Counterfiet breakers

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G._S._Ohm

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DC area
And Schiavo (Flying Blind, Flying Safe) says they use auto parts as counterfeit airplane parts.

The pols deny that this is a problem so she set up a table with real and counterfeit parts.
Of course, they couldn't tell which was which so they stomped out of the room.
 
chris kennedy

chris kennedy

Senior Member
Location
Miami Fla.
Occupation
60 yr old tool twisting electrician
From the link;

"The holiday shopping season is right around the corner. I urge consumers to protect themselves. Buy from legitimate retailers"

For those of you that give circuit breakers to friends and family for the holidays, this is sound advice. Get them at orange or blue.
 
zog

zog

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Charlotte, NC
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
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hillbilly1 said:
Wasn't there something with them about counterfeit UL ground rods too?
Click to expand...

dunno, but how do you counterfeit a steel rod that is copper plated? :)

large retailers do some pretty cheesy stuff.... a few years ago,
fry's electronics was selling stolen seagate hard drives.... i bought
one, and it failed, and i called seagate for warranty, and when i gave
them the serial number, they wanted to know where i got it, and when
i told them, they offered me a brand new drive if i gave them the drive,
and the receipt.

turns out a whole container of them disappeared off the docks in long beach.

fry's electronics: "um, we bought them from a guy with a trunkful.... how were WE to
know they were stolen?"

dunno if they still do it, but fry's used to pat down their employees to make sure they
weren't stealing anything. i guess thieves aren't trusting sorts... they must figure
everyone is like them.
 
renosteinke

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
Got to love the canned advice: buy from "legitimate retailers."

What on earth makes a retailer 'legitimate?' How the heck are you to know? Can we turn back the internet revolution?

By any measure, a retailer does not get more 'legitimate' then Home Depot or Lowes. Yet I'm supposed to shun them as 'illegitimate?' Get real. Even Graybar has been burned by fake breakers. Oops.

Then there are the bad manners, disguised as tact. All these assertions about 'orange' or 'blue.' Grow a pair- if you have something to say against Home Depot or Lowes, say so! Lay your cards on the table. Don't hide your slander behind code words and innuendo.

Counterfeit breakers? Well, there's the sizzle .... how about some steak now? What do they mean by 'counterfeit?' How could they tell? Could you or I tell?

That's more than just my being skeptical. We've already seen instances where the only thing 'counterfeit' about a product was that it was a genuine product, but sold by a retailer who did not have a marketing agreement with the manufacturer. That is, exported product brought back in.

The thing that bugs me is that we're not told how to identify the 'fakes.' Ever notice, when there is an article about fake currency, we're told what to look for? Well, how can I tell if I have a fake breaker? Is is something as simple as the plastic being the wrong color - or do i need a lab full of test equipment to tell?
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
You would think HD and Lowe's would buy large enough volume of certain brands like Square D, GE, Cutler Hammer, Siemens, that they are purchasing them directly from manufacturer, and the risk of them not being genuine products should not be very high if that is the case.
 
zog

zog

Senior Member
Location
Charlotte, NC
renosteinke said:
The thing that bugs me is that we're not told how to identify the 'fakes.' Ever notice, when there is an article about fake currency, we're told what to look for? Well, how can I tell if I have a fake breaker? Is is something as simple as the plastic being the wrong color - or do i need a lab full of test equipment to tell?
Click to expand...


CPSC, UL, and all the OEM's make that info easily available to the public. I attend training about every year on how to spot these from the OEMs and UL. But the easiest way is if the deal seems to good to be true, it likely is.


[PDF]
Identifying Counterfeit Square D Circuit Breakers (pdf)


www.lanl.gov/safety/.../counterfeit_squared_circuit_breakers.pdf


File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
identifying counterfeit Square D breakers to DOE facilities. BACKGROUND. In the last two ... Square D also has a Counterfeit Circuit Breaker Homepage at: ...



[PDF]
TRAINING - How To Identify Counterfeit Circuit- breakers Process To ...


www.pearl1.org/.../176365_CounterfeitingNewsBriefFinal30Aug200...


File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
This report provides a summary of how to identify a fake or counterfeit GE circuit breaker and distinguish it, for purposes of further counterfeit evaluation, from a ...


[PDF]
How to spot a counterfeit breaker Siemens Energy ... - NECA


www.necanet.org/.../Siemens-How_to_Spot_a_Counterfeit_Breaker.p...


File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Dec 1, 2008 – industry. How can you spot a counterfeit circuit breaker? Experts say a number of indicators can tell you if a product is counterfeit. Look for ...


[PDF]
GE ED e-News (Special Edition) - Countering Counterfeits.cdr


www.ge-ed.ca/GE Electrical Distribution e-...


File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
How to Identify Counterfeit Electrical Products. GE-ED.ca. Customer Stories .... Q. How can you spot a counterfeit circuit breaker or other electrical products?


How to Spot a Counterfeit Square D Breaker | eHow.com


www.ehow.com › Home Maintenance & Repair


How to Spot a Counterfeit Square D Breaker. Square D circuit breakers are manufactured by Schneider Electric, which has its North American Division ...
 
renosteinke

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
Thank you, Jim.

A few observations:

1) I've seen other Square D releases, which also mentioned the painted-on amp ratings. Alas, older Square D breakers did not have this - the markings were molded on, as they are on the counterfeits. It would appear that Square D changed their design, over time.;

2) Who is "HSS?" ;

3) How do you "recall" a counterfeit?; and,

4) "May" is a pretty broad word. Something bad MAY happen, and something bad MAY NOT. Heck, anything MAY happen. I might be elected both Pope and Chief Rabbi. I would be more attentive if warnings were more specific. For example, if the release said "These products were found to fail when tested," or "Examination showed these were not breakers at all, but simply switches made to look like breakers."
 
R

robwire

Member
Location
USA
chris kennedy said:
From the link;

"The holiday shopping season is right around the corner. I urge consumers to protect themselves. Buy from legitimate retailers"

For those of you that give circuit breakers to friends and family for the holidays, this is sound advice. Get them at orange or blue.
Click to expand...

Because santa always stuffs stockings with single pole circuit breakers
 
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