Products on Amazon that will burn your house down

And also why you cannot trust reviews ....

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Even if the contractor used 12 awg to wire your receptacles (I've seen 14 awg) 5kw at 120v is ..ummm.. pushing it a bit.

reviews

It is not just the reviews, many sellers outright or subtlety mislead the buyer in their specs. I was recently tasked by a doc friend to find a diet supplement that was NSF certified. Several companies said their factory had been NSF inspected which is not the same as the individual supplement being certified. Out of the dozens of supplement brands offered, only one had the NSF stamp on their product label. And 'manufactured to UL specifications' is not the same as UL Certified.

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That had best be wired with a minimum of AWG 10 for the 3000w (27A at 110V) versions, AWG 6 for the 5000w (45A at 110V)version. Also, it would need a dedicated circuit, not a shared one.

https://www.electricaltechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Wire-Gauge-Size-Wire-Ampacity-Table.png

Since a wire would need to be run anyway, a 220V version would be better as a smaller wire size can be used. 16 AWG copper could be used for the 3000w model and 12 AWG could be used for the 5000A model. Again, this would assume a dedicated circuit.

https://learnmetrics.com/wire-for-220-volt/

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Exactly. But then look at the power cords on those units. They look like 16 ga or 14 ga

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I would bet that the Wattage is overrated in the description. The plug is a 15 amp plug

Just like the USB battery packs Amazon sells, Chintronics over exaggerate the ratings.

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Yup. What caught my attention was a review indicating it tripped the breaker constantly.

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Just want to make sure, this isn't a "how to" response to someone's question about how to burn house down, right? :wink:

We have a little neighborhood chat with several sort of techie neighbors in it. One of the guys is rabidly bargain oriented, and keeps posting about cheap and highly suspect electronic devices. Luckily we have one very knowledgeable member who politely warns him/us when he recommends dangerous junk.

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Which one is your next-door neighbor? :sweat_smile:

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LOL...never thought about it that way, but luckily he lives about 1/4 mile away. I wonder if we should alert his neighbors to actively practice their fire escape drills...

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those are metric watts :rofl:

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For those type cords, a short one of a smaller size can probably work. However, for something running inside of walls, etc. it would be very unsafe. An exposed cord can radiate away some of the heat. A wire inside of a wall can't.

How many people buy these without paying attention to the actual requirements and then just plug them into an outlet. At best, they trip the 15A breaker, and then return it as defective. At worst, there is a house fire started by ignoring the requirements.

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At least the last one calls out a 60 amp breaker and 9 gauge wire. Even so, I'm sure somebody has tried to DIY it into the back of an existing outlet.

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on a single split-phase circuit? wow. that's just making sh*t up.

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Is that a new size wire?

I can hear the engineers now:

"Hey Ralph, this water heater takes more amps than 10 gauge wire can supply."
"It's OK Fred, just change the specs to say 9 gauge and it will be fine!"

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But they can say they warned you. :man_shrugging:t2:

The 3000 watt one is even better. They say it requires a 32 amp breaker even through it ships with a 15 amp plug.

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Just divide by 2.2 like you do to convert lbs to kg?

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But they are all white.

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The hard part will be finding a NEMA 5-15 receptacle that can accommodate 4 gauge!

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Do the metric flames burn down the house half as fast?

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Yes, but twice as bright. So it is a net wash.

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