Inside a $3 electricity saving plug (different case)

The main difference between this $3 power saving plug and the really expensive ones is the price. They're the same thing being hawked by scammers with various sob stories about being invented by young kids who defied a buyout of their technology by "big oil" so they could make the world a better place.

If you've bought one of these from a scammer, then treat it as a valuable lesson in being cynical of things that seem too good to be true.

These things have a very long history - being sold through newspaper adverts in the past. There were even "salesmen" who went around and demonstrated it with a rigged suitcase that gave the impression that the unit was reducing power consumption.

These days they are sold on eBay (this exact unit for $20) and dedicated sites with payment systems hosted in poorly regulated countries.

On a plus note, they are now slightly safer, now they aren't actually using a random junk capacitor inside. The fake capacitor is literally less of a fire risk than the real ones were.

The circuitry design for the two LEDs is awful. It looks like it's been copied from another product without fully understanding how it works. For no cost difference, the power indicator LEDs (which are the only active part) could be made brighter.

The MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) may be a nod to transient suppression, but may also be to protect the circuitry of the plug itself. It has no thermal protection for a hot end of life failure.

If you have a strong urge to buy a couple of these for novelty or for the case, then here's an AliExpress link (not a sponsor):-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...

I recommend using PayPal as a security layer when buying from international sites.

There's a high probability that some of the scam sites are just drop-shipping these plugs directly from AliExpress.



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