A few years ago I bought some chrome finish wall sockets to replace the original ones at home . The ones I bought looked good quality, heavy metal fronts and solidly built. Unfortunately after a few years the switches on the sockets started to become stiff. Not all of them, in fact it seemed to be the less used sockets where the switches started to seize. Then the switches started to break off exposing live contacts. When the first one went I just replaced the socket and thought no more of it. Then when the second one went without warning I got a shock before the RCD tripped. So at that point I replaced the lot. Unfortunately I cannot remember where I bought them. I was reminded today when clearing my loft when I found one still new in box. That went straight in the bin! I thought I would warn others because if you don't have an RCD "fuse box" you could really be in for a surprise!
The make is Eurolite and they are supplied in a green box. I have a picture which I will post later, at the moment my phone is not loading pictures to my computer since the bloody thing decided it needed to update itself!
Hopefully some pictures of the offending item...
Ouch! That’s not good… and sadly I can see made in England on it 😪 I was hoping it’d say made in china on it!!
We had our kitchen re done with new sockets, I think it said British general on them, they are a bit flimsy, and the one the kettle is plugged into has melted it’s switch..
I don't post much on the other place for various reasons 🤐 but I thought this warning was worth while due to the safety aspect. Guess what? "Off topic for this forum!" it got locked within an hour! 🧐 Why the F*** it matters on a hobby forum beats me! I have asked for the post to be deleted, let's see if that happens!
Is this the company, if so they may well want to know about the problem?
https://www.carlislebrass.com/products/eurolite
Frank
@nuvistor Hi Frank, Certainly the same name. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the defective sockets. The problem occurred a while back. The last new unused socket went in the bin yesterday. I looked yesterday on line to see if anyone else had reported problems and couldn't find any....
Rich
I'd be reporting that to your local trading standards. They should then make the manufacturer aware of a potential recall issue.
Wall switches and sockets sold for installation in buildings in Oz have to be able to survive a specified sequence of hammer blows without breakage, and a more rigorous sequence without any live stuff being able to be contacted with a test finger. Fail Safe, in other words. The plastic they use is slightly flexible and as tough as leather.
Because of this we don't see many Chinese products in this market, not last time I looked anyway.
Which is surprising because China uses the same 3 pin plug as we do. However in China the A and N are reversed.
@doz I didn't think about it at the time and to be honest I expect the manufacturer would want date of purchase and an example of one of the faulty ones. I have been there in the past with suppliers. I had a spring break on my car which punctured the tyre and jammed the wheel, the spring was 2 years old and had been on the car for less than 6000 miles. I reported it to the supplier and got a right load of Bull... it just stressed me out.
@irob2345 this is the annoying part! I bought what I thought was a good British brand solidly made I do try to avoid Chinese stuff where possible but it is becoming increasingly difficult. GTech for instance a Union Jack on the box but made in China... The flag? "Designed in Britain" . It pi$$es me off when someone goes on Dragons' Den with a product made in Britain and the first question is "how much does it cost to produce" Followed by an intake of breath and a " I can get this made in China for much less". Sort term greedy view IMHO. "Great Britain - a nation of importers!" but then these sockets demonstrate what can happen with British produced goods. it used to be so much better! I may save the socket from the bin and work the switch a few times to see what happens...
as an old manufacturing engineer as well as design engineer, the get around it - was always the marketing gimmick...
pick up a package, take a look closely, see any of the following.
designed in ABC country (UK), assembled in XYZ country (lets say china).
was it assembled in ABC or XYZ country, lets say it was CKD completely knocked down, all the bits shipped to UK. Saves or lowers the duties & taxes, stick on a label *assembled in the UK*
take something made in FFF country (Eastern Europe or the sub Asian continent, other) imported by the UK. If I was a UK distributor or retailer, I'd always want the lowest landed cost, lowest import duties.
do the products purchased in the UK conform, do they have a CE, HSE or UKCA mark on them, if its for electrical equipment it met the electrical equipment safety regulations, if not, don't buy them & they should not be on the shelf for sale.
if they do have the mark & fault on you, then its a report it to the mark approval or seal authority on the product.
the next time you go to B&Q or order from Amazon, check the manufacturer/brand on the product as well as where it was made before buying.
There are no safety marks on that socket....at least none that I can see. It does have BS1363 stamped on it but that in itself doesn't mean anything. ANYONE can stamp BS1363 on their product.....
@sideband That's interesting. I forgot to get the one from the bin before it was emptied so the new one has gone, however I now realise that I still have one installed behind the Hi Fi unit that I forgot to replace. I will replace it as soon as possible and then check the switches for defect. If either switch is stiff to operate or breaks off I will contact the manufacturers and see what they say. The sockets are a few years old now but they shouldn't fail in a dangerous way...
