Cheap chinese z-wave products

[LouiS22]

I had a similar problem. Plug started smoking.
Reason was a spring (backside of blue cover) inside that keeps the openings of the plug closed.
The spring was completely burned. I removed it and now the plug is working as normal...

I suppose the protection is to prevent dust to get inside.
If there is a device in the plug, I think it can't do any harm to leave the spring/protection out.

Recently I discovered a 'new' supplier: Hank.
http://www.hank-tech.com/en/Producttwo. ... 45&cid=182
Anyone with feedback on their products?

Well, the good news: they are Z-Wave Alliance certified: http://products.z-wavealliance.org/Sear ... =-1&order=

Looks nice by design (the LED is very similiar to Aeotech's bulb).

Any link to a eu supplier? Haven't found any yet. Might try their smart plug and/or a LED.

[lost]

Well, the good news: they are Z-Wave Alliance certified

Problem is this certification only focus on z-wave conformance.

This does not cover electric safety and seeing how those plugs are built and user reported failure rates, there is a problem: Only consider battery modules from this manufacturer, don't loose your money (best case)/your house (worse) with those using 220V.

[Nautilus]

Well, the good news: they are Z-Wave Alliance certified

Problem is this certification only focus on z-wave conformance.

This does not cover electric safety and seeing how those plugs are built and user reported failure rates, there is a problem: Only consider battery modules from this manufacturer, don't loose your money (best case)/your house (worse) with those using 220V.

I think the comment you are quoting refers to this "new" manufacturer, Hank. Haven't seen any user experiences of their products yet. But I agree, what you say above definitely applies to NEO's 220V products...

[LouiS22]

Well, the good news: they are Z-Wave Alliance certified

Problem is this certification only focus on z-wave conformance.

This does not cover electric safety and seeing how those plugs are built and user reported failure rates, there is a problem: Only consider battery modules from this manufacturer, don't loose your money (best case)/your house (worse) with those using 220V.

I think the comment you are quoting refers to this "new" manufacturer, Hank. Haven't seen any user experiences of their products yet. But I agree, what you say above definitely applies to NEO's 220V products...

I've ordered a plug from them (Hank), once I have it, will post photos, and a review. One more thing: they don't have a B2C channel yet, but it's still possible to deal with them

[LouiS22]

Well, the good news: they are Z-Wave Alliance certified

Problem is this certification only focus on z-wave conformance.

This does not cover electric safety and seeing how those plugs are built and user reported failure rates, there is a problem: Only consider battery modules from this manufacturer, don't loose your money (best case)/your house (worse) with those using 220V.

While I understand your concerns, in general people tend to post only what's wrong. I read the bad experiences here and seen the photos as well. I have two Neo plugs and both working (so far) without issues. My two cents: it's still up to you which product/vendor you choose.

[gielie]

I've ordered a plug from them (Hank), once I have it, will post photos, and a review. One more thing: they don't have a B2C channel yet, but it's still possible to deal with them

Were did you buy this, id like to buy some multisensors.

[LouiS22]

I've ordered a plug from them (Hank), once I have it, will post photos, and a review. One more thing: they don't have a B2C channel yet, but it's still possible to deal with them

Were did you buy this, id like to buy some multisensors.

I've wrote them a mail, and asked them if it's possible to purchase. It was

[gielie]

I've wrote them a mail, and asked them if it's possible to purchase. It was

Great, ill give it a try.

[Freemann]

Here some positive news on the Neo;
Using 15 Coolcam devices from smartplugs to leakage sensors and door/window thinkies.

Screenshot - 09_03_2017 , 20_32_21.png (79.59 KiB) Viewed 3106 times

Have 6 smartplugs and 4 door/window sensors in stock, which are planned for using.

Untill now I had 1 smartplug DOA and this has been fix 101% by the seller.

I'm also reading a lot of jungle stories about shorted devices, certification etc etc.
Don't forget that almost all Z-Wave stuff we use are produced on Chine mainland.
Also 5 people reporting bad stuff don't represent hundreds of people have received great working stuff.

I disassambled the Neo and Fibaro smartplug and on component and pcb design the look very similair.
The mainpart; relay, are both in the Fibaro as the Neo the same.

The leakage sensor is in usage for almost 4 months. Checked the inside 2 weeks ago for leakage ( ) and there's no leakage inside the sensor.

Great stuff, great price!

[K3rryBlue]

Please keep in mind that the QAM modulues do have a CE marking, so the are conform the European Low Voltage Directive.
They even start appearing in Dutch Domotica shops, with positive reviews.

[woodtrix]

Then why did it ruin my pi? Looking at the thread there are too many dodgy devices out there.

Somebody should send one to big clive with his test on dodgy power supplies... (probably with z-wave stick) https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom

You should stay away from cheap chinese power devices and from I recon even cables look at minute 1.38 of this video...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDKQmBWTRnw, look at the amount of copper in the power cable and the amount of insolation... it's ridiculous...

ps. if I would sell my own devices, I can print a FC CE label on my devices, and I probably get in trouble, chinese can print anything... tell me who is going to check... and who of you with all these dodgy devices have reported it to the FC CE authorities... yeah zero.. so unless this got popular and a couple of houses burn down, nobody going to notice...

pps. Let me state a metaphor,

I can drive safely without a seatbelt, but it sure as hell is usefull when it goes wrong...

ppps... sorry about the change of username, lost my password when my dev machine died....

[LouiS22]

Then why did it ruin my pi? Looking at the thread there are too many dodgy devices out there.

Somebody should send one to big clive with his test on dodgy power supplies... (probably with z-wave stick) https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom

You should stay away from cheap chinese power devices and from I recon even cables look at minute 1.38 of this video...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDKQmBWTRnw, look at the amount of copper in the power cable and the amount of insolation... it's ridiculous...

ps. if I would sell my own devices, I can print a FC CE label on my devices, and I probably get in trouble, chinese can print anything... tell me who is going to check... and who of you with all these dodgy devices have reported it to the FC CE authorities... yeah zero.. so unless this got popular and a couple of houses burn down, nobody going to notice...

pps. Let me state a metaphor,

I can drive safely without a seatbelt, but it sure as hell is usefull when it goes wrong...

ppps... sorry about the change of username, lost my password when my dev machine died....

LOL, ist that really a dildo?

[K3rryBlue]

Woodtrix,

Not saying that NEO is the top of the line, but did you even look at the company, regarding their certifications, instead of making all kind of assumptions?
Sure there might be some defects, but this is related to all brands even the A-brands.
The majority of "expensive" units come from the same factories, only re-branded. And yes that is putting a different sticker on them.

[woodtrix]

@ LouiS22 the public service anounement is at 1:38
Or you can try google for: big clive dodgy

@ K3rryBlue

>Not saying that NEO is the top of the line, but did you even look at the company, regarding their certifications, instead of making all kind of assumptions?

Did you? I am not interested in the company. I'm concerned about the safety of their power plugs.
My kaput pi and neo plug is not an assumption, other devices failing and the amount of failure in this thread alone with very limited users is high! is not an assumption, chinese printing false labels is not an assumption... the dodgy connection exposed in teardown is not an assumption...

Relying on labels for safety that is an assumption... ...that could prove disastrous, just saying.

>Sure there might be some defects, but this is related to all brands even the A-brands.

Sure, there are always defects... and maybe the next revision of neo will be safer. Who knows... but the amount of failure rate in this thread alone

>The majority of "expensive" units come from the same factories, only re-branded. And yes that is putting a different sticker on them.

Did you find any other "A-brand" Z-wave manufacturer rebranded this device in the Z-wave catalog. No. Besides factories has nothing to do with this, it's like saying the majority of the "expensive" units are soldered with the same type of soldering iron. It has nothing to do with the actual design of the circuit, the case and everything what comes with it.

Notice: This is about the neo power plug only. Not their other battery powered devices.

Well, be safe!

[K3rryBlue]

If you do some search, you can always find something.
Fibraro should be the better brand?

And yes, i did look if they are certified (CE, FCC, ETL). As it is know that China can have flexible standards on quality. (like babymilk)
On top, CE is not just a label it actually has regulations behind it. Without this marking products are not allowed on the European market.
And if you click on the link, you can see what tests are performed for just a stupid label.

But just out of curiosity, which is the cheap one?

[woodtrix]

Since there are no four digit identification number of the Notified Body involved either on the package or inside the little paper manual, and CE can (and if you can show me otherwise with official papers) I can safely assume it is SELF-CERTIFIED by the manufacturer,...

So simply said, with CE, until a lot of them goes kaboem, and then they get recalled and really checked... you are really really save,...

NOT.

yeah I feel a lot saver with the CE Self certified by the manufacturer from china...

Yeah fibaro already frekked up... they probably won't make that expensive mistake again. But who knows.

Those labels have some value, if you get hardware from european or american manufactures

I haven't look into FCC is cuz is american...

btw. check the wiki page on ce...

[woodtrix]

About your curiosity, send em to big clive!

[woodtrix]

If you want to buy a cheap dodgy powerplug go ahead, if you willingly want to take that risk...
But with a wife, kids and animals running around... would you risk it for a couple of euro's?

And that this very dodgy Dutch Domotica webshop sells them,... shame on them.

Some couple of quotes from the thread:

kunzai » Saturday 04 March 2017 18:27

I had a similar problem. Plug started smoking.

gielie » Friday 03 March 2017 10:44

Today i had a major power loss, cause, cheap Chinese coolcam power plug. I pulled the plug out of its socket and it had black burn damage on its side.

And I just browsed back one page...

[K3rryBlue]

I do like my dog

[lost]

But just out of curiosity, which is the cheap one?

Definitely the one on the right side... Even if the focus of the left one is bad.