[GLLUG] Spot the cheap Chinese fake

[Chris Bell]

On Wed 09 Apr, Christopher Hunter wrote:
> 
> 
> On 09/04/14 15:42, Michael Peel wrote:
> > Is it not better to just stick to a respected company when buying parts
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> Sadly, no.  I bought some power supplies from a very well known (and 
> rather over-priced) supplier in Corby.  The things that turned up were, 
> frankly, dangerous.  I returned them for a refund, and pointed out that 
> these were very poorly made and liable to cause fires.  The supplier 
> still advertises them.
> 
> My new policy is to buy a sample, strip it down, examine it for build 
> quality, and return a kit of parts to the supplier and demand my money 
> back if the item doesn't meet the BS Safety Criteria.  This has 
> persuaded at least one supplier to drop a line of supposedly "high 
> quality" SMPSUs, but takes a lot of my time.  I now have my staff 
> examine the PSUs we buy in....
> 
> I've got very fed up with the nasty leakage through SMPSUs - even if 
> they're "safe" they can have significant leakage to the "low voltage" 
> side of the device.  I can't count the number of painful shocks I've had 
> from laptops and many peripherals when connecting them to desktop 
> machines.  I now use "linear" supplies for most of my gear, with proper 
> earthing!
> 
> C.
> 
   Chinese mains volts are 220 +/-5% and many Chinese PSUs are labelled as
suitable for 110 to 240 volts. These are supposed to be absolute values, but
UK mains used to be a loose 240 volts, now specified so as to meet EU
requirements as 230 -5% +10% so up to around at least 253 volts, (and I have
seen nearer 260 volts). Friends who are importers now specify up to 265
volts.


-- 
Chris Bell www.chrisbell.org.uk
Microsoft sells you Windows ... Linux gives you the whole house.