Aduro Surge Wall Tower Outlet Dual USB


Aduro Surge Wall Tower Outlet Dual USB

If you buy these, you should be aware that they are riddled with ground faults; they are not wired properly.

This issue was first raised by a user called djsteve (an electrical engineer) and confirmed by me and others. Yesterday I posted images showing what a ground-fault tester shows when plugged into each outlet of the 12-outlet until Only three of the twelve are properly wired.

I have similar images I’ll post later today of the nine-outlet unit. Again, only three of the nine are properly wired.

Check out the other thread here:

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Hello. Please know that we take safety concerns and customer trust very seriously. At this time, we can confirm that the products are genuine and have passed all relevant electrical testing requirements for North America (ETL). The manufacturer is not aware of any safety concerns with this product, and CPSC has not issued any warnings or recalls. This product has been on the market for over a year with tens of thousands sold, and is still available for purchase at many retailers. Please reach out to support@woot.com if you have any further questions.

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Here is what happens when you plug a ground-fault detector into these units. I have filed a complaint with the CPSC and the response of the manufacturer is pending. They could not possibly have passed ANY legitimate electrical testing requirements. I am not the only person who has flagged this serious issue.

Go to the link above for my pictures of the 12-outlet unit. Another user has open one up and confirmed by looking directly at the wiring that they are not wired correctly. I have conformed this also using a simple continuity tester, as have others. The neutral contacts on half the units are wired to the hot prong of the plug, and vice versa. Half of the units lack a ground connection.

Here are the images for the 9-outlet unit, also verified using a continuity tester. I show only one image for each side; the three outlets on each side are identical.

My outlet at home is wired correctly:

The outlets on the left and right sides all have the H and N wires swapped:


Only the outlets int he center are properly wired:

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@ThunderThighs,

Since Woot continues to post this disclaimer, I would like to send an outlet safety testing device to your department, at my cost, such that you can independently confirm the issue on as many in-stock units as you desire to test. Please let me know to what address I can ship. I will drop ship directly from Amazon.

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A couple things to note here.

First, the problem with this product is not technically a “ground fault”, as it does not involve the ground conductor (continuity of the ground, leakage from hot or neutral to ground etc). It’s a problem with swapping hot and neutral, such that half the outlets are reverse-wired.

Second, this is NOT a manufacturing problem, it’s a design defect. The engineer(s) who designed this product (specifically the metal bus interconnects between outlets) literally A) did not understand what they were doing and were not qualified to design this product, or B) did not care that their design would result in a reverse wiring of half the outlets on the device, guessing that customers wouldn’t notice and that resellers wouldn’t care or react.

Why does it matter? Why is hot/neutral polarization important? (Why do some plugs have one blade wider than the other so you can’t plug it in backward?) It’s because of a design assumption made by those who design electrical products, that the hot line is to be switched near the cord entry into the device, thus de-energizing the majority of the wiring within the device when it’s powered off. If the wiring is reversed at the plug (a condition this outlet block creates for half its outlets), then the device’s power switch only cuts the neutral, resulting in a high voltage potential relative to earth remaining in all of the device’s internal wiring even when it’s switched off. This isn’t typically a problem that most people will notice immediately, but it may be important in an exceptional condition (damage, water ingress, etc).

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There’s a difference between saying you take safety seriously and actually taking safety seriously. Since the customer advising of the issue has no obvious reason to do so other than concern for the safety of others, why not briefly stop selling the item, investigate thoroughly, and proceed. That is actively taking safety seriously. Contacting the manufacturer or passive review is not sufficient.

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Actually when I talked to the lady at ADUROproducts USA she indicated that she is not aware of any test facilities operated by the company. After my second call the number I had is no longer answered. It is also odd that id they have been safety tested there is NO CERT # or lab name on the packaging. I presented several of these fully assembled to the Cook County Illinois Electrical Safety Commission and their statement was if someone thinks these are safe, they must be living in China or certain part of Asia that never had a polarized AC outlet requirement because they would fail at any electrical test site. The 9 outlet version has 6 of 9 outlets reverse wired, the 12 outlet model has 6 of 12 outlets reversed. There are several dozen reports from across the country to CPSC about these AND SEVERAL OTHER Aduro outlet adapter assemblies.
All the ones I read through stated that they consumer had contacted the manufacturer (ADURO) and apparently received no response or non that admitted an issue. And I thought only American companies treated customers like cattle.
And yes, NOT having Hot-Neutral swapped IS a requirement of the electrical safety standards in North America. So there is NO WAY these devices could have been tested and passed. Be aware I tried these (intentionally) on some very old TV equipment (one of the reasons that Polarized outlets came into existance) it destroyed 2 units, 6 units chassis came to be at what could be considered “lethal voltages” and the other 4 refused to properly operate. So yes, there are demonstrable issues with these.

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Could get you killed if you are operating old tube TV’s with metal chassis, the chassis will be “hot” until the HV caps discharge after switching off. There is also a lot of other electrical (lab and industrial / commercial) that expect the neutral as near ground and have a small static resistor between frame (earth ground) and neutral. Plug those items in a hot swapped socket and “poof” goes that static resistor, but the device still operates. But as the static on the housing builds up to a point that touching (in order to switch the device off) will knock you across the room, well enjoy the flight. And that level of static may just stop your heart… or if it is “grandma’s ancient vacuum cleaner” it may stop her pacemaker…
So much for “concern for customer safety” …

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giphy

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@jniemeier
cute cat gif, but I fail to see the connection…

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I purchased one 12 outlet and one 9 outlet in Dec 2020. I also purchased some 6 &9 outlet units in Jan 2021 with shelves I’m using in bathrooms and a kitchen area. Some are at my cabin, some in my home. I was very concerned after reading the previous Deal Chatter posts that I stumbled across today and then was shocked when I see they are still being sold.
Do I need to stop using all the units I bought? I’m not using them for anything of much importance, really expensive or important items get plugged into battery backed up high dollar surge protector units.

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@Ladyofthelake2,

Do I need to stop using all the units I bought?

The short answer is “yes”, and you should request a full refund from Woot.

The longer answer, if you’re willing to take a risk, is “maybe.” I doubt many people would be able to easily differentiate, but if you exclusively use “double insulated” electronic devices plugged into these outlet multipliers then you are safe (for those devices). However, this means that you must be confident that no non-double insulated devices are ever used in the future. This is not a risk I believe is worth it.

If you decide to continue to use them, my recommendation is to look for the following on cords you wish to plug in:

  • different sized blades on 2-conductor plugs
  • any plugs with a third (round) ground pin

If EITHER of these are present on your device it likely is dependent on correct polarity and may be dangerous to use when plugged into these outlet multipliers.

With these outlets only use devices which have just two blades of equal width such that they can be physically plugged in either orientation.

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@ThunderThighs, I continue to await your response on where I can have an outlet safety tester sent (on my dime) such that Woot may independently confirm that these units are a safety hazard and violate US electrical code. For your reference, and to add to confirming photos already submitted above by @dtapley, I submit the following tests on my own unit:

Wall outlet under test, correct wiring

9 outlet Aduro, front panel, correct wiring

9 outlet Aduro, left panel, faulty wiring (hot/neutral swap)

9 outlet Aduro, right panel, faulty wiring (hot/neutral swap)

12 outlet Aduro, front left panel, correct wiring

12 outlet Aduro, front right panel, faulty wiring (hot/neutral swap)

12 outlet Aduro, side left panel, faulty wiring (hot/neutral swap)

12 outlet Aduro, side right panel, correct wiring

For those keeping score, that’s 1/2 of the 12 outlets and fully 2/3 of the 9 outlets with hot and neutral connections reversed.

Woot, do the right thing - test and confirm yourself and then STOP SELLING THESE DANGEROUS DEVICES!

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I’m convinced that “enjoy the flight” is what happened to me when I was a kid and touched the metal case of the old receiver of my grandfather’s while wearing just flip flops in the basement. When I came too I was on the ground and my big toe was bleeding, the electricity split it open. I got lucky and didn’t die.

Thank you to those that posted the concern about these plugs, they are a big nope for me.

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@ThunderThighs and woot in general. Please take this more seriously than a simple disclaimer from a manufacturer who is far from impartial.

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Thanks wooters @dtapley, @djsteve1, @TheJarOKnowledge. I was just about to click buy on atleast one 9 or 12 unit for my game room. I recently added another electronic device and my 6 outlet surge is no more of use. My Battery Backup is to far from those electronics therefore a bigger surge or another battery Backup is recommended for my needs. However it won’t be Aduro supplied. I hope 8 can still trust Belkin to be reliable in the future and not have these inconsistent wiring schematic issues. Darn china shet made it through customs without sufficient testing or certifications. Since, Amazon has these than I’m sure Wallyworld, Wayfair, Buy and club stores do as well. Good looking out and yes @ThunderThighs. When someone shows polarity issues why just simply provide the normal from manufacturer response. Why not open an internal investigation on the product at hand and cease all selling immediately? Can’t put a price tag on someone’s health or can we? The cost to manufacture these correctly vs the incorrect way is penny’s. I know to the typical person that’s nothing. From the manufacturing perspective that could be thousands depending on the number of units on that particular agreement. Sl1m be nice as we tried that way already and we’re ignored. Nuff said.

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Lmfao. Aduro is a New Jersey company. Hilarious.

Try using that fear of China to educate your ignorance next time…

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@NightCreeper, might want to recheck that “made in china” sticker on your unit.

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Please don’t display ignorant Asian hate here. Not the place for it.