13A socket with USB

[whyme!]

Just wondering how safe these are, could a usb port potentially get 230/240v across it if a component failed?

 

[winston1]

No more likely than with a plug in USB charger.

 

[bernardgreen]

Across the pins in the USB socket ( where there is normally 5 volts ) ? .... unlikely,

but it is not impossble that both those pins could become Live ( with or with 5 volts between them )

 

[OwainDIYer]

Yes, but that's true of any mains>USB adapter, and the 13A socket ones from reputable manufacturers are likely to be safer than cheap no-name imported chinese tat chargers.

BigClive has some videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom/videos

 

[JohnW2]

Just wondering how safe these are, could a usb port potentially get 230/240v across it if a component failed?

As everyone else has said, the risk is no different, and no greater, than exists with any sort of mains-powered USB chargers. In both cases, it is the quality of the product that matters - and, again in both cases, I would personally keep away from any 'cheap' ones.

I do wonder, however, about the current fashion of installing sockets with USB outlets. A decade or two ago, charging via USB was almost unknown, and who knows what new twist of technology we will be using in a decade or two's time. The children of the 2030s could well be asking "what those funny holes in the sockets are for"

Kind Regards, John

 

[whyme!]

Thanks, yes i was just thinking put one in each bedroom for now, will only buy branded

 

[JohnD]

I think they are more likely to be obsolete in the 2020's

 

[whyme!]

I think they are more likely to be obsolete in the 2020's

If we worried about tomorrows tech we would never buy anything

 

[bernardgreen]

When plug in charger fails it can be unplugged from the 13 amp socket. It is unlikely that the socket will have been damaged.

When the built in charger fails it is not impossible that the socket will have been damaged enough to cause protective devices in the CU to trip. Metal and / or carbon debris from the UPS power module could coat the inside of the socket and cause earth leakage currents. An electrician would be required to replace the 13 socket,

 

[motorbiking]

I've put in half a dozen mainly in the kitchen where tablets and phones seem to live. at under a tenner for one with 2.1 and 1.2a USBs I'm not bothered if they become obsolete.

 

[JohnD]

An electrician would be required to replace the 13 socket,

Nope.

 

[bernardgreen]

Nope.

A DIY competent with electrical work could change the socket. But not all the people who have sockets with USB are competent with DIY electrical work.

 

[JohnW2]

I've put in half a dozen mainly in the kitchen where tablets and phones seem to live. at under a tenner for one with 2.1 and 1.2a USBs I'm not bothered if they become obsolete.

Fair enough - but if they cost under a tenner each, you might possibly have other issues to be bothered about!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I think they are more likely to be obsolete in the 2020's

Possibly, although the start of the 2020s is only just over 3 years away, and even the end of the 2020s only about 13 years into the future!

Kind Regards, John

 

[motorbiking]

so they'd be better quality if I bought them from the we saw you coming shop at £20 each.

or let my electrician source them at a trade price for 30.