https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/4bb2d575-44a5-4e4a-944d-4f99a97b39e3 I thought I'd take apart a set of new Xmas lights to see how they are evolving. The answer is that I doubt they could evolve more without going to a blob chip. The pinout of the chip is similar to a PIC12 microcontroller, but I'm not sure what it actually is. The LED driving comes directly from two IO pins, so the chip has either got a built in H-bridge driver, two high current outputs, or they may just be abusing standard outputs and relying on the internal FET resistance to limit the current. After the video I reassembled the module and tested it on a bench power supply. It drew 84mA while alternating and 64mA while static (alternating quickly) on a 4.5V supply. I did a voltage/current test on an alternating mode, and the results were:- 4.5V 80mA 4V 60mA 3.5V 39mA 3V 15mA 2.7V 4mA Below 2.7V the unit shut off, which is good for NiMh cells as it will reduce the risk of reverse charging of the first one to discharge completely. The intensity at 2.7V was pretty good for just 4mA. The use of alternating polarity LEDs saves a lot of wire for a flashing effect, and may also reduce the risk of static DC corrosion of the wires when water inevitably wicks up the LED heat shrink. Unfortunately it makes it a bit harder to run the string directly from a simple USB power cable adaptor. The 32.768kHz crystal frequency would need divided by 15 binary stages to get to 1Hz. A PIC microcontroller has the option of an RTCC (Real Time Clock Counter) which can be set to divide the clock frequency. It could be used to pre-divide and allow a more relaxed incrementing of the second stage counter for daily cycle timing in software while also maintaining the flashing patterns. If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty. #ElectronicsCreators Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:33:37 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://stream.echo6.co https://stream.echo6.co/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/4bb2d575-44a5-4e4a-944d-4f99a97b39e3 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://stream.echo6.co/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.