Last saturday I was in NW Dade County performing some consultation services. The one warehouse I was working with had over 13,000 split DX system A/C units and also some pool heat pumps. Random checking revealed that no ETL or UL logos had control numbers let alone references to appropriate ANSI/UL standards. Many of the units that carried the ETL logo were marked as Trane, Lennox, and Carrier. Typically split DX systems for these manufacturers are listed by UL, NOT ETL ! ! ! ! ! So that was a tip off that some thing was amiss at this facility. On a later checking of my ETL Directory book it seems that these manufactoruers do have a lot of products listed by ETL, BUT NOT split DX A/C systems. I walked about the warehouse several times and kept getting a very uneasy feeling about the situation.

I returned to Hudson FL that evening. On monday morning 05/24 I was back in NW Dade County to perform some ARI selection work for Intertek. After the work I drove by the warehouse in question. Lo and behold the building was completely empty except for some trash and dust ! Upon questioning, the several people cleaning up said that the building had been rented for 2 weeks only. Now my curiosity was really built up and definitely piqued.

I am looking into this matter. It would seem that some one or some persons are playing freely and loosely with copyright protected logos as well as the safety inspection process provided by legitimate listing. I have come up with several leads already to follow up on. I suspect that everything in that warehouse is now on a boat going somewhere other than the USA. That is the scenario that first comes to mind. Otherwise if the warehouse contents have in fact been distributed within the USA, then the problem becomes one of gigantic proportions for ETL, UL, and the implicated manufacturers.

I will be contacting State of Florida and Federal agencies about this. Since there is a high probability of either export or interstate commerce taking place, the FBI will also be contacted.

It behooves all of us in the electrical industry to combat a matter like this when it arises. Not only does the industry benefit, but certainly the general public does also. The NRTL listing process is crucial to the intent of the NECode.

Some of you may recall the efforts I made some years back in IAEI circles when Square D and Siemens were hampered by a federal court restraint of trade injunction with regard to "Trip and Lite" circuit breakers. I have a very distinct feeling that this situation may very well develop into a similar scenario. Thus IAEI efforts by the rank and file membership can very definitely have a positive impact in curtailing activities such as this.

Dick Widera
Hudson FL
Widera Electric Co. Inc.
Secretary, Suncoast Division IAEI

Wow, this is very intersting and scary.

Keep us updated Dick!

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your comment. Yes the situation is scary. Because of the IAEI forum over the years, as an electrical contractor I caught many fake label and stolen label applications. This is one of the several things about IAEI membership that has been so valuable to me.

There are still a couple of guys in the Orlando area selling fake ETL and UL labels on the street corner. Unfortunately the street corner keeps relocating and the guys are smart enough to change street corners in a completely random manner. When I worked the Orlando area for ETL a few years ago, I was always a day late in catching up with these guys.

Also when I worked the Orlando area for ETL, I confronted a client on a quarterly visit about using the ETL label on split DX system A/C units for which I had no listing reports about. I had checked out a huge residential home in Pinellas County with a home inspector and found 5 of these systems installed. All 5 condenser units and all 5 air handler units had a legitimate ETL logo label with control number. It was just that the manufacturer had not gotten the systems listed with ETL. needless to say there was and immediate shuffling of paper, phone calls, checks issued, etc. in order to stay in good graces with ETL.

I am currently watching a client in the south Ft. Myers area about misuse of the ETL label. They are listed for air cooled refrigerant pool and spa heat pumps ONLY ! ! ! ! ! I have several documented complaints from several of their competitors who are listed with ETL, that they are placing the ETL label on ground water source cooled units. They are not listed by ETL for a ground source cooled unit.

The net conclusion of this type of fraud is that we in the IAEI should give more support to the NRTL vendors that support our IAEI meetings. Yes they are there to pitch the services of their company. Yet, we all need to group together and fight fake and spurious labeling !

I received this information today via Bryan Holland of the Gulf Coast Division from Jeff Fecteau of UL. I also received it from Robert Crane, the Lead Enforcement Manager Anti-Counterfeiting Operations of UL.

A Boca Raton sign company owner has been arrested for printing fake safety labels. For the story in the "Sun-Sentinel News", go to ( http://www.sun-sentinal.com/news/palm-beach/boca-raton/fl-boca-counterfeit-fraud-201006 ). The man is accused of printing fake UL labels and placing them on signs. He was arrestyed on 34 counts of counterfeiting and 1 count of organized fraud.

Whoops - sorry, but I did not get the full website address in the last reply. The full address is ( http://sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/...5293.full.story )

Dick

The link posted appears to be incorrect.
But I found the post:
HERE

THIS IS HUGE!

I bet if the truth was known, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
With all of the offshore manufactured goods, who knows how much is really what it says it is?

I assume the same thing Greg.

There really is no way to absolutely know for sure that every product we see installed is the "real" thing. Even when it is the "real" thing, we don't know if it is manufactured per some standard...

The listing saga continues.

Now here is another twist on the listing process. A company in St. Petersburg is manufacturing body scanners for airports. They are UNLISTED ! When I asked them if their product was listed, the retort I received was "WHY". Any govermental inspectors who perform inspections at airports need to take a hard look at these body scanners. They are using EHF or extra high radio frequency. The Mfr. claims that there is no adverse affect from this radiation. But the radiation is produced my a machine that has to have line voltage applied to it as the primary source of power. There is a small, 2-3% of the American population that is extremely sensitive to electro magnetic radiation. Even though these people numbers are small, are they to be neglected when it comes to listing a product and the general protection and well being of the public ?