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   Manawyrm | Sarah (manawyrm@chaos.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:18 JST Manawyrm | Sarah

   • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

   @ryanc No, because:
   - high idle power consumption
   - lacking safety (against surges/spikes)
   - lacking safety (against electrocution of the user)
   - thermal problems (over-temperature inside the wall?)
   - bad regulation (high ripple, etc.)
   - coil whine
   - often bad negotiation (USB-C or USB-A power delivery)
   - fire hazard (can't quickly unplug smoking permanently installed outlets)

   - USB standards change rapidly. I'm still using 1970s outlets. I'm not using 1970s tech $anything.

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     นาตาลี :bellsystem: (natalie@nya.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:23 JST นาตาลี :bellsystem:

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @manawyrm@chaos.social @ryanc@infosec.exchange seconding all of this, in general the idea of putting electronics inside the wall is scary
     
     i'll make an exception for GFCIs but they are a lot simpler and more robust than a usb charger

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     Manawyrm | Sarah (manawyrm@chaos.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:25 JST Manawyrm | Sarah

     in reply to

     • kravietz 🦇
     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @kravietz @ryanc 1970s Type F (EU) outlets, with 1.5mm^2 copper cabling, earthed and GFI protected.

     Those outlets are fine.

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     kravietz 🦇 (kravietz@agora.echelon.pl)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:27 JST kravietz 🦇

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:
     @manawyrm
     
     If you're using 1970's outlets, no wonder surges, spikes and fire hazard are still present in your risk assessment. Lots of things has changed in electric wiring standards since, like introduction of RCD or introduction and subsequent removal of aluminum cabling.
     
     @ryanc
   • Embed this notice
     Manawyrm | Sarah (manawyrm@chaos.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:30 JST Manawyrm | Sarah

     in reply to

     • kravietz 🦇
     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @ryanc @kravietz sadly, yes 😹

     I do like the individually fused plugs, though! That's not a bad idea at all!

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     Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag: (ryanc@infosec.exchange)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:31 JST Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     in reply to

     • kravietz 🦇

     @manawyrm @kravietz have y'all heard of ring circuits for UK household wiring?

   • Embed this notice
     kravietz 🦇 (kravietz@agora.echelon.pl)'s status on Monday, 06-Nov-2023 23:25:33 JST kravietz 🦇

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @manawyrm

     Well, when I upgraded my flat’s electrical installation it was a mix of all kind possible wiring fashions from the last century at semi-random order, united by the fundamental principle of all British builders: “good enough”. And yes, I had branches on aluminium cables, including at the incoming mains. And all of that was crowned by a fuse box so ancient that it raised eyebrows of the electrician who mumbled something about 1942 being the last year legal per current regulation. Which in turn raised my eyebrows. All that rubbish was scrapped and replaced with the latest RCD fusebox, properly certified and even equipped with a smart meter (that the supplier previously refused to install due to incompatible wiring). But as far as I understood from talking to people, such an approach isn’t very popular and “good enough” continues to be the fundamental principle in British housing industry.

     @ryanc

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     Russ Garrett (russss@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Nov-2023 01:17:13 JST Russ Garrett

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @manawyrm @ryanc the other problem with these USB charging sockets is that they are encouraging more people to change their sockets who don't really have the expertise to do it safely...

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     Russ Garrett (russss@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Nov-2023 01:17:15 JST Russ Garrett

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @manawyrm @ryanc MK/Honeywell are considered the gold standard brand for electrical hardware in the UK and they do make some which look to be decent (now even with PD). Haven't seen inside one though.

     https://buildings.honeywell.com/gb/en/brands/our-brands/mk-electric/solutions/usb-charging-solutions

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     Manawyrm | Sarah (manawyrm@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 07-Nov-2023 01:17:17 JST Manawyrm | Sarah

     in reply to

     • Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

     @ryanc I haven't seen any really reputable brand (in both sockets and power supplies) selling a socket with a high quality supply (at least for the EU market). So far, I've opened/looked at a few (maybe 5 or so), which were all horribly dangerous designs, lacking filtering, safety components and legally mandated clearances.

     None of these products should've been on the EU market! All of them were illegal!

     clacke likes this.