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USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

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Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#12

How do I know what I'm buying is safe? I've sworn by the Nexus chargers in their various incarnations and http://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charging-Station-Micro-USB-Sams... (I have a Tronsmart and an Aukey vertsion)

I play Ingress a lot (a GPS based mobile game where you run around a lot in the real world so most players use external batteries) and at least 60-70% of the whole community uses Anker products. I personally know at a dozen people who use Anker wall plugs and all of them (including me, 1 wallplug and 2 battery packs) are very happy.

Anker and recently Aukey. And iOrange for cables. The problem is that smaller brands hit the Amazon lottery and get a lot of early 5-star reviews, then swap out their product with one made of cheaper components.

I think for Anker, their brand has become a bit bigger than is gamble-able on a bait and switch, so I'm continuing to use their products.

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#13
Hmm, I've always bought Anker and occasionally bought other brands like Mpow, Oldshark (haha) and Aukey which seem like yet another rebrand from the same batch of Shenzhen factories. I know Anker has considerably more Customer Service backend and better packaging but I wonder if their products are engineered any better?

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#14
As a reminder, if you're buying a USB charger or battery, or MicroUSB, Type C, or Lightning cable please buy Anker products.

They are not expensive, but they are the best products you can get your hands on. I own multiple Anker products, and have never discovered anything better than these.

The only non-Anker charger I currently use is the Google Nexus branded Qi charger (plugged into an Anker multiport brick), and the original Chromecast brick plugged into my Chromecast.

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#15
That's scary. Not enough isolation between the line side and the output side. Classic cause of electrocution and fires. The standard for this is UL 1310, Class 2 Power Supplies. Not sure if this design complies.

There's a lot to be said for split-bobbin transformers, where there's a solid plastic barrier between the two windings. This just has wire insulation and some tape.

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#16

Hmm, I've always bought Anker and occasionally bought other brands like Mpow, Oldshark (haha) and Aukey which seem like yet another rebrand from the same batch of Shenzhen factories. I know Anker has considerably more Customer Service backend and better packaging but I wonder if their products are engineered any better?

Google engineer Benson Leung tests a bunch of USB 3.0 cables/chargers and has generally found Anker to be good. Spreadsheet of results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wJwqv3rTNmORXz-XJsQa...

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#18

As a reminder, if you're buying a USB charger or battery, or MicroUSB, Type C, or Lightning cable please buy Anker products. They are not expensive, but they are the best products you can get your hands on. I own multiple Anker products, and have never discovered anything better than these. The only non-Anker charger I currently use is the Google Nexus branded Qi charger (plugged into an Anker multiport brick), and t…

The one thing that I can't find from Anker or any other reputable, reasonably-priced supplier (last time I checked, anyway) is a single-port charger that is small enough, horizontally and vertically, to not sprawl out onto adjacent outlets in a power strip.

I don't understand why this is so hard. My first smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, came with one, but it failed within a year and Samsung wanted like $50 for a branded replacement.

Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack

#20

Here, Clive looks at an Ikea USB power supply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRe9w5PKmsE&nohtml5=False Much better made.

I recently discovered AvE and now bigclive. I'm not sure how I missed this particular internet rabbit hole but I love it.
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