Anonymous user
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 6:
Many users of music gear have complained about the near-universal use of AC power adapters, or "wall warts", to power devices such as audio processors, small keyboard instruments, and drumboxes in recent years. Until the 1980s, AC adapters were only used to power small devices that could not contain their own power supplies, such as effect pedals. The use of AC adapter external power supplies became more commonplace in the 1990s, partly due to changes in electrical-safety regulations imposed on equipment imported to or made in the EU, and due to subsequent heavier regulation in other countries as a result of the EU's regulations, which influenced legislators in countries such as Australia and Japan. The rise of the product-liability lawsuit in the 1980s as a viable "business", especially in the USA, was also a factor. It encouraged people to sue manufacturers for making "faulty" products that inflicted injury, often whether said injury was due to faulty design, or if it was the result of misuse or abuse of the product by a foolish consumer. Because juries in such cases often found automatically against large companies regardless of the facts of the case, larger firms became very "gun shy" about product safety. Smaller firms followed their lead, simply to try and avoid ruinous lawsuits. The uncertainty of this situation is a powerful motivator, and keeps a number of firms out of consumer electronic manufacturing.
The main issue: bringing AC mains voltages into the product's cabinet. Any electronic device that uses more than one or two watts of power usually must be powered from AC mains. AC mains power varies all over the world, complicating the design of music electronics. In the US, Canada, most of North America, and a few other countries, wall-socket AC mains is (roughly) 120 volts at 60 Hz frequency. In Japan, it is usually 100 volts, at either 50 Hz or 60 Hz (some utilities in Japan use 50 Hz, some 60). In most of Europe, the standard is 220 or 230 volts at 50 Hz. In the UK and in some former Commonwealth nations, it is 240v at 50 Hz. The European voltage is very commonplace throughout Europe, Asia, Australasia, and Africa. Some countries, such as Brazil, have failed to standardize. Safety is an important issue with such voltages, as all of them are more than ample to electrocute and kill an adult human, if contacted in the proper way (current discharge via the chest and heart). Wikipedia has a very good article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country mains voltages by country], complete with a map.
Also note that the power plugs differ greatly around the world. If only two-wire unearthed power is needed (typical for small appliances), a single 2-pin plug works throughout Europe and in many other countries---the CEE 7/16 "Europlug". If 3 pins are needed for earthing, there are three incompatible standard plugs in the same area of Europe. The most common, the French/German version, is incompatible with the Italian, Swiss, and Danish/Scandinavian versions. And there are two different-sized Italian plugs. Australasia and Israel have their own, incompatible plugs and sockets (Israel has 2 different plugs, for some obscure reason). The American 2-pin plug (NEMA 1-15) and 3-pin plug (NEMA 5-15) are also used in Japan and most of the Americas--usually in countries having 120v power. The old British BS546 plug is still used in India and much of Africa, while the UK itself now uses a totally different plug (BS1363). Argentina uses the Australian plug, but with "line" and "neutral" connections reversed. Some countries, such as China and Brazil, cannot agree on a single standard. Some countries (Italy, Spain, Greece) have obsolete plugs in older buildings. Wikipedia has a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets good overview] of different power plugs.
[[File:Australiansocket.jpg]] [[File:BS546plug.jpg]] [[File:Bs1363plug.jpg]]
Line 16:
[[File:Schukoplug.jpg]] [[File:Swissplug.jpg]] [[File:Danishplug.jpg]] [[File:Frenchsocket.jpg]]
And for smaller devices, an AC adapter producing low-voltage AC or DC power is almost universal. Most of them are made for 120v or 230v only, and usually can't be adjusted. (Most modern DC-output ones are "universal input", but ''some are still being sold that are not self-adjusting''. Beware.) Once again, providing the proper AC adapter is left to the local dealer or to the consumer. If you purchase a product made in another country via a website dealer, ''you have to be aware of this'', and willing to find the proper cable or adapter. Usually it is impossible or very difficult to buy an adapter or power cable for one country in another country.
[[File:Italiamplugs.jpg]] [[File:Oldgreekplugs.JPG]] [[File:Israeliplug.jpg]]
The moment you feed AC mains into a box, EU regulation EN 60950 of Directive 2006/95/EC, or "Low Voltage Directive For Information Equipment" takes over. It deals with safety in electronic "information" devices powered from AC mains. This regulation is considered to cover music electronics, analog or digital, simply because there is no direct regulation for music gear---sales figures are not sufficient to regulate, and music gear is considered "professional" equipment as opposed to a kind of "home appliance", so music devices are stuck under "information equipment". If it had been considered a "home appliance", a synthesizer would be regulated under the more-severe EN60335 instead.
The complete list of EU regulations for electrical safety is [http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/european-standards/documents/harmonised-standards-legislation/list-references/low-voltage/index_en.htm here]. There's a lot of regulations. Most of them are aimed at mass-produced consumer appliances. There's even a regulation for safety in "heated gullies for roof drainage". But there's no mention of music or audio-recording gear.
Because in the 1980s, Japanese companies such as Korg, Roland and Yamaha started to seize the market for music synthesizers and other music gear, regulators in Europe demanded that those firms start meeting EU regulations for electrical safety. To avoid the high cost of electrical-safety testing and certification by independent testing labs (a requirement in most of the world), these firms started making gear that ran from AC adapters only. The change from analog circuitry to microprocessors at the same time helped to facilitate this, by reducing power consumption and simplifying power supply design.
The United States has no direct federal regulation of electrical safety, but existing laws (and court cases dealing with liability) tend to use [http://ul.com/global/eng/pages/ Underwriters Labs] standards for electrical safety of electronic gear. However, UL standards are quite different from EU standards, making them incompatible in test-lab certification. Getting a product UL certified (either by UL itself or by a third-party lab) can easily cost $12,000 or more, and the test does not apply in most other countries. Selling electronics in Canada requires [http://www.csa.ca/cm/ca/en/home CSA] certification, which is roughly similar to UL certification but is different enough to require separate testing. Selling electrical products in Japan requires certification for a PSE mark--again, the tests are different from all others, and require separate testing. Russia, Finland, the UK, China, Korea, and some other countries have similar-but-different safety regulations, requiring different testing. Sometimes they ignore low-production products, sometimes they "crack down"; primarily to put up trade barriers to non-domestic products.
Line 32:
One side-effect of all this: the number of certified testing labs has exploded in the last 20 years. Before, there were very few labs, because products tended to be simple and regulations were scarce. Only medical or other safety-critical gear was tested routinely. But the commonplace use of microprocessors, increasing legal controls, import/export regulations, and differences of all the regulations between countries have contributed to a climate of "test everything just in case". So the test labs are making lots of money. And you, the consumer, are paying for it.
There's a bonus nasty waiting for consumers in Asia and some parts of Europe. Many newer buildings have "combo" sockets, which will accept Euro,
[[File:Combopluga.jpg]] [[File:Combosocket.jpg]]
| |||