If you are wondering "How could an isolation transformer ever get past QC with abraded or nicked insulation?", you might find this video interesting:
USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
51–60 of 160 posts
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Big Clive is _the_ channel for teardowns of everyday electronic stuff. I am actually not that interested in this kind of stuff but somehow I still watch most of his videos. If you are into more... entertaining teardowns you should have a look at AvE. Even if you don't like it you will still learn some useful canadian terms ;) (edit: just to make it clear, AvE is actually very knowledgable. His "boltr" teardown series…
> If you are going to watch one teardown today then please watch his rather famous video about the worlds worst tablet computer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o8MDCIlOEk* I'm crying out of laughter right now. This is absolutely brilliant. That is, the teardown - the tablet itself is an abomination. Thanks for posting this. This channel is great and seems to have a lot of educational content besides teardowns too.
> the tablet itself is an abomination
Yes, but I find myself strangely impressed. I like to imagine someone walked up to an engineer and said "So, I just told client $foo that we can provide a tablet version of our PC software. They need it by end of week. That's not a problem, right? Because the CEO is fully on board with this..."
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#53Big Clive, who makes these videos does some brilliant tear-downs. I recommend watching his other videos.
Including sexual lubricants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i7_-NtJeB4 Someone has to review them...
From Poundland, which - for any non-Brits who haven't come across it - is our more upmarket equivalent of a dollar store and sells all kinds of interesting items that he's done videos about.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#54As 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…
I've always dismissed Anker out of hand as they are practitioners of the comically verbose product name school of Amazon listing, which I've come to associate with poor quality. Add to that the usually accompanying infeasibly high review count, and I'm genuinely surprised to hear they're any good at all.
I probably will give them a go now, but they're in bad company.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#55That'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.
The really scary thing is that as he points out, it actually seems to be designed with an apparently reasonable amount of isolation between the primary and secondary - it's just that something managed to completely abrade the insulation. Not sure if it was UL compliant as designed because their requirements for transformer construction are quite complicated, but it certainly seems plausible. He's reviewed numerous re…
The really scary thing is that as he points out, it actually seems to be designed with an apparently reasonable amount of isolation between the primary and secondary - it's just that something managed to completely abrade the insulation.
That's the argument for a split bobbin. With a hard plastic wall between the two coils, in addition to the wire insulation, it's hard to get a short between both side of the transformer.
Here are some split-bobbin transformers for switching power supplies on Alibaba.[1] Split-bobbin seems to add about $0.10 to the price, raising it from $0.89 to $0.99.
[1] http://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product-detail/EE22-split-bobb...
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#56Big Clive, who makes these videos does some brilliant tear-downs. I recommend watching his other videos.
Big Clive is _the_ channel for teardowns of everyday electronic stuff. I am actually not that interested in this kind of stuff but somehow I still watch most of his videos. If you are into more... entertaining teardowns you should have a look at AvE. Even if you don't like it you will still learn some useful canadian terms ;) (edit: just to make it clear, AvE is actually very knowledgable. His "boltr" teardown series…
Actually found that incredibly annoying. These guys managed to get something working, probably with very limited knowledge and funds, that deserves an award.
It just seems this guy expects everything to look like an Apple ipad when you open it up.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#57Aren't there legal tests that any appliance which plugs into the mains must pass? I'm surprised this kind of thing is possible, but I guess not performing such tests cuts costs.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#58great video. I don't know a lot about electronics, so I am left wondering two things: why did the fault not stop after i pulled out the first two components? wouldn't that break off the power circuit inside? why did the fault stop after he removed the transformer?
The first two components he removed (the filter Y-capacitor and the opto-isolator) are supposed to be open-circuit to direct current. And since they were not at fault (ie, they were not shorted), removing them from the circuit didn't change anything.
The fault probably stopped after he removed the transformer because in the process of desoldering and yanking it from the board, he caused enough strain/vibration that whichever wire was shorting the primary and secondary windings moved and was no longer causing a short. That sort of intermittent fault is common in hardware, and quite annoying to debug.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 is fantastic. With one weird exception - when I use my Anker USB to Ethernet adapter, my (Microsoft brand) wireless mouse stops working unless it put it right next to the USB receiver. I bought a much crappier-looking Ethernet adapter and had no issues.
I believe many USB3 devices emit noise in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, jamming nearby WiFi and Bluetooth.
Re: USB power supply puts 220 Mains power out on USB jack
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Do you know of a reliable 4 in 1 USB cable manufacturer?
I do not, sorry :/