Mystery electronic parts - any idea what they are?

[railsquid]

Not railway-related, but a while back I spectulatively ordered a small circuit board part thingy in the hope of repairing a household electronic item, but what eventually arrived from China was a bunch of these:

 

 

No idea what they are, still at least they came in a handy plastic box.

[disturbman]

I think they are contact microphones.

[cteno4]

Or temperature transducer?

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Could be some sort of capacitive proximity sensor / touch sensor.

Edited January 15, 2023 by maihama eki

[Welshbloke]

Piezoelectric sounder?

 

Do you have enough of them that you can experiment on one? Such as trying a battery on the wires to see if it makes a noise (or just goes pop and lets the magic smoke out). Could also be worth some exploratory surgery with scalpol and spudger if you can identify any joints or seams to pop open.

[cteno4]

Always fun to just apply power to something and see what happens! Nothing, try some more, nothing, try some more…
 

As a kid magic smoke always made me think of genie in there escaping as the smoke was usually a bit blue and thick and usually came out with a puff, then a nice thick swirl! The smell as well was so distinctive, fried electronics. With a lot of things being lower power today it’s not as dramatic, but just a tiny hint of that smell you can pick up from far away.

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

I follow Big Clive on YouTube. He frequently has broken electronic items sent his way to conduct a post mortem on (which generally involves opening it up, finding the blown component, and then tracing the circuit board from an enlarged photo before talking the viewer through a quick circuit diagram). When he isn't putting booze in a Sodastream or attempting to heat foods by passing 240v AC through them.

 

On a serious note there are far worse channels to start learning electronics from. He has videos covering basic skills such as soldering and multimeter use, which emphasise finding cheap-but‐decent kit rather than spending £££ on something you may accidentally break. Just listen when he says not to try something at home as he's being completely honest about the risks!

Edited March 22, 2023 by Welshbloke

[cteno4]

Sounds like my kind of chap! He is a character and seems to think like I do which many look askance at… Going to have to spend some time on his videos!

 

https://www.youtube.com/@bigclivedotcom

 

cheers,

 

jeff