I was more than a bit surprised to see this in a Raspberry Pi News Item and in the Official Raspberry Pi Magazine 154 ...
There is a sidebar warning in the magazine that "mains electricity is dangerous" but nothing similar for the on-line News item.
I believe that warning is a little lack-lustre. I would normally go with "LIVE MAINS CAN KILL" and not be subtle about it. I would also use a more traditional "DANGER OF DEATH" icon rather than a weak exclamation triangle. I would also have the same on the board itself.
I personally wouldn't build or recommend anything with a Pico so close to mains wiring, not when its BOOTSEL button may have to be pushed or the board held while connecting USB.
And I would certainly never recommend wiring mains wires to exposed screw terminals which can be accidentally or inadvertently touched, can have something conductive dropped across them.
I would also suggest an appropriately rated fuse on the board if the plug the wires go to is not itself fused, and maybe even if it is. And probably a switch which can isolate Live and Neutral on the board.
That earth wire, which seems to just be wrapped around a chamfered-head wood screw, doesn't look that sound to me.
While the P-Clip is pretty, keeps the mains wires bundled together, it does nothing to stop the wires being pulled from the screw terminals if disaster strikes, floating loose. I would recommend a P-clip of correct size which can hold the mains wire tightly, loop the mains wires through the P-Clip at least twice, put a knot in the wires with enough slack to prevent a pull tugging the wires from the screw terminals.
Though I would likely just recommend "don't".
Especially as this elevator project appears to throw 'water powered pneumatics' into the mix.
I would question whether any project which involves mains electricity is suitable for the Official Raspberry Pi Magazine and particularly for promoted Raspberry Pi News Items.
Sometimes involving mains can be unavoidable but there are far better ways of doing it than this 'death trap waiting to happen' does it.
There is a sidebar warning in the magazine that "mains electricity is dangerous" but nothing similar for the on-line News item.
I believe that warning is a little lack-lustre. I would normally go with "LIVE MAINS CAN KILL" and not be subtle about it. I would also use a more traditional "DANGER OF DEATH" icon rather than a weak exclamation triangle. I would also have the same on the board itself.
I personally wouldn't build or recommend anything with a Pico so close to mains wiring, not when its BOOTSEL button may have to be pushed or the board held while connecting USB.
And I would certainly never recommend wiring mains wires to exposed screw terminals which can be accidentally or inadvertently touched, can have something conductive dropped across them.
I would also suggest an appropriately rated fuse on the board if the plug the wires go to is not itself fused, and maybe even if it is. And probably a switch which can isolate Live and Neutral on the board.
That earth wire, which seems to just be wrapped around a chamfered-head wood screw, doesn't look that sound to me.
While the P-Clip is pretty, keeps the mains wires bundled together, it does nothing to stop the wires being pulled from the screw terminals if disaster strikes, floating loose. I would recommend a P-clip of correct size which can hold the mains wire tightly, loop the mains wires through the P-Clip at least twice, put a knot in the wires with enough slack to prevent a pull tugging the wires from the screw terminals.
Though I would likely just recommend "don't".
Especially as this elevator project appears to throw 'water powered pneumatics' into the mix.
I would question whether any project which involves mains electricity is suitable for the Official Raspberry Pi Magazine and particularly for promoted Raspberry Pi News Items.
Sometimes involving mains can be unavoidable but there are far better ways of doing it than this 'death trap waiting to happen' does it.
Statistics: Posted by hippy — Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:11 pm — Replies 0 — Views 41