Bought one of these from Poundland for, er, £1
While it works fine something just had to be wrong with it at that price. Hence the web search, hence the link.
Is there any preferred source/brand for this type of thing?
CPC have an incredible range of extension leads in just about any format you could think of (and many you wouldn't!) at very reasonable prices. The ones I have from them so far have been pretty serviceable.
I'd used one of the three way ones to convert to a travel adapter for 'phones etc by fitting a moulded continental lead. This meant dismantling it - there is no way I would want to subject it to the full
13A load given its rather flimsy construction internally.Chris K
One suspects at that price anything is possible. Killer iPhone chargers have been known to originate from cheap Chinese copies.
You really have to watch out for what people do with extension leads.
I have caught people with two 13A kettles plugged into an extension lead that was still mostly wound up apart from about 6' of lead snaking off to the the wall socket. I found one that had died the same way by internal melting a couple of years before and wondered how they did it.
Now all of my own extension leads and the village halls have thermal cutouts so that leaving the flex coiled up doesn't result in melting the insulation until it shorts out spectacularly and blows a main fuse.
I generally pick one that is around the middle of the range with surge arresters if it is going on anything delicate and an ELCB plug if it is likely to get used out of doors.
I don't need ones with audiophool snake oil and gold plated single crystal copper wire spun by mermaids in an oxygen free atmosphere.
From that link
"If you have one of the affected Poundland Electrical Adaptors or Extension Leads you should stop using it and return it to your nearest Poundland store where you should receive a full refund."
That quid refund would get me 15 minutes worth of pay and display parking:-)
Yeah,I usually get mine from CPC, or Masterplug ones from B&Q or where ever.
Recent purchase?
Thanks for that 'heads up'. I've been using one since last May without any problem. I've even got a spare lying unused in a drawer (for just a quid, I could hardly refuse such a 'bargain').
Now it looks like I'll be getting myself a 2 quid refund next time I'm in Poundland. Luckily, I still had a 'normal' 4 way extension to hand to swap out the Poundland one.
You might find a bargain in the likes of Aldi/Lidl/Netto or Home Bargain, otherwise lookout for a full price Duraplug extension lead if money is no object.
En el artículo , Martin Brown escribió:
You've been browsing the Russ Andrews catalogue again, haven't you?
Nobody does. It's only a select few of the audiophools that _want_ that type of product (notwithstanding that even they don't need it).
Couple of months.
I might just break this one open and see what the fuss is about.
I bought a Lidl one around the same time. Of course as with these things it seems fine. in fact the only problem I've ever had with an extension lead is a reluctance to accept plugs - the earth safety mechanism jammed, I think.
Seems problems lie within, unseen.
Although it's expensive - but might be a lot less elsewhere - this one seems to be OK and the switches feel reassuringly clunky:
A friend on their mugs list gets one. It is always good for a laugh.
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I might just add some copper wire inside. Then again its yet another job...
Why? What is it about today's society that sees most people /wanting/ to pa y several times the price for everything compared to what does the job perf ectly well. How do people so lose the plot?
NT
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We did that a few years ago playing in a band outside the local shops at Ch ristmas. We knew it was close, but amongst the mulled wine and mince pies s omeone forgot to unwind the reel. No fuse blew, but at the end when we came to wind it in, it was stuck. Investigations later revealed a solid lump of plastic with some copper embedded somewhere inside ! (We did notice some distortion from the amp at times) Simon.
With all of 50cm of flex, I wouldn't call that an extension lead. Multi-way adapter.
jgh
Just a "quick" follow up:
Well, my chance at getting my 2 quid refund was realised today when SWMBI decided we needed to go down town for some shopping. I also used this opportunity to return the £1.99 wall clock we'd bought from Home Bargain the week before (I'd noticed it was losing nearly a minute a day).
No problem with Home Bargain but the PoundLand shop was a slightly surreal experience. I didn't have any difficulty geting my refund but the staff didn't seem to be aware of last month's issue of the recall notice and, naturally enough, called the manager over to the till to deal with my 'return' of the recalled goods.
What was 'surreal' was the apparent lack of knowledge by the manager who, nevertheless seemed quite happy to take my word alone as 'gospel' in the matter of the recall notice and readily sanctioned the refund even though I only had a receipt for one of the items.
The store manager's seeming ignorance of the issue of a recall notice and his blind acceptance of my word alone on the matter was so contrary to my expectations (which were either the situation would be uppermost in the manager's mind and a swift resolution with no argy bargy would ensue or else, as in this case, some sort of 'double checking of the facts' before acceptance of the returned goods).
Perhaps this relaxed attitude is simply on account of the minimal stakes represented by a couple of "One Pound Purchases".
I've obtained a refund once before from a Pound Shop with an item that was "Not fit for purpose". I can't recall what the item was but I do recall my refund request was dealt with without any fuss. I suspect if all their customers were to start doing their 'Civic Duty'[1] and return all such "Not Fit For Purpose" purchases, it might become a different 'experience'.
[1] By 'Civic Duty', I mean don't stop doing the right thing simply because the item 'was so cheap that it isn't worth the effort'. There's really not _that_ much effort involved when all you have to do is collect any such items together ready to take back on your next shopping trip that will, innevitably, take you within a few minute's walking distance of the Pound Shop in question (after all, the extra exercise involved will help you keep that little bit fitter, which these days, is no bad thing for most of us).By failing to supply 'feedback' to these stores in regard of the lack of even the minimal quality one should expect from even such cheaply made goods[2], we fail to get the Chinese manufacturers to 'raise their game' or else disqualify themselves from taking production away from the UK by the Pound Shops being persuaded to take a more critical look at QC on the stuff they're importing into the UK by the container ship load.
[2] A classic example of a 'Waste of Resources' product being those packs of disposable lighters where, for the sake of less than a penny's worth of extra plastic for the whole pack of lighters, they fail long before the gas or the flint (which by any sane measure, should be the only limiting factors that decide when they should be thrown away) runs out.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.