Underwriters Laboratories recently warned that two communications cable products carried “counterfeit UL marks.” Neither cable has been evaluated by the laboratory for safety. In addition, UL claims that the two cables do not contain required flame-retardant elements, so they both pose fire hazards. The first warning regards a StarTech product while the second carries the brand name Monoprice.
Back in January Underwriters Laboratories (UL) issued a public notice that identified StarTech communications cable as being mislabeled. According to an article in Cabling Installation & Maintenance, UL stated that the cable, “bears a counterfeit UL Mark for the United States and may pose a fire hazard.” The safety organization states, “The communications cable has not been evaluated by UL to the appropriate standard for safety in the United States, and is not authorized to bear the UL mark or any reference to UL.”
Further, the notice states that the cable “is missing required flame retardant elements. This may cause an increased risk of fire.” The box bears the brand name StarTech and has the terms “ISO 9011,” “UL,” “ETL,” and “IECQ” printed on it. According to UL’s notice, the cable jacket includes the following: “CMR Type 4PR 24AWG 75C (UL) E151955-A CSA LL79189 ETL Verified TIA/EIA-568-B.2 CAT 5E UTP 350 MHZ Patch Cable B-8A1004 ROHS Compliant.” The UL alert says that the cable was sold at overstock.com and may have been sold at other locations.
In a February article at Cabling Installation & Maintenance, there is a similar problem with cable sold by Monoprice. The UL issued, an alert to the public that Monoprice cable uses the UL mark without authorization and lacks certain fire-retardant materials. The UL alert says this cable is known to be also sold at www.greenconnectionsusa.com
The Fiber Optic Association has a YouTube video that demonstrates the fire dangers of counterfeit communications cable.
The StarTech response to the UL warning shared with Cabling Installation & Maintenance seemed more concerned about their ISO certification than correcting the problem. StarTech issued the following statement on January 24: “StarTech.com has been an ISO 9001 registered company since 1998 and is currently certified as ISO 9001:2008 compliant. As such, we take this matter seriously and have issued an internal corrective action report (CAR) and are investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident. Based on the outcome of our investigation, appropriate action will be taken.”
Monoprice’s response to Cabling Installation & Maintenance came from company rep. Chris Apland. The firm claimed they did not know about the misleading and dangerous cat 5 cables. He claims they did not know what their vendor was doing. “Unbeknownst to us at the time, Monoprice’s former vendor for the product in question was inappropriately labeling our product certifications.”
He goes on to claim the firm is sorry and has changed its ways. “Monoprice terminated our relationship with the vendor in question … We apologize to both UL and to our customers for any confusion this may have caused.” Mr. Apland added in the firm’s response that Monoprice’s “new vendor provides a higher quality Cat 6 bulk cable that includes the critical fire-retardant material called for in the UL complaint … we have since been in contact with UL through our China office…”
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In order to prevent safety problems on your job site, the Communications Cable and Connectivity Association (CCCA) recommends the best practice is to buy proven quality, name-brand cables and patch cords for known vendors.
Other recommendations include:
- Check for the UL holographic label on all boxes or reels of cable.
- Verify the UL mark and cable type on the cable jacket.
- Consult the UL online certifications directory to find if the manufacturer has a UL listing via the UL file number (the E number).
- Verify the authorized UL marks and correct terminology appear in cable specifications (cut sheets)
- Weigh the box of cable. Substantially less weight may indicate non-compliant copper clad aluminum (CCA) conductors were used in place of solid copper
The CCCA has developed the Cable Check™ App to help check these best practices. Download the app from Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes to detect cables carrying fake UL marks on your job.
Related articles
- How Monoprice is eating the tech world from the inside out (buzzfeed.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.