4 days ago I noticed this adaptor for sale in a local store in Denmark. I reported it to the authorities, with a link to this video. The importer and the store was then contacted by authorities, and the sale has stopped.
@@supersaiyangoku3580 not quite. There's so much potential for death as well as so many electrical code violations from several countries that nobody should even really consider using this thing.
I think those "universal" travel adapters are a bad idea. Rather get a specific adapter which exactly fits the socket and the plug, like an adapter which has an UK plug on one and a Schuko socket on the other side. They have some advantages: 1. You have no unnecessary plugs with you. 2. Those specific adapters are not so ridiculously big as the "universal" adaptors. 3. You have a nice and tight sitting plug. 4. You have an earthed connection.
You have to be careful with #4. There are adapters that look earthed (even including metal contacts on both the plug and socket) that are not earthed. The only downside of going country specific is that it can be challenging to charge your phone on layovers. Recently, I had a layover at Dublin, heading to continental Europe, and I couldn't use any of the airport outlets.
Frightening ! Chinese junk items must be killing thousands of innocents around the world. I bought one of these whilst in Thailand and had been using it without a thought to charge an ipad even with my toddler around. It didnt cross my mind that it could be deadly. Thanks John !!
The US/AU pins could likely make contact with the earth strips of a schuko socket, and would undoubtedly make contact with the male earth pin in a French socket.
JW, thank you for another super video. I don't know why anyone would be leaving negative comments here, but trolls will troll. I have two of these and we use them when visiting family in germany all the time and they work very well. They often sit in a extension lead all week with laptops and phones popping in and out of them. With hindsight, at any point the flimsy green toggle could have been knocked, springing the pins out! There is no 'safe with common sense' argument to be made here. Common sense only tells you to check that your equipment is safe and if its not, throw it out. Mass marketing a product which can easily expose the mains is unacceptable.
In america we call the sockets plugs as well. Like "oh go use that plug over there." But I can see how that is confusing because realistically we are talking about the wall socket. :)
If I need to plug something in when the plug is wrong, I only ever use a good adaptor. Have one for connecting Schuko and Europlugs safely, and have one somewhere for connecting a 13A plug in France and Germany. These that are trying to be "all for all" are pretty poor.
It's 2024, they are still available to buy on Ebay UK and Amazon UK . I recently received one with a 3d print filament dryer from Ali Express. I immediately tested it and found 230V on the flat pins when plugged into a 13A UK socket. There is plenty of room for any size of fingers to grab hold of the exposed flat pins and without a mains RCD the result can be a fatality. I reported it to the seller, who did nothing and to Ali Express who still sell them. Product safety testing and approval has become meaningless meaningless in the UK, it's as if 50+ years of safety development has been scrapped.
I love how they misspelled China as "CNINA" in the instructions. That tells you everything you need to know about this product, well, besides the missing earth pin.
I had one of these once but it killed me. So this is a warning from beyond the grave... don't do it people. Seriously though these are scary pieces of equipment! Wouldn't take much for someone fumbling about behind the TV to accidentally flick the lock mechanism and have the pins of death shoot out and zap the crap out of you! Great videos JW!
"Don't understand how this got a CE mark on it" It's really very simple: The Chinese typesetter looked up "CE Mark" on Google Images and pasted it into the artwork.🤣 The CE mark is actually supposed to be a legally-binding statement to EU customs by an importer, to the effect that the importer confirms they hold all relevant compliance testing certification and can produce it on demand. This of course considerably pre-dates online buying.
I've actually just noticed this.. (stupidly while talking on the phone) I have an Australian extension cord and same type of travel adapter to connect my laptop i bought from overseas.. so the uk and european pins are just sitting there exposed but 'locked' into place. i was fiddling with it while talking on the phone and slid the UK locking mechanism, popping out the UK pins. when I tried to push the pins back in, my finger touched both pins and i got a big shock from it. i've got small blisters from this..
L and N are swapped depending on the orientation of the unit. Lethal for countries that use N connected to the metal body of a device like an iron or kettle.
That would be a suicide connection. In some countries like Finland neutral and earth can be connected in the socket. This is still legal in limited situations. In the socket the earth and neutral are separate so the orientation of the plug does not matter.
There are a ton of these for sale on-line and in catalogues. Many don't even have instructions. What does one expect from a US$ 5.00 device? Caveat emptor... Thanks for the expose - particularly enjoyed viewing the inside.
The mains wont kill you unless it passes your heart, even then there is a chance you will survive depending on your cardiac health. Itle give you a nice little burn either way though.
Very good detective work. The fact that there are so many different plugs represents a bigger failure, in my opinion. There should be one world standard for voltage, frequency, and outlets that should incorporate best practices, not a dozen.
Those are illegal just because they allow removing the earthing on the European plug. Basically any adapter that has a flat surface on which an European plug can be inserted is illegal. There has to be means to block the old round plug as well as earthed plugs (unless the earthing is passed through). Removing the earthing is not immediately dangerous though. One needs also a faulty device for the danger to actualize.
+Okaro X You don't have to go so far. Having the fake CE alone would disqualify these from being imported or sold (in the EU). Can't imagine how any of these would have passed any official conformance or security test.
Once a metal socket is wired the Earth connection prevents it from becoming live if there was a problem. In some situations like in a workshop or a factory you need metal sockets and they do also blend in better against darker walls if they are designer sockets like the one in this video.
The shutters have to just be self operated rather than driven by an eath pin as on a UK socket becuase they don't know if there ill be an earth pin depending on the plug being adapted for. It would be nice to operate the shutters like a UK socket but they can't if they are trying to be universal.
The whole point of shutters in most countries is that both mains pins need to be plugged in together. These allow single pins. The shortcut of using the earth pin like you get to do in the UK is a bit of a cheat, really. Look at how Schuko shutters work.
The difference is that I believe you guys in the UK have a fuse "in plug" whereas Europe, Australia and the US~Canada have a separate house-wide fuse box with an RCD built in (in Australia you must have an RCD in your fusebox by law now). In any of those other countries the RCD would trip on any short. I can't really see a problem with these devices outside of the UK. In the UK I agree that they are a dodgy proposition at best and best avoided. As an aside...Lots of older Aussie homes (older than thirty years) have ceramic fuse holders with connectors where you have to thread your own fuse wire and ensure that you use the right amperage wire. In newer homes we now have circuit breakers. The other thing is that older homes here have their fuseboxes next to the meter in an enclosed weather-proof box by the front door. Nowadays people want their fuseboxes indoors away from the prying fingers of kids and burglars and so you usually only find a smart meter outside in a box arrangement.
"...can't really see a problem with these devices outside of the UK". Are you serious? You trust your house-wide RCD enough to go running up to your sockets and go touching the live, do you? Or your fuses/circuit breakers enough to short live and neutral with your body? The problem is that unknowing people can still get shocked from the exposed pins for the other country types available on the adaptor. The safer way is to make sure you buy a travel adapter with fixed pins that are only for the area you are in, and not with these dodgy suicide pin ejection buttons.
Plus the fact there is no earth, but it still accepts an earth pin. So you connect your Class I appliance, it faults and goes live, nothing happens until you touch it and then it's a competition between your RCD and your heart about which one is more sensitive to 30mA.
Clinton Coker The RCD in my house is so sensitive that it flips even if an appliance is just at the beginning of its fault state, RCDs here have to trigger so fast that a potential shock victim won't even feel a slight tingle.
I'm in Australia too. The RCDs in my place are all 30mA rated. These should prevent fibrillation in most healthy people, but anyone with a heart condition or with implanted devices would be at serious risk. FWIW I have had a shock from live to earth (at work - poorly set up electrical device) and I certainly did feel it, though I lived to tell the tale. There is also the fact that if you touch the exposed live and neutral pins with one hand, you will certainly receive a painful shock - and quite possibly a serious burn - as you would be passing current from live to neutral and would therefore be independent of the RCD. If you think this is "safe", good for you, but I disagree.
These are shocking bad... Received one free from somewhere but the US pins don't fit the sockets at all well and the weight of the adapter means it readily falls out of the socket - cheap crap and I'm really not surprised to find its a death trap! Mine will be binned!
Do I understand correctly in thinking that such an adapter without a functioning earth connection would be safe if it had an isolating transformer built in (I realise this of course would probably make it quite large!) ?
No. Not with those two exposed pins sitting right there. If you touch both suicide pins simultaneously, and it's connected through an isolation transformer, not only do you get shocked but *also* the GFCI/RCD doesn't trip. In a pre-modern installation without GFCI/RCDs, an isolation transformer adds safety because it allows you to touch one of the leads without killing you, but if you touch both together it'll still kill you. In a modern installation with a GFCI/RCD, touching one of the leads is already relatively unlikely to kill you because it will trip, hopefully before you're dead. Adding an isolation transformer removes that protection, while not adding very much new protection. Personally I'd much rather rely on GFCI/RCD trips than on isolation transformers, except for very specific uses.
MMM. Came across this by mistake,but a real warning about buying cheap "bargins".I presume that this is how china gets around the safety regulations.Single items sent in to unsuspecting buyers by unscrupulous small companies can obviously be dangerous to the uninitiated.Well done and thank you for pointing this out so well.
The connection to the internal USB power supply would be "allowed" by NEC in the US. Article 240.21(B)(1), feeder taps, would allow conductors rated as small as 10% of ampacity of the OCPD. I would be surprised in the British Standard didn't have a similar exception. That said, the upstream OCPD is the 32A breaker. That's really unacceptable. This device should have 13A fuses in it. Any US equipment connected downstream is _not_ going to have 30A rated wiring.
I hate these adaptors because they got a ground connector at the outlet, but it's not connected. People think this ist save but it isn't. By this thing should be some diodes or switches, which does contact only one kind of plug.
i had a different brand, 220 to 110 converter, for using a european lamp in canada, rated at 50 watts max, and plugged a lamp into it, using a 30 watt bulb. it melted the lamp switch and got very hot, with a burning smell from the lamp. i was lucky not to start a fire, as i had left the room for a time. i won't use any voltage converters from now on
The truly sad thing is that most adaptors sold in proper shops around the world are not that much better! I know of one(!) model that will provide an earth connection with all socket types plus one that provides an earth in a BS1363 socket and hardly any of them, including those sold at UK airports, railway stations, etc. are fused! The one that provides a proper earth connection is actually a rather bulky box with a Schuko socket and proprietary male connector on it and face plates with all the necessary plugs slide onto it. It seems sturdy enough but I'm fairly sure it would destroy some less sturdy sockets simply because of its weight and because of the torque it applies to the pins. That's especially true for Italien 10 A sockets, some of which have trouble even with a simple plug with a length of 3G 1 mm2 flex. Also my rule of thumb is "if more than one type of plug fits the socket it's probably no good!". The more different shapes a socket has to accommodate, the more complicated it'd be to ensure proper surface contact with all of them. Granted, with most travelling needs I'm not all that worried about earth continuity since a lot of what people drag around is double-insulated anyway but I wouldn't rule out a 2 kW hairdryer being plugged into one of those contraptions (in fact I've been guilty of using a 1200 W hairdryer with a universal adaptor in the US as a teen, the adaptor was so bad I had to wiggle it around until it made contact!) and that's a serious fire risk with most adaptors! Once I really got into electrical work I simply tried to find as many international plugs as possible and just made my own adaptors with a local plug, bit of flex (at least 50 cm) and my own trailing socket. The only thingthat doesn't look utterly terrifying in the adaptors you dissected is the actual power supply for the USB port! I'm sure the wires won't carry anything near 1 amp, nor probably the switching transistor, but I'd have expected some horribly capacitor power supply rather than a halfway-decent SMPS with spark gaps between primary and secondary.
you know we have heard you say how the metal pins touching the metal face-plate could cause a bang or possible explosion .. can we see you put this to the test? .. i would think at the most it would arc a little and trip the RCD when the voltage hit the main ground .. but with all that bypassed in the yard setup .. hint hint ;)
The equipment I have got is not suitable, as although it can supply moderate current, it can't do mains voltage and high current at the same time so the total amount of energy available is limited. A short circuit at a socket will be at the full mains voltage, and have substantial current available and hence a large amount of energy. This video: th-cam.com/video/KVJVswLbqaA/w-d-xo.html is a laboratory test where a fake fuse is used, with no fuse similar results are likely.
ah that makes sense and i guess i hadnt thought about that part, cause with the yard setups with no earthing it would just make a hot plate and some sparks which would be no fun to watch .. but hey nice to see you thought about it :)
I had one exactly like this (the non USB one). It must have come with something I bought. As far as I remember, I smashed it up and binned it in with some really messy rubbish so that nobody would ever be tempted to use it or play with any of the parts.
for your general holiday shit. Buy 3 their country to your country adaptors. And three 4-6way your country socket strips. All your doing is pluging in low power stuff like chargers, and all your plugs will fit your strips. don't forget your chargers.
Those adaptors are PAAAAAANTS!! Thump 'em with your hammer. I know I would. ......After fizzing them over, of course. :D Thanx for showing, -BoomBoxDeluxe. _10th February 2014, 03.42_
27:49 That's indeed a LED, not a neon. I've seen LED's put across mains with a series resistor. They must employ an anti-parallel diode inside, to keep working. You can see they even used two resistors, to spread out the heat :D
Hi JW, I got a set of sequence xmas lights from Aliexpress with a moulded 2.5A - 240V, 2 pin [round]plug attached,If you can,are you able to change that for a uk plug,I also have the 2 adapters/converters you showed,the multi function & the small travel adapter,I'm not sure which is possible. The only other thing I've got is a battery box with 2 wires & 8AA battery slots,also not sure if its enough energy ?? I'm a bit stuck as I live 40mls from a small town & 98mls down to the closest city Inverness,so any help is much appreciated
You can change the plug to a UK one provided the original plug is just a connector and does not contain any voltage converter, transformer or other electronics.
CE means _conforme européenne_, Supposedly meaning it's manufactured in the EU and should conform to EU regulation. Doesn't mean it does though, it's self-certified I believe.
The "CE marking" alone doesnt really mean anything, and Chinese factories will add one if the order requests it. Proper CE is a conformance declaration by the manufacturer or the importer into the EU. It's a legal requirement for them to be able to prove that the product complies with all relevant safety standards, and there is full (local) accountability if there is any safety related incident. The main issue here is that the purchaser is the (private) importer, and these consumers don't even understand whats involved in product safety let alone know how to check compliance. So in summary, it's not actually the Chinese factory who's at fault, but rather the blame lies with the person who is buying non-certified and totally unsafe products and privately importing them. It's idiotic and naive for consumers to think that, just because something is offered for sale online at a very low price, that they should buy it LOL
@@johncoops6897 The CE mark shows the product complies with all applicable EU Directives, NOT Standards. Directives are mandatory, but Standards are not however Harmonised Standards may be used as they provide a Presumption of Conformity to a given Directive. Other methods may be used to show conformity to a Directive, but the information must be recorded in the Technical File compiled by manufacturer or entity that places the product on the market in the EU. The manufacturer/first importer must create a Declaration of Conformity (or Declaration of Incorporation or other Declaration depending on the relevant Directive) and affix the CE mark on the product.
@@125brat - yeah, so what is your point in repeating what I already said? Or are you just attempting to flex and play semantics games? And what relevance does any of that have to shitty Chinese products that are privately imported?
You can do that with other non-matching plugs and sockets. You can also shove a metal skewer or other metal object into a power outlet and get zapped. But these adaptors are non compliant in all countries and have other safety issues.
Amazon UK are still allowing these to be sold on their site. I've written a product review pointing out the dangers. I have one from there. Maybe a few years old. Time for a refund. This video would be better if you highlighted some safer alternative travel adapters.
Perhaps someone can tell me; for electrical items does the CE mark also have to quote reference number of the testing laboratory? If that's the case, the CE markings on these are clearly fraudulent.
+Nicole K There is no specific test for CE marked items - the CE is applied by the manufacturer to signify that the product complies with the relevant standards and directives. The manufacturer must keep detailed records stating how the product complies, which would usually include specifications, materials used, records from internal and external testing, etc. All of that must be provided on request to whoever wants to see it. The product or packaging must also include contact details for the manufacturer.
@@jwflame The compliance requirements are specified in each Directive. Directives are mandatory whilst Standards are optional. Harmonised Standards may be used to show compliance with a given Directive but other methods may be used. The manufacturer or entity who places the product on the market for the first time within the EU must create a Technical File which contains all the supporting information to show how the product complies with the relevant Directive(s). They must affix the CE mark to the product and create a Declaration of Conformity for the product. The DOC can be sent to customers if they require it, but the Technical File is normally only available for inspection by Trading Standards or other official body as it is confidential and wil contain proprietary information. It is an offence to affix a CE mark to a product that is not in scope of a relevant CE marking Directive.
apparently, there is an issue where on some devices there are glitches, but on other devices, the glitches don't show up (it might be that for whatever reason smartphones get the glitch version)
The UK has many problems but our sockets are not one of them. UK plug sockets are the best I the world, they feature shutters over the live and neutral that require the insertion of the earth pin to open and the plugs include built in fuses. The TH-camr Tom Scott did a very good video about this.
Samuel Doye You can have all of that in a plastic case.. all my sockets have plastic covers for all pins (you open it up with a plastic plug that only has end exposed) - there is no way you can energize the front panel. I could get ones with fuses as well. And since you open so old debate.. the other thing I don't get is: did you never hear of a internal water mixing tap? Why do you have hot and cold water separate?
My sockets are also all plastic. In my experience the metal ones are relatively rare. They also include a relatively large plastic area around the pins. I agree plastic is probably safer, but metal is also perfectly acceptable. Just out of curiosity what sockets do you have? With regards to taps, Tom Scott also has a very good video about this. The tl;dw of it is that it is to stop potentially dirty hot water from storage tanks mixing with the shared cold water supply as a public health measure. Many modern bathrooms including my own do now include mixer taps as hot water systems have improved.
Metal sockets are perfectly safe when they are fitted correctly because the Earth cable is an insulator. Reasons for metal sockets is because metal is more durable in commercial buildings like factories and warehouses and even at home in a workshop, garage or shed metal clad sockets are actually a good idea because they don't smash if they are accidentally struck with a heavy object. The other type of metal sockets such as the one in this video is really more of a decorative type socket and they are perfect especially against dark coloured walls or dark kitchen tiles as a white socket is an eyesore against black kitchen tiles but you can also get plastic sockets in black.
They are if it allows a 3 pin plug to be connected without the earth, as with the plastic pin example in this video. If it only accepts a 2 pin plug, then it does not need an earth connection. Those which fit into UK outlets must also have a fuse fitted in them.
And these are the reason why i make my own adapters, using the proper international plug, a short piece of 14/3 flex and the North American socket on the other end that is made to be installed on cable, it’s properly earthed, no danger like these chinese junk adapters, and none of that supposedly fits all but fits nothing socket
You know what? I might buy one of these for morse code... Reminds me of a story... One of the legislators in Hong Kong gave out these models of plugs for free and... Surprise surprise, they broke and burnt off... I'm not sure about the full story though
While a MOV is designed to conduct significant power for very short durations (about 8 to 20 microseconds), such as caused by lightning strikes, it typically does not have the capacity to conduct sustained energy. Under normal utility voltage conditions, this is not a problem. However, certain types of faults on the utility power grid can result in sustained over-voltage conditions. Examples include a loss of a neutral conductor or shorted lines on the high voltage system. Application of sustained over-voltage to a MOV can cause high dissipation, potentially resulting in the MOV device catching fire. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has documented many cases of catastrophic fires that have been caused by MOV devices in surge suppressors, and has issued bulletins on the issue. There are several issues to be noted regarding behavior of transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) incorporating MOVs under over-voltage conditions. Depending on the level of conducted current, dissipated heat may be insufficient to cause failure, but may degrade the MOV device and reduce its life expectancy. If excessive current is conducted by a MOV, it may fail catastrophically, keeping the load connected, but now without any surge protection. A user may have no indication when the surge suppressor has failed. Under the right conditions of over-voltage and line impedance, it may be possible to cause the MOV to burst into flames, the root cause of many fires and the main reason for NFPA’s concern resulting in UL1449 in 1986 and subsequent revisions in 1998 and 2009. Properly designed TVSS devices must not fail catastrophically, resulting in the opening of a thermal fuse or something equivalent that only disconnects MOV devices.
John, would you consider a universal adapter like this www.ebay.com/itm/Travel-Charger-Adapter-AC-Power-Plug-Dual-USB-Charger-for-Worldwide-US-EU-AU-UK/161735805344?rt=nc&_soffid=5010031003&_soffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795 dangerous or safe? It has pins on 3 sides a switch to select which pin to use on antother side and the hybrid outlet to plug various plugs on another
actually, the thing is there is a capacitor in this adapter, and for ur kind info. capacitor is used to store electricity or charge. so whenever you use such things, plz remember that before unplugging the adapter, you first have to switch it off, and then remove your device, and then unplug the the adapter from the schoket, also for extra safety, don't touch any metal pin of the adapter, after using it... That's it, now you can use it easily anytime , anywhere...😊😊😊
![30 ชั่วโมงคนเดียว บนรถไฟชั้น 3 โซเวียต [Around The World Ep. 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MlE9boAVqDA/mqdefault.jpg)
4 days ago I noticed this adaptor for sale in a local store in Denmark. I reported it to the authorities, with a link to this video. The importer and the store was then contacted by authorities, and the sale has stopped.
+Per Mejdal Rasmussen Good guy.
Why did you be a snitch, PEOPLE NEEDED THAT TO USE IT!
@@supersaiyangoku3580 I believe you've missed the point of the video, mate.
@@8bits59 Its safe as long people dont be idiots about it!!
@@supersaiyangoku3580 not quite. There's so much potential for death as well as so many electrical code violations from several countries that nobody should even really consider using this thing.
I think those "universal" travel adapters are a bad idea. Rather get a specific adapter which exactly fits the socket and the plug, like an adapter which has an UK plug on one and a Schuko socket on the other side.
They have some advantages:
1. You have no unnecessary plugs with you.
2. Those specific adapters are not so ridiculously big as the "universal" adaptors.
3. You have a nice and tight sitting plug.
4. You have an earthed connection.
5. Less painful.
You have to be careful with #4. There are adapters that look earthed (even including metal contacts on both the plug and socket) that are not earthed.
The only downside of going country specific is that it can be challenging to charge your phone on layovers. Recently, I had a layover at Dublin, heading to continental Europe, and I couldn't use any of the airport outlets.
Now well known as the Chinese Death Adaptor, thanks to bigclive
its now an official term at work now i have smashed lots of them supplied with dodgy 13650 battery chargers
Or for brevity: Death Daptor
These are NOT "Death 'daptors" - not even close. Go back and watch BigClive's channel again, and you will realise the error of your ways.
Frightening !
Chinese junk items must be killing thousands of innocents around the world. I bought one of these whilst in Thailand and had been using it without a thought to charge an ipad even with my toddler around. It didnt cross my mind that it could be deadly. Thanks John !!
Suicide pins, brilliant.
The US/AU pins could likely make contact with the earth strips of a schuko socket, and would undoubtedly make contact with the male earth pin in a French socket.
I'm not so sure about that. They'd definitively be disturbingly close to earth.
RCD tester. :)
As a Mom of a student traveling to China for his first time this video was VERY useful! Thanks a bunch!
Terrie Hallal oops wrong video! sorry didn't watch this one!
JW, thank you for another super video. I don't know why anyone would be leaving negative comments here, but trolls will troll.
I have two of these and we use them when visiting family in germany all the time and they work very well. They often sit in a extension lead all week with laptops and phones popping in and out of them. With hindsight, at any point the flimsy green toggle could have been knocked, springing the pins out!
There is no 'safe with common sense' argument to be made here. Common sense only tells you to check that your equipment is safe and if its not, throw it out.
Mass marketing a product which can easily expose the mains is unacceptable.
I find it interesting that most British plugs have a on and off switch on them :), seems very useful.
I think you mean sockets?
In america we call the sockets plugs as well.
Like "oh go use that plug over there." But I can see how that is confusing because realistically we are talking about the wall socket. :)
@@DordiHOTS So do some uneducated people in Britain. But they are wrong.
Thanks for the safety awereness vid for this type of travel charger... I didnt realize how dangerous it was right until i stumble upon ur vid.
If I need to plug something in when the plug is wrong, I only ever use a good adaptor. Have one for connecting Schuko and Europlugs safely, and have one somewhere for connecting a 13A plug in France and Germany. These that are trying to be "all for all" are pretty poor.
i love the way you express your scorn.
It's 2024, they are still available to buy on Ebay UK and Amazon UK . I recently received one with a 3d print filament dryer from Ali Express. I immediately tested it and found 230V on the flat pins when plugged into a 13A UK socket. There is plenty of room for any size of fingers to grab hold of the exposed flat pins and without a mains RCD the result can be a fatality. I reported it to the seller, who did nothing and to Ali Express who still sell them. Product safety testing and approval has become meaningless meaningless in the UK, it's as if 50+ years of safety development has been scrapped.
I love how they misspelled China as "CNINA" in the instructions. That tells you everything you need to know about this product, well, besides the missing earth pin.
I had one of these once but it killed me. So this is a warning from beyond the grave... don't do it people.
Seriously though these are scary pieces of equipment! Wouldn't take much for someone fumbling about behind the TV to accidentally flick the lock mechanism and have the pins of death shoot out and zap the crap out of you!
Great videos JW!
The pins are indeed live, I got shocked when I tried to pull it out of the socket. Don't understand how this got a CE mark on it. Very dangerous!!!
"Don't understand how this got a CE mark on it"
It's really very simple: The Chinese typesetter looked up "CE Mark" on Google Images and pasted it into the artwork.🤣
The CE mark is actually supposed to be a legally-binding statement to EU customs by an importer, to the effect that the importer confirms they hold all relevant compliance testing certification and can produce it on demand.
This of course considerably pre-dates online buying.
I've actually just noticed this.. (stupidly while talking on the phone)
I have an Australian extension cord and same type of travel adapter to connect my laptop i bought from overseas.. so the uk and european pins are just sitting there exposed but 'locked' into place.
i was fiddling with it while talking on the phone and slid the UK locking mechanism, popping out the UK pins.
when I tried to push the pins back in, my finger touched both pins and i got a big shock from it. i've got small blisters from this..
L and N are swapped depending on the orientation of the unit. Lethal for countries that use N connected to the metal body of a device like an iron or kettle.
Does any country actually do that? TN-C systems within the property would be very unusual (Germany USED to, many decades ago)
Any country that does this, have more important things to worry about.
That would be a suicide connection. In some countries like Finland neutral and earth can be connected in the socket. This is still legal in limited situations. In the socket the earth and neutral are separate so the orientation of the plug does not matter.
There are a ton of these for sale on-line and in catalogues. Many don't even have instructions. What does one expect from a US$ 5.00 device? Caveat emptor... Thanks for the expose - particularly enjoyed viewing the inside.
I ahve one of those, should i never use it again?
The mains wont kill you unless it passes your heart, even then there is a chance you will survive depending on your cardiac health. Itle give you a nice little burn either way though.
forget about standard uk sockets, think about using them in a powerboard! Lots of access to those pins of fun
This plug just caused a incident in local HK news, it burnt itself and exploded
+zombielinkinpark also 3 people were seriously injured along with 10,000 $ worth of property.
Very good detective work. The fact that there are so many different plugs represents a bigger failure, in my opinion. There should be one world standard for voltage, frequency, and outlets that should incorporate best practices, not a dozen.
Those are illegal just because they allow removing the earthing on the European plug. Basically any adapter that has a flat surface on which an European plug can be inserted is illegal. There has to be means to block the old round plug as well as earthed plugs (unless the earthing is passed through). Removing the earthing is not immediately dangerous though. One needs also a faulty device for the danger to actualize.
+Okaro X You don't have to go so far. Having the fake CE alone would disqualify these from being imported or sold (in the EU). Can't imagine how any of these would have passed any official conformance or security test.
I think that metal outlet covers might be a bad idea.
yea
Once a metal socket is wired the Earth connection prevents it from becoming live if there was a problem.
In some situations like in a workshop or a factory you need metal sockets and they do also blend in better
against darker walls if they are designer sockets like the one in this video.
quite worryingly, I found a couple of these for sale in Home Bargains here in the UK just this past weekend (mid-May, 2018).
I've been binge watching these dangerous electronics and it just blows my mind what is sold on ebay like what the fuck
The shutters have to just be self operated rather than driven by an eath pin as on a UK socket becuase they don't know if there ill be an earth pin depending on the plug being adapted for. It would be nice to operate the shutters like a UK socket but they can't if they are trying to be universal.
The whole point of shutters in most countries is that both mains pins need to be plugged in together. These allow single pins. The shortcut of using the earth pin like you get to do in the UK is a bit of a cheat, really. Look at how Schuko shutters work.
The difference is that I believe you guys in the UK have a fuse "in plug" whereas Europe, Australia and the US~Canada have a separate house-wide fuse box with an RCD built in (in Australia you must have an RCD in your fusebox by law now). In any of those other countries the RCD would trip on any short. I can't really see a problem with these devices outside of the UK. In the UK I agree that they are a dodgy proposition at best and best avoided.
As an aside...Lots of older Aussie homes (older than thirty years) have ceramic fuse holders with connectors where you have to thread your own fuse wire and ensure that you use the right amperage wire. In newer homes we now have circuit breakers. The other thing is that older homes here have their fuseboxes next to the meter in an enclosed weather-proof box by the front door. Nowadays people want their fuseboxes indoors away from the prying fingers of kids and burglars and so you usually only find a smart meter outside in a box arrangement.
We got fuse boxes aswell.
"...can't really see a problem with these devices outside of the UK". Are you serious? You trust your house-wide RCD enough to go running up to your sockets and go touching the live, do you? Or your fuses/circuit breakers enough to short live and neutral with your body? The problem is that unknowing people can still get shocked from the exposed pins for the other country types available on the adaptor. The safer way is to make sure you buy a travel adapter with fixed pins that are only for the area you are in, and not with these dodgy suicide pin ejection buttons.
Plus the fact there is no earth, but it still accepts an earth pin. So you connect your Class I appliance, it faults and goes live, nothing happens until you touch it and then it's a competition between your RCD and your heart about which one is more sensitive to 30mA.
Clinton Coker The RCD in my house is so sensitive that it flips even if an appliance is just at the beginning of its fault state, RCDs here have to trigger so fast that a potential shock victim won't even feel a slight tingle.
I'm in Australia too. The RCDs in my place are all 30mA rated. These should prevent fibrillation in most healthy people, but anyone with a heart condition or with implanted devices would be at serious risk. FWIW I have had a shock from live to earth (at work - poorly set up electrical device) and I certainly did feel it, though I lived to tell the tale.
There is also the fact that if you touch the exposed live and neutral pins with one hand, you will certainly receive a painful shock - and quite possibly a serious burn - as you would be passing current from live to neutral and would therefore be independent of the RCD. If you think this is "safe", good for you, but I disagree.
These are shocking bad... Received one free from somewhere but the US pins don't fit the sockets at all well and the weight of the adapter means it readily falls out of the socket - cheap crap and I'm really not surprised to find its a death trap! Mine will be binned!
Do I understand correctly in thinking that such an adapter without a functioning earth connection would be safe if it had an isolating transformer built in (I realise this of course would probably make it quite large!) ?
+BenjaminGoose Yes, provided it was a proper isolating transformer, and only a single piece of equipment was connected to it.
No. Not with those two exposed pins sitting right there. If you touch both suicide pins simultaneously, and it's connected through an isolation transformer, not only do you get shocked but *also* the GFCI/RCD doesn't trip.
In a pre-modern installation without GFCI/RCDs, an isolation transformer adds safety because it allows you to touch one of the leads without killing you, but if you touch both together it'll still kill you. In a modern installation with a GFCI/RCD, touching one of the leads is already relatively unlikely to kill you because it will trip, hopefully before you're dead. Adding an isolation transformer removes that protection, while not adding very much new protection.
Personally I'd much rather rely on GFCI/RCD trips than on isolation transformers, except for very specific uses.
On these things, sometimes the L or N receptacle contact isn't even connected to the relevant folded out pin straight from the factory.
that' a very optimistic use of the double insulated symbol with that pin configuration.
MMM. Came across this by mistake,but a real warning about buying cheap "bargins".I presume that this is how china gets around the safety regulations.Single items sent in to unsuspecting buyers by unscrupulous small companies can obviously be dangerous to the uninitiated.Well done and thank you for pointing this out so well.
The connection to the internal USB power supply would be "allowed" by NEC in the US. Article 240.21(B)(1), feeder taps, would allow conductors rated as small as 10% of ampacity of the OCPD. I would be surprised in the British Standard didn't have a similar exception. That said, the upstream OCPD is the 32A breaker. That's really unacceptable. This device should have 13A fuses in it. Any US equipment connected downstream is _not_ going to have 30A rated wiring.
I hate these adaptors because they got a ground connector at the outlet, but it's not connected.
People think this ist save but it isn't.
By this thing should be some diodes or switches, which does contact only one kind of plug.
i had a different brand, 220 to 110 converter, for using a european lamp in canada, rated at 50 watts max, and plugged a lamp into it, using a 30 watt bulb. it melted the lamp switch and got very hot, with a burning smell from the lamp. i was lucky not to start a fire, as i had left the room for a time. i won't use any voltage converters from now on
You were thinking of a deep (earthed) European socket. In a shallow (non-earthed) socket though, the American pins are still pure deathpins.
The truly sad thing is that most adaptors sold in proper shops around the world are not that much better! I know of one(!) model that will provide an earth connection with all socket types plus one that provides an earth in a BS1363 socket and hardly any of them, including those sold at UK airports, railway stations, etc. are fused!
The one that provides a proper earth connection is actually a rather bulky box with a Schuko socket and proprietary male connector on it and face plates with all the necessary plugs slide onto it. It seems sturdy enough but I'm fairly sure it would destroy some less sturdy sockets simply because of its weight and because of the torque it applies to the pins. That's especially true for Italien 10 A sockets, some of which have trouble even with a simple plug with a length of 3G 1 mm2 flex.
Also my rule of thumb is "if more than one type of plug fits the socket it's probably no good!". The more different shapes a socket has to accommodate, the more complicated it'd be to ensure proper surface contact with all of them.
Granted, with most travelling needs I'm not all that worried about earth continuity since a lot of what people drag around is double-insulated anyway but I wouldn't rule out a 2 kW hairdryer being plugged into one of those contraptions (in fact I've been guilty of using a 1200 W hairdryer with a universal adaptor in the US as a teen, the adaptor was so bad I had to wiggle it around until it made contact!) and that's a serious fire risk with most adaptors!
Once I really got into electrical work I simply tried to find as many international plugs as possible and just made my own adaptors with a local plug, bit of flex (at least 50 cm) and my own trailing socket.
The only thingthat doesn't look utterly terrifying in the adaptors you dissected is the actual power supply for the USB port! I'm sure the wires won't carry anything near 1 amp, nor probably the switching transistor, but I'd have expected some horribly capacitor power supply rather than a halfway-decent SMPS with spark gaps between primary and secondary.
Huh. Amazon lists a new version now. Any plans to pick one up and see if it's still a deathdaptor?
Thanks for the loud noise warning
Any non-UK person think they take outlet safety extremely seriously?
Those really are the adapters of death.
you know we have heard you say how the metal pins touching the metal face-plate could cause a bang or possible explosion .. can we see you put this to the test? .. i would think at the most it would arc a little and trip the RCD when the voltage hit the main ground .. but with all that bypassed in the yard setup .. hint hint ;)
The equipment I have got is not suitable, as although it can supply moderate current, it can't do mains voltage and high current at the same time so the total amount of energy available is limited. A short circuit at a socket will be at the full mains voltage, and have substantial current available and hence a large amount of energy.
This video: th-cam.com/video/KVJVswLbqaA/w-d-xo.html is a laboratory test where a fake fuse is used, with no fuse similar results are likely.
ah that makes sense and i guess i hadnt thought about that part, cause with the yard setups with no earthing it would just make a hot plate and some sparks which would be no fun to watch .. but hey nice to see you thought about it :)
John Ward
“Pop out suicide pins” gave me a good laugh.
"Adapter of evil." EVIL?! There's EVIL a foot! We MUST smash EVIL ADAPTERS! Use sledge hammer as bare feet would hurt.
I had one exactly like this (the non USB one). It must have come with something I bought. As far as I remember, I smashed it up and binned it in with some really messy rubbish so that nobody would ever be tempted to use it or play with any of the parts.
any suggestions for good adapter my fellow youtuber pls n thnx
I bought one universal travel adapter for my trip to Tokyo on Amazon and so far loving it.
www.amazon.com/dp/B01KSVTGWS
for your general holiday shit. Buy 3 their country to your country adaptors. And three 4-6way your country socket strips. All your doing is pluging in low power stuff like chargers, and all your plugs will fit your strips. don't forget your chargers.
Those adaptors are PAAAAAANTS!!
Thump 'em with your hammer.
I know I would.
......After fizzing them over, of course. :D
Thanx for showing,
-BoomBoxDeluxe.
_10th February 2014, 03.42_
is the first one you looked at (with the lock unlock thing for the uk adaptor) grounded, because the pin looks like plastic
+Henry Southall No earth, the pin is plastic and the earth hole in the socket has no contacts in it.
***** Oh, alright
It's not grounded but it is required so that it can push the shutters open for the "power" connectors.
does anybody else see where the screen goes weird at about 3:50?
+Austin Payne I can see it on a mobile, but not on other devices, presumably some TH-cam encoding problem.
+John Ward yah, that's what I'm viewing it on
+Austin Payne I saw it too on my desktop browser :/
I'm on mobile and I see it too.
+John Ward no ive got it on my laptop
27:49 That's indeed a LED, not a neon. I've seen LED's put across mains with a series resistor. They must employ an anti-parallel diode inside, to keep working. You can see they even used two resistors, to spread out the heat :D
Some older type LEDs don't mind reverse current too much, and have lowish reverse break down voltage.
Another issue with this is you can plug the earth plug into the live terminal and make the whole appliance live. Not good
CE - Chinese Export, or Check Everything.
Hi JW, I got a set of sequence xmas lights from Aliexpress with a moulded 2.5A - 240V, 2 pin [round]plug attached,If you can,are you able to change that for a uk plug,I also have the 2 adapters/converters you showed,the multi function & the small travel adapter,I'm not sure which is possible.
The only other thing I've got is a battery box with 2 wires & 8AA battery slots,also not sure if its enough energy ??
I'm a bit stuck as I live 40mls from a small town & 98mls down to the closest city Inverness,so any help is much appreciated
You can change the plug to a UK one provided the original plug is just a connector and does not contain any voltage converter, transformer or other electronics.
CE means _conforme européenne_, Supposedly meaning it's manufactured in the EU and should conform to EU regulation. Doesn't mean it does though, it's self-certified I believe.
The "CE marking" alone doesnt really mean anything, and Chinese factories will add one if the order requests it. Proper CE is a conformance declaration by the manufacturer or the importer into the EU. It's a legal requirement for them to be able to prove that the product complies with all relevant safety standards, and there is full (local) accountability if there is any safety related incident.
The main issue here is that the purchaser is the (private) importer, and these consumers don't even understand whats involved in product safety let alone know how to check compliance.
So in summary, it's not actually the Chinese factory who's at fault, but rather the blame lies with the person who is buying non-certified and totally unsafe products and privately importing them.
It's idiotic and naive for consumers to think that, just because something is offered for sale online at a very low price, that they should buy it LOL
@@johncoops6897 The CE mark shows the product complies with all applicable EU Directives, NOT Standards. Directives are mandatory, but Standards are not however Harmonised Standards may be used as they provide a Presumption of Conformity to a given Directive. Other methods may be used to show conformity to a Directive, but the information must be recorded in the Technical File compiled by manufacturer or entity that places the product on the market in the EU. The manufacturer/first importer must create a Declaration of Conformity (or Declaration of Incorporation or other Declaration depending on the relevant Directive) and affix the CE mark on the product.
@@125brat - yeah, so what is your point in repeating what I already said? Or are you just attempting to flex and play semantics games? And what relevance does any of that have to shitty Chinese products that are privately imported?
you could also plug in cords wrong into the adapter such as put the ground into the live holes.
You can do that with other non-matching plugs and sockets. You can also shove a metal skewer or other metal object into a power outlet and get zapped. But these adaptors are non compliant in all countries and have other safety issues.
Suicide adapters more like it!
so you buy one of these devices when you want to turn your extension cord into a cattle prod!!!! BARGAIIIN
+John Ward What brand/model of continuity tester is that? Such a dreadful noise. I want one.
"Suicide pins". I love this term
The European one is similar to the Brazillian one too, and makes it double the danger on that case.
+KSATechnology and it's the same as south African too, so it triples the danger.
Amazon UK are still allowing these to be sold on their site. I've written a product review pointing out the dangers. I have one from there. Maybe a few years old. Time for a refund.
This video would be better if you highlighted some safer alternative travel adapters.
sometimes the socket can be flush with the wall instead of sitcking out of the wall
How about covering all the pins you don't need with adhesive tape?
Slightly better than nothing, but still very far from a safe product.
I had the first adapter originally and realized how dangerous it was so threw it away
IMO power adapters should be like any other adapter - adapt one specific plug to one specific other plug. Still not perfect, but much better.
it took you 23 minutes until you took the shit apart.
Perhaps someone can tell me; for electrical items does the CE mark also have to quote reference number of the testing laboratory? If that's the case, the CE markings on these are clearly fraudulent.
+Nicole K There is no specific test for CE marked items - the CE is applied by the manufacturer to signify that the product complies with the relevant standards and directives. The manufacturer must keep detailed records stating how the product complies, which would usually include specifications, materials used, records from internal and external testing, etc. All of that must be provided on request to whoever wants to see it.
The product or packaging must also include contact details for the manufacturer.
+John Ward Thank you. So, as suspected, fraudulent.
+Nicole K CE is a faith based marking. Do not use it to give you faith in a product.
@@jwflame The compliance requirements are specified in each Directive. Directives are mandatory whilst Standards are optional. Harmonised Standards may be used to show compliance with a given Directive but other methods may be used. The manufacturer or entity who places the product on the market for the first time within the EU must create a Technical File which contains all the supporting information to show how the product complies with the relevant Directive(s). They must affix the CE mark to the product and create a Declaration of Conformity for the product. The DOC can be sent to customers if they require it, but the Technical File is normally only available for inspection by Trading Standards or other official body as it is confidential and wil contain proprietary information. It is an offence to affix a CE mark to a product that is not in scope of a relevant CE marking Directive.
still loads of these and similar on ebay...how ?
how could you go wrong with that bag?
3:50 what happened? The screen is glitching or som
apparently, there is an issue where on some devices there are glitches, but on other devices, the glitches don't show up
(it might be that for whatever reason smartphones get the glitch version)
Thanks John, well worth doing that one.
The European sockets have two types , the one in the adapter looks awkward... I've never seen a European plug shape like that...
Ephraim Fung Italian
did you choose the thug life or did the thug life choose you
its shocking
I had one of those adapters... It electrocuted me...
ouch
Nicholas Ruiz Yeh...
LetsGetStarted what did it do to you?
Nicholas Ruiz I plugged it in (i use AU plugs) and i accidentally wrapped my fingers around the Indonesian plugs which it then shocked me...
LetsGetStarted you got burned?, hospitalized?
Seems UK can't get many things right... why would one have metal sockets on wall? It's like asking for trouble.
The UK has many problems but our sockets are not one of them. UK plug sockets are the best I the world, they feature shutters over the live and neutral that require the insertion of the earth pin to open and the plugs include built in fuses. The TH-camr Tom Scott did a very good video about this.
Samuel Doye You can have all of that in a plastic case.. all my sockets have plastic covers for all pins (you open it up with a plastic plug that only has end exposed) - there is no way you can energize the front panel. I could get ones with fuses as well. And since you open so old debate.. the other thing I don't get is: did you never hear of a internal water mixing tap? Why do you have hot and cold water separate?
My sockets are also all plastic. In my experience the metal ones are relatively rare. They also include a relatively large plastic area around the pins. I agree plastic is probably safer, but metal is also perfectly acceptable. Just out of curiosity what sockets do you have?
With regards to taps, Tom Scott also has a very good video about this. The tl;dw of it is that it is to stop potentially dirty hot water from storage tanks mixing with the shared cold water supply as a public health measure. Many modern bathrooms including my own do now include mixer taps as hot water systems have improved.
Metal sockets are perfectly safe when they are fitted correctly because the Earth cable is an insulator. Reasons
for metal sockets is because metal is more durable in commercial buildings like factories and warehouses and
even at home in a workshop, garage or shed metal clad sockets are actually a good idea because they don't smash
if they are accidentally struck with a heavy object. The other type of metal sockets such as the one in this video is
really more of a decorative type socket and they are perfect especially against dark coloured walls or dark kitchen
tiles as a white socket is an eyesore against black kitchen tiles but you can also get plastic sockets in black.
No fuse? Mine had one.
Are unearthed or multi travel adapters illegal in the uk?
They are if it allows a 3 pin plug to be connected without the earth, as with the plastic pin example in this video.
If it only accepts a 2 pin plug, then it does not need an earth connection.
Those which fit into UK outlets must also have a fuse fitted in them.
+John Ward most uk to America/Australian adapters never have an earth
Shocking! Literally.
Although really useful, it might be useful to show a good example of the type, too.
Man Fondles Adaptors for 33mins...
Gee, maybe that's why we use 110 volts for most simple appliances in the USA. Duh.
Haha American Mains Plugs are easily the most dangerous in the world
And these are the reason why i make my own adapters, using the proper international plug, a short piece of 14/3 flex and the North American socket on the other end that is made to be installed on cable, it’s properly earthed, no danger like these chinese junk adapters, and none of that supposedly fits all but fits nothing socket
You know what? I might buy one of these for morse code...
Reminds me of a story... One of the legislators in Hong Kong gave out these models of plugs for free and... Surprise surprise, they broke and burnt off... I'm not sure about the full story though
can use np lah
rofl the only thing the packaging is useful for is making a pseudo wall to demonstrate the suicide pins
20:01 test that US/AU terminal plug with multimeter.
If the alternative is matchsticks I don't think these plugs are so bad.
I found these being sold in a kiosk.
While a MOV is designed to conduct significant power for very short durations (about 8 to 20 microseconds), such as caused by lightning strikes, it typically does not have the capacity to conduct sustained energy. Under normal utility voltage conditions, this is not a problem. However, certain types of faults on the utility power grid can result in sustained over-voltage conditions. Examples include a loss of a neutral conductor or shorted lines on the high voltage system. Application of sustained over-voltage to a MOV can cause high dissipation, potentially resulting in the MOV device catching fire. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has documented many cases of catastrophic fires that have been caused by MOV devices in surge suppressors, and has issued bulletins on the issue.
There are several issues to be noted regarding behavior of transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) incorporating MOVs under over-voltage conditions. Depending on the level of conducted current, dissipated heat may be insufficient to cause failure, but may degrade the MOV device and reduce its life expectancy. If excessive current is conducted by a MOV, it may fail catastrophically, keeping the load connected, but now without any surge protection. A user may have no indication when the surge suppressor has failed. Under the right conditions of over-voltage and line impedance, it may be possible to cause the MOV to burst into flames, the root cause of many fires and the main reason for NFPA’s concern resulting in UL1449 in 1986 and subsequent revisions in 1998 and 2009. Properly designed TVSS devices must not fail catastrophically, resulting in the opening of a thermal fuse or something equivalent that only disconnects MOV devices.
John, would you consider a universal adapter like this
www.ebay.com/itm/Travel-Charger-Adapter-AC-Power-Plug-Dual-USB-Charger-for-Worldwide-US-EU-AU-UK/161735805344?rt=nc&_soffid=5010031003&_soffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795
dangerous or safe?
It has pins on 3 sides a switch to select which pin to use on antother side and the hybrid outlet to plug various plugs on another
actually, the thing is there is a capacitor in this adapter, and for ur kind info. capacitor is used to store electricity or charge. so whenever you use such things, plz remember that before unplugging the adapter, you first have to switch it off, and then remove your device, and then unplug the the adapter from the schoket, also for extra safety, don't touch any metal pin of the adapter, after using it... That's it, now you can use it easily anytime , anywhere...😊😊😊
3:52 Its just me or I need a vcr's head cleaner tape.
26:10 iv'e seen 120v on wires about 1/4 that size...
These would work great.. If you were suicidal looking for a way out..
There are 4 ways this thing can kill you.
wow that's a new low.