1:40 earning money, yeah right! The only people earning money are the fraudsters selling this wooo! 4:14 NOT 25 hundred, 25 THOUSAND WATTS!

If you guys want to build your own the keywords for the miracle capacitor on eBay are 3uf fan capacitor. Target price around $2 each. Maybe add a couple of 470K resistors in series across it to avoid zings.

Big Clive determined that a hot dog has a power factor of 1.

I went to the mass merchant and bought some spark plugs, save me 30 percent of gas. I bought some new special oil for the engine, save me 30 percent on gas. I got some new tires that give good life and save 20 percent of gas. I put a gasoline magnet on my fuel line to save me 30 percent of gas. I was driving around the other day and my gas tank overflowed.

Only digital energy saver is a Kill-A-Watts meter use it on your biggest energy hogging devices and once you see how much power it actually uses you'll learn to turn it off when it's not in use.

At least hotdogs have a power factor of 1...

I'm an industrial electrical engineer. Majority of manufacturing plants are paying their electrical bills in kWH, so power factor makes little difference on the electrical bill. We prefer to keep it above 0.8 or so. Poor power factor may overload the wiring if loaded heavily. We do use power factor correction capacitor banks on medium voltage (4,160V) motors only. Beware of "snake oil" salesmen who want to sell you a miracle device that will guarantee at least 20% power saving. Ask them to leave and to never come back! They will sell you a grossly overpriced surge surge protector that does nothing to reduce power consumption. I've seen industrial plants with $800 surge protectors installed at their main substation. They paid $25,000 for the device and were promised tremendous savings. Problem is that it's very hard to verify the savings due to large variations in production schedule and machine utilization. The salesman who sold them the miracle device, drove a brand new Mercedes. LOL.

DEFCON 5 = everything is fine, stand down.

I saved 10% on the energy of my electric shower with no device at all. Just cut my bath from 10 min to 9 min. Amazing!

in italy you don't only get charged for pfc but also get fined if out of spec. legends say small factories just eat the fines as it's cheaper than upgrade the power banks. :D

Don't throw away the thing. You could still use the metal casing and other parts for other projects.

It has a good metal box

Digital wankery!! I literally LOL at this shit. I grew up as a conspiracy theory, hunt for free energy kid into my late 20s. Seeing guys like you and ElectroBOOM has done good things for me.

Still a better input protection than Weller....

At least it gives you a nice project box that has a hole pre-made in case you want your own project to have a display - oh, and save the line cord and the fuse holder! Plus they give you an AC voltmeter, to boot! Too bad there was no actual magic woo-woo inside... 😫

Just checked, in Italy you don't pay for reactive/capacitive power unless you have a contract for 16.5kw or more. In the UK only commercial activities are charged, EDF charges for reactive power only if it exceeds 33% of real kWh in the bill.

Originally "power factor" just meant "cos phi", the cosine of the angle between voltage and current. Traditional inductive loads had a lower power factor and could be corrected by adding a capacitor. However, modern devices like your scope are not an "inductive load", the power factor is not low because of angle between voltage and current, but because of non-sinusoidal current. Mostly due to switch-mode power supply without active PFC. Unfortunately regulations on power metering not necessarily have been kept up-to-date w.r.t. this "new situation". Try to lookup the requirements of power meters in Australia, you may find that it says nothing about measuring power in the case of non-sinusoidal current. Here in Europe it doesn't. It only mentions "cos phi" and "taking effective value" without any specification on how that is to be done. So in theory a power meter could be measuring sqrt(2)*Ipeak to get Ieff and would still be compliant. And you as a customer would pay a lot more for the power consumption by such devices than for power dissipated in a resistive load. And when you think your bill is excessive, the company will offer you "calibration of the meter" (at your cost when it turns out to be correct), and they will measure it with a resistive load and maybe some capacitive and inductive component, it will come out correct, and you lose. In reality it often is not as dramatic as sqrt(2)*Ipeak, but it will do some form of RMS metering with a limited bandwidth. That can still indicate too high when your load has very spikey current. Which a modern electronic device can have. So you could actually "save power" (not really save power, but cut down on your electricity bill) when you filter the current to your devices in such a way that those current spikes are no longer present and the meter does not see them. A low-pass filter on the mains should do that. And in fact, such a lone capacitor would act as a low-pass filter, but not a very effective one. Likely more effective is a big tuned circuit at 50/60Hz. And of course you have to be careful not to incur a lot of losses in there, especially idle load. It could be more than what you save by the improved metering.

neat case for projects at least

Throw a couple magnets in there... and baby, you got yourself a scamstarter going

Greetings from Germany guys (I totally renounce from this product :D)

That company moto: protect the planet by wasting resources...

98kW on 240v is 408A !!!! I would love to see those tiny PCB traces with 408A flowing thru :-p Protective googles mandatory ;c)

EEVblog can fix his PM300 display for his next repair video, properly the rubber connection or flat cable :)

Clearly, by the packaging alone, you can tell that this is a superior product.

Clearly not compliant with AU safety standards. Not earthed and even the instructions state not to touch the mains lead after unplugging it because it will hold a charge. Also no compliance markings. I am VERY surprised it has what looks to be a compliant mains lead though. Usually we just get the Chinese uninsulated ones. Or any other country plug and a deathdapter (bigclive reference).

1st thing we learned in technical school .... "every conductive part of the case must be properly grounded"... even for a woo woo device no one should get shocked because of poor design ...

15 bucks for a nice metal box and a half decent 3 digit meter.

"save up to 35%". "up to" includes 0.

Here in the UK some utilities are talking about billing for apparent power. New smart meters being rolled out across the UK can (I believe) track this. I think Big Clive mentioned this when he tore down a smart meter.

These things do have some value if you are a ham radio operator or MW/SW radio listener. They do actually reduce the buzzies and birdies in your radios caused by the equally-cheezy switching wall-warts coming from C#1na. Shorten the line cord to a few inches for the best effect. Plug them in to the same outlets as your noisy wall warts. Dave: Checking these as line filters with one of your surge and conducted interference testers could be fun in more ways than one!

The Chineseum manufactureres design the boxes long before designing the product! - If only some Landfillium worked just as described on it's packaging!

Glad your back Dave! 👍👍👍👍👍

Duh it has an LED display and is DIGITAL, so it MUST be legit!

30 bucks for a project box...strip it, add custom PCB (with neat little LCD please), built in fuse holder,.....sooooo many uses for that bit of kit that don't actually involve using it for its intended purpose.

I watched this video yesterday.I got notification today.😮😮

Here in the UK , we had to add a PFC to our factory because of our poor power factor. We were being charged quite a premium until then.

3:35 - Depends on the polarity of your plug, shall we say?

Depending on the cost, they may make for good hobby project enclosures though 🤔

1:23 - "new digital German technology" - So it's a sex toy of some sort. Brief, but efficient.

In France, for home appliances, it's the responsability of the maker to sell products with a power factor over 80%. For industrial, it's the consumer responsability to stay over 80%.

I mean for 10 bucks i would just buy it for the good usable case

No ground connection and they didn’t even bother to put a plastic barrier between the pcb and the metal case? Wow!

Hi back to Australia from Germany! We sure have New german digital technology!

In Europe the new meters measure active and reactive power but they are not yet mandatory in some countries.

Nicely done

I think it's good value for the case and parts - they look OK quality. So my advice would be to dismantle and use the bits. Any ideas for a device you could make that was useful without adding to much extra? First add that essential earth connection though.

When it reads "german technology" and "protect the environment" on a package it's probably a scam !

If over over correct your power factor you can realy save money becasue you "hide" some energy to your meter

They took the "no more double-spaces after a period" rule to the next level, and removed the single-space as well.

I think for 230V double insulate you want at least 5.5 mm clearance.

You overlooked the importance of the voltage meter. It stabilizes voltage and saves electricity via the observer effect. /s

In the USA they don't usually put the power factor cap in cfl lights. In other countries they are not allowed to sell them without the added cap. Over time they would save energy having them in.

Does it at least have a resistor to discharge the cap or will we get a nice electrical greeting when touching the plug?

Well you have a nice case... stay positive!

Why throw it into the trash? Thats a nice voltimeter!

I thought for a second that Clive uploaded a new vid. :D

While not the "intended" purpose, the voltmeter does work (almost). Maybe it could be calibrated. I'm not holding my breath.

Skip to 6:50 for the actual content and tear down.

So it takes electronic energy to save electronic energy??? Yes a load of BULLSHIT

What about a Power Conditioner? I needed one for the Pa speakers. Whats the deal with them?

Nice sturdy build quality, decent price and cool display - I'm ordering one!

But gasoline line magnets just have to work, right? Right?! :-)

You have a nice metal enclosure and a mains digital voltmeter. Mains voltmeter might be handy in California where the grid browns out in the summer.

I'm wondering why they even bother to solder this capacitor

I do wonder if you could make some sort of whole house thing that can dynamically change it's capacitance and inductance. Might be able to help if that is ever measured in the future.

The only application I could think of is for people who use a generator to drive power tools with it. But those tools often have a corrective capacitor built in already.

Does a PFC Cap help things like refrigerators and compressors run more efficiently? or at least keep from disrupting other devices in the home? For example getting a slight bit of noise while recording if my fridge is running.

Was *any* of it soldered properly? Interested to see the clearance between fuse holder tab and the PCB...

I have installed a capacitor that corrects the power factor for all installed light tubes. If I change the tubes to LED, do I have to remove it to the capacitor?

In Spain there are 3 types of electric tariffs, in the small consumer tariff (up to 10KW) you don't pay for reactive power, so this kind of devices are completely useless.

WOW! Even the cord clamp is missing the top part!

these are for people who think electricity is magic.

That's scary that they cut out the earth. Not just for the box but for whatever you have plugged into it! That could lead to someone getting a nasty shock if they used it on an earthed appliance!

I looked up the website and found that device on there. It is proudly displayed with nine (Nine!) awards. The kicker? The first image has the tagline, in English: "Give you is not just the quality of the products, and surprises". Well, you would definitely get a surprise in your electrical bill if you have it plugged in.

Thought in the UK the new "smart meter" give you a 90 KVA rating to you house, then do charge you for the transmission to the house if you power factor is out........

Who knew reading the manual could be this entertaining!

Is it true some devices draw Power when they are "turned off"?

They don't even use a proper X-capacitor. Power companies install PFC for you on the pole or if you are very bad user in your home before the power meter (normaly at no extra cost). They keep track at the substation and hunt the source for bad power factor.

I absolutely just love this guy, and I hate most people!😁🤗😉

I and my German fellows want to distance us from this device. We have nothing to do with this buggery!

Where can I buy a case like that, for less than the price of the whole thing?

That manual read like the one for the turboencapsulator

9:00 "Sanyo" capacitor... Oh wait, Sanyo capacitor dep. was sold to Panasonic about 10 years ago :) What-a-crap... "Test" it with Schaffner MIS HV pulses.

what happens if you plug into a modified square wave inverter ???

The box says, "Installation of the device would be at the power source near the apparatus in the circuit." That's like a waiter saying, "Your table would be at the food source near the apparatus in the circuit." In other words, next to the kitchen, where the waiters rush in and out. It's marketing BS.

would be kinda fun to see the "wave" form with a scope to see if any of the pictures mean anything on there instruction :)

Might be of value for iron ballasted fluro lights EXCEPT from memory the capacitance should be around 8uF per light. Should add I've had two similar looking caps fail in appliances, both in Delonghi dehumidifiers.

Is there something wrong on my end or does the audio clip occasionally?

great for audiophools !

That is IDENTICAL to the power supply for my elderly Mother's mobility chair device... IDENTICAL...!

7:05 are the colours wrong or do I see the Live (brown) going into the pcb where it is labeled 'N' and the blue (Neutral) going into the 'L'

The isolation between neutral and live on the circuit board is really bad, too. Ineffective and even dangerous device.

SAVING EXPERTS: *writes professional looking manual* EEVblog: cries of laughter while reading it hahahahhaa

I remember we did a Lincoln Tech years ago with a shit-ton of welders for the students, and the power company wanted PF correction and ultimately a large capacitor bank was added. I think it even had some intelligence in it to dynamically switch them in, or at least it sounded like it did. Otherwise it would be like drilling a hole in your canoe to drain out the water.

Looks like they wired the fuse holder backwards too. Also doesn't look like theres a discharge resister across the large cap either.

Needs more Woo Woo. Still trying to figure out if it's the sound of the crazy train leaving the station, or the approaching Waaambulance coming to assist the folks who bought one of these things.

Where can I get one.

I believe Spain currently charges for apparent power for domestic customers. The UK will probably follow sooner or later.

Great video!

Without getting into nonsense, the fact is that:1)Reduction of " I squared R " losses make simple addition of capacitors of benefit near to inductive loads like fixed speed induction motors by reducing line current losses ,but will the extra terminal voltage mean the motor simply run slightly faster and do more work ? 2) If there is a KVA maximun demand charge tariff, improving power factor makes sense whether centrally or at the final point of energy use. 3) Anything claiming to improve power quality or harmonics is generally a scam, 4) inverter drives running induction motors generally operating at sub 95% of mains frequency will save energy and 5) fixed speed motor voltage controllers for generally cyclic load duty on mainly lightly loaded induction motors can make a significant % saving. 6)As an energy saving professional I can confirm there are no holes in the laws of physics to justify dodgy spurious energy saving gizzmos.