Non-compliant Sonoff Products

I am working with Swithcbee in South Africa. The brand is stocked by WACO and has LOA's in place as well as Icasa approval.
Happy to help with any info if anyone wants.
 
And I work for a company that does Type approval/safety testing on household electronics and appliances. PM if any of you need something tested. We also assist with LOA applications at the NRCS.
 
Grubscrew said:
So can we buy these "automating" things and not fall foul of building\electrical\insurance regulations
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Shelly relays (Shelly 1/1PM/EM/2.5/1L/RGBW2/Dimmer 2) require both ICASA and NRCS
Battery powered sensors or smart bulbs require only the ICASA portion

If you buy the Shelly products that have come through the official channel, they'll be approved
 
xrapidx said:
My only concern is insurance... don't really give a toss about government opinion, they've proven their incompetence beyond doubt.

Besides which, I think a good majority of home buyers wouldn't want the stuff in the house anyway - so mine is being installed as removeable.
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This is my concern as well. Will the insurance pay out of the Sonoff fail and the house catch fire?
 
Grubscrew said:
So can we buy these "automating" things and not fall foul of building\electrical\insurance regulations?
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Sure you can Smartouch from Waco is fully compliant. In fact there is a promotion on at the moment for a starter kit. Normal selling is R6999.00 now on a fathers day promotion for R5000.001623761483307.png1623761551772.png
 
Britany D said:
Sure you can Smartouch from Waco is fully compliant. In fact there is a promotion on at the moment for a starter kit. Normal selling is R6999.00 now on a fathers day promotion for R5000.00View attachment 1089251View attachment 1089253
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Sonoff is a fraction of that price though and better...

@Dolby what would I need if I the person want to buy Sonoff in bulk from Banggood and sell it to people in South Africa via Takealot?
 
Thor said:
Sonoff is a fraction of that price though and better...

@Dolby what would I need if I the person want to buy Sonoff in bulk from Banggood and sell it to people in South Africa via Takealot?
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Takealot are strict on their certifications (as is Makro and other large online stores). You'll need to get ICASA as a minmum on each model you bring in.

For that you'll need to get hold of documents such as safety reports, EMC reports etc. ICASA will charge you R5,000+ for each model for taking a look at them ;) and send a certificate in 3 or 4 weeks.

Technically, they'll need approval from NRCS as well. But there's more focus placed on ICASA certificates

Makro marketplace was asking for ISO9000 certificates on the factories at one point too. But that's not common
 
Dolby said:
Takealot are strict on their certifications (as is Makro and other large online stores). You'll need to get ICASA as a minmum on each model you bring in.

For that you'll need to get hold of documents such as safety reports, EMC reports etc. ICASA will charge you R5,000+ for each model for taking a look at them ;) and send a certificate in 3 or 4 weeks.

Technically, they'll need approval from NRCS as well. But there's more focus placed on ICASA certificates

Makro marketplace was asking for ISO9000 certificates on the factories at one point too. But that's not common
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A schlep, but not impossible to do.

If I create my own online site, I am a developer after all. can I sell it without the certificiates?

Assuming I can not sell without it, is it just the once-off payment to ICASA et al and that is it, or do these leaches want a kickback per item I am selling?
 
Thor said:
A schlep, but not impossible to do.

If I create my own online site, I am a developer after all. can I sell it without the certificiates?

Assuming I can not sell without it, is it just the once-off payment to ICASA et al and that is it, or do these leaches want a kickback per item I am selling?
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Not impossible, can just be expensive having to pay for each model.

You can bring in and sell (illegally) but there are a things :

A) Customs can stop the shipment on entering the country and request the certificate from you. If you can't provide it, they'll confiscate the shipment or store it at their warehouse until you get it (your cost!). Bear in mind, something like 5% of shipments are stopped. So it's a small risk of it getting stopped.

B) If it comes through customs, sometimes an ICASA official stumbles across them and asks for the certificate. If you can't supply, he can also confiscate. Most businesses are going to need it before doing business with you too. Even smaller risk.

C) Without NRCS approval, the risk is also small - but can be disastrous is it happens. The risk is a fire or death. Insurance can block payouts when using non approved equipment.

ICASA is a once off. NRCS does have a once off, and an ongoing cost is a few Rand per sale. I'm not super clued to how this process works

Edit : Oh and it doesn't matter what you are occupation wise. If you brought it in, you're liable
 
I appreciate the thorough reply.

That then is enough reason for me to not bother with South Africa.

No wonder we don't have nice things.
 
Thor said:
I appreciate the thorough reply.

That then is enough reason for me to not bother with South Africa.

No wonder we don't have nice things.
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Exactly.

Between NRCS and ICASA, they're really stifling the economy. The below story happens often where something is safe / certified to be sold in USA, Germany or UK... but when it comes to 3rd world South Africa - we struggle. South America has the same issue and their certifications.

mybroadband.co.za

The massive barrier to selling a Raspberry Pi in South Africa

Remember when the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ was launched?
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
  • Angry
Reactions: Yuu
maumau said:
No answer was the bold reply.
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There are a couple of threads in here that discuss the controllers/notifications for garage/gate states and the geysers/pool pumps. At the time of writing, I am too lazy to search for links.

From my own experience, we use the Sonoff smart CB for our geyser. There are cheaper, more configurable options but those are beyond my current scope of knowledge. I like the Sonoff because a novice like me could stick it in and it works. We received a Tuya Garage door motor controller on Monday. I've taken it out of the box and messed with it while I was in meetings. I'll install it this weekend to see how it performs.
 
Thank you @Thestealth.

People like @Britany D are the reason I haven't invested in Sonoff or Shelly. Products are in the hands of small companies and if their staff are useless or they stop supplying I'm not technical enough to go it alone.

Hahaha that you messed with the controller while you were in meetings :D , let us know how it works out.

EDIT: if Britany D is sick or has a valid reason for not replying here I apologise for being rude about her.
 
maumau said:
People like @Britany D are the reason I haven't invested in Sonoff or Shelly. Products are in the hands of small companies and if their staff are useless or they stop supplying I'm not technical enough to go it alone.
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Whew .

Very bold and incorrect statement ;)
 
Dolby said:
Whew .

Very bold and incorrect statement ;)
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:notworthy:

As somebody who can't fathom these things who could I rely on for help? You and your p are great and you would be in a position to help for sure but if you stopped Sonoff support?

If I were more technically inclined would love to get a system.
 
maumau said:
:notworthy:

As somebody who can't fathom these things who could I rely on for help? You and your p are great and you would be in a position to help for sure but if you stopped Sonoff support?

If I were more technically inclined would love to get a system.
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Ah - specifically I meant the Shelly stuff.

So many, many years back we (e Smartkit) tried the Shelly brand - but it was tough with all the certifications required in this country. So after lengthly talks, we (Smartkit) just threw in the towel

However, you'll see that nowadays Nology do Shelly (the same guys that do the Telkom LIT, Ematic etc) . They're a very technical company and have a call centre / email / MyBB support as well. Everything brought into the country has all required certifications and LOAs. So Shelly is now legit :) That's also why they don't have every Shelly SKU yet, as they're still pending the certification.

I've since replaced all my stuff with the Shelly stuff
 
Dolby said:
Ah - specifically I meant the Shelly stuff.

So many, many years back we (e Smartkit) tried the Shelly brand - but it was tough with all the certifications required in this country. So after lengthly talks, we (Smartkit) just threw in the towel

However, you'll see that nowadays Nology do Shelly (the same guys that do the Telkom LIT, Ematic etc) . They're a very technical company and have a call centre / email / MyBB support as well. Everything brought into the country has all required certifications and LOAs. So Shelly is now legit :) That's also why they don't have every Shelly SKU yet, as they're still pending the certification.

I've since replaced all my stuff with the Shelly stuff
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Now this I can work with, thank you Dolby.
 
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