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DEADLY WIRING FAULT ; Atten 858D+ Hot Air Rework Station

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Tasman:

I just received an Atten 858D+ hot air rework station direct from China.  When I plugged it in and switched on it was completely dead - no display or any activity.  On taking the front panel off I found that the power input socket had been mis-wired and mains active was tied directly to the exposed metallic parts of the heat gun.

This is a potential killer - no pun intended.  Please if you have purchased but not received one of these items check the mains wiring before switching on.  Even if you have one that appears to be functioning ok it would be best to have a look whether it has more insidious faults such as neutral to earth or active-neutral transposed.

For what it's worth the serial number of my unit is 1042111302610.

Further Notes

** I noticed that the pictures posted originally have been removed - probably the files were too large.  Managed to find them and they are attached with some further explanation.

* Active-Earth shows low resistance from active of power plug to exposed metal of the heat gun.
*Overall view shows the black wire which should be connected to earth on the power receptacle is instead connected to active.
*General close up is an enlarged view of above.
* Power receptacle shows the black wire connected to the active lug of the power receptacle.
*Pcb earth connection shows the other end of the black wire connected to the earth trace of the pcb.  The thin green wire connected to the same trace is the earth wire to the heat gun.

firewalker:
I am glad you are ok!

Any photos?

Maybe Dave should put a warning to his video review.

PetrosA:
That's hugely frightening. It's also a good reason to add Class A (5mA) GFI/RCD protection to workbenches. I see a lot of lighting fixtures from China here in the US with bad/loose connections, bad mechanical assembly, missing parts etc. to the point where now I have to check everything before I install one. If that kind of carelessness is being carried over to other products, it's disturbing to say the least. The average consumer doesn't have the knowledge or the means to check every product for safety before using :(

Tasman:
I always use an RCD and treat every new piece of equipment (particularly from China) as a deadly threat until proved otherwise.  After 50 odd years playing with electrical stuff I am still alive but have had a few close calls. 

I am not long home after a long series of flights from the mine where I work and do not have time now to follow up.  Will post some pictures tomorrow.

saturation:
Ouch, yes the pictures are necessary to at least provide some proof; but I have no reason to doubt as I've seen such poor quality control myself in other products.

If safely possible on the photo, can you show with a DMM mains voltage is actually on the metallic parts of the gun?

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