Why not to buy electrical souvenirs from Egypt
Have a look at this beautful and innocent-looking lamp:
Now, look again. Notice that the cable can be pulled out. Not a good thing when it’s connected to the mains:
Turn it over and things don’t get much better. The wires are fraying, and it wouldn’t take much wear for the base to become live:
The bulb connector is only held onto the base by one screw, presumably an effective cost-saving technique:
And the wires are only connected by a few thin strands, which could easily come out or melt. Oh, and there’s no earth connection, so should a wire come out, the lamp would electrocute anybody who dares to touch it:
Moving onto the other end, you’ll notice the plug isn’t fused, so if there was a short circuit, the cable would melt and probably burn the house down.
As for the lamp itself – well, it’s made of shards of glass. Nice to look at, not so pleasant to stroke:
Thankfully, most of it has now been fixed, but don’t go pulling the cable, or stroking the glass shards:
