Smartap manifold teardown (it's a beast!)

Рет қаралды 49,938

2 ай бұрын

What a beast! This thing involved a LOT of engineering. It has shut-off ball valves, motorised ceramic valves and magnetic remanence latching pilot valves for the main water outlet diversion.
Full video about this unit - • Smartap - when the Int...
Then there's the sensor block! Three thermistors (33K at 10C) and two mystery transducers that are mounted between the supply inlets and output manifold. I'm not sure what their purpose is. Random thoughts are pressure differential testing to detect correct flow or that valves have shut properly?
The big thing in the middle that I thought was going to be a last resort thermostatic safety device is actually just a water turbulence mixer to combine the hot and cold water. Its filter mesh is for first stage debris filtering to protect the solenoid valves, but also possibly to assist with the water mixing.
The solenoid valves are very modular and quite complex with a small pilot valve activating the main diaphragm.
It's a 2.5kg (5lb) brass monster with so many places to leak! There seems to be a huge dependence on rubber o-rings everywhere these days.
I dread to think how long this system took to develop, or the costs involved. The mechanical and electronic engineering is immense.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZfaq's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators

Пікірлер: 407

@simaesthesia 2 ай бұрын

Every video now, I can't help laughing at the burn mark in the work surface from the "plastic welding device"!! 🤣

@dimitar4y 2 ай бұрын

i love the subtlety. First episode: Hey guys look at this. Next episode: mark mysteriously appears.

@youdontknowme5969 2 ай бұрын

Photon emission 🙃

@95rav 2 ай бұрын

@@youdontknowme5969it is a sine of something. Or a cosine.

@Uncle-Duncan-Shack 2 ай бұрын

I think those little red things are magnetic flow meters, as water flows through the magnetic field it generates a voltage across two metal probes in the water which is proportional to the speed of the water movement. That thing is ridiculously over engineered. Thanks for sharing, I did enjoy this one.

@tncorgi92 2 ай бұрын

Pretty cool, thanks for explaining

@skylined5534 2 ай бұрын

For some reason I'm reminded of the ultrasonic fuel flow meters as fitted to early carburettor fed versions of the MG, Vanden Plas and HLS Maestros fitted with the digital dash set up. Them was the days!

@wheelmonkey00 2 ай бұрын

Yup Temp is already covered Flow is that contraption, first thought was a vortex meter but could be orifice plate Plenty of connections could be all manner of witchcraft

@deangriffiths8107 2 ай бұрын

To sense pressure drop?

@randomguy7253 2 ай бұрын

It's not only overengineered, it's also built in the most expensive way imaginable -- it looks like the manifold is machined two solid chunks of brass, like you would build a prototype. Just think of the machining time, the wasted brass, and the manual labor it takes to assemble just that mainfold. That might also be part of the reason the company's defunct...

@mikebashford8198 2 ай бұрын

PTFE - Plumbers' Tape For Everything!

@BrickTop900 2 ай бұрын

Looks like Loctite 55 thread sealing cord to me

@LonnonFoster 2 ай бұрын

"Not the manufacturer's recommended technique" is the best technique.

@dlock2k 2 ай бұрын

@1:18 “A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

@skylined5534 2 ай бұрын

"A towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

@alexhajnal107 2 ай бұрын

Similarly, I always bring a sarong when I'm hiking. Can wear it as normal, or use it as a pot holder, cushion, sheet, vest (surprisingly effective) and yes, even as a towel.

@Muonium1 2 ай бұрын

Smartap: the Juicero of the plumbing world!

@Sonny_McMacsson 2 ай бұрын

If it's expensive and still not really your property, you're the juice.

@dimitar4y 2 ай бұрын

@@Sonny_McMacsson that's the new world O to the RDER.

@Sonny_McMacsson 2 ай бұрын

@@dimitar4y New World OJ

@dimitar4y 2 ай бұрын

@@Sonny_McMacsson O is a head and J is a snorkel. You can never unsee it.

@RyTrapp0 2 ай бұрын

At least they aren't making you sign up to a subscription to their own water service lol

@markfergerson2145 2 ай бұрын

“This is so much more complicated than I was expecting” in practically squeal-of-delight tone of voice. There’s nothing more engineer-ey you could have done. Right there with you. This might need a followup looking more closely at the circuit board and the components in order to find out what those probes are and what they do. I think you’re right about the pin-looking things being thermocouples but the red and black things are a lot less obvious. Looking at what they connect to should help nail down what they do. The thing is definitely a beast.

@DavoY2K 2 ай бұрын

I was a plumber for a long time and the tub and shower valves all started to have those integral stops on them I think back in the 2000's. Code started requiring them. They're used so you can shut off the valve and service it without turning off the main. At least that's what they could be from my experience. Cheers.

@SeanBZA 2 ай бұрын

Also so builders could save and not put in any shut off valves other than the main one.

@1djbecker 2 ай бұрын

They are a huge cost savings for multiple dwelling units -- apartments, condos etc. The administrative costs to shut off the water could pay for a lot of hardware. That use case is also the motivation to facilitate back-to-back installations without excessive depth, which means the hot water will come in on the 'wrong' side. A building will typically have a "wet wall" with all of the plumbing, and mirror image bathrooms

@Bushougoma 2 ай бұрын

That's what the enginerds say on paper but in the real world since they're never used they get corroded and you just strip out the flat head if you try to turn it.

@CrazyOregonBeaver 2 ай бұрын

Observations 1. Very entertaining. 2. Like a kid in a candy store. 3. Must have been made by Land Rover. 😂😂😂

@CrispyCircuits 2 ай бұрын

Very important plumbing advice: Always have a real towel or more for all of the water that endlessly spills. Special tip: When you are underneath your sink and remove the J-trap, it is full of water. Obviously, the most convenient place to empty it is through the sink above. We spent years laughing about the guy that did this. Another reason for real towels. I confess I almost did this myself once. As far as temperature control, that is important. We were staying in a hotel where the shower water fluctuated violently between freezing cold and scalding hot. It went scalding just as I was fully soaped up. I jumped back and slipped on the soap suds. I hit the side of the tub on my back. Luckily, I hit my back ribs. Another centimeter and I would have hit my spine and broken my back. As it was, I spent months in agony from the bruised ribs.

@skylined5534 2 ай бұрын

That's almost (almost) the equivalent of rushing to do an oil change only to discover you're happily oiling your drive because you forgot to put the drain plug back in 😂

@peterking2794 2 ай бұрын

Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt.

@squelchstuff 2 ай бұрын

I feel another Big Clive poll comming on. "How many of you have emptied the trap into the sink it came from?" I predict a near 100% result spread over "just the once", "a couple of times" and >1% "never"

@Tsiikki 2 ай бұрын

There's pressostatic showers to keep temp steady. No electronics. I have one from 1980s still working, but retired in my garage

@markfergerson2145 2 ай бұрын

I absolutely will not do anything to a sink drain without removing all the clutter underneath (there’s always a mess of bottles, jugs, and other stuff that seldom gets used under a sink but can’t be thrown out) and placing a bucket or other suitable water catcher under the trap. No, I never dumped the trap into the sink but carrying it to another sink is outside my juggling capacity. Guess how I found that out. Somehow I’ve managed to avoid falling in showers in my 71 years. I’m quite happy chalking it up to dumb luck. On the other hand I end up with a blood blister every damn time working on plumbing, often doing what Clive did with the vise grips.

@Plons0Nard 2 ай бұрын

1:20 Where is my towel ? A man who knows where his towel is, is a man to be reckoned with. Of course a reference to that very remarkable book, the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 😊

@kb1gni 2 ай бұрын

"Shifter" is a new term for me!

@frogz 2 ай бұрын

as the guy people call to repair stuff, these teardown videos are invaluable to me and people like me, sometimes for the exact device, other times like this for the mechanical principals of operation, would not have thought they would have water-assisted attenuation, i found a small device that measured air/gas flow....what the heck was it.... i forget, you could blow into 1 side and something inside would spin, FAST with virtually no leak pressure past the spinning device and it used a hall effect sensor outside to tell how much had passed through it, OHHH it wasnt air/gas, it was water, i just remembered, it was a brita water filter that goes on the output of a tap, it counted how much fluid had passed through it to estimate filter life and probably disable itself automatically when you needed a new filter

@raafmaat 2 ай бұрын

i work in coffee machine repair (big ones like in large companies and gas stations etc) Those little Flow-meters with the spinning inlay are the heart of almost every coffee machine! (google for example "flowmeter Rheavendors") . Also, another interesting part is the pump they use in most beverage machines, they use Ulka Vibration Pumps! these are comletely silly! if you open it up there is just a little ball inside and the big electro magnet just triggers super rapidly to make that ball vibrate, and somehow that builds up ALOT of pressure to one side? i have no real idea how it works lol, but pretty much all the machines i work on use those pumps!

@raafmaat 2 ай бұрын

little update, i just figured out how vibration pumps work! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rctpfL17mtq1dqc.html (and ive been doing this work for 10 years lolll)

@TechGorilla1987 2 ай бұрын

They used to use counter-rotating vane-type flow meters to measure/regulate large volume flows at fueling racks and loading docks. The counter-rotations were a self-check mechanism of some sort.

@peteb5343 2 ай бұрын

@@raafmaat the flow meters have evolved a bit recently, now have 4 Hall effect sensors instead of 2.. another coffee machine engineer here in the uk😊 this looks so over engineered, can’t wait to find something like this in a la marzocco soon 😂😂😂😂

@Gav_Rez 2 ай бұрын

Aww Clive, you got sooooo excited when you found that circuit board, Bless, you can have two lollipops tonight.

@StubbyPhillips 2 ай бұрын

"Dang it! How many times do I have to tell you not to reboot the house while I'm in the shower?!" "Sorry hun! It took a little longer this time because there was another firmware update for the toilet paper dispenser."

@danagibbs3265 2 ай бұрын

The new flushing a toilet during a shower

@heyidiot 2 ай бұрын

_"I, for one, welcome our new Skynet overlords!"_

@sawspitfire422 2 ай бұрын

I don't want to go to the future

@Gazr965 2 ай бұрын

😆

@ragetist 2 ай бұрын

This reminded me of the Tesla and Ford cars that bricked after failed firmware update because who needs a backup?

@Clavichordist 2 ай бұрын

Vice grips come with multiple blood blisters in a blister pack when you buy a pair. ;-) I've been caught by those so many times myself.

@shanejohns7901 2 ай бұрын

When I was a child, my grandparents encouraged me to take broken devices apart just to see how they worked. It wasn't long before they got a return on their 'investment' -- as I was able to fix some things some of the time. And as time moved forward, I was able to fix even more things. It's all about curiosity and instilling it in kids...and adults for that matter.

@zebo-the-fat 2 ай бұрын

My shower has a simple system, one knob to turn the flow on and off and another to control the hot/cold mix, very simple very little to go wrong.

@dualityk 2 ай бұрын

7:10 Solenoid valves all need fine intake screens like that. Water has a tendency to not just be water; sand and grit and limescale come along with it, and it only takes a fine grain of the stuff to lodge on the sealing surface of the diaphragm or in one of the pilot holes. They'll drip, or fail to shut off entirely, or fail to turn on. Tank type water heaters in particular are notorious for coughing up all sorts of debris, but road works and other things can cause the city supply to be not entirely liquid also. In the commercial restaurant industry, it's not uncommon to find one of those strainers completely packed.

@AttilaAsztalos 2 ай бұрын

Every time they shut off water (for works presumably) it's basically mud coming out of the faucet for the first minute or so once they give it back...

@chrishartley1210 2 ай бұрын

I think the sensors next to the hot and cold temperature probes will be for flow measurement. Not needed on the output since that is just the sum of the inputs. The output temperature should be: B x (T(h) x F(h) + T(c) x F(c))/ (F(h) + F(c)) where T is temperature, F is flow and B is bias (see below). They do not need to measure the absolute flow rate, just the comparative flow rate of hot vs cold. They do not even need to be particularly accurate because, by knowing the actual output temperature, the ratio of hot to cold can be biased to adjust expected vs actual. I did some work on this sort of relative flow measurement about 30 years ago although that was based on controlling pumps rather than pressure fed systems.

@squelchstuff 2 ай бұрын

That thing is so over-engineered and overly complex, but brilliantly manufactured - only to be foiled by a single point of failure, the cloud servers. Bonkers! Thanks for the destructive teardown Clive. I can't imagine how expensive those parts would be as replcements, but insights must be gained in the name of -science.- right to repair. Good job mate.

@cardboardboxification Ай бұрын

the brass will last forever , the rest is chit

@teardowndan5364 2 ай бұрын

"Is there a special tool for this?" My guess is the proper tool is simply an appropriate size socket that will evenly apply forces on all sides instead of a wrench that causes opposite sides to crush towards each other :)

@thomasbonse 2 ай бұрын

9:21 Those square blocks would appear to be flow meters, then you have the 3 temperature probes (hot, cold, and mixed). While the temperature probes alone could allow you to do the mixing, the flow meters allow for faster regulation within the PID feedback, since a pressure imbalance may cause the valve to otherwise be unable to properly regulate the water temperature without overshoot. Making this a separate dedicated assembly makes a lot of sense, since it can then be calibrated with the valve it's going to be controlling/monitoring. -edited to remove an auto-miscorrection typo

@Gazr965 2 ай бұрын

But it's only a shower mixer, not a laboratory criticality to half a °F and we lose the planet😆

@ericpaul4575 2 ай бұрын

It also helps when some git flushes the loo and causes a massive pressure drop in the cold line but not the hot. The controller can compensate and not scald the user.

@thomasbonse 2 ай бұрын

@@ericpaul4575 This is one of several pressure imbalance conditions I was referencing, without getting too specific.

@GajitUK 2 ай бұрын

I have one of these and can confirm it's exceptionally good at maintaining a consistent temperature. You can flush the toilet and, other than a slight drop in flow rate, you'd barely notice.

@Gazr965 2 ай бұрын

They probably are very good, until they go wrong, usually clogging issues, they are very expensive too.@@GajitUK

@dashcamandy2242 2 ай бұрын

8:26 - The delight in your voice when you discovered it was, indeed, quite complex inside, made me smile.

@Cammi_Rosalie 2 ай бұрын

I had an idea to drastically simplify all that. This may be quite a shock to all the teenies and 20's but hear me out. When you want water, you turn a valve. When you are done, you turn the valve off. With your hands. Yeah. Manually. Wild AF right? I had a shower with the typical one-handle thing. You know, where the temperature setting for "Just right" is a millionth of a degree of rotation in the adjustment range, and everything else is either "Lava" or "Ice" On full, the flow was pathetic. When on the other side of that wall was the outdoor water hose faucet. That one flowed like a scaled down firehose! So I knew some hijinks was up with that shower faucet knob. I ripped that crap out and put in two ball valves. Modded the plumbing and installed the valve stems to come through two holes in the stall wall. I modified two brass knobs to fit on the stems. After that I took the shower-head apart and drilled out the hair-thin passage that water had to squeeze through. And then I just eventually removed the flow restrictor altogether. I had a shower that had AMAZING pressure and flow. Took out those chunks of screen and grates etc. That thing rinsed the shampoo out of my hair in seconds. It no longer felt like someone peeing on my head through a watering can sprinkler. The water had weight and impact. It was great!

@dimitar4y 2 ай бұрын

Your phone. You touch that. WITH YOUR HANDS. YEAH. MANUALLY. Chip me up!

@gerrybvr 2 ай бұрын

A very expensive piece of kit to do very expensive damage when it finally goes wrong.

@ragetist 2 ай бұрын

You have to respect the amount of scientific breakthroughs and ingenious minds working countless hours so that someone could one day create one of the dumbest things ever and then call it SMARTap. It's like learning martial arts for five decades just to punch yourself in the testicles, absolutely brilliant!

@phonotical 2 ай бұрын

All of that to make water a subscription service...

@psirvent8 2 ай бұрын

In addition to the already-existing water bill ? Or is it more for countries where water is free ?

@phonotical 2 ай бұрын

@@psirvent8 I've never had a problem with the supply bill, but they charge you for taking it away too, I'm giving you back what I paid for, with extra stuff in it for free! 😂 If all they're going to do is dump it in a river or the ocean, why am I paying them to do that

@owendodman3037 2 ай бұрын

It’s not like water gets into the pipes for free with magical narwhals 😂

@markglover2525 2 ай бұрын

I'd be happy with this, provided I can use an app to stream ice-cold whisky or hot chicken soup out of my taps.

@phonotical 2 ай бұрын

@@owendodman3037 not since those bastards unionised

@FrancSchiphorst 2 ай бұрын

You could FEEL his huge smile when he found the circuit board :D

@KeanM 2 ай бұрын

Wow, seems very expensive & complex. I missed the earlier vid on this, so will watch it now. I agree that the red & black sensor blocks are most likely pressure differential transducers to monitor/regulate flow.

@raymondmucklow3793 2 ай бұрын

I believe the red/black with needle probe deals, are flowmeters. At my water plant, magnetic flowmeters are very common.

@patomahony9747 2 ай бұрын

Nice tear down Clive. But thinking I’ll stay analog. However if I do any plumbing I allways fit a shut off valve on any feed pipe to an item. Makes it soooo easy if one has a problem. No need to shut off mains supply and possibly drain internal tanks or hot water cylinders.

@bigclivedotcom 2 ай бұрын

I always add local service valves for convenience.

@danriches7328 2 ай бұрын

@@bigclivedotcomditto on that, I always keep a bag of them handy for that very reason and it made refurbing our ensuite so much easier. It took me 18 months to finish it though lol. Great video by the way!!

@stevestevenson7856 2 ай бұрын

And the winner of the 'Dead simple and built with as few ways to leak as possible' award goes to...🥳

@jerrydurand4127 2 ай бұрын

On those pressure sensors, common to grease fill to protect the diaphragm. The grease transmits pressure but keeps the water and junk out.

@Orxenhorf 2 ай бұрын

7:50 - The spiky bits are temperature probes and the red/black blocks are either flow meters or pressure sensors. Depends on the internal passages of the brass block that can't really be seen on video and whether they have a passage through the middle or if they are just two separate sensors back to back. When the flow slows down or the pressure drops on one side, it'll adjust the other side to not scald or freeze you.

@totz83 2 ай бұрын

Never in my life have I considered that I need an internet controlled shower

@markboldyrev8321 2 ай бұрын

I think the red modules are magnetic flow sensors - saw that in a Dolce Gusto coffee machine once. It's got a small wheel spun by the flow of water inside of which a magnet is enclosed. A Hall sensor nearby detects when that rotates.

@matt92h 2 ай бұрын

"Lets use violence". Hahah I'm on the floor laughing!

@WilliamWallace14051 2 ай бұрын

The globe valves are there to allow local shutoff for service and are required by some building codes. The slots in the valve manifold are allow them to adjust the fit of the temperature and pressure probes.

@mevk1 2 ай бұрын

Love how all you engineers/plumbers/diy fixers types all love taking things apart. Many common bloke subscribers enjoy doing the same even though we haven't a blimey clue what we're seeing. Just gotta know what makes it tick, or at least try without knocking ourselves out too badly.

@jaycee1980 2 ай бұрын

PTFE or as it's often called... "Plastic Tape For Everything" It's good for winding transformers too!

@Toca_waffle843 2 ай бұрын

back in the day - "Plumbers Tape sucking Expensive"

@Brian-L 2 ай бұрын

Bigclive, now there's a frood who really knows where his towel is.

@barrieshepherd7694 2 ай бұрын

I have a similar remote controlled shower (not IOT) and the sales pitch is that the 'digital' controlled shower ensures that the water temperature at the shower head , once set, is maintained irrespective of the pressure or temperature of the incoming water. You only have to press the on button and wait for the monitor lamp to stop flashing to know that the temperature is the same as the last time you set the control. The original sales blurb said "flow control is modulated to ensure stable temperature control" although I see those terms are not mentioned in the current sales blurb for the 'new improved IOT' version 😂😂😂😂 All that electronics and the sensors must be needed to achieve this. This is probably necessary to cater for the different water systems we have in the UK (combi, header tank, system) where the pressure of the hot water in particular can vary rapidly if taps in other locations are turned on. Maybe a standard thermostatic valve would not keep up? Maybe these types of complex controls are mandated in hospitals / institutions so that patients cannot scold themselves or be scolded by water temperature changes?

@RAM4elightbars 2 ай бұрын

Hospitals just buy the institutional basic disability compliant taps, set them to "won't scald" and say good enough. Then some patient or med student breaks it and they replace it with the extra they have on hand that almost fits. This sort of "designer electronics" for tap water is totally a "my house is soooo futuristic" market.

@manolisgledsodakis873 2 ай бұрын

I have never scolded myself but my mother used to scold me when I was naughty.

@Harounnthec 2 ай бұрын

You can open The 1/4 turn valves are known as integral stops in the US. You can open the coverplate on the shower wall & shut the water to the unit off & replace the valve seals that go bad fairly frequently. No need to have an access panel to have the shut off valves near the unit. You can also plumb the units in back to back showers which make having easy access to stops even harder. I'd guess that the central brass outlet is sweated in, looks like a bit of solder around the seam where it mates with the main block.

@KevinT3141 2 ай бұрын

We've had a Moen IO Digital 4-port shower controller running for a decade now, which was cheap enough when amortized over a 25-year new-build mortgage. It doesn't sit on the internet, but it does give us a remote control to warm up all the body jets, shower, and rain shower before stepping in, which was the goal. I've always assumed that Moen used their standard, rather bulletproof, faucet cartridges to make the thing, with some servos on top to crank them and some temperature probes in the flow to regulate it. The only issue we've had is that I think the capacitors are going dead, and now the link between the panel in the shower and the controller/valve box is glitchy. Unplugging it instantly shuts off the water, so I suspect that at least some of its servos are balanced against springs. I really need to take it apart one of these days to replace all its electrolytics. As for this video's incarnation: It's a fiendishly complicated Rube Goldberg device that I don't think was fit for purpose. Rest in pieces.

@Banks4004 2 ай бұрын

Mechanics, electronics, and plumbing. The best style of Clive video

@hob991 2 ай бұрын

Plumbers tape, (the white stuff) helps seal threads, its readily available from D I Y outlets, screwfix , that sort of place about 1\2 inch wide very soft and thin.

@markstuckey6225 2 ай бұрын

I think the flow sensors are just strain gauges. There are holes either side so when there is no flow the pressure is equal; when there is flow the hole in the sensor facing the valve has a lower pressure (due to the venturi effect), thus inducing a pressure differential across the strain gauge. This would have the advantage of producing an output almost proportional to the flow. When I was (much) younger we used similar servo valves (I think they were made by Bestobell) to these, but worked in the opposite manner. The water pressure and a pilot spring kept the valve shut also water pressure was applied to one side of a dual diaphragm, positively keeping the valve shut (even when there was pressure downstream of the valve). When the solenoid opened the pilot port the water pressure was applied to the other side (larger diameter) of the dual diaphragm. With the pressure being the same on either side of the diaphragm much greater force was applied to the larger diameter side, thus opening the valve. When closing the pilot port, the water on the large diameter side was bled downstream of the valve. They were larger than the ones shown here, but they could take large flows and pressures, were 100% reliable, very easy to service (only the gauzes needed cleaning occasionally and this in very hard water), but were relatively pricey. Once again, an interesting vid.

@PaulSteMarie 2 ай бұрын

Maybe the big cylinder in the middle is the pressure equalization valve? Dunno if that makes sense if the unit heats the water locally, but in the US, the equalization valve prevents one from being scalded in the shower if a toilet is flushed. "Spanner" in the US is more specific and comes in pin, hook, and face varieties. They fit into notches or holes in the perimeter of the fastener and pull it around. The stuff on the fitting appears to be Teflon tape. You can also get cord, but that is used for packing valve stems, not on threads. The red things might be flow sensors.

@sparkyprojects 2 ай бұрын

A pilot valve is just a small valve operating a bigger valve, but they work the same way, so if there's a power cut, the small valve closes, which would close the big valve The input pressure sensors could be to stop the unit operating if the pressure is too low, remember the old mechanical showers that had a diaphragm with a microswitch in series with the heater ?

@charliesoffer 2 ай бұрын

What I love about this is that's so REAL there's no way it could be faked!

@GillamtheGreatest 2 ай бұрын

one of the most exciting teardowns in a while

@deathlydarkness 2 ай бұрын

Those pins *probably* measure temperature differential and adjust hot/cold to provide the correct outlet temperature. Very common to see that arrangement in tankless hot water systems.

@zh84 2 ай бұрын

We had a ratchet screwdriver when I was a little boy. I was always taking machines to pieces to find out how they worked. I was fascinated by the mechanism of the ratchet screwdriver, but it never worked properly again after I put it back together...

@nathanlucas6465 2 ай бұрын

Ive just replaced a shower pump, and it has sensors on the hot and cold that were hall effect sensors to detect water flow. Theres a small piece inside the 2 outlet pipes that is deflected by water flow, and lets the pump switch on when detected. I think it needs both sides to flow to let the pump keep running, so if you run out of cold water you dont get scalded when bouling hot water only comes oht the shower

@colsi7228 2 ай бұрын

Really impressive machining of that brass block...probably worth a few bob at your local friendly scrapyard for recycling

@miserablecunt 2 ай бұрын

I remember "taps". Those were the days...

@stephenmanning1553 2 ай бұрын

Fantastic video. Pulling something apart that you really don't know how it works!! I do this in my workshop and sometimes get friends who also do not have a clue to assist me.

@SomeMorganSomewhere 2 ай бұрын

"Swedish Nut Lathe" is what we call them in Australia ;) (aka Shifter, don't ask me why it's "Swedish" I have no idea, unless they were originally invented in Sweden?) Judging by the leads on them those probes are probably thermocouples (for thermocouples to work properly you need the different metal wires to extend as close to the readout circuitry as possible so you can do the temperature compensation). Black and red bits as somebody else suggested are probably some kind of pressure transducers.

@bigclivedotcom 2 ай бұрын

Possibly because Bahco in Sweden pioneered the pipe wrench and other similar tools.

@ZeedijkMike 2 ай бұрын

In Denmark we call it a "Svensk-nøgle" (Swedish Key) I too don't know where the Swedish in the name comes from.

@PantsManUK 2 ай бұрын

I've always preferred AvE's "Swedish Nut F***er". Succinct.

@michaeltempsch5282 2 ай бұрын

@@bigclivedotcomThis style, as opposed to the earlier ones with the jaws 90° to the handle, was indeed invented by a Swede, Petter "JP" Johansson,'1853-1943 (btw, not the same Johansson as the one with the gauge blocks). But I do think Bahco was a big part in making them known as 'Swedish'

@emmajacobs5575 2 ай бұрын

Or as AvE would call it, “thumb-detecting nut-f@cker” if they have the extra hammer functionality (designed in functionality rather than user generated unofficial functionality)

@mattiaarnio9249 2 ай бұрын

Low mass temperature sensors on inlets and outlet. Quick to react and to adjust the valve settings for the target temperature.

@terrym1065 2 ай бұрын

Electricity and water...hahaha! Nice, quality deconstruction Clive, well done.

@TopEndSpoonie 2 ай бұрын

The cct board was a hidden listening device. 😁

@bigclivedotcom 2 ай бұрын

All it can hear is farting or a running shower.

@lorddissy 2 ай бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom Somewhere out there on an insecure AWS instance is a massive database of the worlds shower farting schedules, that eventually becomes one of the billions of marketing data inputs to the youtube algorithm.

@Murgoh 2 ай бұрын

I think those things on the sensor module are pressure difference sensors to measure the water flow. There will be a orifice of a known cross section in the manifold the water flows through and each side of the orifice is connected to one side of a sensor, then the pressure difference across the orifice is used to calculate the flow.

@Woffy. 2 ай бұрын

MOLE GRIPS......... Mole and Son, founded in 1835. When the second Mole brother died in 1950 he became managing director of the company. In 1955 he patented the self-grip wrench. In 1960 the Mole company, and Coughtrie, relocated to Newport, Monmouthshire. US patent 3,116,656 for 'Vice Grips' Granted for Mr John L Hostetter Jan 1964 ........ MOLE was preceded this.

@fromgermany271 2 ай бұрын

Just got such a massive brass-ish thing replaced in my bathroom, as the water corroded completely through it (after 20y) just 1cm before the shutter valve for my flat. Closing my valve did not stop the waterfalls in the flat below in the middle of the night 2d ago. So we had to stop water for the whole house and had a preview of what „nothing works anymore“ complains of some people in my country would really look like. I was lucky to find 1/2l in my coffee machine for toothbrushing. And to shower I used the gym. So if the electronics/cloud/… is not lasting forever, the „hardware“ might be prepared to hide that 😂

@daryllfoulkes5173 2 ай бұрын

I think the red things are Hall effect sensors which measure the flow rate using the change in the magnetic field

@waynethomas3638 2 ай бұрын

It's a hefty hunk of brass that manifold!

@AMDRADEONRUBY 2 ай бұрын

Very well explained thanks Clive! but the look of the smartap looks very complex for nothing.

@quantumleap359 2 ай бұрын

Valving involving fluidics. Using a small pressure signal to control a larger flow. The Fluidmaster toilet refill valve is a classic example of fluid amplifier operation. Works with water pressure rather than against it. Clever and effective. Dirt in the system is basically its only enemy. Otherwise, it will work virtually forever.

@Toca_waffle843 2 ай бұрын

I can remember how i felt when I first got my head around such a device.

@matthewmarks6951 2 ай бұрын

They are great, but they also require higher pressure to operate than the traditional ball valve. When I started supplying my toilet cisterns with rainwater from a cistern in the loft, I had to replace the upstairs one's valve with a ball valve. As the pressure is so low, it's not noisy, so no real issue.

@DanteRising 2 ай бұрын

I don't drink Whisky or know fack all about tech but between you and your bro Ralf, you guys make me unwind on break at work. When are we going to get more of the goofy stuff?

@Lizlodude Ай бұрын

11:50 That is one of the more satisfying crunches on this channel 13:15 That's up there too, nothing like that k'chack of a pair of vise grips (often followed by cursing as that terrible little release lever attempts to remove your finger) 16:00 I mean you couldn't use it before, which was how you ended up with it after all My vote is on pressure sensors to compensate for varying water pressure, but a flow meter also makes sense.

@PyroRob69 2 ай бұрын

Great video Clive!

@joehopfield 2 ай бұрын

It's like a steampunk version of quality 1950s plumbing valves. Brass valves and PCBs.

@someguy2741 2 ай бұрын

I think the probes are temperature sensors. The red blocks are flow sensors. Hence the circuitry and thinky bits.

@fredbloggs5902 2 ай бұрын

The valve seems to operate on similar principles to the Cousteau-Gagnan Demand valve that made SCUBA possible.

@KeanM 2 ай бұрын

Someone has been branding the table with squiggly plastic joiners

@barrieshepherd7694 2 ай бұрын

Previous video

@OttawaOldFart 2 ай бұрын

Allowing the internet to control your shower, I burst out laughing. I mean what could go wrong?

@KeritechElectronics 2 ай бұрын

Oh my goodness, this is a really cool teardown! Almost like discombobulating a Monotype caster mould. I love the complexity and your in-depth approach. Mechanical/hydraulic engineering FTW.

@richardwernst 2 ай бұрын

Great video, but I'm bummed the plastic and other bits crumbled as I was hoping you'd turn it into something manually controlled, vs. IOT.

@laernulienlaernulienlaernu8953 2 ай бұрын

The 3 bottom connectors are standard Hep2o pushfit tap connectors instead of them just using pushfit male threaded adaptors

@calmeilles 2 ай бұрын

Control your shower via the internet… Just how many times have I got to say "No!"?

@jaycee1980 2 ай бұрын

Looking at how complex this is, reminds me of a line from Scotty.... "The more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain!"

@dimitar4y 2 ай бұрын

"is there anything more sophisticated going on" famous last words

@dubsydubs5234 2 ай бұрын

It's a ferkin valve. The special tool required to remove the plastic valve is fairly hard to find, not many places have them in stock and it's usually a special order item, we occasionally use them in the motor trade, I believe it's called a socket.

@garyhalsey7693 2 ай бұрын

Another excellent BigClive tear down, the way only you can do!! 😂😂 My money is on the the black and red things being Hall Effect flow sensors and the three probes being temperature sensors. I’m guessing it measures flow., both inlets and the outlet and adjusts the solenoid valves to maintain a constant temperature maybe?

@thatsnotright 2 ай бұрын

Those first ball valves could be for isolation during air pressure tests because the air pressure has to be pretty high for the test and the equipment can't handle the pressure.

@MazeFrame 2 ай бұрын

That sure is a lot of brass and PCBs to turn the shower on, damn!

@paultinwell5557 2 ай бұрын

Interesting device. Simple question though: what's it for? I'm far from a Luddite (I built my own tap-free shower maybe 15 years ago and it functions perfectly to the day), but this seems beyond silly. Simple thermostatic valves can do pretty much everything I imagine this can do, with the exception of being controlled by the internet... and why oh why would you want it to?

@ryanwatterson4038 2 ай бұрын

They all want customers subscribed monthly now for everything in existence

@stephenreeves9025 2 ай бұрын

debut of the vice grips of knowledge, careful they bite

@user-yn8mz5bf9y 2 ай бұрын

That screw valve is a for mixing cold water into the hot to prevent scalding

@Sonny_McMacsson 2 ай бұрын

I'll scald myself if I want to, thank you very much.

@PuchMaxi 2 ай бұрын

@4:00 We call them Bahco(s) wrench, after the Swedish brand. Or another name is: English wrench/spanner (from Edwin Beard Budding, 1795 - 1846).

@GreenJimll 2 ай бұрын

At least there wasn't a mini video camera hidden on the PCB. 🙂

@bigclivedotcom 2 ай бұрын

That's built into the shower control button and one in the shower head for close ups.

@simonhopkins3867 2 ай бұрын

I want to take random stuff apart now. I might have to go to the recycling centre and see what I can recycle 😉

@Blanddog 15 күн бұрын

Those red things are sensing water intake flow of the water.

@hydrolisk1792 2 ай бұрын

When your shower has more processing power than the shuttle. . .

@smjones4238 2 ай бұрын

Red and black things maybe differential pressure transducers?? Then HW temp sensor CW temp sensor Ouput water temp sensor? lotsa PLC inputs... Michael in Colorado.

@dcallan812 2 ай бұрын

The junk that just keeps giving. The only thing left is the big brass bit it would be really interesting to slice it in half to see the galleys the water flows through. But what a waste after we have had a good luck its just junk, along with 100s of others that are no longer supported or serviceable. Great video 2x 👍

@duke_of_oz 2 ай бұрын

I'm guessing the red blocks are either venturi tubes or just orifices with differential pressure transducers, used to determine the flow rate in the hot and cold inlets. There's no need for an outlet flow rate since this would be the sum of the two.

@duke_of_oz 2 ай бұрын

I'm also guessing it is this complex because it's meant to control both temperature and flow rate at the same time