Warning over USB chargers after woman dies from apparent electrocution

Just reading about the sad case of the NSW woman electrocuted with a USB charger that did not meet Australian safety standards.

see the video and story at:

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NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said a number of USB-style chargers, travel adaptors and power boards that did not meet Australian safety standards had been removed from sale at a mobile phone accessory stall in Campsie, in Sydney's south-west, following the death.

Mr Stowe said authorities were not aware until now of the large number of the cheap chargers that were available for sale in NSW.

"This is the first time we've been aware of them in large numbers," he said.

well, you can buy a cheap ebay "made in china" USB 1A charger for $1 including postage.

see:

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I got three a long time ago (not this brand) to see what they were all about. I dropped one on the floor and the case broke open.

Pray tell, how will they stop world wide users buying these death traps?

Cheers Don...

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Don McKenzie 

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Reply to
Don McKenzie
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"Don McKenzie"

** The cause of death has not been determined - from the very sketchy details, it seems possible it was due to faulty USB charger being used with a mobile phone. The woman's laptop may have provided the earth path.

IME, adaptors and chargers sent direct from China are not inherently nsafe - they merely lack agency approval certification for Australia ( normally done in China anyhow) while carrying the relevant certification for other countries.

This makes them illegal to supply here as certification and labelling of such items is compulsory under legislation in each state. However, agency certification only involves checking a few sample units and does NOT guarantee any particular item sold is without safety flaw nor will never develop one.

FYI almost every modern (ie switch mode/transformerless) AC adaptor I have examined has the capability of becoming lethal in certain circumstances. That it happens so rarely is the surprise.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Some may not be. The one I bought and examined certainly was.

- they merely lack agency approval certification for Australia (

They're supposed to be resist to tracking, and broken wire connections shouldn't be capable of making the low voltage side live.

Sylvia.

Reply to
Sylvia Else

Ebay has made it much easier for people to sell these things, so perhaps they need to take some responsibility for it. No doubt they'd object, but they're not beyond the reach of legislation.

If I'd thought it would have done any good, I've had sent details of my analysis of the one I bought to Fair Trading. One can envisage an arrangement where a safety body of a government could check that such an analysis is correct, and if it is, forward it to Ebay. Ebay could perform their own check, and if they also agree, ban the user doing the selling (thus forcing them to start again with a zero positive feedback). This would encourage sellers to make sure their products won't electrocute people, even if they might still destroy the equipment plugged into them.

Sylvia.

Reply to
Sylvia Else

Sylvia Else wrote

Even sillier than you usually manage.

The legislators aren't that stupid, you watch.

It wouldn't be any news to them.

It wouldn't be any news to them.

Pity about all the other sellers.

Pigs arse it would.

Reply to
Rod Speed

** Ones that are *genuinely* approved for sale in Europe, the USA etc meet all those requirements - but will usually have a non Australian AC plug.

The fake Apple brand USB adaptors shown in Dave Jones video are not agency approved for sale anywhere - so whoever imports one of them becomes pesonally liable for any harm that occurs.

The big trap for Australians is that China has adopted our AC plug - so every piece of crap made for the home market in China can be used here too.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

China now mandates the Aussie 3-pin plug? I thought it was only the Kiwis and some other South Pacific islands! Or do you mean the Chinese have multiple standards?

Reply to
Yaputya

Nope.

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Obvious lie.

He mangled the real story even with the one that looks like ours.

Reply to
Rod Speed

It was originally an American design, but yeah, the Chinese use something very much like it, but upside down, and possibly shightly different pin thickness.

China is big, they have multiple languages! But yeah, I think there are some other plugs they use too.

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Reply to
Jasen Betts

No possibly about it, definitely a different pin thickness.

Reply to
Rod Speed

** Wall outlets are fitted with the ground pin facing upwards - same as the UK does it.
** Trivial difference due to metric system, 1/16 inch compared to 1.6mm.

The plugs are fully compatible with Aussie ones.

They copied our plug cos it was very cheap to make having all flat pins that could be punched from the same sheet of metal.

Previously they had used copies of the two pin US and European plugs.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

"pedro"

** Only a small fraction of residences in NSW have RCDs and no retro fitting is required unless new circuits are installed.

Only very recently have they been mandated for all workplaces here too.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

It happens that Phil Allison formulated :

Do you know when?

My house has one and was built 1988. Installation seem original.

3 phase even Supplies Air Con and everyting.
Reply to
John G

A friend has done tear-downs that revealed totally inadequate spacing between hot and cold sides, like 0.5mm track spacing, and other deadly design features. If a unit is certified safe in any 220+ volt Western country, you may be ok, but that's definitely not the only kind available.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

"John G"

** Apparently it became law for *new power wiring installations* across Australia, in 1992.

Some states ( ie Qld) have laws that require retro fitting if a residential property is sold.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Australian Male plugs have insulation on 50% of "pin" length

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The "pin" goes into socket the picture shows the insulation on the phase and neutral "pins

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Petzl 
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Reply to
Petzl

"Petzl"

** An agency approved USB wall charger for use in Australia will have the following features:
  1. Two angled pins, half insulated from the base.

  1. A 39 mm dia round base from which the pins emerge.

  2. A C-tick symbol with a 3 or 4 digit number nearby commencing with the letter N.

  1. Approval number beginning with the letters any of letters V, N, Q, S or W followed by a multi digit number.

You should see all these on any wall adaptor sold here in the last 10 years or so.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Just checked the charger supplied with my new Sony phone. check on 1, 3, and 4, but the base is not round. it measures 38mm x 15 mm. It's also got one of those square barcodes, but it's impossible to read

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Pete 
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Reply to
felix_unger

Yes, I know all that. My *point* is that the article says "no insulation ON pins" (emphasis mine), but the video says (c.q. seems to say) "no insulation pins", i.e. *without* the "on" part. In this context, the term "insulation pin" is utter non-sense.

Reply to
Frank Slootweg

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