Don't cut costs on wall warts...

[tronixstuff]

Today I got one heck of an electric shock, and lived to tell the story.

Please read:
**broken link removed**

Of course it was my own silly fault for being a cheapskate, however still a timely warning to others out there.

Have a safe day
John

 

[Brevor]

Gotta love those 240 Volt mains !

 

[bryan]

Always thought 240v mains was safer than 120v mains as it tended to throw you away from the shock, where 120v can cause you to grip the wire. I don't plan on any tests!!!

 

[Boncuk]

Always thought 240v mains was safer than 120v mains as it tended to throw you away from the shock, where 120v can cause you to grip the wire. I don't plan on any tests!!!

Those connectors used in the USA, (probably Australia as well) and certainly used in Thailand aren't safe anyway.

German standard is to use "Schuko" outlets with a collar deep enough to have the plug removed from the outlet long before you are even able to touch the pins.

Schuko outlets can even be locked to be out of reach of children trying to poke into the outlet using knitting needles or similar devices.

It takes a special mechanically coded plug to rotate the lock in order to insert the plug into the wall outlet.

Hope you've learned your lesson well.

Regards

Boncuk

 

[Diver300]

That's why the UK plug has a big area around the pins, and now sleeved pins.

It's almost impossible to touch a live pin, even with a screwdriver.

That's no help if you're using an adaptor to american pins.

 

[Boncuk]

That's why the UK plug has a big area around the pins, and now sleeved pins.

It's almost impossible to touch a live pin, even with a screwdriver.

That's no help if you're using an adaptor to american pins.

There's no change I could observe since 1968.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

There's no change I could observe since 1968.

You've not looked very hard then

Partially sleeved live and neutral pins were introduced decades ago, making the UK plugs even safer than before.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Always thought 240v mains was safer than 120v mains as it tended to throw you away from the shock, where 120v can cause you to grip the wire. I don't plan on any tests!!!

I've no idea if that's true or not, but certainly people seem to manage to get killed just as easily on 120V as 240V, and youn have to work hard to get 240V to kill someone

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I bought one of these cheepies a while back, too. It was poor quality, and, naturaly, lacked the half-shrouded pins that are the norm these days - wouldnt let them run unattended and will probably pay the extra $$ next time. Experience it the best teacher, I suppose (unless one of these kills you :O)

 

[DirtyLude]

This seems more like a story of don't get mains plugs with adapters on them, rather than don't get cheap wallwarts. I was expecting the thing blew up or something, but you just had a problem with the adapter.

 

[tronixstuff]

Perhaps, I bought two of them. The first one overheated like crazy to the point where it might cause a fire. Plus they were supposed to have the Australian pins, not the crappy adapter set-up. Still a product to avoid, however it is probably not that relevant for those in the parts of the world with US-style power points.

 

[audioguru]

You are lucky to be shocked on only one hand so the electricity did not travel through your heart.
I am glad that your hand was not burned off.

I haven't had a mains shock since I was a little kid. Maybe I should try it again.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I haven't had a mains shock since I was a little kid. Maybe I should try it again.

You've done well then!

 

[tronixstuff]

Audioguru: You are lucky to be shocked on only one hand so the electricity did not travel through your heart.
I am glad that your hand was not burned off.

I haven't had a mains shock since I was a little kid. Maybe I should try it again.
---

Thanks, me too.
Maybe not!

 

[3v0]

Audioguru: You are lucky to be shocked on only one hand so the electricity did not travel through your heart.
I am glad that your hand was not burned off....

I have never seen a skin burn from 110V or 220V.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,


Im glad somebody brought this up. This can happen with other types of things too, such as extension cords in the USA. If you grip the socket of the extension cord the wrong way with the left hand fingers slightly over the socket part it seems ok because the fingers are not touching anything but plastic, but once you pull on the plug plugged into the socket with the right hand it moves the plastic of the plug away from the socket more and more and as you pull the left hand fingers no longer have plastic to support them and they sink down toward the exposed prongs.
With the right timing the left hand fingers touch the prongs before they are all the way out...ouch!

 

[Boncuk]

You've not looked very hard then

Partially sleeved live and neutral pins were introduced decades ago, making the UK plugs even safer than before.

I didn't talk about UK plugs, but those made in the USA. There are wall outlets with an earth pin, but the overall construction hasn't changed much.

It's even worse in Thailand. There are lots of wall outlets prepared for an earth pin, but they just have two wires in them. Plugs are manufactured with a faked earth pin which is just embedded in the plastic material and connected nowhere.

To make it usable for "normal" two pin outlets just twist it a bit and it'll fall off the plug.

 

[3v0]

Hi,
but once you pull on the plug plugged into the socket with the right hand it moves the plastic of the plug away from the socket more and more and as you pull the left hand fingers no longer have plastic to support them and they sink down toward the exposed prongs.
With the right timing the left hand fingers touch the prongs before they are all the way out...ouch!

Yes it is a great educator. The sort of lesson you learn the first time.

 

[MrAl]

Hi again,


I've always been unhappy with the USA plugs. Long time ago there were only 2 prongs, then they went to 3 prongs, then made all the 2 prong stuff use 'polarized' 2 prongs where one prong is wider then the other. What a pain that turned out to be.

 

[3v0]

I do not care for the fumbling induced by the larger neutral.

Would also like a connector that locks in place. Rather tired of using knots to keep extension cords from pulling apart.