Ben EverardWell this is a new and deadly failure mode.
I opened up the cursed plug, and oh my god, it's terrifying. The pins were loosely friction -fit in and resting against bare wires on a bit of foam. There's nothing to stop these wires shorting out.
There is at least a fuse. But it's attached to the neutral pin
The PCB is also just floating lose in the case. There's no glue / standoffs / support of any kind.
I'm now pretty scared that this an actual power supply that I owned. What other horrors are lurking in my power supply bag?
ReneDamkot@benev Wow. :o
Paul Tansom πΆπ¬π§πͺπΊπΊπ¦
WSHuff@benev I think procedure is to pull the pin out of the socket using your teeth.
Kevin Karhan 
@benev UK plugs are just shit!
SamuelJohnson
Julie moved to @@samueljohnson @kkarhan @benev Oh God, never tell a Brit their plugs suck. That's a source of national pride! It's like telling a German that their cars suck.
@robotfactory @samueljohnson @kkarhan We don't have much to be proud of at the moment -- just let us have our plugs.
@benev @samueljohnson @kkarhan I'll give you your plugs but you still have to answer for wiring your homes in a loop. Fair deal?
@robotfactory @kkarhan @benev Confused? I'm not British. I haven't wired my house in a loop. Between RCD fuseboards and individually fused plugs British electrical standards are among the safest anywhere. There are plenty of more important ways that the UK's "wiring" is dysfunctional.
Sodomy Non Sapiens@benev nothing to worry about, that is the live pin π±
Rae@benev HOW!?
Phil Thane β
@benev cheap, generic charger from t' internet?
Jonathan βtheJPsterβ Pallant@benev Does it have a CE mark or whatever the daft new UK equivalent is? I see it says CCC.
@thejpster It does.
I should say that I have no idea where this adaptor came from. I pulled it out of my big bag of power adaptors that's been gradually accumulating power adaptors since about 2000, and it could have come from anywhere.
Tom Walker@benev @thejpster I stopped buying them from Amazon in particular ever after a few failures in this sort of vein (falling apart)
CONFIG.SYS: LOADHIGH@thejpster @benev CE mark or "China Export"? I'm not entirely sure with this one
Edit: Per Wikipedia "China Export" seems to be a myth. The logo is being misused but the European Parliament didn't find proof of the existence of an official, organized CE clone. It's a very persistent myth though because to this day articles are being written about it.
gravitate3858
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK@gravitate3858 @loadhigh @thejpster @benev
New mark is UKCA, although you have to take the importers word for it the chargers have actually been tested and haven't just had the safety marks applied (I've known UK companies selling high end,
specialist broadcast equipment to just put the CE sticker on items straight out of the factory with 0 testing, even though they had all the correct equipment to carry out these tests)
Ronald vd W.
wingfire@benev β‘β οΈ
sebastian β‘@benev I'm a very professional software developer. I know how to fix issues like that.
Put some tape over it and leave it alone. Wait for the next power outage, the remove it quickly before the power comes back.
Put some tape over it and leave it alone. Wait for the next power outage, the remove it quickly before the power comes back.
Nanu@benev do NOT lick it!
Oblomov@benev
evil_mallard_duck.jpeg: use a fork to pry it out.
evil_mallard_duck.jpeg: use a fork to pry it out.
bunnyhero+
shork@benev oh noooo
at least there's an off switch right there
Giles Goat@benev Should be IN THEORY no power on the two pins if the ground pin is NOT fully inserted ?
Jernej SimoncΜiΔ οΏ½@gilesgoat I don't think so β normally the ground pin just opens the latches allowing the live and neutral pins to be inserted.
@jernej__s Ah right, I was convinced there was 'a sort of switch' that disconnects the pins .. I see .. good to know !
Arcana 
@benev switch the plug off, turn off the electricity to that outlet, and remove it. Same thing youβd do if you were replacing the socket itself.
Klaudia (aka jinxx)this is a fairly new development, unswitched sockets can still be found here and remain compliant in the wiring regulations. If this happens with an unswitched socket you would have to turn off the circuit breaker, check the correct circuit is isolated and carefully remove the broken off pin..
Harriet Monkhouse@benev I had one that did almost exactly the same thing, except that it was the top pin.
RealGene β£οΈ
Rev@benev This is a fake plug made by people who are too cheap to make a real plug, you find them on a lot of things bought from amazon which kids have in halls - ex PAT-tester
real plugs have plastic over metal on the bottom
it's probably a fake CE label too because this wouldn't pass a PAT test https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/blog/Organizational-Resilience-Blog/Plugs-and-fakery/
@Maz There was plastic over the metal bit, but this remained on the plug and the metal slipped out of this sleeve.
I have no doubt that it doesn't conform to CE though.
anyMouse@benev Your thumb is covering up some important information.
Steve 
@benev
Deadly!
Although in the specific case shown, you're unlikely to get a shock as it's the Neutral.
UK electrics are the best!
If that had happened in Europe or the US it might be Live or Neutral
Deadly!
Although in the specific case shown, you're unlikely to get a shock as it's the Neutral.
UK electrics are the best!
If that had happened in Europe or the US it might be Live or Neutral
@Woodknot I gave the other one a gentle tug and it came out as well. It was just luck that it was this one rather than the other.
@benev
If you weren't sure whether that broken pin was live you could use pliers with a 1000v VDE rating or two pair of marigold gloves while standing on a rubber mat.
The less technically minded amongst us would go for the wimps option of isolating the socket using the switch. π
I love this though, thanks for sharing
@benev I do find some of these switch mode power supplies can make the item they're powering to have some stray high voltages (negligible current) on them.
I have a cheap class D amplifier powered by a small switch mode PS. I get a definite tickle when I touch it and with the lights off I see little sparks if I touch its facia
Andy Warburton βββ@benev funny you did this! I opened up an EU plug yesterday and was surprised by how flimsy it was inside!
Michael Galassi@benev That's why the outlets can be individually powered off.
[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD 
@benev yikes thats scary
Good thing is that at least it is a UK outlet so you can shut off the power at the outlet before someone else accidentally touches it.
Good thing is that at least it is a UK outlet so you can shut off the power at the outlet before someone else accidentally touches it.
πPepperz π¦΄π@benev give it a touch