Hi,
many of us here remember " David L. Jones " as regular poster.
His somewhat peculiar ideas were evident back then and far more have been r evealed since by hundreds of video blogs on U-tube, to enjoy - or not.
Having recently having an expensive, US model, amplifier on the bench damag ed by accidental connection to 240V power I stumbled across this blog:
Dave goes positively ape trying to blame the famous Weller company for his own dumb mistake.
Somehow ( it's never explained ) he acquired a 120V version of one of there recent products and in haste plugged it into 240V power using the first IE C lead that came to hand. It was immediately damaged, the supply tranny smoked and went open circuit
- exactly as it is meant to do. In the circumstance, the current draw would have been about 50 times normal. A regular fuse if fitted would have opene d instantly.
But Weller did not fit one, as sale of that model in a 240V country is ille gal and use impossible without a step down. The unit comes with a IEC style power lead fitted with a USA 3pin plug - apparently discarded.
A replacement tranny would see it working again, but that is not good enoug h according to Dave and his army of sycophants.
The damn thing SHOULD have had a fuse in the AC to protect Dave from the co nsequences of his dumb error !!!
The Weller unit passes safety requirement for sale and use in a 120V countr y, the particular tranny is badged as being "inherently short circuit proof " - achieved by having high temp insulation and enough primary to secondary leakage inductance to limit heating under overload conditions to a tolerab le level.
So who is responsible for Dave's accident ?
FYI: If you purchase an electrical item from overseas for you own use OR re sale YOU are the importer and bear full responsibility for the safety of th e unit. Numerous folk with delusions of becoming a "grey importer" have fallen fou l of the relevant consumer safety laws and suffered the penalty too.
Attempting to publicly crucify a foreign manufacturer for NOT making every product safe to use and impossible to damage in EVERY country is absurd.
Weller have sufficient grounds to sue Dave for product defamation - but lik ely will not bother for two reasons:
- Doing so only makes for more bad publicity.
- Few people are dumb enough to adopt Dave's absurd opinions.
They could demand he publish a correction and apology in a future blog - bu t even that could backfire.
.... Phil