So it looks like Marklin has finally acknowledge the issue discussed in this thread. I did have various correspondence with Frank Mayer when I first reported this issue to them and even though the safety notice appears also to be a legal disclaimer, at least they acknowledge there can be leak current, and it can be uncomfortable, it won’t be harmful.
So thank you Marklin for taking it seriously and listening to your customers (not meant in irony)
See below link for full documentation or read extract here:
https://www.maerklin.de/...rische_Sicherheit_en.pdfToday's switching power supplies, which are necessary for the conversion of the mains voltage into a low voltage for the supply of the control system and loads on a model railway, require an interference suppression circuit to comply with the EMC regulations. However, this can lead to a leakage current flowing between the potential on a rail and a protective conductor of your domestic installation. If, for example, you connect the live rails with one hand and the protective conductor of the house installation with the other hand (e.g. metal back panels of computers or power tools can have this connection) or to an earthed object (e.g. a radiator), you close the circuit for this leakage current.
All Märklin supply units have been tested to ensure that the limit of 0.5 mA for such a leakage current, which is listed as safe and in many standards, is not exceeded. Sensitive people can, however, already feel such a current of this magnitude under certain circumstances as a tingling current flow at least in parts of the body.
What are the dangers of electric shock?
A current flow only occurs when the supply and return conductors of an electrical supply source are connected to each other via a conductive material. The human body is capable of doing just that. One then speaks of an electric shock, which the affected person suffers.
The damage that can occur depends on many factors:
The level of the applied voltage
The type of current and its frequency
How much electricity flows
The exposure time
The path through the body
Possibly existing technical components such as cardiac pacemakers
Voltages above 60 volts can cause life-threatening injuries in the event of an electric shock. The supply voltage of the model railway is therefore limited to a maximum of 24 V. No loads with a higher supply voltage may be used on the model railway.
The amount of current at which a current flow is perceived is between 0.01 mA and 4 mA, depending on the circumstances. Currents up to 0.5 mA are classified as harmless. Currents up to approx. 5 mA do not lead to injuries in a healthy adult, but they do mean an unpleasant perception of the current flow. If you comply with the requirements of this document, you can be sure that, according to the current state of knowledge, there is no danger of dangerous leakage currents in your system.
Best Regards
Lasse