Bulk led filaments from aliexpress which have really crashed in price. The these things used to be fairly expensive, initially, but they're now down to roughly 10 pence each that's either because they're just a common thing now or perhaps it's because these are all rejects, and you just never know what you're getting from china. This is a dubai lamp. This is not a reject.

This is part the inspiration of getting some of these, because i quite fancy making a lamp with just tons of filaments in it. So the first thing to note is that this did actually come with a piece of cardboard to reinforce it. This is good because i got some other led filaments from another supplier. They came loose in bags with other stuff, like solenoid valves and pumps.

Things and half them were broken that wasn't good. So the first thing i want to do is actually test these. I don't know what voltage these are. I've tried them at low voltage, but i get the feeling that the traditional mains ones that probably have about 30 leds in series or so so about 100 volts per filament.

But i'm thinking i'll find that out with some discrete components, i shall doodle down what i'm going to do and then i shall pause when i do it just so. This video isn't enormous. So one thing you're doing i'm thinking it in the main supply. Yes, it will involve open connections and putting a couple of resistors on the neutral and a couple of new resistors in the live.

He said getting them in the wrong order, but it doesn't really matter and uh. This is just for safety. The reason i'm using two resistors on each it spreads dissipation and also um. It acts increases the voltage rating with two resistors each one.

A quarter watt resistor, is only rated for about 150 volts. It's a safety thing. Then i'm going to uh use a standard bridge. Rectifier, let me draw a proper fuel bridge right far this time, like the proper style, so those connections are going to go.

To that end. The diodes are all going to point towards the positive and they're going to point away from that negative. So all the dires always point all of them in a bridge right far towards the positive connections, that'll be negative and then all i plan on doing is just dumping. Well, initially trying one to make sure i've got the polarity right.

There is a little hole punched in the metal strip, and i think that indicates the positive, not sure so i'm just going to dab this across to try it out that way. I only blow up one filament if it works. I shall then attach the entire string of leds and it's going to be very low. Current i'm going to choose 22k resistors and for these for all of them, and that, technically speaking, will give me roughly um 240 volts, which are is our local supply divided by 88k, which is the total of all.

Those resistors would theoretically give about 2.7 milliamps. But there's also going to be a significant voltage drop across these, so it's probably going to be about one milliamp, but it will. Let me at least test those things. The dissipation worst case dissipation would be that current times, 240 0.6 watts across those resistors.

There's four of them divided by four equals 0.16 watts, each they're rated 0.25 watts the quarter wall. I shall pause while i sold this together and i'll be back in one moment. Okay, here is my ugly creation. It's got the two resistors in each leg: 22k.

Uh red red orange and it's got the discrete bridge rectifier, and then it's got a couple of wires, save technically speaking, because i got these uh current limiting resistors. What would that be? There'd? Be a voltage drop across me. Just this is just a myth. Uh 240 minus support which drop across me.

Let's say: 40 volts worst case scenario: 200 divided by uh 44. What sort of shock would i get if i came in contact that and was grounded uh 4.5 milliamps? That's not bad! It would hurt, definitely hurt up the fingers, but it wouldn't be life-threatening, and safety is important, said clive, just basically bringing out a complete mess of electrical stuff onto this bench. That is about to operate 240. Volts right, tell you what in goes the two resistors.

This is not live yet. This is a cliff, quick test by the way it's us of lab and workshop type test device. So i want this wire over here and i want this wire over here. I shall balance a filament between them.

I shall just bounce across. I think this is the correct polarities. It's going to make connection. This is not normally how you test led filaments.

Actually i say that when you see some of the factories in china, it's pretty much how they test it. They get bare connections and they've got little. Ladies actually poking these things across, but here is the first test. It's it's just falling off right.

Tell you what i'm not too scared! I should put it across like that. It lit excellent. Keep my fingers clear that that would hurt yeah! That's that's looks pretty good. What is the voltage across that? This is where i trap? Actually, you know what, before i do, this i'm just going to connect across this whole strip, so i've ascertained that the little hole at the on the strip is the positive, so where's the little holes in this one.

That's uh, let's see if we can get right way around and not blow off an entire strip of these. So if i just stuff this wire through here yeah, this is safe and uh. Then power this whole thing up. Oh there you go, it is uh right.

Sidewalk to show you of what this looks like i'm going to take the exposure off and i'm going to take the lights off. Oh nice, slight shimmer, because there is no smoothing, but the good news is that these are all lighting evenly right. Tell you what? Let's bring the meter in and measure the voltage across that it's not going to be super accurate because oh and i've just pinged electrical connection off hold on bear with me one moment, but i stuff that back through another hole there classy it's. It looks great in the camera i mean it looks really bright.

It's not quite as bright here. So here is my meter. I'm going to set it for 200 volts, i'm going to bring it in i've got the display lit. Let's see roughly, what's the voltages across these roughly 43 volts, that's less than i was expecting 43 volts perplexing uh 43 volts.

Let me let me just work that out tell you what i'm going to bring the lights back watch your eyes. The light is back. Uh actual rocks exposure, so it doesn't you up and down so 43 volts um, i'm not sure. That's going to be because it's going to be it's good, that's going to be quite rough dc, but it should be averaging it, but 43 volts uh, divided by at the low current.

These are operating at like it's like less than a milliamp each. I would expect a forward voltage across each chip in these about 2.4 volts equals 17.9. How accurate, i wonder if there's 18 leds in these, can i count them. I may be able to count them uh.

In previous times, i've tried to count them. I've actually taken a close-up picture of it, glowing, dimly and then uh. Taking a look at the picture and uh then worked out. Well, i'm gon na try that, but i don't know - let's maybe just uh.

I don't know how easy it's gon na be to do right now in the middle of the video i may have to print that picture off and look at it later, so i shall do that, but i shall also um i'm going to experiment now. I've done this and i know what voltage they are. I'm going to make um a rough light er with a capacitive dropper. I think one moment please, i'm going to uh, i'm just going to do some experiments.

Experiments have been done. I couldn't resist it. Uh 18. Leds spot on that's less than i was expecting, but that is interesting.

It does mean the voltage these filaments. Well, let's work that out with the voltage is going to be at full current. Typically, it's going to be 3 volts at full current, so um, 18 times 3 volts equals it's going to be about 54 volts per filament that will allow in some of the american 120 volt fixtures, allow two of these filaments to be used in series. Okay, i shall put this phone out the way.

That's the little phone that i used just purely for pictures. Taking detailed pictures right. Tell you what i'm gon na turn this off, so i don't get zing off it, i'm to bring the notepad back in again. Let's redesign this so i'll start from scratch and i'm going to uh communically have a neutral and i'm going to have a current limiting capacitor say a resistor should say: 1k, probably a dropper capacitor, with a discharge resistor across of about one mega i'll make this round About 470 nano this is just estimated.

I shall then put that through. So that's very quickly drawn a bridge rectifier acn, acn, plus minus, and then it's going to go through all these little leds like this and then uh through more technically speaking. I could put all three sets. I'm gon na do that.

I'm gon na put all three sets in the series here and just make an absolutely ridiculous, led filament lamp like this uh. Technically speaking, if i have sort of connections on solid, i can also put a capacitor across here and that will smooth it and make it a bit brighter too right. I'm going to do that right now. One moment please, i would say this is looking pretty good things worthy of note.

There's a matte side to this, the metal and the shiny side. The matte side is the side with the leds facing up. I think, is it the same in the wall? I think it is more or less the same them all. I didn't notice before, but they're little red dots where they're missing filaments - and this is where they must have in the factory.

They must have just uh powered these up as big sections of strips and then gone along with a sharpie and just put a dot where they're, faulty and they've cut those out and then they've shipped them out, and so there's one missing from there. One from there. One from there and this one that i actually cut out from the end over here, the power supply i'm using for these is the 470 nano farad capacitor, with a one mega ohm discharge, resistor the 1k inrush limiting resistor a discrete project for a chongx capacitor, with Its own discharge, resistor and then they're just effectively all connected in as like parallel, runs but connected in series uh with these solar blobs. Let's give it a go: let's see what the intensity is like in the power.

So i'm just going to keep this wire out. The way here, they're all lit this is good. There is a slight variation in intensity, but i think that's just the led tolerance. The hoppy says at 3.7 watts that's giving philips a run for the money, uh 0.56 per factor.

I'd pretty much expect that 27 milliamps in the ac side. That looks all right um. If i turn the. If i take the exposure off and i turn the light off so just going to swamp out.

Yes, it's swamped out, but that gives you an idea. Watch your eyes, the light is coming back, not that there was really a lack of light in the first place uh. Yes, this is my version of the dubai lab. Then it's the clive eye, lamp uh with its 104 filaments.

I should i feel i should put this one as well make 105, but to be honest, i'm going to experiment now, i'm going to create some frames going to maybe see if i can get some globes and then just create a ridiculously over-the-top fake dubai lamp with Just loads and loads of filaments inside it all running at low power, though so it's a visual that you can look at it without actually getting eye strain uh. But there we go. I would say: that's a success and these uh filaments do seem to be decent. Quality-Ish, so that is it right back to the drawing board.

I think i'm going to have to experiment, but at this point in time that's the end of this video and i shall experiment in cobbling some stuff up something up with these because uh, it's quite a fun project to do.