Home Page
   Articles
       links
About Us    
Traders        
Recipes            
Latest Articles
USB Socket charger - good or bad?
Page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Energy Efficiency and Construction/Major Projects
Author 
 Message
Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 14 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I know that. I do some work with the tagging firm.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hairyloon wrote:
Treacodactyl wrote:
I would only buy a well know branded USB thingy though.

Perhaps I have misunderstood, but for charging purposes, all that is expected is a stable voltage across the relevant pins, which is not at all a difficult task to accomplish, so why the need to be picky?


I had a quick google when I saw the original post and read of ones for sale overseas that were not certified for use in the UK. Knowing that some chargers have caught fire and knowing the variable quality of overseas items (some good, some not so good) I wouldn't take the risk to save £5. If you're happy with the risk then fine, although you could be breaking the law.

My other reason is that I've not found cheap UK certified electrical switches to be worth using as they fail more than a branded items that has a 10 year guarantee.

kGarden



Joined: 01 Dec 2014
Posts: 178
Location: Suffolk, UK
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hairyloon wrote:

Which is always a good excuse to trot out the tale of the ...


Which reminds me of the Patent Attorney's joke:

Customer: "I have this plastic cupholder, can you manufacture me 1,000,000 of them?"

Chinese supplier: "Is it patented?"

Customer: (excitedly) "No!"

Chinese supplier: "Sorry, cannot make them"

Customer: (crestfallen) "Why not?"

Chinese supplier: "No drawings"

Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hairyloon wrote:
I saw those. Looked a bit dear IMO.

I've never really understood how something like a phone charger which is basically just a transformer, actually draws power when it doesn't have a circuit


The mains side of the transformer still has a circuit so without a switch it is still current going through a wire and that will draw power

Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have had problems with Chinese manufacture in the past. The equipment we had made failed testing and was all returned as not fit for purpose. The next thing we find it is reappearing through various dodgy supply chains with someone else label stuck over the top or through small ebay suppliers and people are buying this rubbish finding it doesn't work and expecting us to support it, we also found the same circuits and layouts appearing even cheaper and poorer copies of the equipment we had rejected!

I suspect this is a problem any time anyone is unable to manage a manufacturing chain or has to use an unreliable manufacturer and not something unique to the Chinese but in our case it was a Chinese manufacturer that did that.

RichardW



Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Chinese stuff is crap cos we (not just the consumer but the corporate buyers) want it made & sold cheap.

Its that simple.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

iPads and other Apple products are made in China.

Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

RichardW wrote:
Chinese stuff is crap cos we (not just the consumer but the corporate buyers) want it made & sold cheap.

Its that simple.


Some. Not all.

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think one of the problems with Chinese manufacturers is that they leave quality control to the customer. Most times that I have bought something unsatisfactory they have sent a refund or replacement without quibble, on a few occasions even before I'd wanted one.
As long as you know that when you're buying, I don't really see it as a major problem: quite a lot of what they make is very very good. I'll bet they make Rover cars better than we used to.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thur-22-jan/product-detail/ps/p/double-wall-socket-with-usb/?pk_campaign=uk_product_newsletter&pk_kwd=2015-01-19_17-39

stumbling goat



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1990

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Aldi kit is normally pretty good, so I would trust that.

But, will the socket front with the added bulk fit in your domestic flush fitted metal box?

The USB socket 240V switched sockets I have seen seem to be a lot thicker or deeper than the usual double switched socket front.

sg

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

for electrical goods genuine certs and paperwork are a very good idea.

once i got my "pissa pan" out of the box and read the documents i decided my best interests lay in never plugging it in and writing off the £15

i has been worth the money to show folk the instruction leaflet that includes such gems as "when cleaning your pissa pan place thumb over intimate orifice or unit may become out of service or on fire "

Falstaff



Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Aldi is very respectable multi billion pound German firm - eminently sueable if they cause fires otl - I'd say buy it and use it - if that's what you want !

Gervase



Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 15 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

stumbling goat wrote:

But, will the socket front with the added bulk fit in your domestic flush fitted metal box?

Unlikely unless you have boxes at least 35mm deep. On stud walls you may have, but chased boxes on masonry tend to be as shallow as possible, so do check before ordering.

Rich.h



Joined: 26 Jun 2011
Posts: 29

PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 15 1:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have used these for both my own home and customer houses and they are about as safe as a standard socket when fitted correctly. The usb sockets do always draw power, however when not connected to a device they go into a low power mode (though I have yet to stick a meter on one to find out what amount is drawn).

For folks worried about some of the cheaper ones from China I would not fret, remember that some of the most technical and expensive things in western homes today (tv, pc, phone, etc) are all made in a factory somewhere in Asia. Whether it happens to be an unknown knock off company or Apple they all use the same components, the same tools, and the same labour. One just happens to over inflate the price to make a higher profit margin which they then hide in some offshore bank to avoid taxes, the other just sidesteps the entire process and sells it at a market stall at a lower cost to the end customer.

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Downsizer Forum Index -> Energy Efficiency and Construction/Major Projects All times are GMT
Page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3
View Latest Posts View Latest Posts

 

Archive
Powered by php-BB © 2001, 2005 php-BB Group
Style by marsjupiter.com, released under GNU (GNU/GPL) license.
Copyright © 2004 marsjupiter.com