Ebay China purchases... Be CAREFUL!!!

[Retropin]

Be careful people when buying stuff from China via Ebay. I recently bought a right angled heavy duty soldering iron for the fabrication of steel letters.. product was $50 inc postage.
When I got it, I didn't like the mains cord one bit and decided to pull it apart and change to a double insulated type... Heres the cord.. Twin core with cotton/ nylon sleeve



When I opened the iron, I couldn't believe just how slap happy this had been put together. The mains cord shown above was pushed through the clamp down terminals real bad.. hardly any grip and stray strands of wire hanging freely. The 240V wires that go up through the iron to the fat resistor bar at top are just wound by hand around the terminals.. no real connection, just sitting loose. Its a fire waiting to happen or worse still potential death. Wire insulation had nicks in them from being stripped back poorly

when I screwed the WOODEN   handle back together it cracked open.
This is a mains potential soldering iron... Loose wires cause fires... bare wires cause death.
I cannot believe that someone would sell such a dangerous item.. anyone not knowing better could well kill themselves.
Ive seen LED drivers up to 200W in power, metal casing, no earth and ive swapped many out onsite for a more compliant product.. you cant test and tag.. they just don't pass and yet we are being flooded with these cheap imports... so many people/suppliers/users have no friggin idea.
Be careful... its easy to print off a CE tick sticker and apply... doesn't mean that it passed or ever went for verification.
PLEASE take care!!!

Gav

[ktm450]

That is unreal, makes you wonder how many fires are caused by the dodgy shit we are buying these days   

[pinsanity]

I've basically resigned myself to the fact that anything electrical bought from ebay via China is a disposable product that will be lucky to last a few months of operation.

But yes, that is some disturbing vision to see it pulled apart like that and how poorly it was manufactured.

[Caveoftreasures]

I decided probably 7 years ago to not buy anything electrical ever again from ebay after seeing something similar and very dangerous.
I stick to Japaneese products from higher end shops cause it's worth the extra coin.
Korean stuff like LG is also excellent.

Anything that plugs into 240 volts that ever touches the hands or body is just not worth the risk from ebay.
I wonder how many people get electrocuted by cheap Chineese shit and the family thinks they just died of a heart attack in the workshop......

People fault finding pinball machines with the playfield up and the machine turned on with the coin door shut is another death trap for the inexperienced. You don't ever get many second chances with electricity. 240 volts kills u very quick.

Good thread Gav. It's a timely reminder for all members to be extra careful.

[Freiherr]

Yes thanks for thread Gav, I had similar experience in the past.
I always choose
German,
Korean  or
Japanese
for long life use products and
Chinese for one off or small use.

We have really become a disposable society over the past 20 years.

[nath2099]

That lead wouldn't even pass a visual inspection for commercial test & tag. It is illegal to sell in Australia due to no insulation on the pins. There must be someone you can report this too, those twisted wires are a not very funny joke... very dangerous.

[Retropin]

That lead wouldn't even pass a visual inspection for commercial test & tag. It is illegal to sell in Australia due to no insulation on the pins. There must be someone you can report this too, those twisted wires are a not very funny joke... very dangerous.

Exactly which is why I changed it over.... 240V connection is now soldered with heat shrink covers. Earth is now looped through the pins... handle??? - Will have to sort that one out with some plastic material of sorts

[Toads]

That lead wouldn't even pass a visual inspection for commercial test & tag. It is illegal to sell in Australia due to no insulation on the pins. There must be someone you can report this too, those twisted wires are a not very funny joke... very dangerous.

Exactly which is why I changed it over.... 240V connection is now soldered with heat shrink covers. Earth is now looped through the pins... handle??? - Will have to sort that one out with some plastic material of sorts

Devices such as heating elements ( this is what this is) should NOT be soldered as the heat from the unit could melt the solder.

[Zedman]

I do lots of mods to make importsed goods compliant to my work areas policies. So many times the cost of work to make units compliant exceeds the saving from buying cheap crap. Caveat emptor.

[Toads]

Be careful... its easy to print off a CE tick sticker and apply... doesn't mean that it passed or ever went for verification.
PLEASE take care!!!

Gav

Don't get me started on c-tick compliance.
First of, c-tick compliance equipment has a code number under it that can be tracked thru a user base back to its manufacturer.
90% of new equipment in the country does not have  c-tick compliance.
Try buying even an extension lead that is compliant, there very hard to come by, even known brands such as arlec are not  compliant.

[Homepin]

I see this every day as you might expect.

The issue here is that this item was obviously made by Billy Lee on his kitchen table then flogged on eBay. You can buy all of the parts over the counter from several massive electronic market areas and put them together yourself.

The same goes for a lot of the LED lamps and fittings you see sold online. You can buy the aluminium shell, the PCB, the LEDs and the 230/12V LED driver and solder/screw it all together yourself. The problem is that usually "Billy" is from the countryside and has zero idea about anything other than a hoe. So the lamp you buy MIGHT be well put together and it equally might NOT be! You have no way of telling until you pull it apart and look.

Items made in proper factories (such as the Homepin factory in Shenzhen  ) are built to strict rules and methods. Look at a toaster in Woolworths (Made in China without any doubt) - sold RETAIL for under $10 and the quality is outstanding. It will meet or exceed all Australian electrical requirements and probably perform well for many years - all for LESS than $10! Pull it apart and the build quality will be obvious. Correct use of cable glands and clamps, correct terminals and cable terminating methods. Correct earthing wiring including paint cutting washers as required by Australian law.

I think the biggest problem here is that sites such as Fleabay have allowed "Billy" to whack any old shit together on his kitchen table and flog it internationally with virtually zero comeback so why should he care?

The fault, IMO lies fair and square on the greedy corporate eBay!!!

[dazza]

We buy China because its cheap.
It`s not too hard to rewire most electronic tools and save some cash.
Generally the components in the tools are good.

[Homepin]

We buy China because its cheap.
It`s not too hard to rewire most electronic tools and save some cash.
Generally the components in the tools are good.

Which is exactly what I said in my post....

[Retropin]

That lead wouldn't even pass a visual inspection for commercial test & tag. It is illegal to sell in Australia due to no insulation on the pins. There must be someone you can report this too, those twisted wires are a not very funny joke... very dangerous.

Exactly which is why I changed it over.... 240V connection is now soldered with heat shrink covers. Earth is now looped through the pins... handle??? - Will have to sort that one out with some plastic material of sorts

Devices such as heating elements ( this is what this is) should NOT be soldered as the heat from the unit could melt the solder.

Agree.. but in this instance the element is some 300mm away from the connection... ive let it sit and run for an hour on an isolated bench and all is good. I did twist through 2 axis also ( just in case)

[Retropin]

I think the biggest problem here is that sites such as Fleabay have allowed "Billy" to whack any old shit together on his kitchen table and flog it internationally with virtually zero comeback so why should he care?

All I could do was leave negative feedback which is limited to very few characters.. pretty much only got to write " product is lethal and fire hazard - do not buy unless you can make electrically sa.."
Even then, Fleabay didnt want me to leave the feedback with " Please contact the seller before posting negative feedback " etc

We buy China because its cheap

Well.. yes plus product isn't available here. Ask anyone how to fabricate a steel letter and they'll tell you that you HAVE to TIG weld which isn't true. 30 years ago in my apprenticeship we soldered all steel letters ( TIG just wasn't around) and we installed them in Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Sq etc. Those neon filled letters only came down a few years back to make way for LED message boards because you can sell the same space 50 times over by changing the message.
It took me 10 mins to make the product safe.. but Joe Bloggs??.. He'd be holding those loose wires in his palm right now with another hand on a strip of steel... positively shocking!