BFL ASIC seized by EU , european & german Customs

[candoo]

Well,

one of the german community member posted in the german section that his BFL got seized by the customs. They believe that the CE Zerification is  non-complian and fictional.  They also failed to have a EU conformity declaration and a user handbook with information.


The main reason why it got a suspect by the customs: they included a american power cord in the package! Holy moly what would've happend if the user used that cable? USA(120volt)(germany 230volt)

That guy would be burned by now.


The package goes now to the Office of the Federal President for further inspection.  It MAY happen that Butterflylabs gets "blacklisted" by the european custums and all packages that go in the EU gets seized!!!


Inaba: I dont want to ruin your business. I just know that you dont read PM/s or Emails. So I thought that this Thread was the best to inform you guys. I have a lot of experience with german customs (through my job of importing stuff) and I know that this is  a very serious condition right now. They think that you just "printed" the CE label and put it on their without checking your components...
I may help your company to get cleared  by the customs, but that process consums a lot of time and money.

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[candoo]

LOL Germans got a lot money for bullshit, in Slovakia the officers do not care if u pay Sir we got Your booth whatbis the cost   A 100$ officers why the BFL do not remove the logo from box how can i scam the customs officers

No that is not about Germany. The whole EU got the same laws about that custom/importing stuff. So it COULD happen that the whole EU will block butterflylabs packages.

You cant scam the customs. They look at the adress where it comes from and they can also  check packages by specific weights and dimensions.

Example: Package with (12cmx50cmx80cm and 2400 Grams) = check everyone manual.

They have the infrastructure to do such things and it happend in the past. (Lots of chinese vendors got blacklisted for shipping fake tshirts and jeans)

[ecliptic]

Their FCC compliance is likely also fictional

Could very easily happen in the USA as well!

[Red_Wolf_2]

They care about US power cords? Seriously? Most of the time these are built to handle 230v 10a anyway, as almost all power supplies these days are switching power supplies that can handle anything between 100 and 250v.

Wonder if they confiscate Cisco gear for the same reason? I've never had a switch or router arrive that hasn't had a US power cable included. Got a huge pile of them somewhere now...

Oh also, its entirely possible they're wrong about the certifications... I've seen Customs do stupid things many times before. Maybe someone in customs knows what it is and wants to hang onto it for a few days?

[iANDROID]

LOL Germans got a lot money for bullshit, in Slovakia the officers do not care if u pay Sir we got Your booth whatbis the cost   A 100$ officers why the BFL do not remove the logo from box how can i scam the customs officers

No that is not about Germany. The whole EU got the same laws about that custom/importing stuff. So it COULD happen that the whole EU will block butterflylabs packages.

You cant scam the customs. They look at the adress where it comes from and they can also  check packages by specific weights and dimensions.

Example: Package with (12cmx50cmx80cm and 2400 Grams) = check everyone manual.

They have the infrastructure to do such things and it happend in the past. (Lots of chinese vendors got blacklisted for shipping fake tshirts and jeans)

Even in non-EU states(like Switzerland)!

[Gordon Bleu]

thats just Computer parts, like a external RAM,
and please hope he doesnt  just painted CE on the Box thats probably worst than without faked Certificates

[vm1990]

LOL Germans got a lot money for bullshit, in Slovakia the officers do not care if u pay Sir we got Your booth whatbis the cost   A 100$ officers why the BFL do not remove the logo from box how can i scam the customs officers

No that is not about Germany. The whole EU got the same laws about that custom/importing stuff. So it COULD happen that the whole EU will block butterflylabs packages.

You cant scam the customs. They look at the adress where it comes from and they can also  check packages by specific weights and dimensions.

Example: Package with (12cmx50cmx80cm and 2400 Grams) = check everyone manual.

They have the infrastructure to do such things and it happend in the past. (Lots of chinese vendors got blacklisted for shipping fake tshirts and jeans)

would be pretty easy to get around it but i think it will be outside of BFLs capability..... they are American after all.....(yes i am poking fun at the all knowing Americans and i dont care) best way would to simply have uncertified items or simply get them properly certified..... worst thing you can do is lie or stick a fake sticker on things... (Americas to use to lieing about important stuff these day)

all that said anyone who gets there parcel taken off them by customs should be compensated AND fully reimbursed for the item and any lost earnings

[Bitcoinorama]

I would imagine if 'CE' is fraudulently stuck on customers not getting their units would be the least of their problems. This would be game over for Butterfly Labs.

That 'silly little sticker' is taken very, very seriously in Europe. If they have it displayed without adhering to the requirements and application they are in a world of shit. Really.

[madsusies]

There are lot jala box and labes pictures you can check if they got CE

[k9quaint]

Ouch. Where are all those people who said "certification doesn't matter!" 

[Turbor]

Even in non-EU states(like Switzerland)!

Never had troubles with Swiss customs. And as a HAM I shouldn't have problems to import hardware without CE sign.

[Loredo]

They also failed to have a EU conformity declaration and a user handbook with information.

Re-reading the OP, I've calmed down.  This is most likely about the user handbook.  And even there, it's undoubtedly something like it wasn't translated into French or something.

Now I'm going back to looking at posted photos of 50GH (or is it 30? or 60? who can keep up) miners, and dream.

[tempestb]

Apparently the CE is just a declaration that any manufacturer can print themselves through self certification.  So not sure where the "faking" idea is coming from.  My guess is, even if this were some compliance problem that reached some level of penalty, it would be monetary and not a ban on imports.  The EU would rather make money on people's mistakes than spend money trying to enforce an embargo.

[philips]

Just received two more Japs today. No customs officer gave a fuck about my box, they didn't even looked inside.

Just another reason for trolls to yap about.

[Bitcoinorama]

Germany is known to be the strictest bureaucratically so it may just be an unfortunate one-off...

[Turbor]

The main reason why it got a suspect by the customs: they included a american power cord in the package! Holy moly what would've happend if the user used that cable? USA(120volt)(germany 230volt)

There's a reason the plug won't fit. Not too long ago miners had to have some basic knowledge to run their stuff...

[Soros Shorts]

There are lot jala box and labes pictures you can check if they got CE

The only CE logo that came with my US-delivered Jalapeno is the one that appears on the power supply.

[Red_Wolf_2]

Someone with a Jalapeno please look at the punch marks on the American plugged cable for the PSU. It will tell you the type of wire used and what voltages it will handle. Better still, post a picture for all of us.

On the topic of CE certification, it gets rather grey... No unit besides the minirig actually runs on anything above 12v, (the minirig has PSUs in it, although as a separate module it might be debatable, however they are in the same physical box... I'm no lawyer...) so the low voltage directive doesn't apply in their case. What might apply is the EMC directive, but that in its own right might be debatable too as you could probably classify the ASICs as components, as they won't function in any way without being connected to a host device.

With the included PSUs its a lot clearer really. The CE certification would need to be handled by the manufacturer of the power supplies rather than BFL.

Just my interpretation of it all...

Also, for the guy who might (gasp) have plugged 120v power cables into a 240v supply... He probably wouldn't have noticed unless the PSU itself was only rated up to 120v (it isn't).
I've only ever seen mains PSU cables actually melt once before, and that was when someone got the bright idea of "neatening up" the power cables on a whole bunch of racks in a development lab. They coiled all the cables tightly around themselves, which were feeding high powered servers and similar gear. Anyone with even a hint of understanding of physics and EMI will know what happened next: the cables warmed right up and the insulation started breaking down. When discovered by chance, the insulation was cracked and oozing a mysterious oil that I can only assume was distilled out of the plastic from the insulation.

Made occupational health and safety busy for a little while. Very amusing!

[philips]

The main reason why it got a suspect by the customs: they included a american power cord in the package! Holy moly what would've happend if the user used that cable? USA(120volt)(germany 230volt)

That guy would be burned by now.

The power brick unit is for worldwide use, 100 - 240V. The cables are just fine.
I am using the same cables with an adapter.

[philips]

Someone with a Jalapeno please look at the punch marks on the American plugged cable for the PSU. It will tell you the type of wire used and what voltages it will handle. Better still, post a picture for all of us.

Sorry for the quality, iPod camera:)
6A 250V