I am trying to restock the 24 V 120 W laptop-type power supply.  That model is no longer available at a decent price, and I’m having a hard time finding a supplier of power supplies built to European safety standards.  They all claim that they have regulatory approval, of course, but some have the gall of showing clearly counterfeit UK plugs while claiming BS 1363 conformance.  If the plug is fake, how do I trust them to have followed the safety rules when building the adapter itself?  (Answer: I don’t, and they probably haven’t.)

Our LiteOn power adapters were manufactured to a high standard.  I opened mine to check, and, as far as I could tell, it followed the rules to a tee: it was double-insulated, did not rely on solder alone for conductor separation, had proper isolation distances between the mains and the low-voltage side, and had fuses in the right places.  The capacitors seemed good quality and had the right voltage ratings, and the circuit was a sophisticated regulator with over-current protection and good filtering.

Good cage-type supplies can be had for less money — and they’re the right choice for many applications — but a completely enclosed, insulated AC adapter has a lot going for it.  It is safer and more convenient, and reasonably dust-proof too.  Unfortunately, the only way I can get more of those is to increase the price.