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Horrific USB power supply fault. (Electrocution risk.)

bigclivedotcom · 1.2M views · 2016-04-04 · 28:21

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Overview

Electronics hobbyist bigclivedotcom tears down a cheap USB power supply with a manufacturing fault that carries full mains voltage to the USB ports, showing the risk of electric shock.

On Hacker News

Cited in threads about cheap chargers as proof of why proper certified and isolated power supplies are worth paying for.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2016–2024

Topics

Repair, teardowns & right to repairElectronics & circuit designEngineering & making (other)
Search by tags
usb chargersteardownelectrical safetymains voltagecounterfeit electronics

What people said

bigtrakzapzap · 2019-08 · Strong recommendation

Big clive on HN. Hurray! He earned my respect from a video on a USB charger with an electrocution risk and why you should never buy cheap USB chargers. [VIDEO]

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BrailleHunting · 2017-03 · Recommendation

TL;DR: spend the $19 to buy a real, big brand USB charger because they have more to lose than grey market no brand. Tragic. Probably cheap USB without mains isolation or maybe enough water dripped down length of cable and socket to create a circuit, because USB is supposed to be 5V DC. Watch these USB charger teardown horror-shows to further understand why it's rational to pay for proper, authentic CE+UL, high-low isolation and quality components (ie insulated tape in transformers): [VIDEO] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK]

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bankcust08385 · 2024-07 · Reference

So I guess there will be more Bigclivedotcom deathdapter teardowns. This has been a common occurrence since 2016: [VIDEO] There need to be more class-action lawsuits against Amazon, and the FTC and CPSC need to surveil Amazon's products and take regular enforcement action.

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Sources

Video by bigclivedotcom, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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