This feels a bit like the logic behind "do not put hamster in microwave" warning labels.
I think if you work with electrical or electronic systems in practice, you learn pretty quickly to respect tolerances and that data sheets are a map, not the territory.
Also, electrical installations are usually seen as a field that should be done by trained personnel, not arbitrary laymen home owners. So I think the appropriate reaction would be to remind people that they should hire an electrician to do the installation, if they don't have the necessary specialized knowledge themselves.
Actually if "you work with electrical or electronic systems in practice" you get pissed off at everything for how dumb it all is: 12V DC batteries are more like 14 nominal? AC wall plugs dip voltage when printers turn on, random equipment you arent even sure in the building can trigger UPSes based on unknown settings in the device? International standards and communication protocols mean nothing as "a standard" because each company has their own entire list of bugs/implementation mistakes. All the international enforcement certifications care way too much about inconsequential bullshit and miss all the true showstopping problems in most industries?
This world is amazing anything runs at all. The slightest addition of complexity is causing everything to fail now.
Modern computers are less reliable than ever, some companies have decided to REMOVE the pinhole bios reset (that has been around for 30 years) at the same time as things are buggier now and dont boot again until you physically unplug the bios battery deep inside and hard to get to.
The modern engineer:
It works! OK, stop touching it. We don't want to break it.
This is what makes software engineering so seductive, everything works exactly as it was designed to (whether intended or not). Imagine trying to program for computers with memory that drifts values progressively more as it wears down.
Spoken like a true professional!
So on the one hand we have a product which isn't even remotely designed for the use case (hamsters), and during normal use shows obvious behaviour (cooking) that should imply risk to said hamsters. On the other side, we have a product designed to be installed in an electrical system, and shows no signs during normal use that it's installed unsafely, and where the advertised specs are not actually safe for normal usage.
Whether or not the company in this case shares some or most of the blame with novice users - the analogy is not a great one.
Microwaves were originally specifically invented to microwave frozen hamsters:
https://interestingengineering.com/videos/1950s-reanimating-...
Hyper amusing, thanks for sharing! Doesn't really improve the analogy, but fun quirk of history :-D.
As Doc Brown would say, "Great Scott!"
I have the impression these are consumer products so I would them to be designed to be installed by people who do not normally work with electrical systems. If they are only sold to tradesmen that would be different.
Yeah, it would be important to understand who the company is intending to sell to or do the installation.
Though the lines are often blurred, because I guess most companies would like to sell directly to end customers, even if their product requires a professional to install.
Even IKEA does this. You can go in and buy an electric stove and oven, grab them from the warehouse and take them home with you right there. But it's a bit of an illusion: You're still supposed to call an electrician to actually connect the things.
> Yeah, it would be important to understand who the company is intending to sell to or do the installation
You can do that by just reading the product page[1]. The delta pro, the equipment in question, looks like a plug-in appliance. It visually communicates that it is portable (by having a wheel and a handle) and by virtue of having a power lead connect to it it communicates that you can just plug it in. They further reinforce this by writing this: "Plug & Play home backup solution". "Easy installation with completely pre-wired Plug & play home backup solution" "The solution provides a convenient home battery system without rewiring or running dangerous extension cables through your home." "Plug directly into an AC wall outlet and make sure that the wall output current is more than 15A."
And on top of that the manual[2] makes no mention of needing an electrician.
In contrast an IKEA electric oven's product page[3] states this: "No plug is included. Installation to be carried out by a qualified installer." and then the manual[4] states "Installation, including water supply (if any) and electrical connections, and repairs must be carried out by a qualified technician."
But of course nobody reads the manual. The big difference is that one comes with a plug while the other doesn't.
1: https://us.ecoflow.com/products/delta-pro-portable-power-sta...
2: https://websiteoss.ecoflow.com/cms/upload/2022/10/12/1312845...
3: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/mataelskare-forced-air-oven-ike...
4: https://www.ikea.com/in/en/manuals/matalskare-forced-air-ove...
If you can do a code compliant installation, then you’re the customer. If you can’t, then I’d suggest hiring an electrician.