RMweb Premium 47137 Posted August 6, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 I bought myself a power supply for LEDs a few weeks ago, and the unit came with a detachable mains lead - a UK-pattern 13A plug at one end, and the usual 10A in-line socket at the other. The plug is not marked "BS1363" and has no BSI kite mark; but it is a perfect fit into the usual socket. It is marked "10A 250V ~", with the three pins designated L N and the usual earth symbol. This is the smallest 13A plug I have ever seen. Very neat. But I cannot tell whether it has a sealed (non-replaceable) fuse inside it. If not, well I'm not terribly troubled myself as it is running from a UPS which has its own internal protection. But if it was running from a ring main, fused at the usual UK 30A, well I guess it could get quite hot in a fault condition. Food for thought. - Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
28XX Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 No BS? Any doubts? Chop off and fit a proper one. Not worth the gamble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Pannier Tank Posted August 6, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 Send it to Trading Standards. See http://www.bs1363.org.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 If the Lead is not Kosher the it makes you suspect the transformer! Mark Saunders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 47137 Posted August 6, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 Send it to Trading Standards. See http://www.bs1363.org.uk In fact, the BS1363 people have a photo of this same plug on their site. They point out, the pins are too close to the edge of the plug, and say it is unfused and illegal. Looking more closely, I see the cable is marked up as 0.5 mm^2 - the size usually rated for 3 amps not 10 amps. I've taken the cable assembly out of service. - Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Pannier Tank Posted August 6, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 I've taken the cable assembly out of service. - Richard. Richard, that really is the most sensible thing to do. I would either send it / report it to Trading Standards and/or destroy it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 47137 Posted August 6, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 I've written off to the BS1363 people with the same two photos. If they reply, I'll try to remember to post an update here. I've got plenty of alternative leads to choose a decent substitute. - Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Care to share where this product came from? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 47137 Posted August 6, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 Care to share where this product came from? It came from an eBay seller with a high feedback score, over 20,000. I'd like to wait and see if the BS1363 people reply to me, and then take it onwards from there. - Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Hayter Posted August 6, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2015 Richard It will be interesting to see what if anything the BS people say. The item is not BS but does not claim to be so. As far as British Standards are concerned therefore the item does not contravene their rules. As other have said, Trading Standards are the folk to take action because they have the rules that plugs must conform to BS 1363. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 However I believe any item "placed on the market" in the EU has to have a CE mark which indicates it conforms to all relevant standards. I'm not sure how this plays in this particular case though, where the standard in question is a national one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Hi Richard I agree entirely with Mark. If the supplied plug and cable is dangerous, which from the BS1363 website and what you discovered about the cable it is, then why would the power supply itself be any better? The risk of fire could actually be greater than the risk of electrocution.and I'm not sure would show up in a PAT test. The government's website says this. "The regulations apply to any person who supplies electrical equipment in the course of business." That would certainly include anyone using eBay commercially. "It is an offence to supply electrical equipment which does not comply with the requirements of the regulations. Any person committing an offence is liable - under summary conviction - to imprisonment, a fine or both." I don't know to what extent this liability extends to firms such as Amazon and eBay if they allow a trader who they know has broken these regulations to continue trading.. The Plugsafe website http://www.bs1363.org.uk/ makes sobering reading and I'll be a lot more careful in future about buying anything electrical through Amazon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 The government's website says this. "The regulations apply to any person who supplies electrical equipment in the course of business." That would certainly include anyone using eBay commercially. "It is an offence to supply electrical equipment which does not comply with the requirements of the regulations. Any person committing an offence is liable - under summary conviction - to imprisonment, a fine or both." How does that work with a seller, who for example, may be in China? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 How does that work with a seller, who for example, may be in China? So don't buy from China..... Check where the seller is from before you buy. Been caught out a couple of times buying stuff for the lathe and didn't realise the seller was in China, needless to say the stuff took four weeks to arrive and was total CxxP, never again. And Amason didn't want to know.... Dave Franks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Jonboy Posted August 7, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2015 So don't buy from China..... Check where the seller is from before you buy. Been caught out a couple of times buying stuff for the lathe and didn't realise the seller was in China, needless to say the stuff took four weeks to arrive and was total CxxP, never again. And Amason didn't want to know.... Dave Franks. If genuine cxxp then negative feedback on Amazon normally results in an swift offer of a refund from the seller...whether you choose to respond to the daily emails asking you to revoke the feedback after this is up to you,,, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Sh1t from China is everywhere. A couple of years ago I foolishly bought a cheap bike multi spanner. It fractured on first use and I took all the skin off my knuckles. In the bin it went and I bought a chrome vanadium job made in Sheffield. The other week I replaced the ball valve on the water tank in the loft. The valve (made in China, bought at B & Q) is OK (I hope !!) - but the washer on the 1/2" water feed union was probably made from cardboard, not fibre, as after a couple of weeks it virtually dissolved away, leaving water flooding into my daughters bedroom. Happily very little damage but a mess we could have done without - all for a cheap 1 penny washer !!! It's not too bad with water - you just get wet, but electricity is a different matter. You can't really boycott Chinese goods these days as EVERYTHING seems to be made there. Not everything Chinese made is bad or poor quality, BUT the Chinese are masters of disguise. If in doubt, don't use it Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 47137 Posted August 17, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 Update. The PlugSafe / BSBS1363 people have not replied to me, so I wrote to the supplier and pointed out the various faults with the mains lead. They replied within 12 hours and are taking up the matter with their supplier. This suits me - there is no monetary compensation for me to look for (I can buy compliant leads one off for £1 or so) and I'm not at risk - tho' I expect some members will feel I should have toiled down to the Citizens Advice Bureau and made a formal submission through them to Trading Standards, and signed up to be a witness in court and all that sort of stuff. The power unit itself (p/n LY1206) is supplied wholesale as an OEM item without a mains lead. I've found some reviews online and there is nothing to suggest the power unit will have problems. I'll keep an eye out for overheating, but it has run I suppose 150 hours now on half load (3A) without obvious problems. - Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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