I don't know what the specific rules are, but this mains plug doesn't look legal to me, it'S a bit on the minimalist side.
It came in one of these type of things, that I borrowed from a friend:
Not necessarily that seller, but there are lots the same on Ebay
Does it contain a fuse? If so, not sure why it wouldn't be?
Neil
chris French was thinking very hard :
It is a black import, it has no fuse in the plug. I would also guess that the PSU is not approved/ has no genuine CE mark.
No fuse, I don't think that is legal.
I don't think they are as they're unfused. What's more, if you try cutting it off and replacing it with a conventional plug, you'll find that the conductors are incredibly skinny (maybe they're meant to be the fuse??) and not suitable for fitting into a conventional plug.
They really ought to be returned to the sellers IMO. We had one on a replacement laptop power supply.
Tim
I doubt it, I've got a similar example, also I think there is insufficient "buffer" area around the pins (even though they are sleeved).
You are right, its unsafe. Bin it.
Yup, a common problem with lots of kit bought in from China. Pretty sure I have had similar plugs with that sort of drive adaptor myself.
Even if fused (which it isn't) it would not meet BS 1363 in terms of pin spacings from the edge of the plug, pin end shapes (and hence could damage the contacts in the socket), and no doubt in a number of other ways you can't see.
See:
In message , chris French writes
Thanks for posting the photo, I had heard of these, but not seen one. Apart from the apparent lack of a fuse there is the problem of the half shielded earth pin. From what I've heard and from thinking about how the plug mates with the socket the problem will be that when the plug is fully into the socket the earth contact of the socket will be mating with the plastic shield and not the earth pin. An interesting concept............
May well be an Indian or Malaysian plug? Those countries use plugs that look like UK ones, but wiring is (if done properly, which is sometimes doubtful) more likely to be 15A radial rather than 30A ring, and thus there is less need for a plug fuse.
Neil
What are the rules on appliances with non shrouded pins. This house is full of them and I've never managed to get a shock yet. Brian
Don't wear a metal chain holding your identity card when you lean into a floor dip to plug something in.
Then again, with the undersized flex and the fake fuse in some of them, you may be better off taking your chances with electrocution rather than incineration by arc flash!
Spoken by a man with a T shirt?
I wasn't the victim.
OK I can probably spot a dangerous plug, apart from the fake fuse, (I would have thought you could make a working 3A fake as easily as a non working fake, but no matter). What I am getting paranoid about is the many "wall warts" I have from the Fat East that have no user changeable fuse and the case is sealed. Without an x-ray machine you have no idea what protection is inside them. I am now thinking It would be a good idea not to plug these directly into a wall socket. but use a trailing socket strip fused at
5A or less.
The cable seems substantial enough from the outside, no idea what's inside :-)
Indeed, though I don't think I'd have bought anything quite so heath Robinson-ish myself (though it worked well enough)
In message , Harry Bloomfield writes
Well, it has lots of marks, inc CE, who knows if they are genuine :-)
Anyway, as I thought, no the plug isn't
Well, nobody's going to come round and cut your existing plugs off but you won't find unshrouded live and neutral pinned plugs legally for sale.
Tim
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