Fuses on Xmas tree lights

[dcbwhaley]

Ther is a little hob-goblin, related to the ghost of Christmas past, who spends the summer haunting lofts and unscrewing bulbs from the festive lights

[meow2222]

The manufacturer says so versus an independant 3rd party says so. Even a plastic toy can be called a duck, and walk like a duck, but not be a duck.

NT

[meow2222]

The manufacturer says so versus an independant 3rd party says so. Even a plastic toy can be called a duck, and walk like a duck, but not be a duck.

NT

[dcbwhaley]

That I could understand. But Andy says "Complying with a standard just means that the product meets all the (relevant) requirements of the standard. ". If the BS means that it "meets all the (relevant) requirements of the standard." what further reassurance can another certificate give?

[Andy Hall]

Test by an organisation other than the manufacturer and certification by them.

Another common example of this comparison is CE marking on products. For most classes of product is part of a self declaration by the manufacturer or importer that the product meets the standards relevant to that product. There is supposed to be a Declaration of Conformity signed by an officer or other responsible person of the supplier which includes which standards are involved. Reputable manufacturers do this as well as having on file supporting test reports from an appropriate test house.

To some extent, the exercise is a farce because it is not very actively policed, although there could be repercussions if Something Bad happened and it was found that the manufacturer/importer did not have their ducks in line. It's certainly open to abuse in the form of the archetypal Chinese toy manufacturer who puts a CE label on the box and the only thing that meets type requirements is the box.

There are classes of product where it is a *requirement* to use an outside test house and to be able to produce reports - some machine tools are an example of that.

In the past, I've seen all sorts of weasel phrases in product marketing literature - e.g. "designed to meet standard blah-blah" does not mean that it actually does.

In the end, for the consumer, it comes to credibility and trust. For items where safety is critical, I will only buy from very well known manufacturers who I believe will have done the proper testing or had it done and who can be reasonably relied upon not to have bent or broken the intent of the legislation and standards; and who will have product liability insurance in place.

None of this is a cast iron guarantee, but to my perspective it's a far better approach than buying goods of unknown origin via a volume retail supplier.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I don't know about BS1362 fuses, but BS1363 (plugs, sockets, etc) are regarded as so critical to safety that I believe it is required that they are tested by an independant body, and that the testing is performed to destruction. Same may apply to BS1362, and that maybe why non-ASTA approved BS1362 fuses are not permitted in plugs.

[meow2222]

dcbwhaley wrote: NT:

A BS marking doesnt mean it meets BS. It means I the manufacturer, who have a lot of money and my own job riding on this, am claiming it does.

NT