.
noooooo, imperial death march
And use the 2 top holes in the "tank" to add some lights, looks like they are perfect for 5 mm LEDs
Stick a big bearded guy behind it at night. Any music will do.
aaaand blow propane into the bubbles with torches in proximity....
"imperial death march" - you'd need a bigger speaker to play it loud enough.
With all these re-assembled bubble machines and laser lights, there must be one heck of a techno rave going on at chez Clive of an evening! Everyone off their faces on peanut butter hand flavoured vodkas and Russian liqueur chocolates......it’s just an image I’m concocting in my mind after watching all these videos, lol
Not half as much of a rave as is going on at work.
bigclivedotcom oh!, do tell, lol
Seems a pretty good bubble machine too and I can only say that cos the daughter loved the things about 4-6 years ago when she was a toddler hence the reason we bought various models of them, seeking the best of them all, and some of them were way too high priced.
We need a good demo with some lasers, disco lights and party wands and other good stuff!
I just saw this video today in the homepage, what a coincidence considering I had to try and repair one of these jeezless toys for my nephew.
very useful , i bought a machine for my kid, it stopped working, i took it apart and all the gears came off, i had no idea where they went , i watched this and i fixed it!
That machine would be awesome mounted on a bicycle (back rack). Leaving a bubble trail & miles of smiles!
2am Clive uploads, 4am next door neighbour TURns on music and wakes me up, I punch there front door twice hard, music stops and I watch the video and prepare to be pissed off all day.
I imagine the neighbors found the bubbles much more enjoyable than shattering plastic/glass, burning lithium batteries, and assorted small explosions. :)
Been a while since I clicked on one of your videos. Silly me. It's good to hear a fellow Scotsman take things to bits. Hope you're doing good.
It'd be better if the tank was thinner at the bottom, because once the liquid gets below a level where the loop doesn't entirely submerge it doesn't really work anymore. So, really, anything below that level is wasted volume.
I just bought this for my boy.
He loves is cos...well...bubbles.
I love it cos of bubbles and due to it's "As seen on Big Clive"
Time to use this in a project . Wire it to a controller attached to a speaker that when a certain frequency is attained it will do a round of 2 seconds of bubble
What I found peculiar was that the device didn't blow the bubbles out all in the same direction, but seemed to do a "sweeping" motion from left to right and back - I wonder how that was realized, probably has something to do with the gearing of the drive, as well as the changing oval/round shapes of the individual bubble wands.
Each individual bubble making oval/round moves from left to right, which means the angle from it to the blower moves in precisely that way.
How do you fill the damn thing????
The first thing to die on that will be the motor, those little brushed DC motors won't last more than 24 hours or so even at their rated voltage. The brushes and/or commutator will wear through and break quickly because they're just tiny sheets of copper.
There are models with sintered copper or even carbon brushes, and >5000h lifespans, but those definitely are not going to be in a £2 toy.
I have one in a shower sprayer that sprays a cleaner after use. It was originally powered by 4 AA. It got wet an crusty like the titanic an the circuit board corroded too. I replaced it all with two 3.6v LiFe 18650s and a momentary switch. I thought it would die a miserable death but nope. Of course its only 30 seconds a day.
In this case that thing is sooooo gear reduced it might actually last since the current draw will be so low the brushes wont get worked. Maybe BigClive needs to do endurance tests on cheap shitty products!
I'm guessing that the "speaker position" is just an air inlet. That fan has to pull air from somewhere.
There are versions which play "music".
When you return home will you test it with the cats?
You can get catnip infused bubble liquid. That video needs to be done!
Add some RGB LEDS and you've got quite THE disco bubble machine there! Might have to see if I can find something similar locally.
Don't forget the annoying strobe effect.
If you wanna get confused on the level of effect and affect, explore centrifugal and centripetal force.
"impact" works for replacing effect and affect. Maby "spinny" will work
What a cat-scaring apparatus! ;) Clever to be the inventor that was hissed upon a lot.
I think you could fit a motion sensor module to it and maybe a laser pointer. The cat would poop in your shoes for a week.
Put a head on the top and it'd make a great bubble-shooting robot. Mounted on a Roomba, perhaps.
"The bubble-machine has defeated me." - clive 2019
‘’Let’s whip everything out....well obviously not that’’ 😂
Take a drink every time Clive says "bubble".
They need to make a Mains powered version for £3
Or, usb as it seems everything is going that direction.
@@jamesplotkin4674 I think hes leaning towards electrified kiddies.
@@mysock351C I was thinking more towards setting up one of these to run 24/7 myself, run a tube down to the reservoir then attach it to some nozzle that you can screw a bottle onto, although I suppose your idea would leave the kids in more shock and awe.
@@vgamesx1 if not well made, could also be with more shock than awe!
@@vgamesx1 Yeah I couldn't tell if the OP was making a joke, or just really likes bubbles :) But it would be easy enough to do, just use a 5V USB supply and solder the leads to the +/- battery terminals or put a power jack inside the case.
Have you got a dusk till dawn movement sensing light in the room , remove the light emitter and replace it with soapy bubble emmiter . Perfect security device, add uv ink or regular ink for an evidence marking of any offender.
..and a nice polka dot pattern on your wallpaper
MattOGormanSmith The regular occupant's wallpaper. He's only borrowing the place for a few weeks.
It's amazing toy for that price, until a company name ex. Mattel brand name would x10 the price. I always visit Poundland (Dealz here in Ireland) where so many cheap, practical and weird but useful items.
Mix that with a smoke machine and a disco light! The BigClive Party in a Box 2000! "Party like its 1999!"
Cheers Clive I'm now heading to town to buy one because my daughter seen me watching this video. 😂
I use to take things apart when I was a kid to see the insides and how stuff works
Did you ever put anything back together?
@@paulsengupta971 yes I did for stuff that isn't broken for broken stuff I left it dismantled
Before you opened that up, I was thinking it would be way more complicated then it is.
5:15 How did you know what I was thinking? 😳
I don’t know why but I’d watch this guy unscrew things for 10 minutes straight.
His technique is so damn exquisite
Looking at the bubbles at the start of the video... not bad performance for £2 worth.
Big, hairy, deep voiced scottsman describing detailed theory of blowing bubbles.....
I love UA-cam!!
From this video I have learnt... that the more liquid in the bubble wand... the more you need to keep blowing it...? And that it's good to dip several bubble wands in, one after another...? Got it! 😊😂
Wasn't Bubbles the name of Michael Jackson's chimp? Just askin'...
One of the better human inventions
The Blubblewand!!
Love your videos, most restore my faith in humanity lol. This is a great little gadget isn't it?
It originaly played "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" but after complaints from Millwall fans they had to remove the soundchip.
So that's what the grooves are for😊 I say the neighbours thought you had gone mad blowing boubles out the window 👏👍p.s. how much was that cool trippy light you done a video on the day,,,??
They come in all shapes and sizes....we have one shaped like a pot with horizontal wheel that dips into well on one side....and another one shaped like a pistol....but both have same mechanisms.
Great video big Clive
i think its funny that that whole unit cost 2 pounds, when you can't even buy just the motor in it for that! Last time I looked at toy motors in a hobby shop they're like $4.99-$9.99 each!
Your hobby shop motor probably have better brushes etc and will last longer than this.
It would be interesting to hook this up to a proper PSU, let it run until failure and graph the current over time. It either locks up, or the brushes go open circuit when worn out.
Poundland will soon have to change their shop logos to clarify that they now sell things by both monetary value and weight also or give all their staff 'We know it is not a £1..' badges
They'll probably just tippex quotation marks around the £1 logo. Or add a 0 after the 1.
For the man who has everything.
Clive at first-glance I wasn't sure what I was looking at exactly, was glad it turned out to be merely a bubble maker... 😉
I don't mean to sound thick all, but does it come supplied with any bubbles or do the fairy liquid trick??
adding the guts of the laser sphere to this would be a great addition
Will have to get one for my ever-so great granddaughter 😃
There is never anything as exciting as you show on your channel available at the poxy Poundlands in my area - the most technically 'interesting' I've ever seen was a very ordinary powerbank!
Good job mate!
Wouldn't it be disturbing if it blasted out death metal while blowing bubbles. Probably be best not to have a speaker in this case.
Peace
I wounder if the Musical one plays " i'm forever blowing bubble "
Isn't that a #MichealJackson song... /s
One ending in "bubble" might be. One ending in "bubbleS" has been around since the 1940s or so. Came from some Judy Garland movie I think.
Only blowing bubbles when you fart in a bath with bubble bath solution in it.
@@garyslatter9854 I'm not sure he sang it, but its more than likely !
@@thehappylittlefoxakabenji8154 it was his Monkey's name
Need to find a simple/quieter one like this. I've seen it mentioned that pigeons hate bubbles and I want to put one on the balcony, to hopefully scare them off. The bubble machine I bought, was as noisy as a food blender! So that was a no go.
They're usually quite quiet.
@@BigClive The one I bought, Gazillion Bubble Rush, is the size of a small gum ball machine. I made the mistake of not checking the reviews while in-store before buying. Noise level hadn't even occurred to me. The gearing from the fan motor to the bubble disc is the noisy part. Maybe some lithium/silicone grease would help.
I have one like this, not exactly, but the same design.
It works really well at producing lots of bubbles, until it doesn't
Two problems - [edited] make that three [/edited]
1. It goes through bubble liquid very quickly, and stops making bubbles before the reservoir is empty. Best way to top it up is use a squeezy washing up liquid bottle. Some kind of float-valve would be the way to go and a larger reservoir on the side.
2. When the batteries begin to run down the bubbles don't get blown away, but cling to the rotating parts. You end up with bubbles dribbling down the front of the machine. Solution - a power supply running off the mains.
[edited]
3. You need a quality bubble liquid. Don't bother trying to get by with washing up liquid, Two litres of bubble liquid cost me more than the machine did. And make sure it's non-toxic. I find that children try to catch the bubbles in their mouths !!!
[/edited]
I'm curious. Has Poundland started stocking their Halloween tat yet? I saw Halloween candy in the local dollar store today which will be nice and stale by Halloween.
I suppose it's all in keeping with the spirit of things: The adults think they're giving a treat, but the kiddies will think it's some sort of trick.
I hope not. Plenty of time for all that stuff. More sunshine please.
The 'blubble' device works fine...but quality bubble fluid availability is a problem...using perfumed(as all are) washing up liquid doesn't cut the mustard 👜💣💡
@john hansberry OK...I'll try that...let you know how it goes 💡
havent seen those in my nearby poundland..yet!!
Hmm.. Bubble machine, UV dye and a UV lamp.... This has possibilities.....
You can buy UV bubble fluid.
Could you put sented oils in it and take it to Edinburgh pride
I used an alcohol based vanilla flavour in a bubble gun and it worked fine , I dont know if an oil would prevent the bubbles from forming.
How much difference is there between this and the "professional" (theatre, etc) bubble machines? Is it a design difference? Or just a matter of scale and quality?
It's scale for many of them. You do get quite specialist ones for smoke filled bubbles though.
where could i get a bubble projector that can be run for long periods without breaking? so i can point it out my window and bubblify the neighborhood
I hate screw only battery compartments!
That fan looks useful though.
5:12 - I was dying! Good one Clive :)
I was starting to wonder where this was going to go with you talking about whipping things out and screws. Anyway nice short and to the point video.
Are you still at the job and can you tell us the name of the show?
Royal Edinburgh military tattoo.
I got the same from pound land but it doesn t seem to perform as good as this one! It just gives a few amount of bubbles at the time :( Any thoughts why this is happening? I used water and Fairy dish soap.
Use real bubble solution. They add a tiny quantity of polyethylene oxide to the good ones, which makes super strong bubbles. Poundland should have bottles of the bubble liquid with or without wands.
I purchased one today for my two toddlers 🤯😁...
They'll love it. You will too.
@@BigClive Let the good times roll 😁😎!! Have a great weekend 😀!
Where do you put the bubble solution ?
I am tempted to rig one with a microphone and only let it blow if it's more silent around it than a certain level.
Then put it in a place with lots of kids.
As soon as they gather and get loud the bubbles stop
Looking good 👍😀
Is that speaker grill just an air inlet?
Here's someone: ua-cam.com/video/p2XGtwJCbok/v-deo.html&lc=UgyTYrUWtNctD9DZqmx4AaABAg
"Lets just whip ever thing out" Do you want to rephrase that Clive, I have a disturbing image in my mind now that will forever haunt me.
Why do most windows in england or ireland flip open to the outside instead of inside? I was in a hotel in london, same thing, weird
I wonder, if it was powered at mains voltage, how many bubbles can we get this thing to spit out before it lights fire in a blaze of bubbly glory. Perhaps add some lighter fluid to the bubble mix for added effect?
A new superhero? The „Bubbleman“ fights together with Superman and Spiderman against the evil.
"... well, not that."
Do it you coward.
I wonder who introduced the serrated bubble wand?
love it ♥ I want one 🙌
Screw om battery lids.
Just became a dad 6 months ago. It must be a safety requitement for toys. Because EVERY toy my kid has needs one or two screws that needs removing for replacing the battery.
Is this as much fun for kids as the old ones where they had to blow or flap their arms?
Clive, I think I saw you in Edinburgh today, as I'm at the Fringe. I wanted to stop and say hi as I'm a big fan, but felt somewhat uncomfortable pointing at a stranger in the street and exclaiming "Big Clive?!"
You should have said hello. It was probably me.
"Better to be screwed or at least have the option. Bubbles being sucked back in. Let's just whip everything out!"
i want to hear some Alison Limerick booming out of that speaker port!
I have that same exact design with different color. Also no audio for mine 😅
One bubble wand type is circular and a second type is oval. Bubble diversity?
Michael Jackson was forever blowing bubbles as well.
Allegedly
Come on Clive, lets whip EVERYTHING out.
That's high-tech -I only have pan, bubble wand, and a fan. We hid at night, turn the fan on, and let the people passing enjoy the nighttime wonder