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Never trust what you buy... even if it is CE marked :)

Paul

Staff member
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
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11,544
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South Wales
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Toibs
So we all think CE markings mean things are built to a standard? Maybe it's time to think again....

So officially CE markings mean :

The letters ‘CE’ appear on many products that are traded on the single market in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The CE marking is required for many products. It:
  • shows that the manufacturer has checked that these products meet EUsafety, health or environmental requirements
  • is an indicator of a product’s compliance with EU legislation
  • allows the free movement of products within the European market
By placing the CE marking on a product a manufacturer is declaring, on his sole responsibility, conformity with all of the legal requirements to achieve CE marking. The manufacturer is thus ensuring validity for that product to be sold throughout the EEA. This also applies to products made in third countries which are sold in the EEA and Turkey.

Now i draw your attention to the first one in that list. As i have seen before with Chinese goods, CE marking in a lot of cases is added as a matter of course... and doesnt mean something is actually tested. Or works. Or is safe.

So i purchased a new rework station last week. Made in China by a largeish manufacturer....

http://yihua-soldering.com/product-1-4-2-2in1-hot-air-rework-station-en/147668/

however after checking this....


I find i have a different model with the same basic manufacturing defect - i.e. the fuse and switch are on the Neutral side, meaning that if there is a short to Ground then the fuse doesnt blow, since the fuse is on the neutral side..meaning that the entire unit could become live!

Will rework this later in the week - Just a post to say when items come from China (and in fact some other countries too!), the CE mark means nothing at all.... (hence why there's an ever growing number of people out there that dont trust ANYTHING that comes from there!)...
 
Yeah I had a rechargeable led floodlight, I pulled the charger out of the 13a socket the case came away and my finger went onto an exposed live 230v wire, shocking!!!
CE markings as usual, very dangerous stuff coming out of China.
 
You can self certify with CE ie write up your own paperwork / say yeah we tested it and its fine. You don't need to go to an official test house to use that marking. But if something goes wrong and some one dies or gets seriously injured you need to prove you did the correct tests etc... or could be held liable, why its usually easier to spend the 5-15k getting a proper test house as if they pass it you can be pretty sure its safe! and have the relevant paperwork to fall back on.

But to China it all means feck all and is just a symbol they will just add with zero testing. And would be near impossible to track down / hold any one responsible for anything thing.
 
The concept of the CE mark is admirable, but when counterfeit and dodgy Chinese manufacturers slap it on everything it ceases to be an effective flag.
 
yeah anything bought from ebay/alibaba/aliexpress/seed studio etc.. id take it with a pinch of salt. Stuff from rs,farnell will do there home work and usually only stock quality items that go through all the correct testing and hopefully will not kill you!
 
So we all think CE markings mean things are built to a standard? Maybe it's time to think again....

So officially CE markings mean :



Now i draw your attention to the first one in that list. As i have seen before with Chinese goods, CE marking in a lot of cases is added as a matter of course... and doesnt mean something is actually tested. Or works. Or is safe.

So i purchased a new rework station last week. Made in China by a largeish manufacturer....

http://yihua-soldering.com/product-1-4-2-2in1-hot-air-rework-station-en/147668/

however after checking this....


I find i have a different model with the same basic manufacturing defect - i.e. the fuse and switch are on the Neutral side, meaning that if there is a short to Ground then the fuse doesnt blow, since the fuse is on the neutral side..meaning that the entire unit could become live!

Will rework this later in the week - Just a post to say when items come from China (and in fact some other countries too!), the CE mark means nothing at all.... (hence why there's an ever growing number of people out there that dont trust ANYTHING that comes from there!)...

Thats why your equipment was cheap! Buy a known brand like weller, hakko, or metcal and buy it from a fairly trusted supplier like farnell or rs.
 
Also if you get a short to ground and no line fuse, the wiring becomes the fuse usually!, so its likely to burn up! Nice home safety NOT!

Bringing it back to pinball - A good example of this in early system 11 games to where there was no fuse on the bridge screwed to the backbox wall. When they shorted, your wiring melted instead ....
 
As well as the obvious, why isn't CE like a trademark? - would make it easier to seize goods at ports without having to prove they are unsafe first.
 
Thats why your equipment was cheap! Buy a known brand like weller, hakko, or metcal and buy it from a fairly trusted supplier like farnell or rs.
That's the rub - that's not exactly a small price hike.

Sorry to hear you were unlucky with the rework station - but get that basic stupid design bungle/manufacturing defect (probably the latter, would imagine these are mostly human-built on assembly lines and they don't have great education standards) and you'll basically be fine.
 
Sorry to hear you were unlucky with the rework station - but get that basic stupid design bungle/manufacturing defect (probably the latter, would imagine these are mostly human-built on assembly lines and they don't have great education standards) and you'll basically be fine.

Oh I knew it was likely to have the issue before i bought it, since it's a common problem.. However bearing in mind the boards are almost identical (even though it seems like the wiring isnt!) and the fact it was under £50, i wasnt about to complain (and I'm lucky to be able to be competent enough to sort it!)
 
Plus, even Weller can drop the ball now and again...


(short version: no fuse protection on the primary side of its transformer. at all)
 
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