Full Version: Geo. Knight DK20S Press
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#19]
22 Dec 2004
To: ALL
Back when AT&T owned all the telephones and leased them to people as part of the phone bill, they lasted forever. Now with people buying their own on the open market, price and features are the selling points not how many decades they'll last. When they break people buy a new one with the latest features.
Some companies compete on price, others on quality.
This thread is introducing a third element, safety. I may choose to save money and buy an inexpensive item knowing it may prematurely break, but I assume its failure won't result in bodily harm.
Many companies wont take responsibility on their own due to the large liability involved. This is why we have consumer protection laws in the U.S.
It costs a company money, and is voluntary on their part, but if as a consumer you want some confidence in an item look if its UL listed. They check for safety not reliability.
I am not familiar with the heat press being discussed, but if it had UL approval it would not shock people. It would have a three prong plug to ground the unit. If the insulation failed, the power would go to ground not you. A three prong plug is not needed if the unit is double insulated. If the wire's insulation fails, there's another barrier to protect the user. Many companies will use a plastic case. UL also requires the plastic to have a burn rating based on the units power source. (plug in is different than "D" batteries, which are different than "AA" batteries.)