Odd that such a thing can happen in fresh water. Well, as fresh as Lake Erie water.

Yes, "fresh" water is not all that fresh and apparently it conducts just fine. The Coast Guard and Park Police have put out safety fliers about the dangers of swimming in marinas covering this very subject. The conductivity of the water really depends on where you draw the samples from and that would be true of any of the five great lakes but the bottom line is the lake is pretty conductive with mains voltage.

Two of the most popular flavors of shore power are 30 ampere 125 volt (NEMA L5-30) and 50 ampere 125/250 volt (NEMA SS-2) configurations. Power cords are designed to avoid mix ups between different types of plugs. The basic concept is to not force a plug into a receptacle. As long as the L-shape terminals of marine shore power plugs remain unaltered, it is hard to plug your boat into the wrong type of shore power. Forcing a modified 30 ampere 125 volt plug into a 50 ampere 125/250 volt receptacle can produce disastrous results.

My guess is the problem was the boat as when shore power was removed, the shock hazard ceased and other boats in the same area were running on shore power. Additionally the shore power connector in the marina checked out fine.

Ron

 

I just skimmed the previous posts, but can we all say "Leakage Currents"?

 

Five years ago I was asked to look at a charger that had stopped working that had been bought at a market. It was sealed and very light. Also the safety markings were not correct. I carefully sawed the case open and inside was a 0.22μF 400V capacitor and a 15kΩ resistor!
I took it to the local trading standards office and they carried out a series of purchases at various outlets and then found a house with over 15,000 of them in large box's all with Chinese writing on the outside. Several people were prosecuted and two went to prison.
The comment from the officer at T.S was "it's not even the tip of the iceberg" meaning that there are probably millions of these fake and dangerous things in worldwide circulation. The B******s who import and sell these things have absolutely no concern that someone may end up dead.
Another thing about them that is equally dangerous is that the plastic case is highly flammable, and combined with the internals used, makes them a ticking time bomb.

 

Five years ago ...

Well done! I think Her Majesty owes you a cuppa and a formal note of gratitude.

I have been seriously thinking about siccing the CBC (our national radio & TV broadcaster) on Amazon. CBC does some pretty good investigative work at time, and I think this might catch their fancy.

It used to be that electrical goods sold at retail in Canada had to conform to safety standards and be certified by a recognized safety agency. I say "used to be" but have no reason to believe it is not still the case. I always had some measure of confidence that goods I bought at retail, regardless of country of origin, met safety standards - not that I'm very favorably impressed with how lax I regard some standards to be. Amazon.ca "fulfills" orders for all sorts of electrical goods sold by their "marketplace" vendors. Much of it clearly has not be certified and I suspect a significant fraction that is marked as having been certified has fraudulent markings. I've frequently looked at things I though I might buy on Amazon's site, only to decide that I wouldn't trust them not to burn my house down or electrocute me. The damned stuff is dangerous! There are "corn cob" LED lights where rows of surface-mount LEDs on PCBs have no insulating housing. These are well known to pose lethal shock hazards. There are all sorts of light fixtures, power supplies (e.g. USB chargers), power bars and the like being sold.

I'd like to see a little R. v vendor action in Canadian courts.

---
I don't know if it can still be found, but a few years back there were photos on the web of a what was supposed to be a power factor correction inductor in a PC power supply. It was actually a wire cast into a small block of concrete(!), dressed up to look like a real inductor. Not dangerous, but another example of the extent of the fraudulence.

 

Apple and Samsung could cooperate to put an immediate end to unapproved chargers. I’m no fan of such things, and government forcing it, but I don’t see many other practical solutions.

 

How could Apple and Samsung put an immediate end to unapproved chargers?

 

How could Apple and Samsung put an immediate end to unapproved chargers?

I think it can be done by coding a unique "handshake" code between the phone and charger, a bit like electronic ignition keys for cars.If the phone does not get the code back, no charging can take place. It would then force users to only use the original factory supplied charger, maybe you would only be able to get a replacement on proof of original purchase.

 

I think it can be done by coding a unique "handshake" code between the phone and charger, a bit like electronic ignition keys for cars.If the phone does not get the code back, no charging can take place. It would then force users to only use the original factory supplied charger, maybe you would only be able to get a replacement on proof of original purchase.

It would soon enough be hacked and included in the fakes too.
A much better way would be to price match the fakes and so drive them out of the market.

 

From the outside, the real charger (left) and counterfeit charger (right) are almost identical.

See full story on http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

 

It would soon enough be hacked and included in the fakes too.
A much better way would be to price match the fakes and so drive them out of the market.

Would it not be possible for each individual phone and charger to have a unique code?

 

Would it not be possible for each individual phone and charger to have a unique code?

Yes, but then you would have to order the correct new charger. You wouldn't just be able to borrow someone else's or pop into a shop and buy one.

 

Yes, but then you would have to order the correct new charger. You wouldn't just be able to borrow someone else's or pop into a shop and buy one.

Yes that's the whole idea, take away the universal use. I have two electronic controllers for my car, so why not for phones? it would kill the fake charger problem instead of them killing people. It's a small price to pay for the additional safety.

 

It's a small price to pay for the additional safety.

I'm afraid it wouldn't work that way ... the companies would probably ramp up the price of their chargers to ridiculous amounts ... pretty much like what they do for printer's ink cartridges

 

I'm afraid it wouldn't work that way ... the companies would probably ramp up the price of their chargers to ridiculous amounts ... pretty much like what they do for printer's ink cartridges

Then it comes down to what is someones life worth? I'm just saying that it could be done if they really wanted to.

 

Then it comes down to what is someones life worth? I'm just saying that it could be done if they really wanted to.

Why not simply apply the law and incarcerate those who manufacture and sell defective chargers? ... I wonder, is there fake medical equipment out there too?

 

Why not simply apply the law and incarcerate those who manufacture and sell defective chargers? ... I wonder, is there fake medical equipment out there too?

The trading standards officer said they are in a losing battle, for every fake product they detect that enters the country, there are another thousand they miss. Same goes for the gangs dealing in fake goods. As soon as they shut one down, another or several more spring up elsewhere. It would need the government to invest many millions to police it properly, but they would rather give 39 billion to the E.U so that we can have our country back. ( not that I expect much to change there)

 

I think it can be done by coding a unique "handshake" code between the phone and charger,

They do it with batteries. Got a Sony laptop that will not work with anything but a genuine Sony replacement battery. Anything other will not charge in the computer.

 

I wonder, is there fake medical equipment out there too?

Almost certainly, and fake car parts too.
There were some breast implants here in the UK which used non-approved filler and caused some bad problems.

 

and fake car parts too.

... those are the most abundant, I'm sure

 

I think it can be done by coding a unique "handshake" code between the phone and charger, a bit like electronic ignition keys for cars.If the phone does not get the code back, no charging can take place. It would then force users to only use the original factory supplied charger, maybe you would only be able to get a replacement on proof of original purchase.

How could Apple and Samsung put an immediate end to unapproved chargers?

@recklessrog gave the scheme I was thinking of. Apple already locks down a few things this way, see MFi. I seem to recall there was a time when you HAD to use an Apple-licensed charger but Apple bowed to consumer demand and now you can use almost anything. It may be time to reconsider that decision.