UL listing

Joachim Steiger roh at hyte.de
Fri Jul 2 13:49:42 EDT 2010


Scott Johnston wrote:
> This device would be powered from the mains. After all, it is essentially a
> glorified plug-strip.

don't forget the most important fact: there are dozends of different
power plugs AND necessary certifications. also different ratings and
voltages.

for details: check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_power_systems

so essential its sure to say: if you device integrates a power socket or
plug and the cable is not removable (replaceable by one for a different
market), or the plug is mounted fix. its not international.
its one market only. not even continental ones, but country-wise.

that makes stuff expensive, since your number of 'identical copies' per
version goes down. especially on the case.

electronics can made workable from 100 to 250VAC and up to 16A.
mechanics don't morph that easily.

from that reason on, i'd really advice to not include any ac voltages or
 plugs on open hw, at least for now.
selecting only one type of plug is as bad as not building it at all.
that would only make it unavailable or unuseable for the most part of
the planet (only not YOUR small corner ;)

let companies like e.g. delta electronics and astec in china care for
that certification and compatibility crap and stay low-voltage.

for your project thats a problem, true.
but on the other side, there is still loads of electronics that neither
have power sockets or high-powered mains, but need liberation. ;)


ps: if you know about all these problems and have a really cool idea,
how to solve this mess, please mail me. i am really interested in
figuring something out.
sadly atm it seems that using IEC-only plugs (the ones which are
grounded and safe for 16A and 250V) is the only way to go for such problems.

kind regards

--

roh




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