diy solar

diy solar

Disagreeing with a Youtuber - DC Breaker Safety Concerns

Thermodynamical

:̸̢̤̩̹͙̞̲̫̓̽
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
36
Good evening,

I recently watched a couple minutes of a popular youtuber named David Poz advertise an affordable, unknown brand 100+ Amp DC circuit breaker. In the video he mentioned the breaker was UL listed. I was highly skeptical of the price and quality, so I searched for it online. I work with UL/CSA products as part of my job and could not find his affiliate linked breaker in the UL database. I understand it's common in the DIY space to use unlisted products. I have a few random items myself. For the most part, I think it's generally okay to tinker with nonessential unlisted stuff, provided the proper training and circuit protection is in place. After all, this is a pretty DIY space. The item though, a safety CB, was certainly unlisted even though he stated it was. I posted a couple comments explaining my thoughts and included a link to the UL directory so one could see for themselves that the rating does not exist.

My question is, is it common for popular youtubers to delete disagreeing comments? Or perhaps does the youtube machine simply delete comments with links to protect users? I am new-ish to the youtube space so I'm a little ignorant.

Thanks,
thermo
 
Social media is set up to remove comments that are not in line with the desired opinions and feedback in general.

Once you post a sufficient number of logical and educated comments that do not fit the desired outcome, then people get banned.

I have seen it happen on linkedin, IG, twitter, FB, etc and no I am not banned but have to bite my tongue sometimes.
 
Last edited:
I just looked at the Poz video again and there are multiple comments questioning the certifications and who certified them.

Not sure why yours would be removed and not the others.
 
I look at the prints on the circuit breaker, it does not show DC rating all, if it can handle DC then it should be printed.
BTW, I also work in the lab that I perform testing the product per UL/CSA, my boss is member of UL compliance committee, we also have CSA guy that comes to the lab to observe/inspect my testing before signing off.
 
I look at the prints on the circuit breaker, it does not show DC rating all, if it can handle DC then it should be printed.
BTW, I also work in the lab that I perform testing the product per UL/CSA, my boss is member of UL compliance committee, we also have CSA guy that comes to the lab to observe/inspect my testing before signing off.
Oh cool. You have an interesting job then. I work with explosion proof nat gas stuff overall myself. We recently finished our intertek training. I'm a bit new to this world of certifications lol. But anyways, man. I feel bad for if somebody sticks a "breaker" like that in their basement and it explodes.

Also yes, both of my comments were deleted JoeHam. To give Poz the benefit of the doubt, I wonder if a particular setting exists that prevents posting of links in the youtube settings (my comments had UL website links). I also could just be a cranky, whinging engineer today.
 
We recently had a forum member get scammed / tricked (admittedly it was a very obvious phishing attempt, but these people prey on the vulnerable) through a youtube comment with a link in the comment section of one of Will's videos. Its quite likely that youtube spam prevention algorithms may be tuned to interpret comments with links as spam. I dont know if that is true or not, but seems logical.

On the topic of your post, I do get frustrated with the prevalence of people promoting cheap off-brand safety equipment from Amazon etc, that are often not properly rated (especially for LFP). I understand that views + referral links are where the $$ comes from for bloggers/youtubers, and that videos on budget items that can be bought through major platforms are money makers, but its frustrating nonetheless to see shoddy products promoted and see so little coverage/discussion of the dry but important safety considerations and technical details.
 
Last edited:
If I use anything in my house/van/rv/camper/tent/outhouse
It needs to be major brand and/or UL rated.

This is for something that will be run 24/7

For items I use as a hobby for a few hours during camping/fishing, and handful of times a year, pass me your Aliexpress rejects :)

I stopped buying recommended stuff after I learned hard lessons from some stupid heat shrink wire connectors.
 
There are other marks accepted by USA & Canada. ETL for one. They certify a product to the UL Standards.
 
I've commented on YT on occasion and went back to see if anyone noticed. Sometimes it is really hard to find my comment.

I've been burned by "recommended" breakers also. They certainly weren't DC breakers. Now I know. Fortunately, I didn't spend much on them.
 
My question is, is it common for popular youtubers to delete disagreeing comments? Or perhaps does the youtube machine simply delete comments with links to protect users?
This I don't know but the other comments questioning the suitability of the breaker don't appear to have links.

Maybe repost but describing how to check without posting an actual link.
 
Semi related, what is the correct trip curve for this application? C seems too slow, but I haven't seen any guidelines.
 
David's technical inaccuracies have been brought up multiple times on this form already. To me, he's the definition of "paid product reviews".

I wouldn't take any advice from him.


Money clouds judgement.

I trust a channel that provides a recommendation but as soon as I see affliliate links for the recomended product I don't pay attantion to them.
 
Semi related, what is the correct trip curve for this application? C seems too slow, but I haven't seen any guidelines.
That depends on your load type. Things with lots of surge current need a slow blow. Other, "fixed" current systems would generally have a fast blow.

Find your maximum running amperage, and then figure out your maximum surge requirements. Your surge vs time curve should match the breakers.
 
This specific breaker seems to have a DC amp rating (unlike many others)

It's questionable if this is genuine, or just a print without any specific testing.

I've commented in this video already, my main concern is the low breaking capability of only 10kA.

I personally prefer the high quality branded stuff, even if it's used.

Our UPS has for example a massive 250A breaker/switch from ABB. Weight is like 5kg or so, and damn expensive Bussman fuses (over $200 each or so). If that UPS is getting replaced, I don't hesitate to re-use those parts.
I prefer it actually above those small unknown 'new' breakers.

I think he is not really clear about this specific breaker. Anyone with a little less knowledge would think any of those small ones are suitable while actually there are only a few, and only with limited breaking capacity.

I would install a decent class T or NH fuse. Those can handle at least 10 times the current (100kA or more)

I noticed Andy from @Off-Grid-Garage uses similar ones, but I haven't looked into those specific specs for the current breaking rating.

Still waiting for someone to do a dead short on a fully charged 48V bank with massive short wires and measure the peak current :)


As for deleting posts. In my experiences this is much less happening on YT.
I've recently been banned from a FB group since the owner does believe LFP only takes a few amps to charge and you couldn't achieve over 10A charging amps, unless you did boost the voltage wayyy up. (over 15V). When I mentioned he was wrong and showed mine taking 60A he requested me to delete the post since I was providing false information in 1 hour or he would ban me... which he did..... moron..
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, I sometimes suspect Will has fallen into the same pot hole as other YTers.
I bought some of the tools he recommended, just to be outright disappointed. They don't work like he advertises (makes things look easy, when they are not, and the tools don't work flawlessly like in the vids). I also saw some Amazon comments and reviews on the products he recommended on his site (Large guage wire with lugs for example), and many of them were bad reviews, mentioning quality and safety issues.

I love Will and his informative videos. I think that my interest in solar started from seeing one of his videos.
But the moment that affiliate links are involved, I think there is a bad taste to these recommendations.

I learned the hard way, to take these YT recommendations with a large grain of salt.

Again, it's not just Will, it's probably 99% of the YTers out there.
 
Unfortunately, I sometimes suspect Will has fallen into the same pot hole as other YTers.
This is what I've heard........nothing gets attention if it can't get a nickle and preferably more squeesed out of it.
 
Youtube has become such a bad platform for technical discussion, I've wasted several hours of my life trying to construct helpful comments, and they just get voted into oblivion, replaced by "YT presenter name, you're incredible, amazing, free energy, how are you so incredibly brilliant, you've saved the world, love the product, I've brought 400." Removing the down-vote ratio means you now have no idea if a technical video is total bullshit, unless you trawl through the comments - looking for the useful ones....
 
Oh cool. You have an interesting job then. I work with explosion proof nat gas stuff overall myself. We recently finished our intertek training. I'm a bit new to this world of certifications lol. But anyways, man. I feel bad for if somebody sticks a "breaker" like that in their basement and it explodes.

Also yes, both of my comments were deleted JoeHam. To give Poz the benefit of the doubt, I wonder if a particular setting exists that prevents posting of links in the youtube settings (my comments had UL website links). I also could just be a cranky, whinging engineer today.

It happens to me too in YT.
If I post with an url then it is "lost".
I can see it, but if I check it from another browser (not logged in) then the post is not there.
Also sometimes my post is deleted in seconds (no vulgarities, no url, a simple post like this). Not by the video owner. Some weird algorithm is deleting comments. Maybe Skynet :LOL:
 
Back
Top