Risky Holiday Lights Expose Larger Dangers Of Counterfeit Electrical Products

(HIT) - Counterfeit holiday light strings, extension cords, power strips and other electrical items with the potential to catch fire are just the tip of the iceberg within the massive, fast-growing crime of counterfeit electrical products. It’s a major public safety threat and costly business issue with more than 93 percent of products imported from China.

	Photo ourtesy of Electrical Contractor magazine

From circuit breakers, extension cords, wiring, switches, relays, contacts, sockets, timers, ballasts, cable and fuses to pirated Underwriters Laboratories (UL) labels, the electrical contracting industry and its allies are increasing their efforts to battle the crime through education and awareness campaigns to aid the prosecution, seizure and exposure of counterfeit sources.

“This is a crime against our industry, against our manufacturers, our contractors and distributors—but most importantly, our customers,” said John Maisel, publisher of Electrical Contractor magazine, whose publication formed the Anti-Counterfeit Products Initiative at www.counterfeitscankill.com with The Electrical Distributor (tED) magazine. “Our first goal is to educate people,” he said. “Counterfeit electrical products have the potential for a very real loss of life… through a fire, the death of a homeowner or a worker.”

Homeowners can help avoid buying and using these products by looking for the signs and symptoms of counterfeit goods, including very low prices at dollar stores, online outlets and street vendors that seem too good to be true; misspelled words and grammatical errors; plain packaging without proper or unidentified labeling; missing product manuals with safety warnings and instructions for use, care and maintenance.

In a recent Electrical Contractor webinar hosted by GE Energy, Industrial Solutions with participant UL, topics for electrical contractors and industry allies included how to detect and ensure genuine products through UL testing, warranties and quality assurances, material differences with side-by-side comparisons, specific cases of counterfeit installations, common sources of counterfeit/gray market product, and the critical importance of purchasing electrical products only through authorized dealers and distributors.

Underwriters Laboratories provides a web site to help the public spot counterfeit products at www.ul.com/ace that includes specifics on genuine UL Listing Marks, how to identify counterfeit marks on packaging and products, how to spot fakes and detailed information on Anti-Counterfeiting Operations.

Published by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Bethesda, Md., Electrical Contractor magazine reaches 85,300+ electrical contractors and more than 65,000 electrical contracting locations, more than any other industry publication. Telephone: (301) 657-3110. Web site: www.ecmag.com.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center

Editors & Online Publications, click here to log onto our editor's site to download your favorite Articles ...