Some PSUs do have a manual switch to flip in between voltages at the backpanel( hertz frequency varies as well in between both so a simple buck converter is loosing vast margins of efficience), but this is shunted with a user serviceable automotive type shunt (need to open the PSU., though) so all that would burn up is the shunt.

Seems like Butterfly labs is a repetition of the guy that imported the Nissan Skylines to the US a couple of years back, sold them without and with falsified compliance docs and most of the company spending was spent on hookers and blow.

THAT BEING SAID, I need to report one minor (but nonetheless real) inaccuracy in this article.

There is absolutely no risk of using an American power cable on European 230v electricity. Voltage doesn’t make cables get hot, amperage does. Since the power consumption of a device is in watts, a higher voltage will result in a *lower* amperage, thus *reducing* the risk of fire in a cable. The reason that American power cords don’t meet EU safety standards is because it’s hilariously easy to shock yourself when plugging in a device. Grounded europlugs make it physically impossible to shock yourself when plugging stuff in.

I’d be more worried about the obvious ground loop problems mentioned in the article that discussed how shitty these things are. That IS recipe for a fire. I’d also be totally unsurprised to find out that the consumer PSUs they put into these things were for 120v only. Some are automatic, some have a switch, plenty just only support a single voltage. Given Butterfly Labs’ track record of blatant ineptitude, I wouldn’t put it past them.