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[Ian_D]

...
You can use a plastic earth pin on items which are double insulated.....but any metal earth pin must have no sleeving unlike that shown in the pic!

The reason behind the no sheathing is because the whole setup is designed so that when inserting and removing a plug the earth contact is the first to make and the last to break. As a result, some older wall sockets have the earth contact very close to the surface and on the item in the first post, there is a risk that any item connected using this lead would not have any earth connection at all because the conatct in the socket would be sat on the insulated section!

That’s the EXACT reason I looked closer at the plug! Basically a PC in our shop gave me a tiny tiny shock every time I plugged a monitor in! This was due to the sleeve on the earth pin, as it connects when first plugged in, but once the plug is seated properly, the earth contacts in the socket are touching the sleeve only!

Got a bag full of these leads upstairs! And that’s not including the few which I’ve just taken off the shelf in the shop itself!

[Marks DTM Calib]

I assume they are cheap nasty imports with no real approvals!

You are of course liable by selling non-approved goods such as these so removing them is a very wise thing to do  

[Kevin Wood]

I reckon that there is no earth wire anyway.

The unfused seems to be getting common - cheap computer leads as an example

You can sell any old cr@p in this country these days.

What the standards say and what is sold are two different things. That's what comes of "light touch" regulators. Just like the ones we have running the banks...

Kevin

Again, not true

To legaly sell such items it must have been approved and safety tested at a BS (plus a shed load of other standards!) accredited test house. Only when this has been complete can a BS mark be displayd.

Whats happening here I suspect is that these items are cheap chinese nasty things that are not approved and wont be on the formal register either! The manufacturers will simply have stuck the BS symbol on without getting it tested  

My point being that nothing is done to stop them being sold.

I have been sold items like this, mostly from online PC retailers. You can phone trading standards, etc. and they talk about getting you a refund. That's not the point. I'm not bothered about the cost of a mains cable. I want them removed from sale before someone gets killed! You mention that and the buck-passing starts.

Kevin