Hi Don, I asked a similar question about a year ago. I have attached my original question as well as some of the responses to the bottom of this e-mail (in no particular order). That way you can read through the entire responses without me trying to summarize, and possibly missing something you may be interested in. The main emphasis from almost all of the responses I received was that you should not ship plug adapters with products. The connection provided by plug adapters is questionable at best. The TUV office I deal with said that they have never certified simple plug adapters. I doubt any agency would allow a 120V rated power supply or plug to be adapted to a 240V outlet. Although they may be readily available, I would use extreme caution when dealing with adapters.
My company ships a universal cord-connect style power supply to those areas which use a plug other than the US style. This power supply has a standard IEC 320 C8 inlet on one end. We just include the appropriate (certified) power cord for the region along with this supply. The cord has the plug on one end and an IEC 320 C7 appliance connector on the other. Craig Hensley Iomega Corp. Roy, UT From: CRAIG HENSLEY <[email protected]> To: OF40.SMTP("[email protected]") List-Post: [email protected] Date: 12/2/98 1:19pm Subject: Questions on Plug Adapters My company manufacturers external high capacity disk drive systems (computer peripherals) which are shipped worldwide. North American shipments include an ac-dc direct plug-in power supply. International shipments include an ac-dc "desk-top" power supply along with the appropriate detachable cord set. All the power supplies we use are UL-Listed, TUV, CSA, and SAA certified. Cordsets carry all the appropriate certifications/approvals. There have been some grumblings internally because of the many international system "configurations" that must be maintained due to the number of different cord-sets. Depending on where a particular drive is being sent dictates the type of cord set that is included. This introduces additional control, inventory, and warehousing problems. One suggestion that has been made is to ship one style of cord (or power supply) with several different plug adapters. Then we wouldn't have to worry so much about what power cord goes with what drive. For example, in South America the direct plug-in power supply could be provided along with the Euro and Australian style plug adapters. In Europe, the "desk-top" power supply and Euro-style cord-set could be provided along with a UK style plug adapter. I am not comfortable with this at all and am hoping that some of you out there have had some experience with these types of plug adapters. My questions/concerns are: * How can the connection to the AC mains be ensured when using a plug adapter? * One company claims they have a UL recognized plug adapter. However, I can't find anything more with regards to safety certifications. I don't think TUV will even certify this type of adapter. What about the other agencies? * Does anyone have any additional recommendations to help accommodate the various worldwide plug styles? I got to believe others have gone through this same "dilemma". * How "acceptable" is it to provide a product without a cord and just have the user procure the cord set applicable for their particular country? * Is anyone aware of other manufacturers that include plug adapters with their products? * Which is worse? Providing the direct plug-in power supply with plug adapters, or providing the "desk-top" power supply and detachable cord set with plug adapters. Any and all information is appreciated as I am once again in the unenviable position of potentially squashing another brilliant marketing idea. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but as soon as someone starts changing the product interfaces with the AC-mains I get a little nervous. Thanks, Craig Hensley Iomega Corp. Roy, UT. From: Rich Nute <[email protected]> To: OF40.ROY5(HENSLEY) List-Post: [email protected] Date: 12/2/98 3:42pm Subject: Re: Questions on Plug Adapters Hi Craig: The short answer to your questions is: Continue as you are currently doing (i.e., provide the correct cordset for the country of destination) HP provides the correct cordset for the country of destination. (Almost all of our products are wide- range, 100-240 V, 50-60 Hz.) Yes, it is a pain to stock all the different cordsets, making sure they have all the required certifications, etc.! The long answers to your questions are: Adapters. As a general rule, adapters are not "legal" in most countries. However, the rule is difficult to enforce when adapters are purchased in another country. (For example, you can buy adapters in Singapore for export use only, but they cannot be used in Singapore, and you cannot find an adapter from a foreign plug to the Singapore plug.) Very few are certified for safety. A direct-plug-in with an adapter is unstable due to an increased moment arm, and due to the flexibility/ looseness inherent to most plug/socket pairs. Most countries are deathly afraid of the USA (NEMA) plug because of the accessible blades during mating and dismating. Remember, most countries are in the 230-V range, which hurts a LOT MORE than 120-V! I have the impression that adapters are for travelling folks who want to use an appliance in another country on a temporary basis. > * How can the connection to the AC mains be ensured when using a > plug adapter? Depends on the quality of the adapter. Most adapters are built to accomodate the worst-case of the two plugs being adapted. Some adapters seem to have been designed WITHOUT knowledge of the plug standards! (I've found adapters where the plug needs to be arranged just so to make contact.) > * One company claims they have a UL recognized plug adapter. > However, I can't find anything more with regards to safety certifications. > I don't think TUV will even certify this type of adapter. What about the > other agencies? Hmm. I wonder what standards UL would use to evaluate an adapter? I would ask for a copy of the UL report! Can you tell us the brand and model? Should be a higher quality than I currently use (for my laptop, camcorder, and wife's hair dryer.) I don't know of any certification house that certifies adapters. However, I believe I have seen direct-plug-in step-down (230 in, 120 out) units that are certified. > * Does anyone have any additional recommendations to help > accommodate the various worldwide plug styles? I got to believe others > have gone through this same "dilemma". See my opening comments. "Been there, done that." > * How "acceptable" is it to provide a product without a cord and just > have the user procure the cord set applicable for their particular > country? This is possible, but not very customer-friendly. Just as "Batteries not included," you would say "Power cord not included." > * Is anyone aware of other manufacturers that include plug adapters > with their products? No. > * Which is worse? Providing the direct plug-in power supply with plug > adapters, or providing the "desk-top" power supply and detachable cord > set with plug adapters. Direct-plug-in with adapters is worse because of the increased moment arm. Best wishes for the holiday season, Rich ------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Nute Product Safety Engineer Hewlett-Packard Company Product Regulations Group AiO Division Tel : +1 619 655 3329 16399 West Bernardo Drive FAX : +1 619 655 4979 San Diego, California 92127 e-mail: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> To: OF40.ROY5(HENSLEY) List-Post: [email protected] Date: 12/3/98 6:29am Subject: Re: Questions on Plug Adapters Craig, We faced the same dilemma with our products. Shipping word-wide and trying to get all products to have the same certifications without question as to destination was tough. In the end, we use an IEC320 appliance inlet on all products and have in stock 10 different power cordsets. We make it a part of the order entry process to ask the customer what cordset they want. That way we do not stock 10 different product configurations but do have a second line item on the customer order for the cordset. Since our products are expensive enough and we only build to order, we get away with that. I personally do not like adapters, even if I could find one that has sufficient safety approvals. Don't know that you can find a standard that prohibits them either. I think in the end it becomes a marketing decision how to handle this, i.e. how acceptable it is to ship with what configuration. If marketing says that you must ship a cordset with each product and the cost of the product or distribution method do not lend themselves to asking the customer for a cordset preference, I think you have not much choice but to make multiple configurations. One alternative we used at one time was to have the distributors provide the cordset. They could either order them from us or from their own sources. Good luck. Scott [email protected] From: Mark Schmidt <[email protected]> To: OF40.ROY5(HENSLEY) List-Post: [email protected] Date: 12/3/98 7:15am Subject: Questions on Plug Adapters Craig, I have the very same problem and am in the process of establishing a means in which do deal with this issue. This is a very complex problem and this is my proposed way of dealing with it. Please comment on my proposed plan, hopefully you can provide me with further insight as to what I overlooked. * How can the connection to the AC mains be ensured when using a plug adapter? If using a wall mount adapter, when taking an order, sales, customer service or whoever takes the orders at your facility must ask one more question "What AC blade configuration will you be using to power your unit". Of course EMC compliance testing will need to be addressed for each adapter used, based on country specific regulations. * One company claims they have a UL recognized plug adapter. However, I can't find anything more with regards to safety certifications. I would not use plug adapters for wall adapters I have had situations in Europe where Euro-style adapters fell out of the wall. This propagated my investigation in providing an alternate solution. The use of adapters in my opinion would increase the risk of this occurrence. I don't think TUV will even certify this type of adapter. What about the other agencies? Phihong USA is working on approvals for adapters, last I talked with them they were in process. Contact: John Cain (610) 866-9911 * How "acceptable" is it to provide a product without a cord and just have the user procure the cord set applicable for their particular country? This in my opinion is not a good solution. You want to be able to provide your customer a product that will be functional out of the box. I am going to have my distributors provide the proper cord for that country or region prior to shipment to the customer. It is their responsibility to control, inventory and warehouse the cord according to the regulatory parameters you have defined for them. * Which is worse? Providing the direct plug-in power supply with plug adapters, or providing the "desk-top" power supply and detachable cord set with plug adapters. A power supply with the detachable cord would probably be low risk due to the weight of the cable vs. the weight of the wall adapter. (it's also easier to control), but I don't think there is much difference to the end user as long as you can provide him/her the means to power the unit reliably upon arrival, remember CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. Regards, Mark >>> Don Clayton <[email protected]> 05/26/00 08:23AM >>> Dear Group: We provide a OEM external disk drive with our product. This dirve is provided with a U.S. two blade "brick" power supply. We would like to add an adaptor cord which would have the NEMA 5-15R on one end and the IEC320-C14 male on the other. This would allow any country power cord with IEC320-C13 female to be connected. Is it OK to convert from two blade Class II to a three wire Class I cord? Any other suggestions? Don Clayton ESR Engineering Inc. ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Jim Bacher: [email protected] Michael Garretson: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Jim Bacher: [email protected] Michael Garretson: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected]
