Gee Emm Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 On 11/01/2020 at 6:47 PM, ampish said: Firstly, the issue is not compliance, it is safety. Finally, someone gets it, and says it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 On 11/01/2020 at 7:47 PM, ampish said: I have just read through this thread and as an electrical design engineer that deals with AS3000 (to name one of many local and international standards), compliance, legal requirements etc etc more or less on a daily basis I am a little aghast at some of what I read here. ignorance is bliss...folks dont know what they dont know... or is it complacency..devil may care... gamble factor... who knows... On 11/01/2020 at 7:47 PM, ampish said: 1) "Duty of Care" and "Competency" - it would very unlikely that any kind of investigation is going to consider someone who modifies or constructs an apliance of any kind that leads to harm was comptetent to even know if they had discharged their dury of care without some kind of recognised qualification or certification. working in industry (not hifi or av) i am well aware myself lengths gone through by authorities when things go pear shaped.... it can be a near miss, property damage, to accident to death. hope is not something to bank on... but again its possibly dont know what dont know in many DIYers case On 11/01/2020 at 7:47 PM, ampish said: 2) Duty of Manufacturers - look up your states "Code of Practice" (there is a national one now, mostly) - manufacturers have very specific obligations related to design, construction, informing the user of risks etc etc etc. Many OEM's often fall short in some areas, large and small. I doubt virtually any DIYers would meet the requirments. unfortainaterly DIYers perhaps dont see them selves as manufacturers .... but they are .... and yes the compliance aspect is important with people making things... and yes i have experience myself of many OEMS (industry non hifi or av) that themselves dont comply...plenty of junk out there being sold on the net in hifi and av land....as to DIYs suspect you are right in many cases... why when folk sell things DIY made or DIY modified we have the declaration of it needed in for sale section...one thing doing something take your own life and own property at risk... other is moving that risk and exposing to others ... i created this thread to raise awareness, if nothing else make folk think...in some cases think twice. your post hopefully adds more to that chorus ...if one person life saved. one person not injured...someones property not going up or being damaged then purpose continues to be served... clearly i dont want any of these things happening purely from a point of lack of understanding or awareness. On 11/01/2020 at 7:47 PM, ampish said: Best plan overall is to wherever possible stick to under 50V (this is he simplest blanket rule) and use double insulated power supplies that plug into a standard outlet, ready to go from the manufacturer. remembering as a uni student in 1st year...good reason there were a lot of lab supplies around so no under grad is messing about with mains ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gee Emm Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 As an engineer in a previous life working in a related field, I had many conversations with others where they thought their confidence over-ruled my competence. Me stating clauses to them from Aus safety standards did little to change their "opinion". People can have their own opinions, but they can' t have their own version of facts. It was particularly scary when these people are importers or distributors of product that don't comply (isn't sufficiently safe) with mandatory standards. It wasn't uncommon to hear something like "those standards are over written to stop stupid people hurting themselves." "I can't afford to engineer all that into it." "I'm trying to compete with imports that don't have any of that stuff, I'll go broke". My response was usually something like "if everything complies, no-one gets hurt". I may have been known to be difficult, but we didn't have safety recalls. Unlike some of our competitors, who "couldn't afford to engineer all that into it." 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
075Congo Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 The black insulation on the live and neutral blades of a power plug are there to stop ? Arcing ? something else ? Cannot find a straight answer to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klm Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 7 minutes ago, 075Congo said: The black insulation on the live and neutral blades of a power plug are there to stop ? Arcing ? something else ? Cannot find a straight answer to this? If the plug is slightly pulled away from the wall socket, inserting a knife blade between the plug and wall socket won’t lead to electrocution with those black insulators in place on the active and neutral whilst they the ends of the connecting blades still in contact with the live wall socket. Without them under the same scenario, death is highly likely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
075Congo Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 Many thanks! To see the grim reality in print is chilling. I'm thinking small children an their incredible curiousity. Fire potential too ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 12 minutes ago, 075Congo said: Many thanks! To see the grim reality in print is chilling. I'm thinking small children an their incredible curiousity. Fire potential too ? Not just small children, read the comment about working on my bench & fishing trace wire, about halfway down this post. https://www.stereonet.com/forums/topic/534718-diy-power-cable-help/page/2/#comment-5960567 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 I remember very old plugs that had no insulation at all on the underside. The screws that held the wires, the wires themselves etc were all exposed. Of course, not a problem when plugged in and powered as the plug was supposed to be hard up against the socket so fingers cannot get in. Of course, back then, appliances like record players had no ground wire, despite double-insulation not even being dreamt of yet. We just trusted the internal wiring and transformers etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
075Congo Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 This is what compliance looks like.......Furutech on the left and Synergistic Research on the right . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
075Congo Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 Probably similar to this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 6 minutes ago, 075Congo said: Probably similar to this? Maybe worse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
075Congo Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 To top that I stayed in a hotel in Kathmandu and their idea of power plugs was 2 BARE WIRES inserted into the power point ......held in with two match sticks. Only 110 Volts. Not an earth wire to be seen. Climbing up to Base Camp was a snap after that! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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