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WHich has less chance of short circuiting? battery or plug?


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Old 17-12-2016, 23:38
newlight1
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Hello all

I am thinking of going away for a few days but I wanted to get a couple of burger deterants ie I have the choice of battery operated LED light that goes on and off or a timer switch which plugs into a mains socket and turns the incandescent light bulb lamp on and off, Both I have seen give the same effect. However, normally I like to turn everything off if I am away and makes me nervous leaving something like this plugged in but then again a LED battery light could short ciruit too.

So I am wondering, I am either going to use one or the other, so please could people give their thoughts on which is less likely to cause a fire?
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Old 18-12-2016, 01:41
Chris Frost
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How many times has the remote control for your telly burst in to flames?
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Old 18-12-2016, 02:50
newlight1
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never
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Old 18-12-2016, 03:10
Tassium
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If the battery is lithium-ion then give it a miss.

Ordinary batteries never seem to have that burst into flames tendency

I imagine it uses 4 x AA?
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Old 18-12-2016, 07:53
misar
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However, normally I like to turn everything off if I am away and makes me nervous leaving something like this plugged in but then again a LED battery light could short ciruit too.
Presumably that includes the fridge/freezer (risk of short circuit, fire in compressor) and indeed the main power switch to the property (short circuit in wiring due to eg rats biting cable followed by major fire).

Last edited by misar : 18-12-2016 at 07:56. Reason: Typo
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Old 18-12-2016, 09:03
newlight1
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If the battery is lithium-ion then give it a miss.

Ordinary batteries never seem to have that burst into flames tendency

I imagine it uses 4 x AA?
Yes just regular AA batteries it requires, how can I make sure the aa batteries are not lithium-ion?
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Old 18-12-2016, 10:15
anthony david
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Use a variety of timers around the house to mimic your normal life style, an LED lamp is probably as much use as a chocolate fire guard for this purpose. You had better put your mobile phone, laptop, iPad, digital camera etc etc in to a bucket of sand before you leave as they all use lithium ion batteries. Most fires seem to be caused by third party chargers bought from the likes of eBay, the recent Samsung problems are extremely rare. I hope you haven't hired a Vauxhall car either, its bound to catch fire and incinerate you all.
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Old 18-12-2016, 10:16
Chris Frost
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Yes just regular AA batteries it requires, how can I make sure the aa batteries are not lithium-ion?
Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) is a chemistry type used in rechargeable batteries. So if you don't buy rechargeable batteries then you won't be purchasing Li-Ion.

Just buy ordinary single-use batteries from a reputable brand such as Varta or Duracell.
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Old 18-12-2016, 11:36
David (2)
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If using a mains powered table lamp (u can plug it into a timer device), I would put an LED bulb in it. A lot safer than a regular bulb. And I would never use a holagen bulb in this situation, as they get blistering hot.


If you have some sort of portable, battery self contained device, does it have its own built in timer feature? If not, you wouldn't be able to have it switch on/off automatically.
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Old 19-12-2016, 09:29
AlanO
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Hello all

I am thinking of going away for a few days but I wanted to get a couple of burger deterants ie I have the choice of battery operated LED light that goes on and off or a timer switch which plugs into a mains socket and turns the incandescent light bulb lamp on and off, Both I have seen give the same effect. However, normally I like to turn everything off if I am away and makes me nervous leaving something like this plugged in but then again a LED battery light could short ciruit too.

So I am wondering, I am either going to use one or the other, so please could people give their thoughts on which is less likely to cause a fire?
"I wanted to get a couple of burger deterants"

I find vegans tend to be quite good at that.....
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Old 19-12-2016, 15:33
c4rv
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I've found timer plug with desk lamp and LED bulb works perfectly fine. As mentioned, LED doesn't get as hot and also uses less power. If you can have your TV on as well that would be better but a lot of TV will just go to standby when powered up.

I haven't tried it but you can get this which simulates a TV being on,

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2389509
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Old 19-12-2016, 16:50
stylo
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I've found timer plug with desk lamp and LED bulb works perfectly fine. As mentioned, LED doesn't get as hot and also uses less power. If you can have your TV on as well that would be better but a lot of TV will just go to standby when powered up.

I haven't tried it but you can get this which simulates a TV being on,

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2389509
I've got a couple of these and they are VERY realistic when viewed from outside in the dark, I would certainly recommend them.

I would however shop around for one, as the argos-linked price is very expensive.
Lidl had some a while ago (at £7 or £8 I believe??), but they're also available cheaper than Argos in other stores, and of course eBay
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Old 19-12-2016, 20:35
c4rv
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I've got a couple of these and they are VERY realistic when viewed from outside in the dark, I would certainly recommend them.

I would however shop around for one, as the argos-linked price is very expensive.
Lidl had some a while ago (at £7 or £8 I believe??), but they're also available cheaper than Argos in other stores, and of course eBay
I did check on Amazon and ebay later on and there are some under a tenner
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Old 02-01-2017, 00:07
asm
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If using a mains powered table lamp (u can plug it into a timer device), I would put an LED bulb in it. A lot safer than a regular bulb.
I wouldn't bet on that. Mains-powered LED lamps have a power supply to convert the high voltage AC mains supply to a lower voltage DC supply for the LEDs. These power supplies are usually very tiny capacitive droppers designed to use the minimum possible number of components at the cheapest possible price. There is a lot more that can go wrong with an LED bulb.
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