Why is Wylex so popular!?

[JohnW2]

John, since 2010 there has been a European regulation requiring mobile phones to charge using USB-IF BC 1.1. (I believe it's called MOU REGARDING THE HARMONISATION OF A CHARGING CAPABILITY FOR MOBILE PHONES).

That's interesting, and obviously a new one on me. Is this regulation 'live', mandatory and being enforced? ... and do you know what their reasoning behind it was (beyond common sense and convenience of consumers!)?

However, I don't think this alters much of what I was saying about Apple, historically - AFAIAA, most of their deviations from the 'industry norm' were not in violation of any prevailing regulations or mandatory Standards - so they were presumably free to go out on a limb if they wished?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

John, since 2010 there has been a European regulation requiring mobile phones to charge using USB-IF BC 1.1. (I believe it's called MOU REGARDING THE HARMONISATION OF A CHARGING CAPABILITY FOR MOBILE PHONES).

Hmmm. It seems that's it's not a regulation which came into force in 2010, but merely a Memorandum of Understanding from 2009/2010 whereby signatories agreed to attempt to progress towards the standardisation to which you refer. It also seems to be the case that it's hardly binding on those signatories, since the Memorandum they sign finishes with:

6. Termination
6.1 The Signatories retain the right to withdraw from this MoU at any time with immediate effect. In this event, notice shall be given to DigitalEurope and the European Commission.

I have not yet had time to explore what, if anything, has actually 'progressed' since 2010. Maybe it has all 'happened' by now - I'll let you know if I discover!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

Indeed - but Apple have only been able to do that because there are no 'mandatory' Standards applying to the things you mention, so they are free to 'not abide' by the same 'standards'/conventions as others. However, in a more regulated situation, Apple could not come up with, and market in the UK, their own alternative to BS1363 accessories (which were not compliant with BS1363) and expect them to be used in BS7671-compliant installations in the UK.

I have looked at both Apple BS1363 to USB and Nokia BS1363 to coax power plug and in both cases the area covered by the plug seems to be less than required by the regulations. The Nokia has an extending earth pin to make it more compact for transport.

I think the compact chargers are good and reasonably safe but that does not mean they comply.

 

[JohnW2]

I have looked at both Apple BS1363 to USB and Nokia BS1363 to coax power plug and in both cases the area covered by the plug seems to be less than required by the regulations. The Nokia has an extending earth pin to make it more compact for transport. I think the compact chargers are good and reasonably safe but that does not mean they comply.

AFAIAA, BS1363 does not apply to wallwarts, so I don't know what, if any, requirements there are in the Standard relevant to such items as regards "the area covered by the plug" (or "'extending earth pins), do you? I certainly don't know whether there are the same requirements as would apply to a BS1363 plug (even though that would make sense) - again, do you?

If any of these items were non-compliant with the required Standards (as required, for example, for CE marking), then it presumably would be illegal for them to be sold in the UK. These companies are free to deviate from 'industry conventions', but not from legislated requirements.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

John, since 2010 there has been a European regulation requiring mobile phones to charge using USB-IF BC 1.1. (I believe it's called MOU REGARDING THE HARMONISATION OF A CHARGING CAPABILITY FOR MOBILE PHONES).

.... I have not yet had time to explore what, if anything, has actually 'progressed' since 2010. Maybe it has all 'happened' by now - I'll let you know if I discover!

OK. Assuming it's all correct, the Wikipedia gives a pretty full account of the whole story ( click here ). In terms of the MoU (which 'expired' at the end of 2012) it says

"...Although compliance is voluntary, a majority of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturers agreed to make their applicable mobile phones compatible with Europe's common External Power Supply."

Probably of more interest to us is:

Pending/future European legislation
In a 2013 amendment to a "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament … relating to the making available on the market of radio equipment" the European Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection included a recommendation for "... A renewed effort to develop a common charger ... [being] highly desirable and consequently ... beneficial in particular for consumers and other end-users." Unlike the 2009 Common EPS MoU, which only applied to mobile phones that are "data-enabled" and "hand-held" (e.g. "smartphones"), the parliamentary proposal applies to all radio equipment (any "product which intentionally emits or receives radio waves for communication") including mobile phones, tablet computers, car door openers, modems, etc.[17][18] The European Parliament approved the draft law on 13 March 2014 with 550 to 12 votes.[19] Once formally approved by the Council of Ministers, member states will have two years to transpose the new regulations into national laws and manufacturers will have an additional year after that to comply [20][21].

Goodness knows how long it will take (or has taken) to get formal approval of the Council of Ministers (in fields I work in, getting such approval has sometimes taken years!) but it seems that, within 2 years thereafter, the standardisation will be compulsory (although I don't know what exceptions/loopholes will be built into the legislation).

Kind Regards, John

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Interesting research John. All of the phone manufacturers I have worked with chose to assume this would be law, as it isn't a decision you can reverse quickly. And looking at the contributor list of the recent USB-IF standards publications on Power Delivery, and the C-Cable, I think one may well find that Apple are now moving towards a similar goal.

 

[JohnW2]

Interesting research John. All of the phone manufacturers I have worked with chose to assume this would be law, as it isn't a decision you can reverse quickly.

Indeed. On the basis of what I quoted, I think it inevitably will become law in all EU countries, but not necessarily until March 2016 (possibly much later) - so I guess it makes sense for them to regard it as a fait accomplis already.

And looking at the contributor list of the recent USB-IF standards publications on Power Delivery, and the C-Cable, I think one may well find that Apple are now moving towards a similar goal.

One would hope so - and, as above, they presumably will, at least sooner or later, have no choice as far as sales in the EU are concerned?

Kind Regards, John

 

[moger10]

Today I had the joys of fitting a Wylex Dual split CU. I always have in the past fitted MK Sentry, but all my local wholesalers seem to now only stock either Wylex or Hager. Unfortunatly I am on a tight price so hager was out the question.

I actually wanted a Split load CU, so had to jig things around a bit..

I know MK is far from brilliant now, but Wylex has several pitfalls too as far as I could see!

1. The numbering system is all over the place! Neutrals on the right and count from the right. CPC's on the left and count the opposite way to how the MCB's are arranged!

2. The supplied links are formed together and are too big to fit into the terminal bars at the top. Even when cut off to single thickness they still wont fit. They also have a large amount of copper sticking out the top of the RCD's!

3. The MCB's supplied in the fully loaded 10way are a bit cr@p, loads of 32A, two 16A and a few 6A. I needed three 20A but hey ho!

4. The busbar comes in cut lengths, so after I re-jigged things to make mine split load and had 6 MCB's on the Main Switch, the busbar wasnt long enough!

5. No linking pieces to connect together the neutral terminal bars. As above after re-jigging and having 6 Non-RCD ways, I had to double up the 5 & 6 neutrals into the same terminal.

I am sure earlier I thought of more things, but thats all I can think of at the minute! I saw a few weeks ago someone put up a thread about the perfect CU - well I think I ought to design one and get it manufactured! I am sure I could do a better job than some of the others out there!!

when i was a lad we used wylex all the time .. but i have been (like you ) using MK for a while ..they are more user friendly and you can have what you want where you want without having to buy extra bits ..MK used to be on the north circular ..but i imagine its in china now ..so they are as all a bit poor