Masterplug Danger! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: PStevenson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2011, 10:47:43 pm
content: the story starts with me buying a surge protection energy saver masterplug extension. basically it detects when something leaves standby to the on state and turns on the other sockets.so you have a master and 7 slaves, but that's not important what is.. is that I had it for a few years and the other day all of the sockets failed so I thought "well I'll take it apart" because I like taking things apart but when I did I saw some of the worst soldering I have ever seen, the mains wires were not even tinned prior to being put in place on the varistor board and the actual board soldering looked like a 2 year old had done it with a lighter. now this isn't some crap china bought eBay thing, I bought it for quite a lot of money at a big chain store we have here known as B&Q anyway I tried to take some decent pictures in order to complain to the company but I am going to put them here for you as a warning not to always trust things that are supposed to be safe cause this sure as fuck wasn't ! before I show you the pictures I want to make it clear that this is exactly the state it was in when I opened it up , I have done nothing to it.

author: david77
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2011, 11:23:10 pm
content: Ugh, that looks nasty. How is the brown wire in the background even fixed to the socket? Look like it's wedged in between the metal and plastic part somehow.I have seen similar shoddy work in many cheap multiple outlet power strips, so much so that I have banned that crap from my household,they usually come from the far east and even though they have the VDE sign, I doubt any VDE engineer has ever seen them.I bought a load of 30+ years old 2nd hand power strips on car boot sales recently, every single one of them has better build quality and after checking them for loose contacts or other damages I feel quite safe to use them.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2011, 11:54:41 pm
content: bloody awful never hand much respect for master plug

author: PStevenson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2011, 11:59:43 pm
content: Quote from: david77 on May 03, 2011, 11:23:10 pmI don't know how I am still alive after using that thing!! I felt a bit sick after I took it apart. so yeah, don't buy their stuff. even if the rest of their products are perfect it just takes that one to kill someone so they deserve to go out of business. there should be no questions when it comes to mains voltage and safety

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 01:54:04 am
content: pls reduce picture size. its difficult to see on my 1440x900 screen. resize to 1000pix width will be much better.

author: gobblegobble
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 05:12:29 am
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on May 04, 2011, 01:54:04 amFor the love of Pete, DON'T! People with lesser resolutions would still have to scroll and the forum layout would be screwed up. Rather use links, like so:Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3

author: Chet T16
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 06:22:16 am
content: Hmmm, i have one of these in the TV unit and like you say, they're not cheap.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 07:55:42 am
content: thanx gooble, much better with autoresize.Quote from: PStevenson on May 03, 2011, 10:47:43 pmi'm a 2 years old boy thencan you show me the proper soldering how it should looks like? hopefully from your own doing, which i believe not a 2 years old kid.

author: sacherjj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 02:14:09 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on May 04, 2011, 07:55:42 amSomething like this may help. Although, I've rarely had to manually add flux when not using lead free solder.

author: xygor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 08:17:30 pm
content: Yuk!Were you able to fix it?

author: PStevenson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 09:23:58 pm
content: no, the other board out of shot is a controller board which is screwed so I have been in contact with masterplug who want me to send it them after I threatened to take them to court over the various breaches of safety and endangerment etc.as for the learning to solder - it's not really something that can be taught in text on a forum, at least not by me.

author: orbiter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2011, 10:05:23 pm
content: I've had a couple of those things burn out too. I don't think they were the Master plug type though.I also took mine apart after they'd failed and was faced with a similar set-up to you. In fact one of my brown 'live' wires looked as though it had been beaten to death with the soldering iron.. About two inches away from it's joint it was right down to the copper wire, and left like that. I tell ya, the QC must be none existent in some of these places.

author: Magicmushroom666
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2011, 06:49:24 pm
content: Doesn't look that bad to me, certainly not life threatening, not perfect looking, but then there's no need for it to be. Just looks like typical cost driven consumer electronics!

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2011, 08:37:20 pm
content: Quote from: Magicmushroom666 on May 05, 2011, 06:49:24 pmThe safety issue is that there is not enough copper to carry the current. This will result in the joint becoming hot which if you are fortunate will lead to the joint burning out under heavy load and the unit stopping working. The worst case the fault could lead to a fire.Neil

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2011, 06:03:04 pm
content: You may want to read this thread:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=381.msg3891#msg3891If you want a reputable surge protector, get only those used by APC or equivalent. It may not be the sexiest outside, but its inside what counts.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 08, 2011, 09:00:23 pm
content: whoever said that B&Q sold anything decent ? B&Q is aimed at middle class people (or people that would like to be middle class) with more money than sense that need fancy gadgets to make them feel like competent DIYers. I always check out my local merchants first before going to B&Q and would not buy any unknown branded stuff there. Local merchants can also offer advice, B&Q "sales people" are clueless except when it comes to operating a till to take your money and hardly do that now as a vegetable member of staff stands by and watches people struggle on the self service checkouts with large items and stupid machines when it would be faster to open just one human till and get it all done quicker !

author: PStevenson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2011, 08:33:59 pm
content: I never claimed that B&Q were great I just would assume that they would at least have safe products. I needed it quickly for a stage setup using sensitive equipment, it was bank holiday and that store was the only one open.the staff are mongoloids and the store overpriced but I was required to have that thing,it's all red tape health and safety bullshit I don't believe they are of much use as a protection device but I carried on using it in my house because it would turn things off properly when you put the master socket into standby. needless to say I don't have it now - I sent it back to masterplug with an insulting note written in shit attached to it ...haha not really but if I had a stronger constitution I would have.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2011, 08:38:56 pm
content: As a quality inspector and someone who expects to be able to purchase decent stuff I really just don't know where we are heading.