Article about dangerous counterfiet Christmas lights with fake UL stickers
zeez
the holographic UL sticker, and avoid products in packages that
unclearly branded or have poorly translated text on them.
Al
> http://con.st/10000715Dont buy lights at the dollar store, check for
> the holographic UL sticker, and avoid products in packages that
> unclearly branded or have poorly translated text on them.
It's not just Chinese or dollar store or Christmas lights either. And
UL labels don't guarantee much reliability these days.
Consumers can look at this stuff and feel whether it seems flimsy or
not, but the defects are often hidden. Underneath a hard plastic plug
that feels hefty looms a bad connection that can be insufficiently
crimped. Over time or even right away an arc occurs that has
temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius. The plug becomes hot and
the plastic can ignite. Consumers should feel the plugs and
connections from time to time. A warm plug is a potential problem. A
hot plug is an immediate danger. What we need is low priced arc fault
interrupters (AFCI) either installed in the load center, wall outlet,
or portable point of use devices. Simple ground fault interrupters do
not prevent these fires.