Electrocution from usb charger

[mickypheonix]

This is a very sad article that i felt needed sharing on the forums to make people aware of
some potentially lethal usb chargers on ebay and similar sites.
This is a very disturbing article and my sincerest condolences go to the family and friends
of Sheryl Aldeguer
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-electrocuted-headphones-plugged-laptop.html

 

[dandn0ten]

thats why we should avoid chinese cheap fake stuff for our sake

 

[mickypheonix]

i could not agree more

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Yup. Grounding or double insulation is important.

Most people don't realise how much energy is on tap in mains power, because it's always so under control.

 

[mickypheonix]

it is scary to think a lot of this stuff is on ebay and people buy it assuming it is safe to use

 

[i7Baby]

I suppose its incentive for us to resist the path of mediocrity. Keep pushing the tried an trusted on the uninitiated. Even if they are stubborn Indians.

 

[mickypheonix]

cheaper is not always better or just as good , it can be lethal 🙁

 

[Someone Somewhere]

That said, expensive is not always better either.

Unfortunately, it's really hard for the layperson to test any kind of power equipment lives up to specs.

 

[mickypheonix]

agreed that is a good point

 

[musical marv]

This is a very sad article that i felt needed sharing on the forums to make people aware of
some potentially lethal usb chargers on ebay and similar sites.
This is a very disturbing article and my sincerest condolences go to the family and friends
of Sheryl Aldeguer
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-electrocuted-headphones-plugged-laptop.html

It is the old adage you get what you pay for in life. Always buy the original one not a 3rd rate one.

 

[mickypheonix]

Someone Somewhere makes a good point though , how would the average person know to test or even know what the safety requirements are ,
most people think as long as it plugs into the wall socket and is the correct voltage it should be good to go , but that is not the case at all
this is another reason i felt people should be made aware of these dangers

 

[MU_Engineer]

Yup. Grounding or double insulation is important.

Most people don't realise how much energy is on tap in mains power, because it's always so under control.

Here's something to chew on. A typical North American receptacle is rated at 120 volts at 15 amps, or 1800 watts. A typical cardiac defibrillator outputs a maximum of 0.36 milliamps at 1000 volts for about 30 milliseconds, which is about a tenth of a watt of power. Also realize that a defibrillator is DC because the low-frequency AC from a mains receptacle will cause unpredictable lethal muscle contractions.

Exposure to as "little" as 480 volts AC at typical amperages is enough to cause injuries indistinguishable from explosive blasts due to arc flash. That doesn't even require the person being in contact with the current, only fairly close to where it shorts out. Our European friends often have 400-416 volt circuits (416/240Y or 400/230Y) in their houses and I'd be VERY careful in working around them. The most I have ever worked on was 240 volt split-phase and a mis-wired 30 amp plug that started on fire and immediately tripped the breaker just about made me get a new pair of pants along with a new plug.

 

[musical marv]

Someone Somewhere makes a good point though , how would the average person know to test or even know what the safety requirements are ,
most people think as long as it plugs into the wall socket and is the correct voltage it should be good to go , but that is not the case at all
this is another reason i felt people should be made aware of these dangers

People should really have some type of knowledge what they buy.Investigate this on the internet also. Google the name of the manufacturer also.

 

[mickypheonix]

Yup. Grounding or double insulation is important.

Most people don't realise how much energy is on tap in mains power, because it's always so under control.

Here's something to chew on. A typical North American receptacle is rated at 120 volts at 15 amps, or 1800 watts. A typical cardiac defibrillator outputs a maximum of 0.36 milliamps at 1000 volts for about 30 milliseconds, which is about a tenth of a watt of power. Also realize that a defibrillator is DC because the low-frequency AC from a mains receptacle will cause unpredictable lethal muscle contractions.

Exposure to as "little" as 480 volts AC at typical amperages is enough to cause injuries indistinguishable from explosive blasts due to arc flash. That doesn't even require the person being in contact with the current, only fairly close to where it shorts out. Our European friends often have 400-416 volt circuits (416/240Y or 400/230Y) in their houses and I'd be VERY careful in working around them. The most I have ever worked on was 240 volt split-phase and a mis-wired 30 amp plug that started on fire and immediately tripped the breaker just about made me get a new pair of pants along with a new plug.

400-416 volt circuits sounds very worrying i thought 240v we have in aus was bad , you raise some intersting observations

 

[amdfangirl]

Well it might be more lethal but we get better power supply efficency out of the equation.

Mmm.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

400V is phase to phase (which means ~230V phase to neutral) in three phase systems. Here in NZ, which uses it, what you typically find is that they alternate which phase they connect each house to, balancing it out through averages.

Houses with very large power draw appliances (e.g. pottery kilns, some lathes, lifts) and industrial/institutional facilities get a three phase supply, with some circuits being run on each phase, and really high current stuff being run off 400V.

The average person won't get near a 400V feed.

 

[bryanl]

That article is a good argument for protecting AC outlets with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), also called residual current breakers. These shut off the electricity if they detect excessive current leakage to ground, even when the electrical product is ungrounded. Note: these protective devices are not the same as circuit breakers, which are not designed to prevent electrocution.

Always look for safety certifications that include registration numbers, such as UL (American), CSA (Canadian), VDE (Europe), TUV (Germany), or ETL (UK). Ignore CE.

 

[MU_Engineer]

400V is phase to phase (which means ~230V phase to neutral) in three phase systems. Here in NZ, which uses it, what you typically find is that they alternate which phase they connect each house to, balancing it out through averages.

Houses with very large power draw appliances (e.g. pottery kilns, some lathes, lifts) and industrial/institutional facilities get a three phase supply, with some circuits being run on each phase, and really high current stuff being run off 400V.

The average person won't get near a 400V feed.

I thought I read somewhere that some of the Scandanavian countries gave two legs of the 230/400Y to residences to run things such as electric dryers and such so they actually did have 400 volt circuits. Maybe I'm wrong.

The U.S. has 120/240 center-tapped split-phase for most residential installations. You center-tap a transformer hooked to one leg of the 7200 or 14400 volt distribution feeder and houses alternate which leg they draw from.

Three-phase is typically 277/480Y and it's used mainly in commercial and industrial applications. The 480 volt phase-to-phase is used for the big stuff, 277 V for industrial lighting, and then it all gets stepped down to 120/208Y for residential/office use. 208 volts is used in place of 240 volts in that situation to feed resistive loads (heaters, dryers, etc.) Sometimes you'll see 347/600Y or medium-voltage stuff like 2400/4160Y but it's much less common to see in "typical" industrial/commercial facilities.

 

[strecker1969]

I can't agree with more about cheaper is not always better or just as good!!

 

[musical marv]

thats why we should avoid chinese cheap fake stuff for our sake

The old cliche is you get what you pay for in life.Buy original.

 

[Reynod]

There are reputable third party chargers for any device and most (if not all) of these are cheaper than the OEM model sold by the manufacturer.

Here is the reference to the model in question which caused the death of the women in question:

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/faulty-usb-chargers-recalled-by-officeworks-20140806-100spl.html

The ACCC is also investigating the issue:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/08/accc-is-cracking-down-on-cheap-usb-chargers/

New compliance marks for Australian devices:

http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Suppliers/Supplier-resources/Supplier-overview/compliance-marks

Don't buy cheap rubbish off the internet ...

 

[amdfangirl]

Original products can still break... and potentially kill you.

Just look at all the Apple Macbook battery recalls.

Just be careful.

 

[Reynod]

I found apple chargers to be excellent, with the exception of the older macbookpro white charger, where the slide on fitting snapped, making it dangerous ... so I sent it back to them and got a new one free. I have two old macbookpros and one new macultrabook ... which is nice to use. They changed the charger fitting ... which is annoying.