When WiFi smart sockets (aka smart plugs) started to appear a few years ago, they were often only available with either US or China plugs, and users from Europe, UK or other locales may have had to use an adapter instead. Since then, products that ship with multiple versions such as Sonoff S26 or Orvibo Wiwo S20 have launched in order to cater to more people around the world.
ITEAD has now launched another WiFi smart socket, namely Sonoff S55, that’s designed to work outdoors thanks to IP55 ingress protection rating, and is offered in six different variants for Australia, Germany, France, the United States, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
Sonoff S55 specifications:
- Input/Output
- S55TPI(AU) – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 10A Max
- S55TPF(DE) – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 16A Max
- S55TPE(FR) – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 16A Max
- S55TPB(US) – AC 125V 50/60Hz 10A Max
- S55TPD(ZA)- AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 10A Max
- S55TPG(UK) – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 13A Max
- Connectivity – IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
- Dimensions – 85 x 70 x 70mm (Material: PC V0)
- Certifications – FCC & CE
- IP Rating – IP55 (weatherproof / splashproof)
Sonoff S55 can be controlled using eWelink app on smartphones running Android 4.1 or iOS 9.0 or greater, or voice commands via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant/Nest. The app allows you to remotely turn on/off devices, schedule devices on/off at a preset time(s), share devices with your friends to control them together, sync the real-time device status changes to your phone, and integrates with IFTTT service.
If you’d rather control it with a web browser, MQTT or Domoticz, you may eventually be able to install Sonoff-Tasmota open-source firmware. It’s not supported yet since it’s just been announced.
Interested? You can get one of those for $14.99 on Banggood with free shipping, at least during the pre-order period with shipping scheduled for the end of September. ITEAD also sells the smart sockets on their own website, where you’ll find the user manual, quick installation guide, and FCC & CE certification documents.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I always ask me the question I you schedule these things to switch on at certain times, do you program the unit or is it the cloud who controls it. With other words, if the wifi drops, does the socket still follow it’s schedule? If yes why don’t they put a rtc in it so they can work independent.
I refuse to use Sonoff products until they can pass testing by the independent safety labs — ETL or UL. There is an ETL lab near ITEAD and it only costs a few thousand dollars. They will even make a deal when there are lots of items involved.
There are many tricky ways products like this can become dangerous. One tricky one is when the AC PCB traces are too close to a part a human might touch and it is a humid day. The humidity condenses inside the unit providing a path for the AC to reach the exterior part. Human touches and has a very bad day. ETL/UL will test for this. This may have been how a woman was killed a few years ago by a fake Apple wall charger. Mains power is dangerous.
ETL and UL are safety tests. That’s all they do.
Also, all of your outdoor outlets need GFI protectors. If you don’t have one, go buy one at the hardware store and swap out the receptacle. I’ve tripped my GFIs a couple times working outside on damp ground. Without that GFI from the hardware store I would have been playing the part of human GFI. You can then plug this switch into the GFI receptacle.
Make sure you buy an outdoor rated GFI (not an indoor one) receptacle. An indoor one installed outdoors will fail in a few months. Outdoor ones are a couple dollars more.
Never heard about those. A web search shows GFI is probably the same as GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter)
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device
Never seen those around here 🙂
In the UK they’re equipped by default in each house’s power distribution board. I didn’t know they were necessary on specific sockets but it makes sense that they would be. Likewise on plugs in the bathroom.
It’s better to say that all new builds and any upgrades of the distribution board will have this type of feature built-in, but that still leaves a lot of homes without any protection. The added advantage of a plug-in protection device is that it is easy to test every time it is used. The RCD/RCBO modules on a distribution board are likely to be tested at the time of installation and at some point in the distant future when they are needed in anger – RCD/RCBO modules have a rather high failure of ‘action’ over their life.
Here some picture of pcb https://fccid.io/2APN5-S55/Internal-Photos/Int-Photos-4013503
Pay few thousand of dollars to test a device safety is a shame, everybody can splash a device with saltwater, moisture or made intentional shortcircuit…and see what happen.
If humans touch ac current, there are already protected by house safety protection 30ma
But that doesn’t mean that products shouldn’t be safe on their own. With the quantities they are selling, they should definitely visit some safety certification facility.
That is just one of about a hundred tests they will run. The testing labs have to buy the spec, maybe you can convince this site to let you download it. I can only find a link to the dimmer one, there is another one for switches.
http://www.bzxzk.net/qtbz/16062011/66529.html
Sampling of of the testing done….
5 Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
5.1 Test conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
5.2 Test loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
5.3 Overload tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
5.4 Endurance test ……………………………………………………. .20A
5.5 Temperature test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
5.6 Dielectric voltage-withstand test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
5.7 Air-gap switch test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
5.8 Security of lead test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
5.9 Torque and pull-out tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
5.10 Limited short-circuit test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
5.11 D-C offset test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
5.12 Mold stress-relief distortion test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
5.13 Leakage current test for touch dimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
5.14 Grounding and bonding conductor test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Or maybe they can self test, that worked out so well for Boeing on the 777MAX.
Certification is only to limited responsability in case of fire, that is why proffessionals want it, not because nothing can happen!
A relay can pass certification but the damage on contact on 10000th contact will fail to shutdown an dc current and fire.
Since this device is for diy, everyone is able to heard how many fire has been triggered by this device or check the design to understand how it’s safe and when it’s not. Maybe add a temperature survey software to disable it in state of overheating or blow a ac fuse to keep safe and waiting for technician…only intelligence can handle problems.
Certification is why today it’s impossible to carry lithium battery on airplane, because some stupids guy play badly with lithium 3.7V, certification today forbid LifePo4, no flammable by nature : great 🙂
In most jurisdictions in the USA, it is a violation of electrical code to install mains-connected electrical hardware which is not UL- or ETL-Listed. As a home owner, you can choose to do that yourself… but then you have a potential bigger issue. If there is ever a fire or other electrical-related issue with your house resulting in an insurance claim (fire, etc), the Insurance company could *potentially* disclaim any responsibility due to the use of not code-compliant mains-connected hardware. No clue how often this happens or has happened, only that it is a definite worry above and beyond the pure “safety” aspect.
Now that said, not sure what you’re referring to by “protected by house safety protection 30mA”… is that some sort of whole-house GFI/GFCI? If so, that is also not the norm (at least, here in the USA).