[obligatory complaint: they're 8C8P connectors, not RJ45 unless used for phone company service in a specific configuration] But semi-joking pedantic part-troll aside, absobloodylutely. I hate this trend for wireless everything. Wifi is useful for MOBILE devices in a specific place. it's ideal for my phone in my home. Everything that's static, INCLUDING the google chromecast, is wired.
Hue hub does the same. It actually has wifi on board but disabled. Some enterprising people have hacked it back in on some older revisions of the firmware I believe.
[addition after a day of thought: wifi is also handy for people renting, who can't drill holes/cable their home, although to be honest any modern rental should be wired with at least cat5E to every room]
@@TheChipmunk2008 In this case, just place the gateway near the router. The antenna to antenna distance will be already much larger than on the same PCB / in same box. Besides, here it's common that you're allowed to do reversible changes to a rental like drilling holes. But yeah, every house should have decent ethernet distribution.
I too generally prefer wired connections but for little things like this with minimal bandwidth requirements Wi-Fi really can make more sense. Mainly because Wi-Fi devices don't use up switch ports. Switch ports cost money while low-activity wireless associations are basically free. If there is any continuous data use (such as streaming media devices) then even if the bandwidth isn't much it can take airtime away from real devices and thus wired is preferred. Really wired networking should at least be an option whenever practical. I'm mildly annoyed at my Wi-Fi only printer which really should also have Ethernet but get super annoyed with laptops without Ethernet.
I can't wait for the day when my toilet and septic tank become smart and connected to the internet so I have continuous live data from both of them, I've been waiting so long for these things😳
Looks well made to me. When you think what a single core of a live cable is in thickness, that wide track looks ok for 13A to me. Flat on the PCB as opposed to covered in double insulated plastic like the single core of a live wire.
Not to mention it's via stitched to the duplicate layer on the other side, so it's double thick, solder slathered on the far side and the vias are solder filled.
Tuya is a hardware independent smart home software solution and many different hardware vendors use Tuya instead of rolling their own cloud service, app, etc. This means that you can pair this with the "Tuya Smart" app along with completely different Tuya compatible products. If have not finished your video yet, there are quite nice Blitzwolf switchable sockets which also measure power consumption.
I have two problems with 'smart' devices that require an account. One, you have to grant and trust an outside source with access to your network and the other is what happens when they decide to shut down thier server! Devices running of a locally hosted server are a better option and that may be flushable with custom firmware to run on a locally hosted home automation environment.
I agree. For my network rebuild I'm even going to put the networked printers on a segregated network because I don't really trust their firmware. But one thing here, the power strip itself is Zigbee. I'm not an expert on that but I believe it should work fine with your own gateway. I believe the account is only needed for their own gateway which Julian bought.
In a lot of buildings the 16A sockets are on a 20A breaker (up to 8 sockets on a 20A breaker with 2.5mm2 cable is allowed by code). So you can pull up to 20A from one socket - even a decent extension cord will get quite warm if you do that...
@@DerHeilendeLotus but is it build like this on average? I think no... In Germany many houses are 16Amps B characteristic automatic, 1,5mm² and loots of outlets, should be up to code
This switching on with litle delay is very clever. It helps a lot if you have 2 or 3 devices with switching power source plugged in to deal with inrush current.
Here in NZ most of the extension sockets are riveted together, clearly not made to be opened. Really annoying. I don't think I like the idea of the USB being powered all the time, apart from being very wasteful it will shorted it's useful life. It's funny, they always have a large capacitor laying right tightly against the heatsink. Designed to shorten it's life, cannot have things lasting too long can we.
The USB psu actually is double fused (reddish brown rectangles). One is on the psu itself, and one is right before the solder lugs for the wires off the strip board.
The simple answer is to unplug the extension lead when not in use or only plug in to a switch socket so it can be switched off when not required. The point is, it is an extension not meant for fixed continues use, it is a short life cheep stop gap. Julian is going to test it for us, Wait till it fails or not, just like the little diesel heater that failed.
3:52 Greece has the euro rounded bi-pin with ground like other countries in the EU, Cyprus i think has primarily the square pin like you had mentioned.
Good review, I've bought quite a few electrical items & power tools from Lidl over the years and always found most of them are of decent quality and well built. As you said, is that Printed circuit up to carrying a 13 amp load be interesting to plug a 3 kW load into the furthest socket & run it for an hour or so & check how warm the unit becomes especially when the circuit board is inside its case.
Zigbee works on 2.4ghz, so a WiFi zigbee hub is probably going to suffer from lots of interference. I bought one of these a fortnight ago. Hooked up to my home assistant it seems to work very well. I’ve been very pleased with all the Lidl zigbee things I’ve bought and I’ve collated quite a few bits over the last few weeks. Still a pile of hubs sat in my local store. Zigbee devices work with any hub so those that want these things generally already have the hub bit. IKEA tradfri is another cheap option.
Zigbee is 2.4GHz but very reliable in home automation, much better than normal Wifi devices. For starters much lower on (standby) power and it has the nature of creating a mesh with every active device, so every lamp of switch will become a repeater.
Zigbee is a gateway to abilities that Lidl wouldn't teach you! You can setup a Zigbee2MQTT gateway (Andreas Spiess and NotEnoughTech have a lot of good info on getting it running on a Pi, but can run on any little Linux box you might have already doing something). Zigbee2MQTT can act as a single gateway for all brands of zigbee stuff (Hue, Ikea, random stuff from china) and to WiFi home automation hear too. You can run your own App on the server and tablet, so not sharing your data with the cloud - but you can also install NodeRed and chain all sorts of sensors into your setup, to say, turn on the antminers when it gets below 15c in the shed. There is a visual coding UI where you link nodes up, but you can create a code node, and write your own code. There are nodes that get the sunrise and sunset times for your location so you can incorporate that too. My hallway lights are on a motion sensor, but only come on when it's nigthtime, but when its really late at night; they come on at only 20% brightness so as to not blind you when yo nip to the bathroom, or the kitchen for a glass of water. It's super addictive hobby!
Not a fan of mains sockets on a pcb, the solder joints will eventually crack from plugging/unplugging stuff, specially if the contacts have a decent clamping force. Hard pass for me.
Yes, don't like those folded U shaped sockets either. Seen way too many contact heating problems with them. A bit of dirt on the pin that a normal socket would wipe clear, can cause massive thermal damage. Once they lose their 'spring' due to heat, the damage just cascades.
Mate of mine ordered some heaters for his shed, he was surprised to have them delivered by Just Eat, then he realised his mistake, he'd ordered fajitas.
hello ! most domestic plugs in france are 16A 3 pins plugs. in not so old habitations (like 1980's), there is 2 pins 16A and 3 pins 32A plugs. in older houses we also have 2 pins 6A plugs and 3 pins 20A plugs. 6A pins are 4mm diameter like on russians plugs. 16A pins are 4.8mm. (all 3 pins plugs mentionned are for live, neutral and security ground.)
The Hub is wired to make more profit, even though Zigbee is a wireless protocol the cheap chips that do it are not wifi compatible, you could in theory use an ESP32 and hook that up to a zigbee module.
Mainland europe is 20A per circuit (for newer houses). A circuit Is allowed to have up to 8 sockets. Old houses may be limited to 10A or 16A Max current per individual outlets depends on the country. Individual sockets are rated for up to 16A Houses typically are limited to 40A total. Higher than 40A and/or 3 phase and/or higher than 220V (400, 500, 690V) is available depending on where you live...
11:30 6812, SOT8 AFC/QC2.0/QC3.0 18W 9V Fast Charge chip w/ optional USB 2.0 pass-thru. fairly generic in these types of things. the AFC plug that came with my Tab S7 has that same chip.
Generally, the Type G plug/socket used in the UK also got used in countries that used to be part of the old British Empire if they were modernising their wiring standards at the time in the mid-20th century, so that's why Cyprus and Ireland etc also have it.
Yes, now it will be 100% safety instructions. The other day I was looking at a can of paint and they didn't have room to even say how long it takes to dry because the can was covered with safety instruction in a bunch of languages.
If the Lidl smart socket is anything like the generic one I've got, that has 3 UK mains sockets and 3 USB outlets, the USB outlets are also switchable via ZigBee, but together as a group. So they're not necessarily on all the time.
It looks as if the high current tracks run in parallel on both sides of the board - stitched together with via holes - So that may help carry the current
I'm a huge Silvercrest fan. I've got a Freesat reciever from Lidl, (about 18 years ago), and a 10 device Universal Remote with learn function on all 10, (about 8 years ago). Also I think the warning on the back means don't plug other Smart extention leads into it.
Zigbee is two way, so the app would get a confirmation. You are right that the flashing is for pairing. Zigbee 3.0 is the current standard. Usually most devices that are Zigbee 3.0 are compatible with each other. ZigBee won't talk directly to your phone and forms a mesh network, and is extremely efficient with battery devices. Ethernet is needed (either WiFi or Cabled) for you to be able to communicate with the hub via your network :) IF you can set the ZigBee channel, make sure it is at 15 or 20. If you go down into the lower channels, it will be in the same channels as WiFi :)
I've got a very similar looking one from Gosund, although it's without Zigbee so probably not the same. Mine had USB Ports rated at 5v 3A .... it couldn't even take 800mA at a single USB Port before the Voltage dropped massively.
The reason the hub uses Ethernet vs WiFi is that ethernet requires no config or setup, just DHCP on your router and it's good to go automatically. Wifi would generate a ton of calls to their support. Plus, it is immune to interference unlike wifi.should lower latency at the same time.
Well, the Slough Lidl, only had one empty gateway box for the last few weeks. If they move stock around stores, one day they will desapear from your store and appear in another.
As soon as the video started I knew this was a Lidl SMART plug. Looks nice and was good value. OK, the only problem I have with these SMART devices is they are APP controlled. So, what happens if the Internet is down? 2) What happens when the APP's server no longer exists? 3) Can we bypass the SMART controller and manually override it? I know this is Zigbee, so theoretically could be controlled by any compatible device, but do we have the datasheet to do that? I do have a SAMSUNG SMART Tumble Dryer that is controllable through an app, but I'm still not convinced by all this. Am I being over-paranoid by loss of Internet control if things change in the future despite the dryer having manual control?
Zigbee smart stuff is excellent. One of the first and still most well known are the Philips Hue. Mind you, Philips is Zigbee LL (lightlink) and not fully 3.0 compliant, so it has limitations and some "smart" proprietary controls that make Hue especially good with Hue products, but nowadays OK with Ikea Tradfri, GLEDOpto and the Lidl Smart stuff, for example. There are many reasons why Zigbee is superior in home automation than Wifi. A Zigbee gateway is just that, a bridge from a Zigbee network (which is like a mesh, most connected devices will work as a repeater) to a normal network (LAN of WiFi). That will allow out-of-home control with app and stuff. Very addictive and really usefull, like anti-burglar, lazy dimming and color-experience, more advanced smart control, too many to list here...
@@TechGorilla1987 it does a little... But I'm a bit more technical than most... I watch what it's doing on the network. And usually I don't have a lot to hide. But yes it certainly IS a consideration. And I own a 'dumb'phone also. I don't have any devices like Alexa or Amazon echo. I like home automation but I prefer to do it without stuff connecting to the internet. Seems unnecessary unless you want to switch your bedroom light on from another country lol Oh and'me too' re old and jaded
@@JulianIlett Yeah, like I said, it's definitely something you have to take into account. I assume she's sending everything to google (pretty sure she is, because I get WAY too many targeted ads for things i've just been talking about)
Wy would you spend money on Lidl gateway if you can use a raspberry pi to set up Home Assistant and among hundreds of other integrations have a seamless support for all Zigbee devices out there?
Imagine going on holiday with 10+ Smart sockets , bulbs. Alexas, Googles etc on 24 hours a day 365 days a year in your home - fire hazard does come to mind!
Thin tracks ;--) you should pull a 13 amp fuse apart and look at how thin that fuse wire is. Also for interest look at "fuse factor" and compare it to the old fuse wire cards for old style UK house fuse boxes. It is stunning how many amps you can put through a 5amp fuse wire (I think the wired fuse wire was rated at 2.5 fuse factor) yep 5amp fuse wire will get hot if you run 13amp through it.
Besides wired being much more reliable, the Zigbee and WiFi channels overlap significantly, so it's much easier to make a high quality reliable zigbee hub without a WiFi radio built in.
@@TechGorilla1987 RCD and fuses are totally different protections. One (RCD) protects against electric shock whereas the other (plug fuses) protect against fire (Current overload). The reason plugs have fuses is to protect the cable connected to the plug, if they didn't have fuses then the cable would need to have a large and impractical CSA (roughly 5mm2), this is because they are connect to a 32A protected ring final circuit.
@20m08s: Julian shows his Zigbee module's QR code to the Internet. His Lidl Smart Extension Lead is thus switched off and on every five seconds until the end of time. :-)
Total tangent: how's the humidity in the Modular Shed™? I've just bought a desiccant dehumidifier and, as well as being brilliant at making my crappy-little-rented-end-of-terrace less mouldy, it warms the place nicely!
My first thoughts are where was it made, is the fuse actually in circuit, is the cable real copper, do they all ship with the same IOT password ? Lidl stuff tends to be quite good but is there any chinesium in it and is the earth wire connected ? Watching the video - - Opto isolator separation looks good, but that electrolytic touching the heat sink :( Does the switch mode transformer at least look like it has a double isolated secondary. Using an online calculator, 13amp and 1 oz copper requires 25mm track width, that's 1/2 inch at 2 oz (without tinning), a soldered 13A connection is always questionable :( A good point about confirmation, but there is a difference between the device acknowledging a socket (n) on or off command and confirming that there is or is not power at socket (n), ideally the device needs to confirm that the command has been received and given with also a real world power is on / off check :( A mod that I would make would be to solder some 2.5mm copper wire full length of the power and earth track. Resistance and the other tests with Electricians test equipment would be interesting to read, especially from Dave Savery :)
I was interested until it was said "why would you want to" when it came to switching USB sockets. I want Zigbee controlled inline USB switching but as they don't seem to exist because of this crazy attitude that demands we waste electricity every chance we get, I have to adapt a Sonoff Basic mains switch (which are really good) to run off USB power and have a USB socket. I don't WiFI USB sockets ... I have too much WiFI. I like Zigbee. I have everything set-up on Zigbee. I prefer 868Mhz stuff - I like WirelessThings LLAP ... but we have to make do with what we can and 2.4GHz Zigbee which can mesh is pretty reliable and does most of what I want. I don't want to power circuitry just for the hell of it, wasting electricity as unwanted heat. I just wanna switch 5V. I like USB stuff. I have lots of USB stuff. I want to switch it. Without having to get out a soldering iron. Why is this such a taboo thing? Why do people say "why would you want to?" ????????
I bought one almost exactly the same from Amazon and a month later got a product recall notice that had been issued because the casing failed a pressure test if a plug was pressed too hard But then within a couple of weeks the recall notice was rescinded, quite strange.
Hello; I've baught pt2272 m4 couple. But only one buton can operate and the others not. What would be the problem*? the distance of remmote is very very low alo... Im waiting your answer.
App is smart life / tuya with Lidl badge on it on it, you should be able interact with all tuya WiFi and tuya ZigBee devices on smart life app. There white bulbs are very good, at there price.
Why is not connecting over WiFi a good thing (at 55 seconds)? The Gateway does. All you are doing is sending info and data to somewhere in China or ... who knows where?
AFAIK you don't need the gateway if using with ZigBee compatible controllers, similar to the IKEA wireless light bulbs which can connect directly to certain smart assistants (Echo dot + being one of them I believe) without needing the IKEA gateway. And yes, most European outlets are 16A and appear to be much better rated for the current than UK plugs where 10A is the recommend maximum draw for long term use with a story I heard that the GPO would only allow ~8A if both the plug and socket were not MK and in good condition. Lastly German and French plugs are different, with the Schuko using trips top and bottom for earthing and the French using a pin on the outlet and hole on the plug, they are similar enough, though, that the standard now is to use a plug with both earthing systems which will fit in either socket.
Yes, the old 15A sockets were much chunkier. Usually 1 or 2 15A sockets on a 15A fuse. Plugs were unfused. Oddly the original 13A sockets and plugs were quite happy at 13A continuous. The requirement for sleeved pins messed that up because it reduced the CSA of the brass pins. And of course now everything's built down to a price. I collect the old unsleeved plugs because i have no kids in the house and they're just better made.
@@JulianIlett AFAIK India still use them and South Africa are moving over to Schuko from them. Still used a lot in the entertainment industry for lighting where the lack of a fuse is a big advantage.
@@JulianIlett Yes, South Africa uses a functionally identical plug, but re-rated to 16A to match modern breaker sizes. India still uses the same old BS546 style rated at 15A. Probably a lot of smaller former colonies have a few left as well. And of course they're still technically allowed now in the UK. Used in theatres a lot as you probably know, but they can also be used for stuff in domestic circumstances that goes JUST over 13A. (some integral ovens are 3.5kw, if you want them to be plug in/out for cleaning/servicing, a BS546 15A plug is ideal) The 5A and 2A variants are still fairly widely used in pubs and restaurants for table lighting and so forth to stop punters unplugging them to charge their phone LOL.
The U.K. 13A plugs are still required to be capable of 13A continuous. I’ve not heard anything about anyone down rating them. In actual fact, I’ve seen an extension lead (rated at 13A and using a normal 13A plug with a normal 13A fuse) with two 2kW electric heaters plugged in. This had been left in use for at least a couple of weeks. No signs of the plug, lead or the extension having overheated. And yes, both heaters were switched on. Although they both had thermostats. The old GPO no longer exists, are you referring to the postal service: Royal Mail or the telecommunications company: BT (British Telecom)? My dad worked for the GPO before it was split up and the government privatised it.
The plug contacts look strange. Almost as if they are on their side. When you plug a plug into it, the pins of the plug look as if they wont have as good connection and might spark a bit... and with use, the metal might bend out of place quicker. Looks as if a lot of work went into the product yet skimped on a basic part.
That thing about PCB tracks being able to carry large current has often been my concern too. Many devices that I have examined simply do not seem to have enough track width for the rated current in my mind. Perhaps it is because the PCB tracks are very wide in relation to thickness, and the tracks are adhered to the PCB substrate, that they are able to withstand more heating than a round wire of equal cross section? I don't really know. Think about a modern PC motherboard, it has to supply a total of hundreds of amps to the CPU because the voltage is so low!! Seems impossible for those minutely thin (vertically) PCB tracks! Of course the power planes can be huge in the 2 dimensions along the PCB, but still...
My first langauge isn't English and I perfectly understood what they meant by "connect after each other". I am always afraid I will express myself that makes sense to me, but not for someone who speaks English primarily.
I think - The word ( after ) is the problem for Julian, Because of the way I and most English primarily speaking people have been taught to compose a sentence. More ways to write the same - Do not chain connect USB - Do Not Chain USB - English slang = Do not Daisy chain USB. Also never be afraid to express, that's the real problem everyone is suppressed in some way and afraid. That is the difference between leaders and sheep.
If you are only going to be controlling it whilst in you shed, then what's the point (other than curiosity, nothing wrong with that). Surely a normal switched extension would be easier and better. I could understand if you wanted to control the heaters from inside the house 30 minutes before went there but you said it would only be controlled within the shed. Can you explain more?
I believe you misunderstood Julian's comment. He said the _controlled_ devices will only be in the shed, not the _controlling_ devices. He is going to turn on the heaters from inside the house before he goes out.
At the risk of being controversial, some of them ARE because of the EU, the sensible ones, due to consumer rights laws. And there's nothing enjoyable about brexshit :( (which doesn't deserve a capital)
Yes, sometimes the more safety warnings there are the less safe an item is. If things were designed correctly they would not need the warning. Like in the US they allow the sale of 13amp extension cords with a warning of ‘don’t plug in more than 13amps’. That warning should go away and they should be required to put 13 amp fuse in. The wall plug is at least 15amp so those extension cords will burst into flames before 15 amps trips.
brexit will make very little if any difference to the existing safety instructions. In fact in various areas brexit is causing lots more red tape. In the future if the U.K. diverges from the E.U., you will end up with EVEN MORE safety instructions, as the U.K. will get extra ones on top of the existing ones (as the existing ones will still be provided).
Yes, this is not suitable for Greece, you would need to use adapters on all the plugs :D Still funny seeing Greek on the packaging, obviously for the people in Cyprus...
isnt zigbee what your smart electric and gas meter use for a supposedly secure interface to the central metering database? Great! so someone can buy that network hub and see your meters on the network LOL
The fuse may be marked 13A but is it genuine? Fake fuses are now so widespread, even in reputable brands, who are also now victims of the fakers, that, if you don't know the providence of a fuse, the risks are too great and you should replace it with one you do.
Silvercrest is not just "a brand Lidl often sell", it is a brand owned by Lidl and used for their electrical items.
RJ45 (vs Wifi): Way more reliable, no SSID mess and no interference with the Zigbee. Excellent choice :)
[obligatory complaint: they're 8C8P connectors, not RJ45 unless used for phone company service in a specific configuration]
But semi-joking pedantic part-troll aside, absobloodylutely. I hate this trend for wireless everything. Wifi is useful for MOBILE devices in a specific place. it's ideal for my phone in my home. Everything that's static, INCLUDING the google chromecast, is wired.
Hue hub does the same. It actually has wifi on board but disabled. Some enterprising people have hacked it back in on some older revisions of the firmware I believe.
[addition after a day of thought: wifi is also handy for people renting, who can't drill holes/cable their home, although to be honest any modern rental should be wired with at least cat5E to every room]
@@TheChipmunk2008 In this case, just place the gateway near the router. The antenna to antenna distance will be already much larger than on the same PCB / in same box. Besides, here it's common that you're allowed to do reversible changes to a rental like drilling holes. But yeah, every house should have decent ethernet distribution.
I too generally prefer wired connections but for little things like this with minimal bandwidth requirements Wi-Fi really can make more sense. Mainly because Wi-Fi devices don't use up switch ports. Switch ports cost money while low-activity wireless associations are basically free. If there is any continuous data use (such as streaming media devices) then even if the bandwidth isn't much it can take airtime away from real devices and thus wired is preferred. Really wired networking should at least be an option whenever practical. I'm mildly annoyed at my Wi-Fi only printer which really should also have Ethernet but get super annoyed with laptops without Ethernet.
I actually paused your video, walked to Lidl and bought these. Nice. Thank you Julian
Oh cheers Daz - the power of advertising (and I'm not on commission this time)
Chiming in from the Netherlands. All of our normal breakers are 16A and the main breaker is usually either 1x 35A or 3x 25A for three-phase.
I can't wait for the day when my toilet and septic tank become smart and connected to the internet so I have continuous live data from both of them, I've been waiting so long for these things😳
Well monitoring of a septic tank _does_ seems like a nice thing to have.
But yeah, people can get carried away with 'smart' devices.
Looks well made to me. When you think what a single core of a live cable is in thickness, that wide track looks ok for 13A to me. Flat on the PCB as opposed to covered in double insulated plastic like the single core of a live wire.
Not to mention it's via stitched to the duplicate layer on the other side, so it's double thick, solder slathered on the far side and the vias are solder filled.
If they sell the gateways cheap just buy one and return it with the original receipt so you get the better price. 🤷🏻♂️
Tuya is a hardware independent smart home software solution and many different hardware vendors use Tuya instead of rolling their own cloud service, app, etc. This means that you can pair this with the "Tuya Smart" app along with completely different Tuya compatible products. If have not finished your video yet, there are quite nice Blitzwolf switchable sockets which also measure power consumption.
It looks like all the Lidl stuff that you have shown is well-made and not bad quality!
I have two problems with 'smart' devices that require an account.
One, you have to grant and trust an outside source with access to your network and the other is what happens when they decide to shut down thier server!
Devices running of a locally hosted server are a better option and that may be flushable with custom firmware to run on a locally hosted home automation environment.
I agree. For my network rebuild I'm even going to put the networked printers on a segregated network because I don't really trust their firmware.
But one thing here, the power strip itself is Zigbee. I'm not an expert on that but I believe it should work fine with your own gateway. I believe the account is only needed for their own gateway which Julian bought.
Nice video. Please review and teardown more of these home automation products.
Yes it's 16A from the wall here in France :) (shared on each line from the breaker)
In a lot of buildings the 16A sockets are on a 20A breaker (up to 8 sockets on a 20A breaker with 2.5mm2 cable is allowed by code). So you can pull up to 20A from one socket - even a decent extension cord will get quite warm if you do that...
@@DerHeilendeLotus but is it build like this on average? I think no...
In Germany many houses are 16Amps B characteristic automatic, 1,5mm² and loots of outlets, should be up to code
6812 sounds like a maxim number. That looks like a well built unit.I woulda also the the actual output capacity of the USB ports.
This switching on with litle delay is very clever. It helps a lot if you have 2 or 3 devices with switching power source plugged in to deal with inrush current.
Here in NZ most of the extension sockets are riveted together, clearly not made to be opened. Really annoying.
I don't think I like the idea of the USB being powered all the time, apart from being very wasteful it will shorted it's useful life.
It's funny, they always have a large capacitor laying right tightly against the heatsink. Designed to shorten it's life, cannot have things lasting too long can we.
The USB psu actually is double fused (reddish brown rectangles). One is on the psu itself, and one is right before the solder lugs for the wires off the strip board.
The simple answer is to unplug the extension lead when not in use or only plug in to a switch socket so it can be switched off when not required. The point is, it is an extension not meant for fixed continues use, it is a short life cheep stop gap. Julian is going to test it for us, Wait till it fails or not, just like the little diesel heater that failed.
Those tracks will be carrying up to 16 amps in France, so 13 amps in the UK should be okay.
3:52 Greece has the euro rounded bi-pin with ground like other countries in the EU, Cyprus i think has primarily the square pin like you had mentioned.
Cyprus has both Greek and Turkish citizens. So they have both.
I think a lot of people have been buying these to use with their non-Lidl ZigBee installs, which might be why there were lots of unsold hubs
Good review, I've bought quite a few electrical items & power tools from Lidl over the years and always found most of them are of decent quality and well built.
As you said, is that Printed circuit up to carrying a 13 amp load be interesting to plug a 3 kW load into the furthest socket & run it for an hour or so & check how warm the unit becomes especially when the circuit board is inside its case.
Welcome to the world of home automation, Julian. It can become very addictive!
Another addiction I could do without :)
@@JulianIlett I know exactly what you mean!
Won't be long before @Julian Ilett rolls his own.
Ooooooh! The ZigBee!
Corporate greed , corporate greed !!
Beat me to it.
aye, the do have a bit of a stigma, rightly.
Came onto the comments just to thumbs up the first person to say it :D
Zigbee works on 2.4ghz, so a WiFi zigbee hub is probably going to suffer from lots of interference. I bought one of these a fortnight ago. Hooked up to my home assistant it seems to work very well. I’ve been very pleased with all the Lidl zigbee things I’ve bought and I’ve collated quite a few bits over the last few weeks. Still a pile of hubs sat in my local store. Zigbee devices work with any hub so those that want these things generally already have the hub bit. IKEA tradfri is another cheap option.
Zigbee is 2.4GHz but very reliable in home automation, much better than normal Wifi devices. For starters much lower on (standby) power and it has the nature of creating a mesh with every active device, so every lamp of switch will become a repeater.
They weren't "smart" enough to put a Fourth Three pin socket on it - it doesn't feed my OCD very well with that big blank space! :)
Yeah, but 3 is a magic number :)
@@JulianIlett 3 is enough for driving RGB LED's lamps and christmas tree lights, also available from Lidl. Same Chip?
Just to blow your OCD to a new level, one way, two way, four way, six way, eight way and ten way mains extension sockets are widely available 😁
Zigbee is a gateway to abilities that Lidl wouldn't teach you! You can setup a Zigbee2MQTT gateway (Andreas Spiess and NotEnoughTech have a lot of good info on getting it running on a Pi, but can run on any little Linux box you might have already doing something). Zigbee2MQTT can act as a single gateway for all brands of zigbee stuff (Hue, Ikea, random stuff from china) and to WiFi home automation hear too. You can run your own App on the server and tablet, so not sharing your data with the cloud - but you can also install NodeRed and chain all sorts of sensors into your setup, to say, turn on the antminers when it gets below 15c in the shed. There is a visual coding UI where you link nodes up, but you can create a code node, and write your own code. There are nodes that get the sunrise and sunset times for your location so you can incorporate that too. My hallway lights are on a motion sensor, but only come on when it's nigthtime, but when its really late at night; they come on at only 20% brightness so as to not blind you when yo nip to the bathroom, or the kitchen for a glass of water. It's super addictive hobby!
Not a fan of mains sockets on a pcb, the solder joints will eventually crack from plugging/unplugging stuff, specially if the contacts have a decent clamping force. Hard pass for me.
if the plastics guide and hold the plug, the PCB is just swipping the contacts.
it depends.
Yes, don't like those folded U shaped sockets either. Seen way too many contact heating problems with them. A bit of dirt on the pin that a normal socket would wipe clear, can cause massive thermal damage. Once they lose their 'spring' due to heat, the damage just cascades.
Yes, you are supposed to be able to pull 16A from a socket in mainland Europe.
Mate of mine ordered some heaters for his shed, he was surprised to have them delivered by Just Eat, then he realised his mistake, he'd ordered fajitas.
hello !
most domestic plugs in france are 16A 3 pins plugs.
in not so old habitations (like 1980's), there is 2 pins 16A and 3 pins 32A plugs.
in older houses we also have 2 pins 6A plugs and 3 pins 20A plugs.
6A pins are 4mm diameter like on russians plugs.
16A pins are 4.8mm.
(all 3 pins plugs mentionned are for live, neutral and security ground.)
The Hub is wired to make more profit, even though Zigbee is a wireless protocol the cheap chips that do it are not wifi compatible, you could in theory use an ESP32 and hook that up to a zigbee module.
Seems quite useful and well made...we will see....Cheers.
Mainland europe is 20A per circuit (for newer houses). A circuit Is allowed to have up to 8 sockets.
Old houses may be limited to 10A or 16A
Max current per individual outlets depends on the country.
Individual sockets are rated for up to 16A
Houses typically are limited to 40A total.
Higher than 40A and/or 3 phase and/or higher than 220V (400, 500, 690V) is available depending on where you live...
11:30 6812, SOT8 AFC/QC2.0/QC3.0 18W 9V Fast Charge chip w/ optional USB 2.0 pass-thru. fairly generic in these types of things. the AFC plug that came with my Tab S7 has that same chip.
The Emporia wifi switch US $7 also is a power meter app built in .2watt to 1800watts.
Generally, the Type G plug/socket used in the UK also got used in countries that used to be part of the old British Empire if they were modernising their wiring standards at the time in the mid-20th century, so that's why Cyprus and Ireland etc also have it.
Yes, now it will be 100% safety instructions. The other day I was looking at a can of paint and they didn't have room to even say how long it takes to dry because the can was covered with safety instruction in a bunch of languages.
They let you buy a can of paint without signing a waiver? Negligent! 😉
@@thomas316 Their system did actually require an ID check.
If the Lidl smart socket is anything like the generic one I've got, that has 3 UK mains sockets and 3 USB outlets, the USB outlets are also switchable via ZigBee, but together as a group. So they're not necessarily on all the time.
If you had to sign up for an account. Switch off the internet and see if it works. That may account for the delay as it contacts some chinese server.
It looks as if the high current tracks run in parallel on both sides of the board - stitched together with via holes - So that may help carry the current
Yes, I saw that... I'd still side with julian about plugging the higher power equipment into socket 1 however.
LAN is really common on gateways. Even the Samsung gateway didn't add wifi at all until the 3rd generation, and even then, they keep the LAN option.
I'm a huge Silvercrest fan. I've got a Freesat reciever from Lidl, (about 18 years ago), and a 10 device Universal Remote with learn function on all 10, (about 8 years ago).
Also I think the warning on the back means don't plug other Smart extention leads into it.
Zigbee is two way, so the app would get a confirmation. You are right that the flashing is for pairing.
Zigbee 3.0 is the current standard. Usually most devices that are Zigbee 3.0 are compatible with each other.
ZigBee won't talk directly to your phone and forms a mesh network, and is extremely efficient with battery devices. Ethernet is needed (either WiFi or Cabled) for you to be able to communicate with the hub via your network :)
IF you can set the ZigBee channel, make sure it is at 15 or 20. If you go down into the lower channels, it will be in the same channels as WiFi :)
The colour change bulbs and strips are useful in your lab and filming areas for colour balancing.
I've got a very similar looking one from Gosund, although it's without Zigbee so probably not the same. Mine had USB Ports rated at 5v 3A .... it couldn't even take 800mA at a single USB Port before the Voltage dropped massively.
Everything is alright, its Chinese rated 3A@0V means 0,5A@5V which is enough
The reason the hub uses Ethernet vs WiFi is that ethernet requires no config or setup, just DHCP on your router and it's good to go automatically. Wifi would generate a ton of calls to their support. Plus, it is immune to interference unlike wifi.should lower latency at the same time.
The flat not good shielded WiFi cable is used as an antenna to funnel trash frequency into your switch :-)
First thing to go to the bin
Really complicated but very nicely made. ;)
Well, the Slough Lidl, only had one empty gateway box for the last few weeks. If they move stock around stores, one day they will desapear from your store and appear in another.
Latching relays are more safer 16A i think 3800w relay ? I would put 1kw heater though it and thermal camera on the Relays to be shore
As soon as the video started I knew this was a Lidl SMART plug. Looks nice and was good value.
OK, the only problem I have with these SMART devices is they are APP controlled. So, what happens if the Internet is down? 2) What happens when the APP's server no longer exists? 3) Can we bypass the SMART controller and manually override it? I know this is Zigbee, so theoretically could be controlled by any compatible device, but do we have the datasheet to do that?
I do have a SAMSUNG SMART Tumble Dryer that is controllable through an app, but I'm still not convinced by all this. Am I being over-paranoid by loss of Internet control if things change in the future despite the dryer having manual control?
@Mr Brightside I agree. Tumble dryers should never left unattended anyway, as they have been responsible for many serious fires!
It is not a heavy-weight copper on the PCB, it's a double-side copper.
Zigbee smart stuff is excellent. One of the first and still most well known are the Philips Hue.
Mind you, Philips is Zigbee LL (lightlink) and not fully 3.0 compliant, so it has limitations and some "smart" proprietary controls that make Hue especially good with Hue products, but nowadays OK with Ikea Tradfri, GLEDOpto and the Lidl Smart stuff, for example. There are many reasons why Zigbee is superior in home automation than Wifi.
A Zigbee gateway is just that, a bridge from a Zigbee network (which is like a mesh, most connected devices will work as a repeater) to a normal network (LAN of WiFi). That will allow out-of-home control with app and stuff.
Very addictive and really usefull, like anti-burglar, lazy dimming and color-experience, more advanced smart control, too many to list here...
LMAO you set MY google assistant off :p
lmao
My I ask - doesn't it make you nervous to have someone/something listening to your entire life? I'm not a troll, I'm just old and jaded.
@@TechGorilla1987 it does a little... But I'm a bit more technical than most... I watch what it's doing on the network. And usually I don't have a lot to hide. But yes it certainly IS a consideration. And I own a 'dumb'phone also. I don't have any devices like Alexa or Amazon echo.
I like home automation but I prefer to do it without stuff connecting to the internet. Seems unnecessary unless you want to switch your bedroom light on from another country lol
Oh and'me too' re old and jaded
Ask your Google assistant whether she listens to everything you say. I just did - her answer was unreassuringly long.
@@JulianIlett Yeah, like I said, it's definitely something you have to take into account. I assume she's sending everything to google (pretty sure she is, because I get WAY too many targeted ads for things i've just been talking about)
The Schuko plug (France and a lot of Europe use) is rated at 16A
Wy would you spend money on Lidl gateway if you can use a raspberry pi to set up Home Assistant and among hundreds of other integrations have a seamless support for all Zigbee devices out there?
Imagine going on holiday with 10+ Smart sockets , bulbs. Alexas, Googles etc on 24 hours a day 365 days a year in your home - fire hazard does come to mind!
Thin tracks ;--) you should pull a 13 amp fuse apart and look at how thin that fuse wire is.
Also for interest look at "fuse factor" and compare it to the old fuse wire cards for old style UK house fuse boxes. It is stunning how many amps you can put through a 5amp fuse wire (I think the wired fuse wire was rated at 2.5 fuse factor) yep 5amp fuse wire will get hot if you run 13amp through it.
Besides wired being much more reliable, the Zigbee and WiFi channels overlap significantly, so it's much easier to make a high quality reliable zigbee hub without a WiFi radio built in.
i was wondering when you going to get into the smart home stuff. i have a feeling it's not the last time.
Looks like tuya enabled zigbee module, so realtek most likely as its what they use now, if not maybe some kinda ESP hack job
Could potentially, use an ESP, and convert the strip to tasmota enabled wifi smart strip
“Do not connect after each other”
Translation: Do not daisy chain
Edit: Ah, you worked it out
That's my comment style; say something, then realise they corrected it a bit later!
In the single socket version it is possible to hack it to use a 5v supply enabling you to use the relay to control low voltage equipment
13A limit? In the US we have the freedom to draw as much as we want. We can daisy chain power strips until the wires begin to melt and get toasty.
Hardwire the fuse and you can do that in the UK as well...
They daisy-chain 240vac from one RCD and that's why their plugs have fuses. 13amps at 240vac is about 26amps at 120vac.
@@TechGorilla1987 RCD and fuses are totally different protections. One (RCD) protects against electric shock whereas the other (plug fuses) protect against fire (Current overload).
The reason plugs have fuses is to protect the cable connected to the plug, if they didn't have fuses then the cable would need to have a large and impractical CSA (roughly 5mm2), this is because they are connect to a 32A protected ring final circuit.
Yes but only 120VAC, not 220-240 like most other places
Carl, as I understand it, US homes do have current limited supplies, the limit being set by the (circuit) breaker for that circuit or circuits.
@20m08s: Julian shows his Zigbee module's QR code to the Internet. His Lidl Smart Extension Lead is thus switched off and on every five seconds until the end of time. :-)
Total tangent: how's the humidity in the Modular Shed™? I've just bought a desiccant dehumidifier and, as well as being brilliant at making my crappy-little-rented-end-of-terrace less mouldy, it warms the place nicely!
My first thoughts are where was it made, is the fuse actually in circuit, is the cable real copper, do they all ship with the same IOT password ? Lidl stuff tends to be quite good but is there any chinesium in it and is the earth wire connected ?
Watching the video - - Opto isolator separation looks good, but that electrolytic touching the heat sink :(
Does the switch mode transformer at least look like it has a double isolated secondary.
Using an online calculator, 13amp and 1 oz copper requires 25mm track width, that's 1/2 inch at 2 oz (without tinning), a soldered 13A connection is always questionable :(
A good point about confirmation, but there is a difference between the device acknowledging a socket (n) on or off command and confirming that there is or is not power at socket (n), ideally the device needs to confirm that the command has been received and given with also a real world power is on / off check :(
A mod that I would make would be to solder some 2.5mm copper wire full length of the power and earth track.
Resistance and the other tests with Electricians test equipment would be interesting to read, especially from Dave Savery :)
I was interested until it was said "why would you want to" when it came to switching USB sockets.
I want Zigbee controlled inline USB switching but as they don't seem to exist because of this crazy attitude that demands we waste electricity every chance we get, I have to adapt a Sonoff Basic mains switch (which are really good) to run off USB power and have a USB socket. I don't WiFI USB sockets ... I have too much WiFI. I like Zigbee. I have everything set-up on Zigbee. I prefer 868Mhz stuff - I like WirelessThings LLAP ... but we have to make do with what we can and 2.4GHz Zigbee which can mesh is pretty reliable and does most of what I want.
I don't want to power circuitry just for the hell of it, wasting electricity as unwanted heat.
I just wanna switch 5V. I like USB stuff. I have lots of USB stuff. I want to switch it. Without having to get out a soldering iron.
Why is this such a taboo thing? Why do people say "why would you want to?" ????????
I bought one almost exactly the same from Amazon and a month later got a product recall notice that had been issued because the casing failed a pressure test if a plug was pressed too hard But then within a couple of weeks the recall notice was rescinded, quite strange.
That is strange :)
Hello;
I've baught pt2272 m4 couple. But only one buton can operate and the others not. What would be the problem*? the distance of remmote is very very low alo... Im waiting your answer.
3kW through that thing is a call for disaster.
Dont worry when he puts his hand on the plug to pull it out he will realise this.....zzzzzzapppppp burn aghhhh!
App is smart life / tuya with Lidl badge on it on it, you should be able interact with all tuya WiFi and tuya ZigBee devices on smart life app.
There white bulbs are very good, at there price.
Yeah, I'm hoping I can add some Ikea stuff to the network too :)
@@JulianIlett Get a Tuya temperature module and monitor shed or auto adjust the heater or fans... 🥴 About £13
Why is not connecting over WiFi a good thing (at 55 seconds)? The Gateway does. All you are doing is sending info and data to somewhere in China or ... who knows where?
The only thing that sucks with this is
it doesn't have hooks to bolt it under a cabinet
AFAIK you don't need the gateway if using with ZigBee compatible controllers, similar to the IKEA wireless light bulbs which can connect directly to certain smart assistants (Echo dot + being one of them I believe) without needing the IKEA gateway.
And yes, most European outlets are 16A and appear to be much better rated for the current than UK plugs where 10A is the recommend maximum draw for long term use with a story I heard that the GPO would only allow ~8A if both the plug and socket were not MK and in good condition.
Lastly German and French plugs are different, with the Schuko using trips top and bottom for earthing and the French using a pin on the outlet and hole on the plug, they are similar enough, though, that the standard now is to use a plug with both earthing systems which will fit in either socket.
Yes, the old 15A sockets were much chunkier. Usually 1 or 2 15A sockets on a 15A fuse. Plugs were unfused. Oddly the original 13A sockets and plugs were quite happy at 13A continuous. The requirement for sleeved pins messed that up because it reduced the CSA of the brass pins. And of course now everything's built down to a price. I collect the old unsleeved plugs because i have no kids in the house and they're just better made.
Do you mean the 15A sockets with round pins? Aren't they still in use in some countries?
@@JulianIlett AFAIK India still use them and South Africa are moving over to Schuko from them. Still used a lot in the entertainment industry for lighting where the lack of a fuse is a big advantage.
@@JulianIlett Yes, South Africa uses a functionally identical plug, but re-rated to 16A to match modern breaker sizes. India still uses the same old BS546 style rated at 15A. Probably a lot of smaller former colonies have a few left as well. And of course they're still technically allowed now in the UK. Used in theatres a lot as you probably know, but they can also be used for stuff in domestic circumstances that goes JUST over 13A. (some integral ovens are 3.5kw, if you want them to be plug in/out for cleaning/servicing, a BS546 15A plug is ideal)
The 5A and 2A variants are still fairly widely used in pubs and restaurants for table lighting and so forth to stop punters unplugging them to charge their phone LOL.
The U.K. 13A plugs are still required to be capable of 13A continuous. I’ve not heard anything about anyone down rating them.
In actual fact, I’ve seen an extension lead (rated at 13A and using a normal 13A plug with a normal 13A fuse) with two 2kW electric heaters plugged in. This had been left in use for at least a couple of weeks. No signs of the plug, lead or the extension having overheated. And yes, both heaters were switched on. Although they both had thermostats.
The old GPO no longer exists, are you referring to the postal service: Royal Mail or the telecommunications company: BT (British Telecom)?
My dad worked for the GPO before it was split up and the government privatised it.
Looks like a neat and useful system.
The plug contacts look strange. Almost as if they are on their side. When you plug a plug into it, the pins of the plug look as if they wont have as good connection and might spark a bit... and with use, the metal might bend out of place quicker. Looks as if a lot of work went into the product yet skimped on a basic part.
Would the 13 amps not be on the line going into the device. Each socket might be divided by 3? Maybe the first one would handle more.
I was thinking of the thickness of the traces. You couldn't plug 13 amps into each one. That would be 39 amps total.
by the way NI is the country code for Nicaragua and the famously English speaking part of GB as you thought possible.
That thing about PCB tracks being able to carry large current has often been my concern too. Many devices that I have examined simply do not seem to have enough track width for the rated current in my mind. Perhaps it is because the PCB tracks are very wide in relation to thickness, and the tracks are adhered to the PCB substrate, that they are able to withstand more heating than a round wire of equal cross section? I don't really know. Think about a modern PC motherboard, it has to supply a total of hundreds of amps to the CPU because the voltage is so low!! Seems impossible for those minutely thin (vertically) PCB tracks! Of course the power planes can be huge in the 2 dimensions along the PCB, but still...
The mains tracks are duplicated on both sides of the board and stitched with vias
@@timballam3675 Okay, though vias don't really help in this sense since they are mainly vertical (perpendicular) connections.
Interesting in the video, I can hear a high freq coil wine when only switch one is on with no load.
Hey Julian my Mini wants to know what you want! ;)
Kinda curious if any heating occurs when it's carrying the full 13A. Could you dig out the infra red camera and have a look at it?
You set everyone's hey google off !!!!!
why didnt they go with the sliding relays, that really bugs me
My first langauge isn't English and I perfectly understood what they meant by "connect after each other". I am always afraid I will express myself that makes sense to me, but not for someone who speaks English primarily.
I think - The word ( after ) is the problem for Julian, Because of the way I and most English primarily speaking people have been taught to compose a sentence. More ways to write the same - Do not chain connect USB - Do Not Chain USB - English slang = Do not Daisy chain USB. Also never be afraid to express, that's the real problem everyone is suppressed in some way and afraid. That is the difference between leaders and sheep.
Warning if any one buy the lidl gateway. It does not work with Alexa only google
Can't you create an alexa skill yourself that does tuya/mqtt something generic that will work with this?
You can add a Boost converter to one of the USB Port's. so you can get 12v at the O/p & you can charge your 3s pack.
I'm I right...? 😊
Yeah at less than half the current on the 5V rail.. Not good
If you are only going to be controlling it whilst in you shed, then what's the point (other than curiosity, nothing wrong with that). Surely a normal switched extension would be easier and better. I could understand if you wanted to control the heaters from inside the house 30 minutes before went there but you said it would only be controlled within the shed. Can you explain more?
I believe you misunderstood Julian's comment. He said the _controlled_ devices will only be in the shed, not the _controlling_ devices. He is going to turn on the heaters from inside the house before he goes out.
@@eDoc2020 Thanks. I thought it seemed strange. Must get my ears cleaned.👍
Zigbee and Wifi both operate at 2.4Ghz.
Which is stupid at best.. They will collide which is kind of stupiud
i will be surprised if it dosnt come out of the box damaged
having to use a app that talks to something other then the product directly? Built in obsolence(sp)
Zigbee is not wifi and so needs a hub.
Any zigbee/sonoff zigbee hub will work.
@@AJB2K3 still he is right
Yeah you have to buy a new device when android or the cloud provider deciders so fk tuya
Hmm run heaters over an extension lead? I don’t think so 🤔
Yea it can result in melted plastic, hot plugs and floppy overheated wires 😫
They're not actually heaters, but "heaters" because antminer asic rigs produce a lot of heat.
Really why not if it's a properly-rated extension? Obviously running a 12A heater on a 10A extension is bad but why not on a 15A extension?
The safety instructions have nothing to do with EU it's to with the company not wanting to get sued! Enjoy your Brexit
Zzzz
At the risk of being controversial, some of them ARE because of the EU, the sensible ones, due to consumer rights laws. And there's nothing enjoyable about brexshit :( (which doesn't deserve a capital)
Yes, sometimes the more safety warnings there are the less safe an item is. If things were designed correctly they would not need the warning. Like in the US they allow the sale of 13amp extension cords with a warning of ‘don’t plug in more than 13amps’. That warning should go away and they should be required to put 13 amp fuse in. The wall plug is at least 15amp so those extension cords will burst into flames before 15 amps trips.
brexit will make very little if any difference to the existing safety instructions. In fact in various areas brexit is causing lots more red tape. In the future if the U.K. diverges from the E.U., you will end up with EVEN MORE safety instructions, as the U.K. will get extra ones on top of the existing ones (as the existing ones will still be provided).
Yes, this is not suitable for Greece, you would need to use adapters on all the plugs :D Still funny seeing Greek on the packaging, obviously for the people in Cyprus...
Don't install the Lidl app, use the tuya app as the lidl one if missing some much needed functions.
There is no "CLOUD". It is just another person's computer!
How long before that gateway becomes part of a botnet? Two weeks, tops?
isnt zigbee what your smart electric and gas meter use for a supposedly secure interface to the central metering database? Great! so someone can buy that network hub and see your meters on the network LOL
The fuse may be marked 13A but is it genuine? Fake fuses are now so widespread, even in reputable brands, who are also now victims of the fakers, that, if you don't know the providence of a fuse, the risks are too great and you should replace it with one you do.
wired is normaly used for setup once set up it can be wirless
Surprised you didn't build your own Tasmota setup!