Charlotte/Cinny 
charlotte
so uh if you are planning to get the clockworkpi picocalc please be advised that there are 0 battery protections built in the device, less than you would find on the already underbuilt devterm
there are:
- no fuses
- no reverse polarity protection
- no balancing (the cells are just connected in parallel)
- no thermocouple (which is imo required for any device that charges lithium-ion cells)
be very careful inserting 18650s, make sure they have the same real capacity (for example ones that have only been used together), and the same cell voltage, and make sure you put them the right way around
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Charlotte/Cinny
charlotte
oh yeah the “cells that have been used together” thing only really works with high quality cells that come from the same batch. these are less likely to become unbalanced over time
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Maruno Ulfdrengr
maruno@bark.lgbt
@charlotte I do practically none of these things making my own devices. :D At least I tend to use cells with a protection circuit and don't play with multiple cells.
I have made some oopsies a lot when wiring things, for most simple components nothing happens or I lose a few cents to replace the component. :P
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Maruno Ulfdrengr
maruno@bark.lgbt@charlotte Yeah, not sure though where a kit falls in that. Since it's not meant for general consumers, right?
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Charlotte/Cinny
charlotte
reading a bit further it might not fall under radio equipment or low voltage equipment regulation, however it will fall under the general product safety directive which requires products to be safe, including a safety raccessment
blatant disregard for electrical engineering standards and best practices is imo not that, even if the device doesn’t literally catch on fire
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Charlotte/Cinny
charlotte
and while it’s not sold to the most general audience, weird internet nerds are just consumers. these rules may not apply or may apply different for b2b sales
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Maruno Ulfdrengr
maruno@bark.lgbt@charlotte Yeah, but you need to define a line somewhere. When is it a finished product? It is a bit difficult with kits, even more with different configurations.
Clearly electronic components are not finished products, modules also are not certified themselves, a kit is just larger modules? At some point the manufacturer needs to take responsibility though and there clearly are mistakes on the design. Just I think they don't claim any certification here probably cause of this legal loophole....
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Charlotte/Cinny
charlotte
@maruno electronic components are also subject to certification requirements
my problem is less that the product isn’t certified in $country, it is understandable that they do not have the size or expertise to get it certified everywhere, but more that the product just doesn’t follow safety guidelines to begin with
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