Cheap power supply bias lighting warning

Psycho Sonny · 1 Dec 2013 at 02:12

My cheap power supply for the bias lighting kit I bought from eBay popped today. Luckily I was home and watching TV at the time when it happened. No damage done but it didn't sound good. I imagine a capacitor or something just exploded inside the power brick can't tell from the outside but you do hear stories that they have burnt people's homes down.

Can't find a UK 12v 5A laptop charger or power supply for under £30 so I think I shall ditch the kit I have that still works and just buy USB led lights and use them. My TV has 3 usb ports. Can pick up usb leds for like £2 each in ikea or sometimes even in poundland. The antec kit is also an option at £15.

Not going to go near imported Chinese cheap stuff again which involves a plug. Thought it would be okay but looks like I was wrong.

I know some people in gd have bought similar items on eBay for pc monitors if your one of them replace the power supply or get rid of the kit, not worth it.

I thought it would be fine since nearly everything is made there anyways just assumed that it would be okay. They clearly aren't safe though.

spoffle · 1 Dec 2013 at 02:28

You do realise that electronics do occasionally go pop regardless of where they're made or who they're made by, right?

I really don't understand why so many people feel the need to make these "my experience is the definitive experience" style public service announcements.

Rroff · 1 Dec 2013 at 02:32

I've not had any problems with the Antec Soundscience bias lighting - one of the few LED strips I've not had any problems with at all.

413x · 1 Dec 2013 at 08:58

My psu for bias lighting is a brick. No problems and it is used quite heavily. Think it's 10A

Psycho Sonny · 1 Dec 2013 at 10:44

Rroff said:
I've not had any problems with the Antec Soundscience bias lighting - one of the few LED strips I've not had any problems with at all.

That's because it's made by a reputable manufacturer and designed to be compatible with all the laws and regulations of the UK.

Mine was a cheap Chinese no name kit and I am willing to bet it would fail the standard deemed safe for use in the UK.

lucid · 1 Dec 2013 at 11:43

spoffle said:
You do realise that electronics do occasionally go pop regardless of where they're made or who they're made by, right?

I really don't understand why so many people feel the need to make these "my experience is the definitive experience" style public service announcements.

Whilst I understand the sentiment behind your post, it has to be said that there's a lot of shoddy Chinese-made goods around. It's known that less scrupulous Chinese manufacturers put fake safety labels on goods. For example, the CE mark is copied and subtly altered.

In the dark days of the 70's and 80's, "Made in China" was a byword for crap. It was easy to avoid the pitfalls of poor manufacturing quality before laying down some cash. That's impossible now that so much is made there. Trading Standards can't catch everything. It's true, announcements like this have a limited audience and as consumers we have very short memories. The lure of "cheap" is intoxicating. Does that mean that we should just turn a blind eye?