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Are UL or CSA approved wall warts enough?

Hi,

The subject more or less says it all, my question is: "Is using a UL or
CSA approved wall wart considered a safe, legal, and relatively
liability free way to create devices for retail to end users?"

The background to this, is that I've been asked to research the UL
requirements for some friends who are looking to import low power
electrical devices from overseas. The devices are not currently
certified or tested to any North American standard. They are low
power; however, so I am wondering if it is a good idea to switch the
power supplies to UL listed wall warts.

I've done a quick survey of gear around the house, and with the
exception of my laptop, I have not found any wallwart powered devices
that have a UL or other stamp directly on the device -- they all seem
to rely on the safety (and implied reduction in liability) offered via
external power supplies.

Thanks in advance for the insights!

Regards!

Leonard



____________________
Visit my personal waste of web space at http://lc.yi.org
 
D

Dan H

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

The subject more or less says it all, my question is: "Is using a UL or
CSA approved wall wart considered a safe, legal, and relatively
liability free way to create devices for retail to end users?"

The background to this, is that I've been asked to research the UL
requirements for some friends who are looking to import low power
electrical devices from overseas. The devices are not currently
certified or tested to any North American standard. They are low
power; however, so I am wondering if it is a good idea to switch the
power supplies to UL listed wall warts.

I've done a quick survey of gear around the house, and with the
exception of my laptop, I have not found any wallwart powered devices
that have a UL or other stamp directly on the device -- they all seem
to rely on the safety (and implied reduction in liability) offered via
external power supplies.

Thanks in advance for the insights!

Regards!

Leonard



____________________
Visit my personal waste of web space at http://lc.yi.org


I would certainly us a UL/CSA/CE approved wall wart. That takes care of
the major saftey issues. Some devices require FCC approval if they have
a risk of radiating RF and devices that connect to the phone lines have
other requirements that must be met.

The US does not require UL for consumer items but I would certainly
want anything plugged in the wall to be an approved device though I
just looked at my cell phone charger and it doesn't list any approvals.

In the European Union any electronic device must be tested and to some
very rigorous standards to justify the CE mark

Dan H
 
P

Phil Allison

Jan 1, 1970
0
They are low
power; however, so I am wondering if it is a good idea to switch the
power supplies to UL listed wall warts.


** Better find out if that is even possible first.

Using an internal PSU allows unlimited possibilities with voltages, number
of voltage rails etc while wall warts offer a very restricted range.




.......... Phil
 
E

Eric R Snow

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

The subject more or less says it all, my question is: "Is using a UL or
CSA approved wall wart considered a safe, legal, and relatively
liability free way to create devices for retail to end users?"

The background to this, is that I've been asked to research the UL
requirements for some friends who are looking to import low power
electrical devices from overseas. The devices are not currently
certified or tested to any North American standard. They are low
power; however, so I am wondering if it is a good idea to switch the
power supplies to UL listed wall warts.

I've done a quick survey of gear around the house, and with the
exception of my laptop, I have not found any wallwart powered devices
that have a UL or other stamp directly on the device -- they all seem
to rely on the safety (and implied reduction in liability) offered via
external power supplies.

Thanks in advance for the insights!

Regards!

Leonard



____________________
Visit my personal waste of web space at http://lc.yi.org
One of my customers builds machines for industry that contain
electronics. It's a pretty big company. They try to have all the
voltage levels low and use UL approved power supplies whenever they
can. One of the owners told me the cost of the power supplies was
miniscule compared to insurance costs and liability exposure. Bear in
mind that the machines they make are all operated by well educated men
and women and the insurance companies still like that UL approval.
ERS
 
Thanks Dan.

So a listed wall wart should prevent stupid things like short circuits
and over/under voltage situations from developing into bigger problems
(i.e. fires)?

Yes, from some of the other threads I've read on Usenet and a couple
forums, I've gathered that most US jurisdictions don't technically
require UL. However, in practice, I'm sure it makes a big difference
when you're trying to get retailers on board! As an aside, it seems
that here in Canada, CSA or cUL is legally required in some provinces.


LC

____________________
Visit my personal waste of web space at http://lc.yi.org
 
P

Phil Allison

Jan 1, 1970
0
Phil,

Thanks for the reminder.


** Here is another one:

When replying, hit "options" first and then "reply".

That way, we can see who you are replying to and the previous text .

Googlegroups is set up for Googlgroups users, not usenet.



....... Phil
 
Phil said:
When replying, hit "options" first and then "reply".

That way, we can see who you are replying to and the previous text .

Googlegroups is set up for Googlgroups users, not usenet.

Thanks for that! I realized the lack of quotes a few minutes after I
posted. =(

I'm so used to Free Agent doing some reasonable quoting for me. Since
I don't post much on Usenet, I still haven't quite gotten used to
GoogleGroups. Now if only I could get GoogleGroups to auto-"star" my
own threads...

LC
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks for that! I realized the lack of quotes a few minutes after I
posted. =(

I'm so used to Free Agent doing some reasonable quoting for me. Since I
don't post much on Usenet, I still haven't quite gotten used to
GoogleGroups. Now if only I could get GoogleGroups to auto-"star" my own
threads...

That's almost trivial - go to advanced search, and search on yourself as
author. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
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