Re: Re-starting Problem

"Chris Whelan" <cawhelan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:yPUDh.22501$OK6.10443@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Martin Underwood wrote:

My dad got an electric shock from a toaster when he accidentally put his
fingers into the toast slot while picking it up. This was with the
toaster
switched off at its own switch (though the wall socket was still on). It
has a moulded-on plug. A quick test with a testmeter showed that the
element was
permanently live: the switch is in the neutral line :-( Either it's
wired
wrongly inside or else the live and neutral wires have been swapped over
inside the plug. The one disadvantage with moulded plugs is that you
can't
look inside to check the wiring or to correct it.

There need not have been any fault at all. The element was only switched
off
by virtue of the control system within the toaster. There is nothing to
stop designers switching the neutral for control purposes once *inside*
the
appliance. Obviously it is unacceptable for a switch intended for
isolation
to do that; in that case it would normally require double-pole switching.

Really? It's acceptible for the a switch to be in the neutral rather the
live, just because the switch is within the case and because it's a control
switch rather than an isolation switch? So it's acceptible for parts that
can be reached by the customer with the British Standard Finger to be
permanently live, and the device still gets its CE mark? So CE isn't worth
anything in indicating whether the appliance is safe.


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