Nitecore Intellicharger i2EU banned in Finland

[Arjan]

I received a reply from Tukes regarding my question which I will quote first:

@Arjan in an email to Tukes

Hi,

I have a question regarding this page:

http://marek.tukes.fi/Tuote.aspx?nettijulkaisuId=2020

I have been in contact with the UK importer of Nitecore, informing them about the above page regarding the ban of this Nitecore product in Finland. After having consulted the manufacturer, the UK importer claims the following regarding the above page:

“It seems that there is a mistake on that [tukes.fi] website and the information relates to the non EU version of the i2 charger.”

They were unable however to provide any evidence however (and given that I’ve been talking to the UK importer they are not really a party in this so they are not obliged to give any). I then proceeded to contact Nitecore directly for clarification, their [first] reponse however was non-sensical.

Can you tell me if there is any truth in the claim by Nitecore’s UK importer that the product tested by tukes.fi and shown on your webpage is indeed the non-EU version? I fail to see how this is possible or likely as the pictures on your website clearly show the product being labeled as i2EU, both on the product itself and the packaging. As mistake seems unlikely.

Also, if this is indeed about the EU version, I wonder why this has not resulted in a recall seeing as the (translated) description of the problem suggests there is an actual risk of electrical shock. If this is the case I would expect the product to be recalled and an alert issued throught the RAPID system.

Personally I am just a consumer who is or was, depending on the outcome, interested in another charger from this same manufacturer. My own immediate interest is in knowing if I can trust the products of Nitecore for my own personal use.

and their reply (bold emphasis mine):

@Tukes in an email to Arjan

Hi Arjan,

Our field inspectors has bought that product from the store, our point of view only relevant issue is

that the product fulfill the requirements set by the EU or National authorities. *Pictures of our website are of course

the product which we have bought and tested.*

About that Rapex system. Mainly it is intended to use for products which could cause serious risk to the

consumers, typical decision for this kind of product is “product recall”. This case our decision was sales ban and the

risk assessment estimation was “medium risk”.

Risk assessment based on Eu Rapex guidelines, here is the more information of that method:

http://www.prosafe.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=424

Best regards

Below I’m also quoting my second email to Nitecore and their reply to that email. I decided to spell things out for them in this second email as they had completely missed the point of the first one I sent them:

@Arjan in an email to info@nitecore.com

Hi,

On 6-7-2016 9:19 AM, INFO NITECORE wrote:
> Thank you for your interest in Nitecore’s product. I am sorry to tell you that Tuke.fi is not our authorized dealer and I am not sure if they are selling the D4 EU version or not. I suggest you contact our authorize dealer at retkitukku.fi

You have misunderstood. I know tuke.fi is not an authorized dealer. Tukes.fi is the regulatory authority in Finland responsible for ensuring that products conform to Finnish regulations and since Finland is a member of the EU also of EU regulations!
I don’t think you are taking this as seriously as you should. Did you even look at the link to i2EU page on tukes.fi It says the following (translated from Finnish by Google Translate, yellow highlights mine):

• charger*

published 11/02/2016
Product Name: Nitecore
Quid: Intellicharger i2EU
Technical data: Ip: AC 100-240V, 50 / 60Hz, 0.25A, 8W / 12V DC, 1A. Op: 4,2V / 1.48V, 0.5Ax2. Class II.
Product group: And charging Verkkoliitäntäkojeet

Bar code: 6952506491179
Hazard Type: Electric shock
Measures: The ban
Case number: YNS-20151111-03

• pictures*

[Omitted in this quote, see Tukes website].

How

The decision on the sale of the importer has been ordered to stop sales of the product and other disposal, or new shipments to retailers. Since the product does not cause immediate danger to life, health or property, the importer is not required to collect this product from the resellers or end users. Consumers can, however, according to the Consumer Protection Act to return the item in error (contrary to safety) the place of purchase, so that the seller can fix it into compliance. If the repair can be made, the seller has the right to provide a substitute for, or replace, ultimately, trade must not be dismantled. The procedure is described in detail in the Consumer Protection Act.
responsibility
Importer
J. Kärkkäinen Oy Finland Trading Ltd.
Ollila Trench Street 2
84100 YLIVIESKA

Tel. 010 430 3000
www.karkkainen.com
Newspaper advertisements
The product has no newspaper advertisements.

September measure

The charger transformer insulation is inadequate.
Action / Decision

Tukes decision on the sale of the product has been set.

It may not not be an actual recall as such as it say that “the importer is not required to collect this product from the resellers or end users”. However it does say that “The charger transformer insulation is inadequate.” and that “importer has been ordered to stop sales of the product and other disposal, or new shipments to retailers”. It also says in the header “Hazard Type: Electrical shock”. Instead of a complete recall they have issued a product ban (“Measusures: The ban”).

Again, Anthony from nitecore.co.uk wrote to me saying that “there is a mistake on that website and the information relates to the non EU version of the i2 charger. There isn’t a recall and they have stopped selling the non EU version.”

As I explained to Anthony from nitecore.co.uk and to you the tukes.fi pages says otherwise and the pictures do seem to indicate that it is in fact the i2EU product they are referring to. From this it appears that the i2EU is not conforming to EU regulations. Given the fact that they say there is a hazard of electrical shock I’m wondering why the product wasn’t actually recalled completely.

Can you provide any factual information that confirms, as per Anthony’s claim and contrary to the information on the tukes.fi website, that the product banned in Finland as described on the linked page from tukes.fi is in fact the non-EU version of the i2?

Kind regards,

and their reply to the above email:

@info@nitecore.com in an email to Arjan

Dear Arjan,

Thank you very much for your supports and interests in NITECORE chargers. Regarding to your questions, we would like to inform you that, our products would keep upgrading as always. Now both the I2 and I2 EU have been discontinued, and we have upgraded to NEW I2. You are welcome to try the NEW I2 out. We hope you would like it. Also about the D2 EU, Please don’t worry about it. We rest assure you that the EU version won’t have the concerns mentioned in the post.

If you have any feedbacks or suggestions on the products, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Have a nice day!

I’m not going to offer any ‘conclusions’ except that they do not seem to deny that the product on the Tukes.fi website is the EU version and they also do not deny that it is genuine.

[hank]

> they do not deny

Our experience here, I think, has been that that when writing to Nitecore, the more words you use, the less the Nitecore people will understand your question — at least, unless you’re writing in Chinese. We went through a long stretch trying to figure out for sure which Nitecore models would be expected to pass the “magnet test” and which numbers their validation system would recognize.

It’s too bad they don’t embed a date stamp of some kind on their products.

Googling finds advertising mentioning NEW Nitecore 2014, and a NEW Nitecore 2016.

Not clear how to tell the difference.