List of Dodgy Crowd Source Funded Projects

[EEVblog]

As the title says, a list of dodgy sounding hardware crowd sourced projects on Kickstarter, Indigogo, Pozzible etc.
To make the list a project must have no real hardware to show (so essentially just promises and fancy marketing), or generally claims that don't seem to add up.
You can also list projects that have ultimately failed to deliver.
A project could also have gotten close to it's estimated shipping date with no hardware or evidence presented that it actually exists and will be delivered.
If you have one to add, email me dave@eevblog.com and I'll update this first post.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mu-thermal-camera-a-great-tool-to-save-on-energy-costs
(No evidence of any real hardware, even with many backers demanding they show something)

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meterplug-lower-your-electricbill-measure-real-electric-cost
(days away from the delivery date, only one photo of pre-production units, no updates)

[Towger]

Umm... Photoshop and why are the BS 1363s upside down in all the pictures?

[mikeselectricstuff]

I can't believe there is space for a relay or SSR in the UK one capable of switching 13 amps.
I also suspect the pin to edge distance is inadequate.

[EEVblog]

I can't believe there is space for a relay or SSR in the UK one capable of switching 13 amps.
I also suspect the pin to edge distance is inadequate.

I suspect the same. One of the resons why it's on the list 

[ivan747]

Absolute bullshit detected right here:


"If you leave your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 on, it continues to consume roughly 170 watts of power 24/7"

Tell me how would that pass any sort of Energy Star certifications or even run on its fan when on standby.

[Bored@Work]

Absolute bullshit detected right here:


"If you leave your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 on, it continues to consume roughly 170 watts of power 24/7"

Tell me how would that pass any sort of Energy Star certifications or even run on its fan when on standby.

PS3: 0.5 W to 1 W in standby according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_hardware#Form_and_power_consumption However, I won't trust the figures completely. Whoever wrote the table didn't even know that it is always Watt, never Watts, even when it is about more than one Watt.

[darko31]

Hm, at the 2:18 of the video you can see the circuit and the relay itself. It seems some kind of low profile relay, the smallest one I managed to find at my store is 15,8mm

http://www.omron.com/ecb/products/pdf/en-g5rl.pdf

which fits with video, and they can handle up to 16A, so that could be plausible. Also at 2:18 you can see the placement of circuit, and probably not in the UK plug casing, and it's blurred.

And there seems to be one more PCB with blue solder mask, what's that?

The numbers are pretty much off, 250$ a year for PS3 or XBox when they are turned on? In standby mode they won't draw that much power, not even in parallel universe. Or they calculated that by the maximum power draw of the consoles?  They probably aim at the market of hard core gamers who play 24/7 and want to see how much power they are consuming while gaming. That got to be it.

Now, how they handled isolation from and creepage distance in that small casing? That seems dodgy.


BTW A little joke about the receptacles, the US receptacles seem frightened by the ghostly face of the UK receptacles.

[c4757p]

BTW A little joke about the receptacles, the US receptacles seem frightened by the ghostly face of the UK receptacles.

It is rather ghostly, isn't it?

[tron9000]

EU directive states that for a device to be in stand-by it must only draw 0.5W (I would quote numbers on pages here, but I know its this as I'm working on some kit that must conform to this).

There may be devices prior to this directive being implemented that may draw more than 0.5W, but they'd be junked by now! but if your device is drawing more than the 0.5W in standby, then your buying your kit from a dodgy source and would expect nothing less!

so the "vampire detect mode" or whatever bullshit its being flogged as is as much use as a chocolate fire guard, here in the UK and europe!

[metalphreak]

"If you leave your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 on, it continues to consume roughly 170 watts of power 24/7"

It says ON not IN STANDBY. It's still deceptive wording though. Who leaves their console on 24/7? Both of them have auto shutdown timers enabled by default.

[jucole]

Doesn't look like a Photoshop job.   I thought all UK adapters etc had to be "shuttered" to stop kids poking things in them;  not sure these look shuttered to me.  They promise a lot of spec for such a small space; bet they wished they hadn't gone for the apple charger size format now ;-)

[Towger]

There is an update on the site today, saying they are sending them to UL for testing, for a 3rd time.  There is no need for the UK version to be so small, there is about 1cm of space between the Live/Neutral pins and the sides on a standard plug.  That's one of the reasons the photos look computer generated, they would look strange with a much wider plug plugged into them

[david77]

The Schuko socket on these things looks dodgy to me. Looks like it's maybe halve as deep as a proper socket.
I have my doubts this would be legal as it seriously diminishes the contact area of the PE clips. A little wiggle and your class 1 appliance becomes a death trap.

[DenzilPenberthy]

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mayan-quantum-energy-pyramid-in-the-usa

     

Their cost breakdown doesn't specify how much they plan to spend on catering so I think this sounds a bit dodgy!

[DenzilPenberthy]

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/energy-multiplier-cleaner-efficient-energy-production?c=home

 

Check out all the cool stuff you get if you donate $10,000!

"Receive a paper certificate stating your level of contribution with your name and personally signed by the inventor. Also receive exclusive updates via indiegogo.com on the progress of development. Get exclusive access to our VIP Platinum Members area of our website. See website for details. ** This is redeemable through direct purchase of products offered only through our members area **"

... A piece of paper with the guy's name written on it! Wow!

[tom66]

Umm. Wow. I just bought an energy consumption meter for £6 on eBay, but even "rip-off Maplin" sell them for around £10~£15.
Granted, it's not wifi, but it does everything you need it to do. Volts, Amps, Watts, PF, VA, Cost, kWh.

So, power consumption of some household appliances:

Panasonic 46" 1080p plasma TV. Standby: 0W (min 1W measure). Operational with no signal 130W. Average TV around 350W, peak 635W with random black/white noise pattern. (Power limiter kicks in after 20 seconds and drops power consumption to 550W max.)

Samsung 40" 1080p LCD TV. Standby: 0W. Operational: 180W.

Yamaha RX-V450 amplifier. Standby: 0W. Operational (no audio): 40W. Operational with average TV program audio 44W.

Desktop PC. Standby: 8W. Operational: 180W idle, 200W under load.

Cheap LCD monitor (24"). Standby: 0W. Operational: 40W.

Laptop (Thinkpad X201): Standby with charged battery: 0W. Operational with no battery: 13W.

PlayStation 3, 80GB early gen "fat". Standby: 0W. Operational: 145W**.

** This is probably where they get their "170W" figure from; while on the home screen (not playing a game) it does use a metric ton of power. However, it also makes quite a lot of noise. I doubt I'd leave this running.

As can be seen, almost everything, bar my desktop, uses less than one watt in standby. People fuss over standby power, but it really isn't a big deal. Watching my plasma TV for 2.4 seconds uses the same amount of power as it would in one hour being in standby (the service documentation rates it at 0.2W.)

[MacAttak]

"If you leave your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 on, it continues to consume roughly 170 watts of power 24/7"

It says ON not IN STANDBY. It's still deceptive wording though. Who leaves their console on 24/7? Both of them have auto shutdown timers enabled by default.

My XBOX 360 consoles run for very large portions of every day. Not 24/7, but probably more like 12/7. I have a networked WMC system for DVR and inefficient older model XB360's running as "extenders" in 3 rooms of the house... I wouldn't be shocked to learn that they consume 170W in that mode, although I've not ever tested it.

[Keef Wivanef]

Oh .....For FOOKS sake!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fusion-powered-car-part-2

COLD FUSION!
don't get me started!!!!!!


The Professor is IN!


 

[Rufus]

As can be seen, almost everything, bar my desktop, uses less than one watt in standby. People fuss over standby power, but it really isn't a big deal.

Not a big deal on its own, but there are billions of devices consuming standby power.

Is it worth spending $50 to save 1W of standby power? No. Is it worth spending $50,000,000,000 to save 1,000,000,000W of standby power? No.

Technical illiteracy of those determining energy policy is bad enough, arithmetic illiteracy is a double whammy.

[Ferroto]

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/energy-multiplier-cleaner-efficient-energy-production?c=home

 

Check out all the cool stuff you get if you donate $10,000!

"Receive a paper certificate stating your level of contribution with your name and personally signed by the inventor. Also receive exclusive updates via indiegogo.com on the progress of development. Get exclusive access to our VIP Platinum Members area of our website. See website for details. ** This is redeemable through direct purchase of products offered only through our members area **"

... A piece of paper with the guy's name written on it! Wow!

Yep believe it or not some people are that full of themselves.

[g7gij]

I've got one, its a the flying drone alarm, that's based on a raspy pi.
http://droneshield.org/

Its certainly one for the Alex Jones crowd.
Though it does kinda look legit, and supposed to be open source. 
Open hardware Alfoil hats any one?

cheers

James

[c4757p]

I've got one, its a the flying drone alarm, that's based on a raspy pi.
http://droneshield.org/

With the amount of ambient noise and the variation from one "drone" to the next, I don't think this thing's going to give a positive ID of the drone unless you stick it up the drone's ass. Is a three-inch warning enough?

[g7gij]

perhaps droneshield.org should go down the Acoustic mirror route http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_mirror .

"Here at Giant Acoustic mirror.com We build the best 20 ton concrete  non steerable acoustic mirror  money can by. Forget all that radar nonsense
and be the envy of all your crack pot fellow Alex Jones followers, with this gorgeous  monstrosity in your back yard."

I should get into marketing .


cheers

James

[flapjackboy]

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gyrokinetic-plasma-engine

This just screams of woo to me.

[Keef Wivanef]

Oh! for furks sake....not the Papp Engine again!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Papp
(take an old scam....recycle it through Indiegogo.....My Dog how the munny rolls in

http://www.rgenergy.com/

OMG!!!!!!!

"Why are we pursuing this research so aggressively?
Why are we helping for all the help we can get?
We had it all in our day, clean air and all the energy we could want!

What will we leave our grand-kids?
What will be our legacy?"

Fucked if I know....I'm a little teapot