Comment on Let's talk about Prusa Printables contests. It might need some fixing.
HewlettHackard@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
They definitely don’t know what they’re doing. They featured this one, which is a death trap. It has a disclaimer that it might not be safe above 120V, but it’s absolutely unsafe and a code violation in the US, where we use 120V (and are very litigious). The disclaimer says they’re trying to get it approved which implies they believe it could be and that the design is sound, but fundamentally it cannot meet code in the US for mains voltage use.
Even if the design were sound, there are material requirements, and having seen the quality of prints some people find acceptable, there’s no chance allowing random people online to print their own boxes is safe.
I think they basically run the contests and feature things based on “ooh this is neat” and “this will excite people to use 3d printers”. It’s a marketing thing, and I guess I accept it because I have low expectations of even pretty-good businesses. But if it’s illegal…someone should probably let them know.
The disclaimer says they’re trying to get it approved which implies they believe it could be
That’s a tough one and I doubt they will succeed with this. As far as I know, they would need to certify a material + process (3d-printer & settings, slicer-software & settings) + 3D-model combination. Far easier to certify a product containing 3D-printed parts than a 3D model/file.
huskypenguin@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
It’s not a death trap it’s just not to code. Possible fire risk? Sure. But there’s a lot of things that are too code that are fire risk as well.
Mainly it needs a disclaimer that it’s not to code for the US and for low voltage projects only.