Dodgy imported mains wiring in a LED flood light?

[VK3DRB]

I noticed on eBay some imported LED flood lights where the Chinese manufacturers have told the installer to wire the active and neutral around the wrong way.

In mains powered equipment in Australia, the standard is" brown is active, blue is neutral and green/yellow is earth.

Does it matter? In my opinion, yes.

You have no way of knowing whether the reversal is a bug in their documentation or they wired the products in a dangerous manner. So one might try to wire active to brown as per Australian standards. Unless you reverse engineer the lights, you won't really know if there is a safety issue. These devices have no transformer, and maybe non-compliant creepage and clearance. The fact the equipment violates Australian safety standards is a worry, but one might wonder what other dangers lurk with such equipment such as bogus IP ratings or approvals. Also, if someone wired in one of these as per the manufacturer's crappy instructions, would it pass an electrical inspection? Do you wire this as per the manufacturer's instructions or as per the Australian standards?

Here is the link to the eBay listing... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-Flood-Light-10W-30W-50W-100W-300W-PIR-Motion-Sensor-SMD-Floodlight-240V-IP67-/132290350107?var=&hash=item1ecd1e8c1b:m:mZTGX_sPlol3Kf2SIBXr4LA

The image is an except from the advertisement.

[Zero999]

It's most likely a drawing error. I doubt it makes any difference which way the live and neutral are connected. Just wire it to the Australian wiring regulations.

[fourtytwo42]

I would also be worried about the cable gland being at the top, not only the most likely position for moisture penetration but any heat will damage the seals. One to avoid methinks

[amyk]

They can be mounted with the gland down too...

Neither of the supply wires should be connected to the case, thus "active" vs "neutral" distinction is moot.

[nctnico]

The other picture shows the right color coding. Still I strongly doubt the power supply inside meets any safety standard so better inspect before plugging it in.

[VK3DRB]

It's most likely a drawing error. I doubt it makes any difference which way the live and neutral are connected. Just wire it to the Australian wiring regulations.

I don't think it is a drawing error, but the manufacturer and importer not knowing or not caring about standards. I actually opened up a different flood light someone imported from eBay here not long ago but the purchaser was confused over the wrong wiring colours which were shown in the crappy instruction manual. In addition, the blue wire also had an "L" sticky label on it and the brown had an "N" label on it. Even more alarming was when he put the light up, it failed due a few weeks later with water ingress. Scary stuff.

The best trick is to pay a little more for flood lights from a reputable dealer in Australia, and avoid shady Chinese importers on eBay.

[David_AVD]

A lot of those cheap LED floodlights from eBay sellers either have the earth connection screw not tightened down well.

I've also seen them with the earth terminal floating around, or vaguely stuffed into the metal cable gland to make contact.

Some of the ones I've bought I only wanted for the enclosure and were converted to DC operation.

On all of the ones I left as 240V, I fitted new mains tails fitted and tested them with a PAT unit.

There's no way I would use them by joining onto the existing tail.

[Messtechniker]

A friend of mine suffered severe injuries to his arm from handling
a mains powered LED floodlight of Chinese origin purchased from a
large German "Baumarkt" (DIY store). He needed several weeks
to recover (mostly).

From this incident, I have learnt:
1.) Visually inspect the wiring - even it it voids any "Warranty".
2.) Test on all newly purchased mains powered equipment - regardless
of its origin - the insulation resistance using an insulation resistance meter.
3.) Test case to ground resistance using a resistance meter.

If anything is found to be defective, have the unit checked by an
expert* and then with his assistance ring the bell really loud!

Do this to remove such equipment from circulation and prevent others from suffering.

*) In Germany this would be an "Elektromeister" (master electrician) and the
"Elektro-Innung" (Electrical Guild) as well as consumer organisations.