Tug - Magsafe for mains plugs

[SimonZerafa]

Hi All,

First posting to the forum but I've been watching and learning for 52 years so please be gentle with me!

Came across this product on line:

 https://ilovehandles.com/shop/tug/

Basically it's a mains plug magsafe adapter.

This seems to be unwise at best. However I could be wrong and this could be perfectly safe?

What do you (and Dave if he's hanging around) think about this?

Safe or Scarey?

Kind Regards

Simon Zerafa
--

[madires]

Nice for low voltage applications but not for mains. I doubt it would be compliant with safety standards in many countries, i.e. another deathdapter. For example, PE/earth should be connected first when plugging in and disconnected last when tugging. From the pictures it's hard to tell if there's a PE contact at all. Maybe the magnet in the middle?

[Brumby]

They're not going to work as well if you trip over the cord closer to the appliance - and even when they do disengage, there's usually a sharp tug involved which means the cable is going to whip around, possibly doing other damage or tripping up the wayward feet

However, there's an even bigger concern in my book - cables should not be in a state where tripping is a significant risk.

[BillB]

However, there's an even bigger concern in my book - cables should not be in a state where tripping is a significant risk.

Agreed.  How is this a big problem that needs to be solved with a $20 product on each plug?  Dosn't this just encourage people to aggressively yank whatever cable they want because they're too lazy to walk over and pull it out properly?  Only to find out when it doesn't work that you didn't have a tugsafe on this plug and you've ripped it apart?

[Brumby]

Indeed.

It is a sad reflection that there seems to be a increasing trend to come up with creative solutions to compensate for an ever decreasing sense of responsibility, where people fail to make any effort in observing some fundamentally obvious risks - and then have to blame someone else when something goes wrong.

The coffee cup warning is a classic.

[Cyberdragon]

The tug to unplug is the stupid part. Some idiots don't turn off things before they unplug them. If you do that with this, especially with something like a vacuum cleaner as in their little picture, the contacts will arc and burn up quite rapidly. Probably even faster than a normal plug, due to the low surface area in contact.

[janoc]

The tug to unplug is the stupid part. Some idiots don't turn off things before they unplug them. If you do that with this, especially with something like a vacuum cleaner as in their little picture, the contacts will arc and burn up quite rapidly. Probably even faster than a normal plug, due to the low surface area in contact.

Yeah, fire hazard would be the first thing I would be also concerned about. I have these "magsafe" like connectors on USB charger cables where it is fairly convenient but after a while the contact will get dirty, oxidized and what not and one has to fiddle with it a little before it makes contact. It is also very easy to break the contact.

I wouldn't want to see that arcing and heating if this was used for mains!

[Stray Electron]

What do you (and Dave if he's hanging around) think about this?

   The ad says "Available for preorder only."  Translation: "we don't know if enough people will fall for this gimmick and we're not going to risk our own money!"

[Electro Detective]

What do you (and Dave if he's hanging around) think about this?

   The ad says "Available for preorder only." 

Translation: "we don't know if enough people will fall for this gimmick and we're not going to risk our own money!"

...and if we get enough MacSucker Lifestylers  ordering it, we can screw OneHungLow on the manufacturing price 

and handball any iffy workmanship issues and fried vacuum cleaner claims their way... 

 

[Cyberdragon]

Not sure they will get away with that...since it's their fundamental design that's dodgy, regardless of manufacturing quality. Those tiny contacts simply will not handle high current. It will likely not get certified by anyone, and even if it does, they'll have to give it a low watt rating.

[The Doktor]

I don't know that it will be effective when installed at the outlet. But such a thing DOES work fine on a power cord. I've got a Farberware 3qt. deep fryer, purchased within the last 5 years, which uses a magnet to attach the power cord to the fryer. The contacts on the cord are pretty well recessed, you would need to make an effort to get shocked. Never had a bad connection, but it is easy to knock the cord off when you move it. But the big positive to the design is that if you, or perhaps a small child, accidentally tugs on the cord, it simply pops off and you need to stick it back on. And this happens without spilling 3qts of 375° F oil, which can cause discomfort if it gets on your skin 

Ed

[JolyGoodDay]

The site is a bit doggy but it is not a safety hazard. Not sure if allot of these comments are meant to be taken seriously since they can all be torn apart by logic, and seem to be along the lines of "you got to connect the black/red wire first or your car will blow up"

A plugs existence is the single biggest safety concern.
(Like the wall outlet)

[CopperCone]

I think its cool but it sticks out of the wall too much. It should be recessed more, if the magnet bit was embedded in the wall I would like it.

I'm not sure if there is a fundamental flaw with it, but I feel rather unsafe having to reach my hand so close to the outlet prongs when I unplug things. You also have the situation where the screws on the outlet cover can be loose and the whole thing tries to push in.

Personally I would like switchable outlets with contactors in them so you don't have to deal with a extension cord when its energized if you don't want to. I believe this is unthinkable though because of how fucking cheap people are. 

I am guessing the design parameters for a traditional outlet are
-distribute clamping tension over a wide enough area to ensure some tug force requirement is met
-have a large enough electrical contact area to prevent heating (idk how well excess area helps with corrosion)

you can use these statements logically to construe an answer if the tugsafe thing is a bad idea, since your clamping tension area requirement is completely gone because you are entrusting this job to a magnetic field.

[amyk]

I don't know that it will be effective when installed at the outlet. But such a thing DOES work fine on a power cord. I've got a Farberware 3qt. deep fryer, purchased within the last 5 years, which uses a magnet to attach the power cord to the fryer. The contacts on the cord are pretty well recessed, you would need to make an effort to get shocked. Never had a bad connection, but it is easy to knock the cord off when you move it. But the big positive to the design is that if you, or perhaps a small child, accidentally tugs on the cord, it simply pops off and you need to stick it back on. And this happens without spilling 3qts of 375° F oil, which can cause discomfort if it gets on your skin 

Ed

Yes, that's what I thought of too, and also what I thought of when Apple introduced the "revolutionary" MagSafe many years ago --- deep fryers, electric kettles, and various other kitchen appliances have had magnetic mains plugs for decades before that. A good safety feature, and definitely can handle the current since these are used in high-power devices, but probably not meant to be frequently disconnected under load.

https://appliancebuyersguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/zojirushi-water-boiler-plug.jpg

Why preorder when you can already buy them. They've been in production for decades.

http://www.weiku.com/products/5853527/UL_Power_Cord_Plug_magnetic.html