Power bar confiscated

[Moby0215]

So, you have to stay in the room while all the stuff charges?? Well there is 2 hours of my day where my kids will be roaming the ship unattended.

 

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Most people will charge their items at night while sleeping. Otherwise yes you are not supposed to leave things plugged in unattended and the steward will unplug any he sees.

 

 

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[CRZCRAZY]

Really? Why is that? Not that I know anything about either, but I would have assume that something with a surge protector was safer than a regular extension cord.

 

 

 

Ships wiring is different and the US Coast Guard has issued a ban because they can cause fire and electrocution hazard.

[garycarla]

No you can either charge when you are sleeping or take a card from a deck of cards to use in place of your key card to keep the power on while our..I hear a blood donor card or similar will work too. Hate to be held hostage by our power sucking appliances on a cruise!

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Most people have some sort of "membership" card in their wallet that are just like room keys that work fine.

[chengkp75]

Ships wiring is different and the US Coast Guard has issued a ban because they can cause fire and electrocution hazard.

 

The USCG cannot issue a ban on anything on a foreign flag cruise ship, and even for the US flag ships that the Safety Notice applies to, it is merely an advisory.

[Loonbeam]

Its worth noting that this is not related to power strips specifically, but things like exploding smartphones. While most chargers are smart enough now not to overcharge (and the devices themselves have limiters), there are still a lot of older ones out there...

 

Most people will charge their items at night while sleeping. Otherwise yes you are not supposed to leave things plugged in unattended and the steward will unplug any he sees.

 

 

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[shof515]

Only the megaships need that card thing for power.

And even doing that, the cabin steward will still unplug anything being charged if no one is in the room.

i always travel with a clock, that clock has no battery backup and requires to be plugged in all of the time for the time be displayed. will the cabin steward unplug it and remove my card in the slot that provides power to the cabin?...that will be sooooo annoying to keep resetting the clock.

[Loonbeam]

They won't pull the clock, its not a charger. They may pull the card out of habit (even though I ask them not to, at least one or two times a cruise they do then apologize later.

 

i always travel with a clock, that clock has no battery backup and requires to be plugged in all of the time for the time be displayed. will the cabin steward unplug it and remove my card in the slot that provides power to the cabin?...that will be sooooo annoying to keep resetting the clock.

[old nutter]

Its worth noting that this is not related to power strips specifically, but things like exploding smartphones. While most chargers are smart enough now not to overcharge (and the devices themselves have limiters), there are still a lot of older ones out there...

I am afraid you are conflating two very different issues. The lithium ion battery fires in things like phones, tablets and cameras etc are due to faults in chargers and/or batteries that cause them to explode and catch fire where they are. These fires can be very severe indeed and can be extremely dangerous especially if nobody is around at the time.

 

 

The power strip issue is much different. Strips with surge protection are a very real danger to the ship's electrical systems because they can fail and create short circuits that can overheat the wiring itself elsewhere in the ship's systems. The "I got away with using one on board, so go ahead" attitude is something that fills me with horror. OK, it didn't cause a problem that time, but I don't want anyone with that irresponsible attitude endangering me and my family when I am aboard, so please don't take one with you.

[chengkp75]

The power strip issue is much different. Strips with surge protection are a very real danger to the ship's electrical systems because they can fail and create short circuits that can overheat the wiring itself elsewhere in the ship's systems. The "I got away with using one on board, so go ahead" attitude is something that fills me with horror. OK, it didn't cause a problem that time, but I don't want anyone with that irresponsible attitude endangering me and my family when I am aboard, so please don't take one with you.

 

Actually, this is not correct. The failures that surge protectors experience are limited to the semi-conductors in the power strip itself, and not the ship's wiring in any way. The main danger with the MOV semi-conductors is that when they fail in "thermal runaway", most commonly from experiencing reverse voltage on ship's power systems, they generate vast amounts of heat with very little current, so the circuit breaker in the system does not trip. But because there is very little current, the ship's wiring is not in any danger of overheating or catching fire. The recorded fires from surge protectors are caused by the plastic of the power strip melting and burning, and then catching other flammable material on fire.

[Moby0215]

i always travel with a clock, that clock has no battery backup and requires to be plugged in all of the time for the time be displayed. will the cabin steward unplug it and remove my card in the slot that provides power to the cabin?...that will be sooooo annoying to keep resetting the clock.

 

 

 

They have the card slots for a reason. That reason is to shut off power when you are not in the cabin. Yes people will say that you can put any card in the slot and it will work. And I have done that but certainly can't fault the steward if he sees it and removes it. My recommendation is to not worry about a clock that you have to plug in. So many other ways to tell time.

 

 

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[NMLady]

i always travel with a clock, that clock has no battery backup and requires to be plugged in all of the time for the time be displayed. will the cabin steward unplug it and remove my card in the slot that provides power to the cabin?...that will be sooooo annoying to keep resetting the clock.

 

Why on earth would you travel with an electric clock when there are so many kinds of battery clocks?

[garycarla]

Why on earth would you travel with an electric clock when there are so many kinds of battery clocks?

 

I have heard (can not confirm) that some clocks do not keep accurate time as the voltage is slightly off standard. Maybe not.

 

Either way, we use our cell phones as clocks. We do turn the "auto time change" option off as sometimes the ships tower does strange things - LOL!

[chengkp75]

I have heard (can not confirm) that some clocks do not keep accurate time as the voltage is slightly off standard. Maybe not.

 

Either way, we use our cell phones as clocks. We do turn the "auto time change" option off as sometimes the ships tower does strange things - LOL!

 

Some electric clocks rely on the power supply frequency as the oscillator, or pendulum, to regulate the time ticks. If your clock is designed for 50Hz (UK) and you plug it into the ship (60Hz), it will gain time. Also, the frequency onboard a ship varies a bit more than grid frequency ashore, due to much larger demand swings in comparison to supply (starting propulsion or thrusters, for instance) than on land, so the frequency is not stable, and will cause these clocks to vary their time. It is the frequency that affects clocks, not voltage. The varying frequency, observed by dimming lights at times on the ship, is also frequently mistaken for "voltage surges" (and hence folks' resistance to give up surge protectors), when in fact it is varying frequency that causes the fluorescent lights to dim.

[ms.m92]

I thought you were talking about a snack at first! Couldn't imagine why you would care to wait in line to get it back. :')

LOL I thought it was a snack also