The main problem with Chinese articles is the customer, who gets what he pays for....they sometimes want things at impossible prices.
The plastic used in the switches has to be FR quality, and the contacts of copper alloy, large enough for the current rating.
It should be electrical grade alloy, beryllium, silver, tungsten and other metals are part of the available alloy materials which can be used.
I have seen brass contacts, less than 2 mm diameter, and they say it will take a much bigger load than reality.
I buy 5 mm LED at 1 Rupee each, about 85 per dollar, at retail.
The Chinese maker may be getting 40% of that.
Consider how much effort it takes to make LED...wires, leads, epoxy moulding, packing, shipping...so you will realise it is a very competitive business. Same for those tiny rocker switches, 10 Rupees for decent quality articles.
So I prefer to buy Indian or Taiwan made rocker switches if available, but for my computers and music systems, which are fixed, meaning not portable, I got the boxes, switches, sockets and wire, did it myself.
I used the type normally used for wall outlets, heavy duty normal size, with proper certification.
The rocker switches were used in repairing extension cords / boxes which see occasional use, like for festive lights, or supplying a temporary light load.
I would suggest that such heavy duty units be used in place of the portable extension cords or power strips shown in the above pictures.
I found metal boxed extension boards in the scrap market, replaced 1 of 4 sockets, and was put in use...working well since 2018.
The price for a good quality 2A charger here with a single USB out is about $3.00, Indian prices are low.
The plastic used in the switches has to be FR quality, and the contacts of copper alloy, large enough for the current rating.
It should be electrical grade alloy, beryllium, silver, tungsten and other metals are part of the available alloy materials which can be used.
I have seen brass contacts, less than 2 mm diameter, and they say it will take a much bigger load than reality.
I buy 5 mm LED at 1 Rupee each, about 85 per dollar, at retail.
The Chinese maker may be getting 40% of that.
Consider how much effort it takes to make LED...wires, leads, epoxy moulding, packing, shipping...so you will realise it is a very competitive business. Same for those tiny rocker switches, 10 Rupees for decent quality articles.
So I prefer to buy Indian or Taiwan made rocker switches if available, but for my computers and music systems, which are fixed, meaning not portable, I got the boxes, switches, sockets and wire, did it myself.
I used the type normally used for wall outlets, heavy duty normal size, with proper certification.
The rocker switches were used in repairing extension cords / boxes which see occasional use, like for festive lights, or supplying a temporary light load.
I would suggest that such heavy duty units be used in place of the portable extension cords or power strips shown in the above pictures.
I found metal boxed extension boards in the scrap market, replaced 1 of 4 sockets, and was put in use...working well since 2018.
The price for a good quality 2A charger here with a single USB out is about $3.00, Indian prices are low.
IKEA prices for the USB chargers are low too. Here's the 3 socket 2.4A version ( 3.4A total at 5V with a maximum of 2.4A per socket)
When electrical stuff was locally produced and tested/certified by governmental organisations the quality usually was good to very good. Then companies could certify their own stuff and production went to China. This started off well.
Such equipment is sold in IKEA, supermarkets etc. so we can not really blame the customer. To make it worse also branded stuff is going in the same direction. The average consumer got used to this and we have a full circle. Longevity of many simple things is pretty short. Many here are aware that lifetime of consumer stuff is about 2 … 5 years. This is not in correlation with the rising prices. When I replace a 50+ years old flaky mains switch for a new 10 Euro one I am disappointed that one fails after a year. We jokingly say we pay more to have less.
We have enough challenges in life, personally I don’t want to experience regular failure of household stuff. Such stuff really should be “install & forget”.
Such equipment is sold in IKEA, supermarkets etc. so we can not really blame the customer. To make it worse also branded stuff is going in the same direction. The average consumer got used to this and we have a full circle. Longevity of many simple things is pretty short. Many here are aware that lifetime of consumer stuff is about 2 … 5 years. This is not in correlation with the rising prices. When I replace a 50+ years old flaky mains switch for a new 10 Euro one I am disappointed that one fails after a year. We jokingly say we pay more to have less.
We have enough challenges in life, personally I don’t want to experience regular failure of household stuff. Such stuff really should be “install & forget”.
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Chinese branded extension wires usually sports a very thick outer plastic insulation, just to make the end user feel that its a premium quality stuff with heavy gauge wire used inside. But when we cut the cable- Surprise! its inner core is made up of very thin stranded conductor, while the outer plastic insulation is super thick. Nowadays, I see some of them even using ferrous materials instead of copper wire. Same goes for the metal connectors in switch / sockets, cheap shiny ferrous material instead of brass. Always use a neodymium magnet to test before purchasing.
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Exactly.
They “gamble” that the end user does not use the material in the upper region of specifications. The use of ferrous material in cabling and switches is incomprehensible but I see this quite often too.
Since many also in the technical field judge stuff layman style by looks/assumptions/brand names such internal errors are often not even noticed. Till it fails.
They “gamble” that the end user does not use the material in the upper region of specifications. The use of ferrous material in cabling and switches is incomprehensible but I see this quite often too.
Since many also in the technical field judge stuff layman style by looks/assumptions/brand names such internal errors are often not even noticed. Till it fails.
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Did uou watch the two IKEA deconstruction videos I posted? Both use quality parts and are well designed.
One of the largest layman errors is to generalize products on brand name. Yes these can be good but IKEA also has garbage products. Peugeot made excellent 106 cars that still are on the roads while the more expensive models of the same time are nowhere to be found anymore.
IKEA is not a dealer/distributor of prime quality electrical stuff, it is an unloader of sea containers with cheaply made Chinese stuff. For consumers to replace with again new IKEA stuff in a few years. At least we can expect some quality and possibly call back actions when things do have severe issues.
IKEA is not a dealer/distributor of prime quality electrical stuff, it is an unloader of sea containers with cheaply made Chinese stuff. For consumers to replace with again new IKEA stuff in a few years. At least we can expect some quality and possibly call back actions when things do have severe issues.
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I could give you a dozen (edit - half a dozen) videos by that guy of him deconstructing IKEA electricals. He rates them. He does say that their furniture tends to fall apart.
A friend makes bobbins for winding wire manufacturers, to use as packing material.
He said now the wires are sometimes called 'China Copper', ferrous wire plated with copper, and enamel coated, they are used in cheap water pumps, which see load of about half an hour daily.
It looks like regular winding wire.
A step above is aluminum winding wire, which has been used in fluorescent ballasts and cieling fans for ages here...
The customer gets what he pays for, or is willing to pay for.
I got tired of strip contacts in extension boards, rather than the the round pins / sockets which are the standard here, and made my own boards with heavy duty regular sockets and swirtches...
Ikea is a trader in the sense that they do not make most of the things they sell in their own factories, but they are made for them by outside suppliers...like their food items for example.
So, it is better to shop around, and compare their quality with their competitors.
Then decide whether it is worth buying.
I have no ties to anybody named here...
He said now the wires are sometimes called 'China Copper', ferrous wire plated with copper, and enamel coated, they are used in cheap water pumps, which see load of about half an hour daily.
It looks like regular winding wire.
A step above is aluminum winding wire, which has been used in fluorescent ballasts and cieling fans for ages here...
The customer gets what he pays for, or is willing to pay for.
I got tired of strip contacts in extension boards, rather than the the round pins / sockets which are the standard here, and made my own boards with heavy duty regular sockets and swirtches...
Ikea is a trader in the sense that they do not make most of the things they sell in their own factories, but they are made for them by outside suppliers...like their food items for example.
So, it is better to shop around, and compare their quality with their competitors.
Then decide whether it is worth buying.
I have no ties to anybody named here...
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I've seen so many shady household electrical items here in the US sold pretty much everywhere you look. The worst ones are though chains like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.
In terms of fire hazards, the cheap plastic multi outlet extensions are by far the worst culprits. Those flimsy plastic space heaters are second in line, followed by cooking appliances.
Those flimsy multi outlet extensions use very thin strips of tin or nickel plated steel held together with soft plastic that melts just by staring at it hard. They're severe fire hazards with high amperage draw devices connected. I've seen a loss of over 10V when pulling the full recommended load. That's more than 100W being turned into heat caused by contact resistance alone.
If an insurance company finds one of these items to be the cause for the fire, they won't pay out the claim.
UL is supposed to be the governing entity keeping watch over electrical items, as to how they're assembled and tested. When you see the UL listed label on a product, its supposed to be safe to use. Problem is these holographic labels are now being counterfeited in China or other places.
When buying a power strip, I would only go for the kind that has individual outlets similar to those found in standard household wall outlets. I'd also make sure the external casing was made from metal and not plastic.
The same goes for those cheap little portable heaters. The plastic ones deteriorate quickly and become an even greater fire hazard. Always make sure the power cord is at least 14 AWG thickness.
With audio equipment that needs alot of amperage, specifically the large power amplifiers, I aways plug these straight into the wall outlet. That guarantees the full voltage and amperage to the amplifier. Don't worry about power surge protection. Most external surge protectors don't clamp until 150+ VAC, so its not going to protect that well and will likely limit voltage/current on top of that. So you might as well plug straight into the wall and allow the most power to the amplifier as possible.
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In terms of fire hazards, the cheap plastic multi outlet extensions are by far the worst culprits. Those flimsy plastic space heaters are second in line, followed by cooking appliances.
Those flimsy multi outlet extensions use very thin strips of tin or nickel plated steel held together with soft plastic that melts just by staring at it hard. They're severe fire hazards with high amperage draw devices connected. I've seen a loss of over 10V when pulling the full recommended load. That's more than 100W being turned into heat caused by contact resistance alone.
If an insurance company finds one of these items to be the cause for the fire, they won't pay out the claim.
UL is supposed to be the governing entity keeping watch over electrical items, as to how they're assembled and tested. When you see the UL listed label on a product, its supposed to be safe to use. Problem is these holographic labels are now being counterfeited in China or other places.
When buying a power strip, I would only go for the kind that has individual outlets similar to those found in standard household wall outlets. I'd also make sure the external casing was made from metal and not plastic.
The same goes for those cheap little portable heaters. The plastic ones deteriorate quickly and become an even greater fire hazard. Always make sure the power cord is at least 14 AWG thickness.
With audio equipment that needs alot of amperage, specifically the large power amplifiers, I aways plug these straight into the wall outlet. That guarantees the full voltage and amperage to the amplifier. Don't worry about power surge protection. Most external surge protectors don't clamp until 150+ VAC, so its not going to protect that well and will likely limit voltage/current on top of that. So you might as well plug straight into the wall and allow the most power to the amplifier as possible.
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@jean-paul Yes, that's true and yet we have AC mains connectors which by design are more inferior to the beefier European 220 and 240V mains plugs. The British style mains plug is a nice design with the fuse built in and very nice, chunky contacts. The German 220V plug is a bit less solid, but still better than the US stuff. Japan uses 100V @ even slower 50 hz, which needs even more current and larger filter caps.
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If you get the time I would like to see some pics of the home made power distribution rigs.
Jeremy
Jeremy
Never ever use power strip with switches on my PA systems.Switch worse the sound quality and melt or arc with heavy load.Always is a risk accidentally push the switch and ends to disaster. I use only direct shuko strip outlets with heavy duty natural black rubber male plug connected in small power distro with good quality switch fuses.This is my insurance music don't stop till the end of the event
Absolute nonsense. Your mains electricity is dity anyway and hifi components filter it in their power supply section.
YouTube, the bible of technical knowledge 😉
If the PSUs of HiFi components would indeed filter out all pollution our hobby would practically end. Maybe do some real life testing and not watch YouTube videos for a more realistic picture.
If the PSUs of HiFi components would indeed filter out all pollution our hobby would practically end. Maybe do some real life testing and not watch YouTube videos for a more realistic picture.
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A few years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, my cousin had a basement dehumidifier powered with a surge protective power bar, like he had always done. One day while he was out, a fire erupted. Investigators determined that a component within the power bar overheated and was the source of ignition. The frame of the house was salvageable, but both levels had to be gutted. Thankfully his insurance came through for him, acknowledging the power consumption of the device was approximately 30% of the bar’s maximum rating, and paid for the rebuild.
I don’t have the details on the brand or model, but it’s engrained in my brain to never buy a power strip from Amazon, nor would I use an unfamiliar brand. They usually also have a service life.
I don’t have the details on the brand or model, but it’s engrained in my brain to never buy a power strip from Amazon, nor would I use an unfamiliar brand. They usually also have a service life.