Are AC Wall-Warts an Endangered Species?

[Rochey]

Just so you know: AC wall-warts are effectively BANNED by the suits in Brussells. Note I say 'suits', not 'engineers':

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:093:0003:0010:ENDF

Pardon me if I don't know how to read European, but what in that document specifically outlaws AC wall warts?

-a

To be honest, I didn't trudge through the document... I went on the basis of what associates had told me (they've all revised their designs to use external SMPS) and what a quick Google provided: http://audio-forum.gspaudio.co.uk/the-linear-external-power-supply-ban_topic61.html

Since posting here, I've had a chat with one of the UK's largest OEM PSU suppliers... They told me that the 'ban' on Linear PSUs was only for OEMs who sold more than 200,000 units per yr, i.e. the likes of Apple. They still sell AC wall-warts and claimed the distributors stopped selling them on account of them simply being an outmoded technology... Who on earth do you believe?

J

edit - from what I've been told, the ban is for wall-warts that output either a single DC voltage that's linear-regulated, or single AC voltage (on account of the latter being effectively the same thing, but in a different configuration)

.

The ban will have an impact on Linear supplies... Chinese manufacturers dont tool up and manufacture a few thousand transformers... They do a few hundred thousand.

If that market is no longer there, they will tool up for what sells. In this case... Smps's.

Linears will not become extinct, but their numbers in the wild will drop.

/R

 

[sahib]

Rochey,

You can buy transformers from China in the quantiy of even 25 and still greatly cheaper than UK (and I would imagine than US too).

 

[JohnRoberts]

Rochey,

You can buy transformers from China in the quantiy of even 25 and still greatly cheaper than UK (and I would imagine than US too).

Perhaps, but you are not going to go the the effort and expense to get them agency approved for only 25 units.

JR

 

[Rochey]

Rochey,

You can buy transformers from China in the quantiy of even 25 and still greatly cheaper than UK (and I would imagine than US too).

Perhaps, but you are not going to go the the effort and expense to get them agency approved for only 25 units.

JR

Exactly! When you buy 25, you're usually piggy backing ff another (higher volume) customer.

UL or CE qual is usually in the range of $30k+

They arent going to risk that without a customer ready and waiting.

 

[audiomixer]

I would love to see a new world wide standard with regard to all the small DC appliances:

a new universal socket and plug with local fuse think 'mini IEC', driven by a DC power supply at the switchboard. not massive power of course, but with the advent of LED lights we wouldn't need that much power for all our LED lights, cell phones, small router and network stuff, phones and other things we power from wall warts right now....

think three terminals with plus / minus 12V and ground or maybe a tad more let's say 15V - most DC converters would worke right out of the box from +12V, or from 24V right between both rails for equipment with higher load.  this way you could get maybe 2A per rail and socket without silly cables to install. so @ 2A and 24V per socket you could draw 48W, much more then I use regularlyper socket. depending on the size of your building / apartment your main DC power at the breaker box would have to supply 200 to 400W, easy enought to do with less hassle, electronic waste and better efficiency then the wall warts I have scattered around my apartment. and less cost for the manufacturer of course cause they could get rid of the transformer. specially LED light would benefit from soemthing like this, 48W is quite something in LED tech...

we would have to agree on a small 2A three terminal connector, but otherwise this would be cool to have this installed around the house.... then you can get rid of wall warts ;-)

well improbable but at least there is some DC power initiative for the office space.... IEEE, were are you when we need you. (btw, I'll take 0.01$ per socket on IP costs....)

- Michael