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USB Socket charger - good or bad?
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Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

RichardW



Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Chinese stuff is crap cos we (not just the consumer but the corporate buyers) want it made & sold cheap.

Its that simple.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

iPads and other Apple products are made in China.

Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

RichardW wrote:
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



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 14 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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

stumbling goat



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1990

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45382
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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 "

Falstaff



Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 15 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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 !

Gervase



Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 15 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

stumbling goat wrote:

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



Joined: 26 Jun 2011
Posts: 29

PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 15 1:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 15 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

Hairyloon



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 15 10:04 am    Post subject: Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad? Reply with quote
    

It says 2A on the faceplate. Is that 2A per socket or 2A total?

Rich.h



Joined: 26 Jun 2011
Posts: 29

PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 15 10:18 am    Post subject: Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad? Reply with quote
    

Hairyloon wrote:
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



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 15 10:52 am    Post subject: Re: USB Socket charger - good or bad? Reply with quote
    

Rich.h wrote:
Hairyloon wrote:
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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