Product safety

This is a contentious subject and there are people who say it is none of our business, and others that know that it is.

Sellers in other countries don't give damn about whether their product hurts or kills someone. They don't care if it makes someone sick.

What can you do about it?

Depends on your skill level, knowledge, and expertise. If you can identify unsafe devices, and can offer a reasonable explanation as to why the product is not safe, then you must do so.

BUT tread carefully. Amazon does not take kindly to reviews that call a product fake, or counterfeit. They also will not allow you to directly state that an edible item is dangerous. I do not review potentially dangerous edible items so I cannot offer much advice on what to do other than to notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or your countries similar agency.

You can point out that devices are not safe as they are described. Here are some examples of products that are making unsafe claims:

The device has a standard nema15 plug on it (2 or 3 prong). 

These types of plugs are rated for 15 amps or less, and usually a maximum of 12amps. The rating may be printed on it. But basically if it looks like the above plugs it is not rated for anything over 15 amps. Some sellers will list a product with wattage or amperage ratings that far exceed the ratings of the plug. You can figure out the wattage of a product or device by taking it's maximum amperage rating and multiplying that by the voltage. so a 15 amp plug at 120 volts is 1800 watts.

If a listing says that the consumer level device that runs on 110/115/120 volts can handle 40 amps? NO IT CANNOT. There may be a component in it that is rated at 40 amps, but if any other part of the device cannot handle 40 amps then the rating of the device is that of the lowest rated part. rated for 40 amps but a 15 amp plug? then 15 amps is what it is rated for. If the wiring in the plug is not 14awg but a smaller gauge like 16awg, then the device is rated at 13amps. If the circuit board traces are only rated at 10 amps, then the real maximum rating of the device is 10 amps. Anything larger than 10 amps will cause the device to get very warm or hot, and anything 15 or more amps could cause the device to melt and/or cause a fire.

A simple rule of thumb is if it plugs in to standard wall socket in the US it cannot possibly handle more that 15 amps, or 1800 watts without causing a problem.

There is even more to it, if there is a switch or relay that has a rating, they have different ratings for different voltages, AC/DC, and different types of loads: resistive, tungsten, and inductive (motors). Some of these will require looking up data sheets, some of the information will be on the component itself. A common toggle switch might be rated at 13 amps at 220vac, 15 amps at 120vac but maybe only 6 amps at 12/24vdc. Same for relays.

Now what can you put in the review? If you have the expertise you can write up what you found, and why you wrote what you did. I have done many reviews like this, and all have gotten approved. If you do not have the expertise to do this, but you have a hunch it is not a safe product then at least mention that the product seems sketchy, and articulate why you think this.

If you think a product is extremely dangerous you can report it to the Consumer Product Safety commission.

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