This was sent to me by a friend who had been using it for a while, but after refitting it during redecoration it failed catastrophically with sparks. That does make me wonder if something happened during the process that either resulted in ingress of dirt/liquid or a bad connection causing arcing, which can sometimes trigger circuit failure.
It would have been nice to go in a bit deeper, but when these things blow up they often cause a chain reaction due to conductive plasma bridging adjacent pads and tracks. That can destroy the evidence of which component initiated the failure. Not helped in this case by a very densely packed PCB with a black silkscreen, making the analysis even harder. I might guess at MOSFET failure with subsequent destruction of current sensing resistors.
I'm not a huge fan of built-in electronics. It means that in an instance like this, the densely packed electronics can fail dramatically with the awkwardness of it still being built into the house wiring with no easy way to remove or replace it without electrical skills.
For charging USB devices I recommend using good quality plug-in chargers, and better still, plugged into a fused adaptor or extension.
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It would have been nice to go in a bit deeper, but when these things blow up they often cause a chain reaction due to conductive plasma bridging adjacent pads and tracks. That can destroy the evidence of which component initiated the failure. Not helped in this case by a very densely packed PCB with a black silkscreen, making the analysis even harder. I might guess at MOSFET failure with subsequent destruction of current sensing resistors.
I'm not a huge fan of built-in electronics. It means that in an instance like this, the densely packed electronics can fail dramatically with the awkwardness of it still being built into the house wiring with no easy way to remove or replace it without electrical skills.
For charging USB devices I recommend using good quality plug-in chargers, and better still, plugged into a fused adaptor or extension.
Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams.
https://www.patreon.com/bigclive
#ElectronicsCreators
I've always love-hated these things. They make GFCI USB combo units for public use in coffee shops and stuff. It's a huge convenience when it's there, but I'd never put one in my own house. I don't want it getting explodey while I'm on vacation and then come back to find out that I'm suddenly homeless.
These things are a joke. They need a very deep pattress/recess to accommodate the USB circuit and they seem fail for fun. Avoid
I stayed in a static caravan in norfolk a week ago. It was a newer model and had these sort of sockets everywhere.
If I ever get a house that has these, they are coming right out of the walls.
I know it's only television, okay? But…
In an episode of Dr. Who, Rory is seen repairing a ceiling mounted light socket while Amy watches. This was in 2011 I think. They seemed reasonably comfortable financially, and canonically Rory was not particularly into technical stuff, but wasn't afraid of it either.
Have things changed that much since then, or is there some line that must be crossed to require bringing in a professional electrician?
Accidentally swapped live and neutral perhaps?
When you said you had injured yourself but that's fine, I thought "brave little soldier".
But then, you are Scottish, and the injury was caused by a British General, so par for the course.
I've got some similar sockets in my kitchen (minus USB). The switches have worn out and now need some wiggling to work. Not the best quality now it seems.
Doing basic electrical work yourself used to be the norm before Part P. A lad would learn off their dad how to swap a socket or ceiling rose, Part P (and some electricians saying you weren't allowed to any DIY) put people off.
Get well soon Clive.
Engineer grade auto repair, lol.
Luckily I've never had USB wall sockets, but after this, I'll definitely stick with plug in adapters, especially if this was a good quality one
I've never trusted these.
Doesn't the outlet switch cut the power to the USB also? IMO it should be separately switchable so you could keep it off even if the outlet is in use.
I do not think these are good thing in homes. They are better in public places as people might not carry chargers.
oh well, I guess it can’t be used to feed the WiFi, bluetooth, 20A RGB Christmas light string, with Alexa voice interface.
Is your friend Robert a doctor?
Does he work for the National Health?
I used to think "USB Power from a wall socket? Gimme!" but the more I think about it, the more I hate it. Everything you've said about them over years is true. Can't change them without at minimum re-wiring the socket, are the components fire rated and good enough to be in the wall, power consumption or not being able to switch off… These days for super safety, for most low power transformer/switch mode power supplies, I plug in an extension lead (usually fused with a 3A fuse) and plug my stuff into that, since if you plug a USB power supply directly into a socket, usually the next circuit breaker in line is often 32A (in the UK)… so I like to add extra "steps"… and in the event of a catastrophic failure, the device can be unplugged, the extension can be, the switch can be flipped or the circuit breaker can be isolated, where as with one built into the plug, what have you got? Circuit breaker. That's it. It might be worth doing a video showing that even a 3A extension (in the UK) can probably give more than enough power for most people's devices (720 watts) but would be so much safer, at least… If my understanding of all this is right 🙂 Thanks Clive :>