Square D Circuit Breaker Recall

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Livin4Real

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For the pro's and diy'ers out there. I just installed a new square d homeline panel and breakers and will be checking mine.


NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2007
Release #08-054

Firm’s Recall Hotline: (866) 264-3702
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in
cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary
recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using
recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Counterfeit “Square D†Circuit Breakers

Units: About 64,000

Distributor: Connecticut Electric & Switch Mfg. Co. (Connecticut
Electric), of Puyallup, Wash.

Hazard: The recalled circuit breakers labeled “Square D†are counterfeit
and could fail to trip when they are required to, posing a fire hazard
to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Connecticut Electric has not received any report of
incidents or injuries associated with these counterfeit circuit
breakers.

Description: The counterfeit circuit breakers are black and are marked
as Square D products. Connecticut Electric has identified the following
breakers as possibly being counterfeit: QO115, QO120, QO140, QO2125,
QO215, QO220, QO230, QO240, QO250, QO260, QO1515, QO2020, QO3100, QO320,
QO330, QO340, QO360, QOB120, QOB130, QOB220, QOB230, QOB250, QOB330, and
QOB360. Actual Square D circuit breakers have (a) the amp rating written
on the handle in white paint on the front of the breaker; (b) the Square
D insignia molded onto the breaker side, and; (c) a yellow chromate
mounting clip with half of the top of the clip visible. If your Square D
breaker does not match this description, it could be counterfeit.

Sold through: Electrical Distributors and hardware stores nationwide
from February 2005 through August 2006 for between about $6.50 and
$15.50.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should contact Connecticut Electric to determine if
the breaker they have is counterfeit and if necessary, to arrange for a
free inspection and replacement or refund.

Consumer Contact: For more information, Call Connecticut Electric at
(866) 264-3702 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit
the company’s Web site at www.connecticut-electric.com. Consumers also
can obtain additional information by emailing Connecticut Electric at
bdunham@connecticut-electric.com.

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the
recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08054.html
 

Jimbo

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This news is over a year old, and I was surprised at the recall, as I had assumed a recall had already been issued. It came up when breakers were failing to trip, and it turned out the fakes were so good on the surface that you couldn't tell the difference. Connecticut Electric is a little ingenuous when they say "no reports of problems", because end users were certainly reporting problems to their distributors! As far as I know, many retailers and wholesalers stopped carrying Square D at all, because of the uncertainty, unless they were a big distributor and sourced directly from Square D. By the end of 2006, Cutler Hammer (Eaton) had come on the market with a line of UL certified replacements for some of the Sqaure D types.

This is another example of the rampant "cheating" from China, and my pleas for consumers to make a "Custers last stand" against Chinese products have fallen on deaf ears.
My hope now is that some manufacturers will have the cajones to take a moral leadership position. Mattel was in perfect position to say "no more chinese toys. They cannot guarantee lead free". I think the market would have applauded that, but instead, they caved.
 

Mikey

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I wish they had told us how to identify a bogus breaker, rather than how to identify a good one. The picture on the CPSC Website is of a genuine breaker.
 

Alternety

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The picture looks like it ought to be the fake. Or is was riding in the back of a truck for a couple of years. It also fails to show all of the items the text tells you to look for. Any one have some pictures to send the CPSC?
 
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