SAFETY WARNING: Eon Energy Monitor

Poosmate

Mankysteve wrote: »

Doesn't take an genius to answer those questions.

1 No they can't, the same way you can't guarantee anything to 100% safe.
2 Probably an electrolytic capacitor is the only thing in a transformer that would produce a major amount of gasses but without being physic (psychic?) and not being able to see the item it would be impossible to tell, same applies to eon until you have they the item(?) they won't know.
3. Yes they will be, there is no way a big company such a eon is going to risk being prosecuted for not complying.

Nice post Manky! If you're going to be sarcastic at least get your spelling and grammar correct!

Poor grammar and spelling can be forgiven in some circumstances but sarcasm towards someone who is only trying to help (and could possibly have saved lives) is not clever or funny.

As Dave said, it could have been a bad batch. It happens. Look at Toyota and their "bad batch" of Yaris cars.

Even if it wasn't something as dramatic as a bad batch, the least they could do is write to him and replace the product as soon as possible, it's only polite since their product nearly killed him!

Hope you hear something soon Dave.

Poo

Ben84

Mankysteve wrote: »

3. Yes they will be, there no way a big company such a eon is going to risk being prosecuted for not complying.

You might be surprised. Take a look at any of the recalls this month on electrical goods. Alongside the predictable no-brand imports you'll find quite a few big names too. Many of the big names now contract out to factories in China, often changing to get a lower price per item, and consistent quality/safety isn't as easily assured as it once was when most companies sold stuff made in the UK/Europe from factories they personally owned and supervised.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

davehills wrote: »

Just an update...haven't heard a dicky bird from Eon since sending the thing back, despite requesting a written response stating the product is safe. (No replacement monitor either, as of yet.)

Maybe Eon would care to respond here?:

Q1: Are all the products in the field 100% safe?

Q2: What caused the one I had to go "bang"?

Q3: Do they comply to all the relevant UK/EU safety standards?

Hi Dave

I'm really sorry you haven't received a response yet about your faulty monitor.

I have spoken to the team dealing with the monitors this morning. They have advised, the aim is to replace faulty/damaged monitors within 28 day working days from the date of receipt.

However, this may be delayed further because of the issues we have had when we ran out of supplies earlier this year.

From the info available to me, I'm afraid I have no way of telling what caused your particular monitor to go bang.

I did check again this morning whether any similar problems have been reported. Fortunately, the agent I spoke to has not heard of any other instance. Hopefully, your case will turn out to be a relatively isolated incident.

If the problem was more widespread, I suspect we would have heard a lot more about it by now.

I also double checked the monitors comply with all relevant official directives and was told they do.

Many thanks for your patience Dave and I'm sorry you have had such a negative experience so far.

Malc

davehills

Mankysteve wrote: »

Doesnt take an genus to answer those questions

2 properly an electrolytic capacitor only thing in a transformer that would produce major amount of gasses but without being physic and not being to see the item it would be impossible to tell, same applies to eon until you have they the item they wont know.

Just to clarify Eon actually have the thing back and have had it for while. No need for them to be "physic"...

Also, I said "plugged the "wallwart" power supply into the mains and switched on and BANG, a huge shower of sparks, a shock, horrible smell, slightly burnt fingers and a blown ring main fuse" so I'm not sure where you got the idea of gasses? I didn't mention gasses...

Oh, and for what it's worth I'm an Electronic Engineer and I'm well aware of what occasionally 'escapes' and gets put on the market. Take Dell for instance who sold a load of laptops with dodgy batteries which were literally blowing up in people's faces. Just google "dell exploding batteries" for all the details.

Obviously, I'm not saying that any company would knowingly do this, but these things are known to happen, so best to make sure.

aboard_epsilon

IT'S NO LOSS TO YOU, DON'T WORRY ABOUT GETTING IT BACK.

If they are anything like the ones given out by Swalec ..they are highly inaccurate ..

They only work accurately with stuff like cookers ..electric fires.. heaters, kettles, imersion heaters, old style light bulbs,..basaically any thing that converts electricity directly into heat.

For other stuff, I find that they display many times more than the actual device is using....especially with motors and transformers.

And it's the other stuff ..that you are wanting to know about .

all the best.markj

davehills

More than two months on and still no explaination from Eon as to what went wrong, no written safety report (as requested) and no replacement monitor.

I can only assume that they have either halted production of these monitors or have got the hump with me for posting on here and aren't talking to me.

davehills

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

IT'S NO LOSS TO YOU, DON'T WORRY ABOUT GETTING IT BACK.

If they are anything like the ones given out by Swalec ..they are highly inaccurate ..

They only work accurately with stuff like cookers ..electric fires.. heaters, kettles, imersion heaters, old style light bulbs,..basaically any thing that converts electricity directly into heat.

For other stuff, I find that they display many times more than the actual device is using....especially with motors and transformers.

And it's the other stuff ..that you are wanting to know about .

all the best.markj

Hi

Yeah, I know they aren't particularly accurate and are built to a budget and will only be accurate on purely resistive loads. However, I *really* wanted one so that I could log approximate power useage on my PC throughout the day and work out when we were using the most power. It was only to give a rough indication as to where most of our money goes.

I figure that it makes sense to work out where most of the lekky bill goes then we can make moves to bring this bit of the bill down. No point switching lights off if it only saves us three quid when the freezer is costing us £100 sort of thing. It's all about concentrating our energy saving efforts in the right direction.


Still, give it another 10 years and I'm sure you'll be able to buy "home nuclear reactors" from B&Q then we can wave bye-bye to the power companies....

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

davehills wrote: »

More than two months on and still no explaination from Eon as to what went wrong, no written safety report (as requested) and no replacement monitor.

I can only assume that they have either halted production of these monitors or have got the hump with me for posting on here and aren't talking to me.

Hi Dave

Really sorry to hear you are still waiting for a response. If you let me have your details I will gladly chase this up for you.

Just drop an email to the address in my Profile and I will talk to the people concerned.

I can confirm the monitors are still being supplied and posting on here will certainly have no effect on the response.

Again, sorry for the delay but hope I can help.

Malc

davehills

A final update from me.

Despite numerous emails and calls it's now four and a half months down the road and still so sign of a replacement energy monitor.

Also, there has been no explaination as to why the original unit nearly blew my fingers off, no engineers report and no copies of the safety certificates. No returned calls from customer services nor responses from management.

Not even a written apology.

You'd have thought a large company like Eon would have taken safety more seriously, wouldn't you?

I'd like to say a public 'thank you' to Malc, he listened and tried to get a response for me. If only the rest of Eon staff were as efficient and helpful as Malc!

As for me I'll be firing off an email to Watchdog and looking for a monitor to buy. Anyone know of any good deals or have a USB enabled one they want to sell? (NOT an Eon one, thanks!)