Cheaper is better, right?

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Jraef

Jraef

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Location
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Electrical Engineer
Here is a cautionary tale for people who like to buy the cheapest version of whatever they need.
It also serves to bolster the idea that our (North America) penchant for requiring third party listing by an NRTL like UL is necessary.


Note that these "circuit breakers" are not listed by any NRTL, they just have a CCC logo on them which is the Chinese "equivalent" to UL listing. Obviously, it means absolutely NOTHING!

These breakers are still for sale on Amazon by the way. Does Amazon care that they are essentially a fire waiting to happen? Nope.
Caveat Emptor...
 
I worked at a shop once, we used GE slim breakers.
They would hold a dead short on a 15- or 20-amp circuit, just about every time.

I knew this because in my more informed years 🙄
I would make a "circuit finder" with a male-end zip cord, into a fiberglass switch box, connected to a switch to dead short in the on position.

Plug it in, turn the switch on, breaker trips 😇

Well, many times those GE breakers didn't trip
 
James L said:
I worked at a shop once, we used GE slim breakers.
They would hold a dead short on a 15- or 20-amp circuit, just about every time.

I knew this because in my more informed years 🙄
I would make a "circuit finder" with a male-end zip cord, into a fiberglass switch box, connected to a switch to dead short in the on position.

Plug it in, turn the switch on, breaker trips 😇

Well, many times those GE breakers didn't trip
Click to expand...
Gotta admit. That sounds a lot better than the “touchem together and squint yours eyes”
 
Dsg319 said:
Gotta admit. That sounds a lot better than the “touchem together and squint yours eyes”
Click to expand...
After about 25 or 30 trips, the switch will weld shut. You find out when it blows up as you plug in 🤪

Then it turns the receptacle black, and maybe even scorches the paint on the wall 🙊🙊

I used to just keep it in mind, and change the switch after about 20.
 
ptonsparky said:
You weren’t applying pressure and sliding one conductor along the insulation of the other until they snapped together. No squint was required.
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That's how I still do it if I have only the wires

Just don't go too fast 😁

And it really doesn't work well on older wiring with the thicker insulation. I've tried it a few times. You still get the big surprise on the snap 🤪
 
Cheap skatedness only came about by Humanity being placed in a " debt based " monetary system whereby everything has then been monetized and then weaponized. This is both unnatural, unethical, and anti-human. There is a well known Historical example of a culture that attempted to kick the banksters out and stop this. They recovered their economy in less than 3 years, and the model in spite of things that were wrong with it had this one thing correct. We live in an age where all the so called Hi Tech is about 99% snake oil, and worthless. Almost nothing works reliably any longer except in settings where it has to, and good men are tolerating this affront to what would otherwise be their sanity.
 
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