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Ok, I am not going to insult anyones intelligence here and claim that this video could be true. I am curious how it is done though. My theory is that during one of the early cut scenes the nails that are inserted into the candles are connected to power from under the table. Or longer nails are inserted and there are hooked up to power from the back of the candle and simply draped over the back edge of the table (not visible by the camera). The power is then controlled by a switch that is located under the table. It seems that his hands go under the table whenever power is applied or removed. I guess it could also be controlled by someone who is off camera. I was thinking that the jumper cables were simply connected to power from the right and left where the camera can’t see but the jumper cables are placed on the table at the end and are still providing power… Video after the jump.
Via: TechEBlog
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February 2nd, 2007
There is definately somethig dodgy about that trick.
im guessing a switch under the table and leads where you cant see them (behind the candles)
February 2nd, 2007
Yeah, it’d have been a more perplexing video using a footswitch instead of the hand disappearing under the table.
February 2nd, 2007
I think the lamp and the motor get a little watch battery and a light sensor captor/interuptor.
Excuse for my english.
February 2nd, 2007
An other solution is to put a win under table and use the running induced…
February 2nd, 2007
(wind)
February 2nd, 2007
He probably has some wires running through table and candles thus touching the nails. He simply drilled the table after shooting the sequence with “how to”. Stupid.
February 2nd, 2007
I love how he gently rubs the nails with the magnet.
I am surprised that he didn’t soak them in a mystery solution, or deionized the air prior to the experiment. But other than a few magnet rubs there is nothing exotic…
February 2nd, 2007
When he goes to turn it on the second time (with the motor), his left arm is lightly exposed. About two frames before the actually lights the second candle, his vain moves up about 2mm. This indicates that he had to use his finger to press something under the table. The timing is also not perfect.
February 2nd, 2007
During the break for the close-up of the magnet, he connects wires to the nails through the bottom of the candles. The candles have moved slightly backwards after the insert shot. The wires would be hidden behind the candles, so there’s no need even to drill holes in the table.
You can clearly see his right arm twitch when the light goes on and off. Not very impressive.
February 2nd, 2007
Keep looking at his left hand !
He has a adjustable resistor under the table
February 2nd, 2007
Pause it at 2:20-ish, come on.. that’s terrible! One candle and the bulb are lit.
There are so -many- different ways this could have been faked; I think the important thing is just that we sit and hope the people who believed this and attempted it somehow manage to burn themselves severely in the process =D
February 2nd, 2007
I wonder how many people will end up trying to duplicate the effect? Hopefully no one buys more candles and throws out batteries for things like emergency radios…
This would sell well at 3:00AM as an infomercial kit!
February 2nd, 2007
I’m with alan about the showmanship with the magnet rubbing. I would have added varying intensity of the light bulb as the candle flame was coming about. And for god’s sake, Use a darn foot switch so your hands are always visible. Who knows though, maybe someone trying to reproduce this actually makes it happen.
February 2nd, 2007
I tryed it two with my experment, I got 0,0003 volts out of it.
If this was real, somebody would know it years ago…
February 2nd, 2007
He turns the candles round, but as the turn approaches 180 degrees, he masks the bottom edge of both candles with his index fingers - the wires come out the bottom of the candle, and are probably melted into a groove towards the edge of the candle. If he’s sensible, he’s used brown wires - just to be certain. Me, I’d not have filmed from so close up, and would have done a lot more waving of hands. I probably would also have gone to the trouble of making a “trick” wire, nail, candle and bulb with a remote switch. The other wire and candle would just be for show. Doing it this way would enable the whole thing to be self-contained and mobile - no hidden wires needed! Hmmm…I might try developing that…I’m no magician, but it could be fun!
February 2nd, 2007
He’s a **#@* idiot. He’s clearly doing something underneath the table with his left hand. Why are we spending so much time on this jerk/movie? If I had this guys email address, I’d send him a ton of hatemail and sign him up for spam..
To the jerk in the video: You wasted 8 minutes of my life. Give them back. :/
February 3rd, 2007
I could do the same thing using induction with a coil under the table, or hollow out the bottom of the candles and put a small battery in each so the nail hits on of the terminals and a conductive clear material, kind of like pcb repairing liquid would join them together and switch using 2 hidden copper enamel wires or just have 2 hidden wires behind the candle
February 3rd, 2007
This one’s for Dave - because it’s fun to figure out either how he did it, or how we’d do it ourselves. A gadget hacked to create an illusion of something magical is still a hacked gadget, non?
February 3rd, 2007
I come here to learn about electronics and watch funny gadgets and mods.. If I need to be entertain by a magician (he’s a wannabe) I’d go somewhere else..
February 6th, 2007
Hey, I tried this and failed. Nevertheless, I’m not going to stop =) This video was very educational, in a sense that I googled a lot and learned about Peltier effect. Now I’ll do something like this, only for real, with a hot metal bar. That should give me a whopping 0.01V at max, though - not enough to power anything. Even though the video is a fake, there should be a way to generate electricity in a ’similar’ manner. Maybe if your replace candles with acid solutions and a salt bridge =)
Actually, onw reason I tried this is because I don’t know enough physics to _prove_ that this is impossible in principle. For instance, Peltier effect seems totally fantastic for me. Also (from wiki):
Almost any liquid or moist object that has enough ions to be electrically conductive can serve as the electrolyte for a cell. As a novelty or science demonstration, it is possible to insert two electrodes made of different metals into a lemon, potato, glass of soft drink, etc. and generate small amounts of electricity. As of 2005, “two-potato clocks” are widely available in hobby and toy stores; they consist of a pair of cells, each consisting of a potato (lemon, etc.) with two electrodes inserted into it, wired in series to form a battery with enough voltage to power a digital clock. Homemade cells of this kind are of no real practical use, because they produce far less current—and cost far more per unit of energy generated—than commercial cells, due to the need for frequent replacement of the fruit or vegetable. In addition, in the two-book series “Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things”, there are instructions to make a battery from a nickel, a penny, and a piece of paper towel dipped in salt water. Each of these can make up to 0.3 volts and when many of them are used, they can replace normal batteries for a short amount of time
February 6th, 2007
sciema
February 6th, 2007
Isn’t is obvious? After he puts the alligator clips on the nails, the middle of the wires are hanging off the table. They are hooked to a power source and theres a little switch under the table.
February 6th, 2007
What make it look like a fake is that the light is lit to fast; the led should fade up to make the illusion more convincing. The illusion is kind of childish and can be made in lots of ways and much better. I think the wires to the batter and switch he got under the table is hidden by the candles ant they are connected to the nails.
February 8th, 2007
It’s so funny…
1.He always changes the hand when he uses the lighter.(Nice one!)
2.Switch under the table
3.Connection Method:After the introduction the Nails were connected in the candle(Hole in the middle to the nails)
4.Right nail is after the introduction deeper in the candle
February 8th, 2007
I didn’t believe what the video claims but I still tried it myself and even taped it:
http://berrynose.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/electricity-from-candles-real-or-fake-you-judge/
As expected, it didn’t work. But the saddest thing is that many people rated the original video 5 stars in Metacafe, and the guy called Mysterious1 who posted this video has already earned hundreds of dollars out of it!
On the other hand, mine which shows the true fact
was only rated below 3 stars. How ironic…
I made this video for just one purpose: that is to wake people up and think twice and carefully before casting their vote. But for now, it’s the people who cheat takes all. And Metacafe is helping them. How sad.
February 8th, 2007
Also, if you play the original video hosted at Metacafe (even if it’s embedded in other sites like this one), it’ll be counted as one view and Metacafe will reward the original poster of this video. If you believe it’s fake, don’t play it again.
btw, there’re many comments under this video in Metacafe, but I could only see those that believe in it or praised about it. Many others were deleted by the original poster.
February 8th, 2007
Wow, according to this page that video made the guy over $1000 so far!
February 12th, 2007
He should have used a foot switch, then he wouldn’t hae had to put his hands under the table.
February 12th, 2007
IT’S TRUE! IT’S TRUE! I DID IT YESTERDAY AND IT WORKS, I PROMISE. YESTERDAY I WENT TO BUY SOME MASSIVE FKUC-OFF CANDLES AND NOW I’M POWERING MY STEREO, THE TV, THREE 100W LIGHT BULBS AND THE FRIDGE FULL OF BOLLOCKS THAT’S HOVERING NEXT TO MY PET UNICORN AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW. MMMMMM WAX.
February 19th, 2007
PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET. (yes it needed to be capitolized). Move the bar to anywhere between 2:15 and 2:24. The bulb is clearly lit when the candle is not.
February 27th, 2007
The Department of Energy definitely needs to see this!!!
March 3rd, 2007
after the magnets’ scene, both cables look different, and that’s because there are 4 cables and not only 2.
So, there is one pair of cables attached to the candles and one pair of cables attached to some power supply, and yes, obviously there is a switch, right in his left hand… actually you can hear the switch’s clicking when he puts his hand below the table lol.
– sorry for my bad english –
June 17th, 2007
nice fake.
June 24th, 2007
Sh*t,
I’ve got the nails, candles, magnets etc, but forgot to buy matches
October 3rd, 2007
nice trick, after two attemps it finnaly worked. thanks, my son used it for show and tell, it was a big success
March 2nd, 2008
ok.. Wires under or through the table, embeded nails hidden or whatever.. current observed was too instantanious as the candle is lit.
You want power from a candle, buy a standard 2 lead thermopile and place it into the top portion of the flame, it will produce about 750 mV.. just barely enough to run a small pancake fan (like the ones used in computer power supplies.)
This is one of the system parts of mosquito magnets sold all over the US.
Credit though: at first glance, I actually kinda hoped that somehow I had overlooked a electron echange thing with the burning of wax from the candle.. but when he hooked up a bulb instead of a multimeter..well letdown time.
There are many things we still are yet to learn about our universe and the physics that run unseen, and someday maybe we will have thermocouples efficient enough to power small things in emergencies by campfire or candles.
March 3rd, 2008
lol, way to bump a year-old post!