Amazulu

Who cares where they are made or how expensive they are? They are not safe and should not be used.

fraser

Sensible post award, somebody posts that these are dangerous( which it appears they are) you claim it's shite just because you paid good money.

I hope nobody with kids reads your post and ignores the prior warning and fries their kids

lardyl

To be fair sr71 was probably quoting the original post which said adapters with no protection for the pins are "shite like this"

.....but you are right and they can be dangerous, as I said I got a belt off a UK one as a child which had no shrouding near the plug top end (as they were all made in the 70s)......and yep just because it has a good label doesn't make it safe, which is the "joy" of cheap and cheerful manufacturing - the chinese make one "named" model on one production line/in one factory and another cheaper one next door (ripping off the design), some suppliers label that cheapie up and whoopsy daisy you have a fire, injury, etc.
Seen it a few times with timers - both the plug-top ones and wire-in ones.

Trouble is: we want it all and we want it cheap.

sr71

I was making the point that it's not the supposed cheap stuff you have to watch out for, it's the expensive ones too, that you sometimes expect to have higher standards because they are sold by reputable brands.

lardyl

Yep, anyways I think its important enough to re-iterrate that hooking up 4-way UK adpaters with a NZ/Aus plug change can be dangerous as well. You can easliy overload the power circuit/NZ plug top with several UK appliances (which can all be up to 13 amps).
The NZ/Aus powerboards have protection against this built in in the form of a cut-out. UK boards don't generally - although some older better quality ones may have an internal replaceable 13 amp fuse (like in normal plug tops).

Daisy-chain and stack adapters at your peril.........

We have them but they are in very controlled locations, eg Hi-fi, PC and plug-in LV adapters for phones, etc. Not for kettles, heaters, etc!

northernbird

We changed all our plugs in one hit. It was time consuming but in our view ultimately safer. I know people 5 years on still using adapters.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Interesting thing perception

I have just bought a full set of Bosch kitchen appliances over the weekend. Double oven, hob, extractor and dishwasher. Without exception I could have got them cheaper at Comet in the UK, substantially so in some cases.... and where did I get them from after checking out prices at Appliances Online, Bing Lee, Good Guys, Domayne and Harvey Normans... yep you've guessed it, Harvey Norman. Cheapest by $500.


* sits back and waits for somebody to come on and tell me I should have gone to (insert unknown online site here) as they are much cheaper than anybody else *

irishbloo

you should have gone to spec savers.

lardyl

One problem with that is the plugs are so crap here as in Oz.
The multiboards are even worse - when I'm looking at a fire in a room with one in there it's the first place to check for ignition.
Also wiring the NZ/Aus plug tops can be a pain as the internal layout of some plug tops seems to have been designed by a total drongo....
They are so easy to wire badly - BTW, I used to have a temping job fitting 13 amp plugs to replace US ones, what fun!

lardyl

People argue over front laoders being as cheap in NZ as in the UK, that's baloney unless there is some temporary currency exchange effect going on. It's all about market size, maturity and demand. As long as people are prepared to settle for poor alternatives (like top loaders, poor specced front loaders, chinese tat, F&P, etc) then the stuff that you bought is always gonna be cheaper in Europe.

northernbird

I'm sure it has to be safer than a load of adapters.

ozzieeagle

I've just checked my appliances after your post. Sony has the Insulation on, LG doesnt. Also My Old Rank Arena Air con doesnt, now that is pretty bad.

Got to say I wasnt aware of this, how comes it has the Aus Standards pass on the product packaging ? Is it fradulent marketing ? I guess when a child eventually gets harmed by one of these we will hear about it. Doesnt the safety switch at the mains take care of these problems ?

lardyl

depends how well you wire the plug and some of teh plugs for sale in NZ at least are very difficult to wire safely/robustley even for folks who have been wiring plugs for years......and don't get me on how piss poor the sockets are from a safety point of view - been to plenty more fires in NZ in 3 years than I did in the UK in 13 years that were related to the crappy sockets becomming "crunchy" or poor continuity to the wall socket...plus the plug pins get bent so easily......and then some folks adapt their USA 2 pin plugs to NZ/Aus by bending the pins, leaving a few mms exposed when you plug it in!

But that's just me being a whinging Pomm......

lardyl

In the UK the insulation was not obligatory for many years, could be the same in OZ, so it is old then probably complied then.......but there are lots of non-compliant appliances being sold out there, many with the Standardised markings, eg CE marks.
Be careful and think about how much a cheap heater, for example may really cost you - seen some shockers from the "big red shed"....at least when it came to internal tunnel connectors, if you konw what I mean

Amazulu

I don't know if shrouded plug pins are compulsory, I'll have a read of the wiring regs to see if I can find anything. RCD should protect against electric shock but a lot of houses do not have RCD fitted. It's also not a good idea to find out if your RCD works by getting a shock.