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Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

Posted May 15, 2014 12:00 AM by Engineering360 eNewsletter

A recent survey conducted by Eaton and the Independent Electrical Contractors group shows that although more electrical contractors are recognizing the rising incidence and danger of counterfeit electrical products, more education is still needed to stop these fakes in their tracks. Respondents said they knew that the best way to avoid fakes was to buy directly from the manufacturer's authorized distributors or resellers. However, a significant amount of those surveyed also acknowledged that they do not know how or where to report a counterfeit when they spot one.

Editor's Note: This news brief was brought to you by the Industrial MRO eNewsletter. Subscribe today to have content like this delivered to your inbox.

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redfred
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#1

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/15/2014 12:03 PM

Really, the most obvious place to report finding a counterfeit product is the manufacturer of the legitimate part. I am certain that they want to know where one got that bogus part with their name on it.

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Fredski
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#2

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/15/2014 6:48 PM

if it says, Made in CHINA" just save time and trash it now
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texasron
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#7
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Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 8:46 AM

Amen!

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PFR
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#8
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Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 11:29 AM

If it says, made in Detroit, you should just trash it. Sounds a little ridiculous, huh?

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#9
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Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/18/2014 8:34 AM

That was true long ago. Detroit produced self-trashing products.
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pnaban
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#3

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 1:38 AM

All electrical,mechanical,electronic products manufactured by any company should be graded by an international body like IEC,ISO etc into Grade A,B,C,D,E...etc and warranty period as well as to which standard(BS,VDE,NEMA,IEC etc)it was manufactured should be printed on it.

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silverfox
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Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 2:29 AM

and so it is. any standard you want printed on the side. Problems like MCBs without internal workings so no protection on your circuits. The MCBs look like the real thing. Cables with diameters less than advertised. There are many more incidents of similar things. Buying from a reputable source - IS09001 with an audit trail for the purchase back to the manufacturer is the real answer.
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#5

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 8:02 AM

A competitor company to mine accidentally got caught up in a counterfeit chip purchase not long ago. They bought a large batch of chips off the net on one of those online discount sales companies to satisfy components for a military contract.

Long story short, the whole batch was reclaimed chips from obsolete equipment that had been cleaned, old spec data removed, and new spec data painted on to match the companies order. The only thing the Chinese counterfeiter got right was the physical form factor of the chips.

Fortunately, the problem got caught early in the first run testing phase when nothing worked right. The incident was reported to the feds but nothing could be done as all the purchasing was done through off shore web sites made to look like US distributors. It's up to us to perform due diligence to stop this practice. Pay more and get conformance data or pay less and risk it all, including your customer's lives.

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bogdog
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#6

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

05/16/2014 8:14 AM

I'm doing some home wiring, customer supplied a 3-pole switch for a bathroom heater, fan/light combo. It says made in USA but there is no amp rating or other info on it. I don't trust it, needs to be rated for 20 amps for the heat circuit. Sending customer to buy a new switch.
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pnaban
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#10

Re: Hazards of Counterfeit Electrical Products

07/14/2014 1:09 AM

If governments take stern action counterfeiting could be prevented. Racist governments allow it on the grounds that they are poor & developing so let people do anything except attacking government(officials).

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