I recently bought 2 of these Tuya compatible WIFI smart sockets on AliExpress. They work well, and I’ve managed to swiftly integrate them into my Home Assistant setup. I’m using them to power on/off 2 SteamVR Base Stations when SteamVR isn’t running. That somewhat simple use-case (low power draw, turned on at max 4 hours every few days) also was the reason why I didn’t want to splurge out $80 for 2 sockets like these and unfortunately there’s not much middle ground when it comes to pricing of smart sockets with the Swiss plug.
While the store page & paper manual claim CE/FCC/ROSH certifications (the manual even has the legit symbols), the CE symbol on the back of the plug clearly isn’t legit.
Now, under the assumption that these plugs are of some dubious Chinese quality, just how dangerous could they be? They are Tuya compatible at least. Does that prove some minimum quality standard, or does Tuya just let everyone participate in their ecosystem?
Should I immediately unplug them & order more expensive ones, or should they be fine for my use-case?
I would think you should be fine as long as you don’t exceed the load ratings, I have many “tuya” various branded smart plugs for many years, and havent had any issues yet
I don’t think there is much difference between buying the “premium” product and the cheap.
Far to many products has burned that is higher price for me to make my decisions based on price.
As Coolie says don’t exceed the rating, and in my opinion, stay well away from it too.
If you have something that needs a higher capacity I would rather build it myself with something that could hold the fire.
Just a little note about the CE mark.
Its the importers responsibility that the device fulfills the CE requirements, so a CE marked products means nothing when you import it yourself.
I would say the CE mark has nothing to do with safety.
Since it’s the manufacturer/importer that puts the label there and there is no need for external testings to be done it means nothing to me.
Look at phones, hover-boards and all that, it wasn’t that long ago it was in the news more or less every week that they burned.
All of those products had CE mark. And that shows how little testing the manufacturers (at least some) do before pushing out new products.
And it wasn’t just the “cheap” stuff that burned.
Run one at, or over, its rated current limit and find out.
I recommend performing the experiment outdoors, possibly with a nearby fire extinguisher. If you have an IR temperature gun, you can measure the device’s case temperature and know if and when it’s approaching catastrophic failure. A happy outcome is that it has an internal fuse which blows and prevents self-destruction. Either way, consider it to be a sacrificial test article.
