Is this really 6 Foot?
The cord is 6ft
Wish these were UL certified, but that’s probably why they’re so cheap.
That’s one tall Power Tower !
That would be terrifying. Tower of Terror.
Do you already have one?
How do you know it isn’t UL Listed?
I also think Amazon should do more to ensure electrical products sold there (and Woot by extension) are either clearly safety tested and or certified, or have highlighted warnings that they were not certified by any safety or standards organization and to “use at your own risk”. I’m sure a lot of importers would (and do) lie, and QC issues happen (e.g. wrong label is placed), but I think the rampant ambivalence about safety is a bit shameful.
On the TESSAN site, there is no indication, either written or in photos, of this being UL listed. It does claim to be FCC-certified, which only pertains to electromagnetic interference.
I have chosen to use several Tessan power strips in several places in my house, despite lacking the full UL / ETL certification among the labels on the back of the products… They are NOT the “frontline” surge protectors or UPS units that I have for most of my sensitive equipment in the house, but they do just fine for fans, seasonal lights, or gaming controller charging docks.
I have commented on this topic a few times during the last couple of years, but please take my commentary only as one perspective - I am NOT an electrician, but I have worked with several applications of electrical engineering professionally over the years, and I have gone through the exercises of tearing a few TESSAN (and other branded) products apart, just to be sure that I wanted to trust them at all:
The other point that I would make is that if anyone is concerned, I would likely suggest looking to the far pricier end of the spectrum with Tripp, APC/Schneider, etc… Even within the more common consumer brands that people seem to trust, including Anker, there have been far too many recalls issued just this year for me to feel like I want to say that I find the quality of their products to be a truly compelling upgrade over something like this offering from TESSAN.
No affiliation. Not a licensed electrician. Just giving you some perspective from what I’ve purchased, and what I’ve seen as I’ve been curious enough to dissect some of the products - I’ve trusted this brand enough to use them in a few, lighter applications.
I hear ya and I didn’t mean to come off as paranoid or even deeply concerned. I’m just surprised there hasn’t been more problems and incidents and more litigation. It could be because when someone’s $3 power strip stops working, they’ll just throw it away, even with the melted plastic from the broken solder joint because it didn’t smoke much anyway.
In my experience, most things purchased retail seem to have met basic standards, even if they are the least expensive. I just wish Amz - if they aren’t going to require certification - would require clear disclosure of a lack of certification because I don’t think most online buyers are aware. My opinion is that anything that uses high voltage, or plugs into an AC outlet, ought to have that disclosure — and it may not make a bit of a difference, except people then couldn’t claim it wasn’t disclosed if an incident occurred.
This appears to be a frequent bone of contention among people on the interwebs with TESSAN products.
I’ve seen claims that the cords are often UL listed or that they claim some alternate international certification. Regardless, it does cause one a certain level of apprehension depending upon your personal risk acceptance level.
I know that I personally have grown up naturally expecting to see a UL listing and sellers like TESSAN may simply either be counting on consumers to assume that their products are certified as well or assume that many consumers are unaware that such certifications exist or worse shop purely based upon price.
The European Union appears to be looking at cracking down on Temu and others on product safety.
This, hence all those touting …
- CE certification, which doesn’t apply to the US. Conformité Européene is an EU regulation that the product meets environmental, health, and safety standards. This can be self-certified.
- RoHS is restriction of hazardous substances. It’s an EU directive the limits the use of hazardous substances such as lead. This can be self-certified.
- FCC is federal communications commission. In the US, if a product can emit radio frequencies, it needs to be certified. If it doesn’t, they can self certify.
None of these have to do with the actual electrical safety. Actual labs that do test and certify for such are on a short list of nationally recognized testing laboratories. UL is the most famous, of course, but ETL (Intertek), CSA, TUV, and SGS are valid NRTLs too.
The lovely thing is that there are no restrictions on selling unlisted products; it’s pretty much buyer beware. Efforts to change that are often met with resistance and/or pushback from certain groups. Remember the formaldehyde plywood and sulfur drywall of the aughts? They were 100% legal in the US. California pushed formaldehyde limits since 2008 to match the standards of the EU and China. For the other states under EPA guidelines … well they made final ruling in 2023. The same discrepancy applies to lead in faucets and plumbing products too.
Back to unlisted electrical products – does that mean they’re all a fire hazard? No. As I’ve encountered, most of the time they’re fine. However, there can be a chance that they’re not fine, with the use of undersized wiring and/or lack of overload protection devices being the most common issue with power strips and such.
(Note that I am not staff. I just volunteer to help out on the forums.)
I think I live in the camp where this is (and should stay) okay but wouldn’t argue against requiring “surgeon general’s warning” style labeling to some things in some cases. I’d probably leave it to the industry (albeit not unchecked) to develop the rules. Since products from the big players will probably not be affected, let their safety engineers decree when it really matters and thus when a conspicuous disclosure is appropriate.