WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 This is the most important invention since the printing press. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 It comes in many shapes and sizes and has even more names. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 But don't worry about that. According to the sellers of these amazing little gadgets, 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.000 they do everything from saving you money, to cleaning your dirty, unstable electricity, 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 to helping you finally get a good night's sleep. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000 But you better hurry. We're almost sold out. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 There's no time for research when other people are buying them all. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.000 Just look at this graph. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.000 And if you act right now, you'll get 50. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.000 65. No, wait, 70% off. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 Look at all these logos of news organizations that you might trust. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.000 Don't they look nice here? Or maybe over here? 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:48.000 Wow, these sites really are a masterclass in scummy marketing. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 But the craziest thing about these little miracle gizmos, 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.000 they aren't actually a scam. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.000 I mean, they absolutely are a scam. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:02.000 But at the same time, you know what, this is going to take some explaining up. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:08.000 Roll the thing for our sponsor. Let's kick off with the beef you're feeling one with the all-metal housing. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 If this thing's just a rock and some hot glue, this is going to be a real short video. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.000 Man, this thing is cool. We can see every individual wire in here. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.000 On the next slide, we get a really good look at a couple of resistors. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.000 We've also got what looks like a little LED here. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.000 And this boxy structure, if we alter our view a little bit, 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.000 and hence shows us that this is in fact a capacitor. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:37.000 We can see the two conductive plates inside of it. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:41.000 Now, if half of the manufacturer claims that these are true, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.000 that right there is the hardest working capacitor on the planet. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 Let's change gears and move over to our plastic ones. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Well, it seems like they've got a couple more components on their boards, 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.000 including some capacitors on the boards themselves. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:02.000 But the design is similar overall. So why don't we change gears and talk about what these things are supposed to do. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:08.000 If you're familiar with electrical circuits, you might already know about inductive, resistive, and capacitive loads. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.000 For everyone else, here's the TLDR. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.000 If something is mostly just making heat, like a hot plate, 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:21.000 or an old-school incandescent light bulb, it's a resistive load, and the voltage and current remain in phase or lined up. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:26.000 If something is moving, ceiling fans and washing machines are good examples here. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:32.000 It's probably an inductive load, and the current legs behind the voltage by 90 degrees. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.000 Capacitive loads, meanwhile, tend to be more hidden, especially in the home. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.000 This is where the current leads 90 degrees ahead of voltage. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:45.000 So these loads are typically used to balance out inductive loads, 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 and they're mostly found in, well, stuff that has capacitors in it. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.000 Like this PrimePX power supply from our sponsor C-Sonic, 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.000 who has more models rated at titanium or above by cybernetics than any other manufacturer. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:03.000 That means more than 90% efficiency with a power factor of 0.98 or better. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.000 That power factor thing, that's going to mean something to you in a minute. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Coming back to different kinds of loads. If you've got a big industrial building that is stuffed full of AC motors, transformers, and the like, 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000 you can end up with so much inductive load 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:21.000 that it actually starts to impact the efficiency of the power grid itself. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:26.000 I'm not talking efficiency like some waste heat from your noodle extruding machine. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.000 I'm talking the power company needs to send you more power than you're actually using, 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:37.000 harming their efficiency. That's where something called the power factor comes into play. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000 It's a measure of how much power is doing work, called active power, 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:46.000 versus how much power it looks like you're using, called apparent power. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.000 And we can find it with this very Pythagoras-y looking formula here. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:57.000 The ideal power factor is 1, meaning that all the power you're drawing from the grid is doing actual work. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.000 Anything lower and you are impacting the efficiency of the grid, 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 which your power company is 100% going to charge you for. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:10.000 So then, how do you reduce the inductive load so your power company doesn't start piling on surcharges? 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Capacitors. The power system in any big industrial facility likely has one or more capacitor banks, 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.000 which act to smooth out their heavy inductive loads, 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.000 hence the capacitors that showed up on our CT scans. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.000 But here's the thing, while the theory is actually sound, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.000 residential customers, you know, the people they're marketing these devices to, 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.000 don't get charged based on power factor. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.000 A big part of the reason for that is pretty much all of the heavy power devices in a house 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:51.000 are either a resistive load, or they already have capacitors built into them to compensate for their inductive loads. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:55.000 We looked from Alberta to Zimbabwe, and across the board, 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.000 residential and small business customers are built only for the active power used. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.000 Now, I'm sure there's some outliers that you guys are already furiously typing comments about, 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.000 but generally speaking, it's only when you ramp up to large commercial and industrial facilities 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.000 that power factor really enters the equation. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:18.000 And the folks selling these magical gizmos know all of this, they just don't care. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:26.000 Power factor is that convenient little nugget of truth that they can wrap in the layers and layers of BS marketing 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.000 that your conspiracy loving uncle needs to convince them to buy these things for the entire family for Christmas this year. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.000 And some of them take their scam even further. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:39.000 Let's crack this one open using our handy-dandy precision screwdriver kit from lttstore.com. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:44.000 Built-in bit storage, fidget spinner worthy end cap, and built-in magnetic parts tray. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.000 With the one screw removed, uh, yes, not a whole lot going on in here. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.000 We've got a basic LED power circuit, that's how you know it's on. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:00.000 Then we just go ahead and remove the second screw, and this IC right here is a bridge rectifier that converts AC to DC, so far so good. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.000 But this is the part where we get into some funny business. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.000 Do you see our, um, capacitor here? 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.000 Well, one of the two leads going to it doesn't seem to actually connect to the rest of the circuit. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.000 You can see it in the x-ray, or actually, just by holding it up to the light. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.000 There's no trace to that pad! 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:26.000 So my question now then is, if this is just here for looks, is this even a real capacitor? 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:34.000 Let's find out. Before I connect this, it's worth noting that this is in nanofarads right now, that's effectively zero. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Moment of truth, is it a real capacitor? 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Survey says no. I gotta say, I'm actually kind of surprised that it is more cost-effective to build a fake capacitor than it was to drop the 15 or maybe 30 cents on a real one. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.000 It's got some weight to it, at least. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.000 Oh, did you cut one open? Let's have a look at our fake capacitor. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:04.000 Oh, is that, like, a little bit of cement that they just smeared on it? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.000 It kind of looks like that. Whatever it is. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:11.000 The bottom line is if you want to save some money on your power bill, 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:17.000 maybe you should consider upgrading your rig to a new 80-plus platinum-rated PrimePX power supply from our sponsor, C-Sonic. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:25.000 The PrimePX series is fully modular, and has you covered all the way from 650 watts to 1600 watts, 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 backed by an industry-leading 12-year warranty. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 It uses a 135mm fan to keep things cool and quiet, 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.000 and that fan doesn't even spin up until it reaches somewhere in the neighborhood of around 30% load. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:43.000 With power supplies this efficient, more of your money is going right into those sweet, sweet FPS, 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 instead of being wasted generating excess heat. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.000 And if you're not sure how much power you need, you can just click on the Calculate button on their website, 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.000 and they will help you find the perfect fit. So find your next power supply at the link down below, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:59.000 and find your next video to watch at this video right here, 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.000 where you can watch me get shocked repeatedly as we figure out 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:08.000 if those wireless anti-static wristbands are a scam with the help of our friend ElectroBoom. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.000 Yo, Jordan, how much should we spend on these things? Uh, 20 bucks for four. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:18.000 Well, I mean, at that price, at least it's a decent value as a nightlight. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.000 $5 nightlight.