Perhaps I have misunderstood, but for charging purposes, all that is expected is a stable voltage across the relevant pins, which is not at all a difficult task to accomplish, so why the need to be picky?
I had a quick google when I saw the original post and read of ones for sale overseas that were not certified for use in the UK. Knowing that some chargers have caught fire and knowing the variable quality of overseas items (some good, some not so good) I wouldn't take the risk to save £5. If you're happy with the risk then fine, although you could be breaking the law.
My other reason is that I've not found cheap UK certified electrical switches to be worth using as they fail more than a branded items that has a 10 year guarantee.
kGarden
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Which is always a good excuse to trot out the tale of the ... |
Which reminds me of the Patent Attorney's joke:
Customer: "I have this plastic cupholder, can you manufacture me 1,000,000 of them?"
Chinese supplier: "Is it patented?"
Customer: (excitedly) "No!"
Chinese supplier: "Sorry, cannot make them"
Customer: (crestfallen) "Why not?"
Chinese supplier: "No drawings"
Jb
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I saw those. Looked a bit dear IMO.
I've never really understood how something like a phone charger which is basically just a transformer, actually draws power when it doesn't have a circuit |
The mains side of the transformer still has a circuit so without a switch it is still current going through a wire and that will draw power
Jb
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We have had problems with Chinese manufacture in the past. The equipment we had made failed testing and was all returned as not fit for purpose. The next thing we find it is reappearing through various dodgy supply chains with someone else label stuck over the top or through small ebay suppliers and people are buying this rubbish finding it doesn't work and expecting us to support it, we also found the same circuits and layouts appearing even cheaper and poorer copies of the equipment we had rejected!
I suspect this is a problem any time anyone is unable to manage a manufacturing chain or has to use an unreliable manufacturer and not something unique to the Chinese but in our case it was a Chinese manufacturer that did that.
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RichardW
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Chinese stuff is crap cos we (not just the consumer but the corporate buyers) want it made & sold cheap.
Its that simple.
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vegplot
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iPads and other Apple products are made in China.
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Nick
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Chinese stuff is crap cos we (not just the consumer but the corporate buyers) want it made & sold cheap.
Its that simple. |
Some. Not all.
Hairyloon
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I think one of the problems with Chinese manufacturers is that they leave quality control to the customer. Most times that I have bought something unsatisfactory they have sent a refund or replacement without quibble, on a few occasions even before I'd wanted one.
As long as you know that when you're buying, I don't really see it as a major problem: quite a lot of what they make is very very good. I'll bet they make Rover cars better than we used to.
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Treacodactyl
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https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thur-22-jan/product-detail/ps/p/double-wall-socket-with-usb/?pk_campaign=uk_product_newsletter&pk_kwd=2015-01-19_17-39
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stumbling goat
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Aldi kit is normally pretty good, so I would trust that.
But, will the socket front with the added bulk fit in your domestic flush fitted metal box?
The USB socket 240V switched sockets I have seen seem to be a lot thicker or deeper than the usual double switched socket front.
sg
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dpack
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for electrical goods genuine certs and paperwork are a very good idea.
once i got my "pissa pan" out of the box and read the documents i decided my best interests lay in never plugging it in and writing off the £15
i has been worth the money to show folk the instruction leaflet that includes such gems as "when cleaning your pissa pan place thumb over intimate orifice or unit may become out of service or on fire "
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Falstaff
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Aldi is very respectable multi billion pound German firm - eminently sueable if they cause fires otl - I'd say buy it and use it - if that's what you want !
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Gervase
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But, will the socket front with the added bulk fit in your domestic flush fitted metal box? |
Unlikely unless you have boxes at least 35mm deep. On stud walls you may have, but chased boxes on masonry tend to be as shallow as possible, so do check before ordering.
Rich.h
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I have used these for both my own home and customer houses and they are about as safe as a standard socket when fitted correctly. The usb sockets do always draw power, however when not connected to a device they go into a low power mode (though I have yet to stick a meter on one to find out what amount is drawn).
For folks worried about some of the cheaper ones from China I would not fret, remember that some of the most technical and expensive things in western homes today (tv, pc, phone, etc) are all made in a factory somewhere in Asia. Whether it happens to be an unknown knock off company or Apple they all use the same components, the same tools, and the same labour. One just happens to over inflate the price to make a higher profit margin which they then hide in some offshore bank to avoid taxes, the other just sidesteps the entire process and sells it at a market stall at a lower cost to the end customer.
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Hairyloon
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I would tend to disagree.
They may use the same componants and techniques, but one company has a good quality control mechanism where the other just punts any old stuff out and accepts that they will have to replace some of it.
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Hairyloon
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Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad?It says 2A on the faceplate. Is that 2A per socket or 2A total?
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Rich.h
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Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad?It says 2A on the faceplate. Is that 2A per socket or 2A total? |
Stick a multimeter on each output and you will find out easily enough. I would though be stunned if one of those was able to produce 4A total output.
Hairyloon
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Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad?It says 2A on the faceplate. Is that 2A per socket or 2A total? |
Stick a multimeter on each output and you will find out easily enough.
Not sure that'll work: it surely depends upon the load, and an ammeter on its own is a short circuit.
Quote: |
I would though be stunned if one of those was able to produce 4A total output. |
Is only about 20W. Doesn't sound that much to me.
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