And shock you or destroy your equipment. A lot of what makes real (UL/ETL listed) chargers expensive is making sure that line voltage stays adequately separated from the low voltage side.

I would add "In a small space" Making an larger power supply that keeps the high and low sides adequately separated is pretty easy and cheap as long as you stick to genuine components.

But that then leads onto the whole fake component issue. For example the component will be a optocoupler but the dirt cheap knock off supply may not be using the same level of quality or a knock off component as those found in genuine power supplies which _could_ create a High to Low voltage path if that part failed.

> A lot of what makes real (UL/ETL listed) chargers expensive is making sure that line voltage stays adequately separated from the low voltage side.

Even a very cheap and simplified design can do that. I wouldn't say "a lot" at all, maybe a few percent of the cost at most. It's a corner that could possibly be cut, but it's not one of the bigger corners.

I've done a lot of charger teardowns, and very cheap chargers always violate UL safety rules. It's a combination of cost (e.g. triple-insulated transformers), it's hard to fit clearance distances into a small charger, sloppy manufacturing, and they don't seem to even try.

I respect your superior expertise, of course, but looking through another site that has done systematic teardowns and measurements (https://lygte-info.dk/info/ChargerIndex%20UK.html), it appears to me that this might be too categorical a statement. While counterfeit chargers almost always seem to be dangerous, there seem to be some Chinese brands which produce quite respectable chargers, while still being fairly inexpensive.

The point is that you don't know. A legitimate branded charger will have been tested in a certified test lab, while an off-brand or counterfeit charge is likely to have a counterfeit UL mark. It might be perfectly safe or it might be a complete deathtrap, because nobody has actually tested it for compliance.

I need a bunch of chargers for a sensor network (Right now using Wemos D1 Mini boards). Any advice on optimizing for price without compromising on safety? I don't trust the sellers that sell $2 chargers...

Anker, Aukey and Blitzwolf make reasonably priced and high quality chargers.

This summer I, had a dehumidifier plugged in with a 3-prong connector . . good thing I, checked it shortly after I started the unit ,the adapter was very/warm . . a short in a cheap adapter . . went to electric supply store and made sure I got a high quality UL rated brand.

There was a kid in the news recently who was electrocuted to death because of their fake charger.

https://www.health.com/home/cell-phone-electrocution

That story looks bogus. Snopes [1] says:

> Neither Sinar Harian nor its English-language peer the New Strait Times asserted that the youngster was electrocuted by the earphones he was wearing, but that was the conclusion reached by a number of international publications, including widely-read U.S.-based Vice and Teen Vogue, both of whom aggregated the story.

...

> As an emergency room doctor, Uren& stopped short of calling the notion impossible because “I have seen some strange things in my career thus far,” but he added the story that the teen died from being electrocuted by earbuds “strains credibility.”

[1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/electrocuted-by-earphones/

There's been multiple reports of people dying through headphones. Maybe they're all bogus, but considering an ER doctor presumably knows nothing about electronics, I'll disregard his opinion. Instead I'll listen to what an electronics engineer thinks about counterfeit chargers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi-b9k-0KfE

Here's a high profile case from Australia a few years ago.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/store-which...