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Sadly, my purchasing days are over. I have to use what the boss buys. Some come from supply house, some from a big box, some from a general supplier. Purchasing authority is one thing I really miss having.
We had the same issue on a previous project. We were required to use a minority owned (woman) supply house and they only stocked the absolute cheapest junk material that you would buy. The 4" Chinese knock off strut straps were such garbage that they didn't even follow the curve of the EMT. On top of that the screws were too short and you needed three hands to install them. We refused to use them so they got proper straps from a reputable supply house.
Yeah I noticed a lot of junk EMT fittings. A lot of them the lock nuts are so oversized and flimsy they skip when you try to tighten them down. Drives me crazy especially because these things are UL listed.
Yeah this is definitely an annoyance for me too. Some supply houses I go to only have the universal, but some I can get the proper ones. I actually brought some 1-in rigid only strut clamps back from Seattle with me to use at my house in NY because I couldn't find them here.
UL is nothing but a racket in my book. I have seen lots of junk with their label. Smaller manufacturers can’t afford their fees and get forced into smaller markets or none at all. The mafia should have it so good.
Wanted to expand on this a bit, emphasize how picky I am sometimes! Recent job had some two and a half inch EMT fittings that had crappy lock nuts that I couldn't snug down. I ordered some of those nice super thick malleable iron lock nuts off ebay, problem solved. Those things are tight now!
UL listed Zinsco.....
Yes, locknuts are another issue. I had to use thin ones on my 3/4 rigid runs because thick ones wouldn’t thread far enough.
And Federal Pacific. I have also seen various UL approved equipment with non compliant junction boxes and lights with reverse line/neutral terminations. Greenfield flex that should be Sealtight.
UL does not "approve" anything, they list it, in all fairness to FPE, to my knowledge, what gave them the black eye was their Stablok panels & breakers, the rest of their product line was fine, but just for grins & giggles, Zinsco/Sylvania used FPE breakers in their panelboards & switchboards for anything over 225A, & everything over 240V.
Maybe just semantics but they do confirm that products meet the product standards, and they write many of the standards. So if I get a EMT fitting that has wonky threads and/or doesnt even tighten enough to get thru the paint before skipping out then they are both not testing the products carefully/frequently enough and have an inadaquate standard. based on what I have seen, i am just not seeing much value in listed products.
Right you are.
If a product is listed, and doesn't meet expected minimum quality expected by the product, you have the option to "report it" to the listing agency as well as the mfg. Perhaps even simultaneously. UL has a reporting mechanism:
