The supply house out local to where I work started carrying these GFCI's not long ago... First ones I've come across with surge protection integral, not to mention on the lower left of the box "End of Life Function" (supposedly the red light comes on when the GFCI has had it!)



Also good to note, never connect this device to "ALUMINUN" wire




Anyone else seen these?

~Randy

Gidday Randy!,
Well, that is a new development.
Do you have to replace the whole unit if the surge suppressor "blows"?
You can get surge socket outlets here that have a little plug-in module in them and you just replace the module should it blow.
I would imagine that this sort of thing would have a device like an MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) in it as the suppressor.
One final thing, it doesn't mention what the actual clamping voltage of the suppressor actually is.

I think the ad people are simply talking up the features that are standard to every GFI these days.

Most every GFI will die if it gets a substantial voltage surge; this is not to be confused with meeting any 'surge suppressor' standards that exist ... standards that are not mentioned on the package.
Sure, this 'protects' you; but the hope is that the device will survive, and continue to protect you, after the minor little spikes.

Likewise, the most recent UL standards require GFCI's to either have an 'end of life' indicator, OR fail to reset if they're not working.

Based on the packaging and the company's absolutely helpful website, I would say "stay away" from that one.

"Build in surge protector" and " aluminun" ? Those items are typos that result from bad translations from the original language,which does not make one wonder about the QC of the product, off breed products like that spook me. :(:(


Is the UL listing bogus or not?????

The UL sticker on the outlet itself shows E231858 which comes back as:


KCXS.E231858
Ground-fault Circuit Interrupters


GENERAL PROTECHT GROUP INC E231858
555 DAXING RD W
LIUSHI
YUEQING, ZHEJIANG 325600 CHINA



This is the same name as on the wiring instructions inside the box, but the device itself doesn't show any type of mfr name, just a symbol that looks like "bp"

And doing a web search for 'SecurE Corporation' turns up nothing even remotely related to this product or ad,

what the price of this thing, a buck390....

I remember interviewing, 30 years ago, at a company up in Syracuse NY that made GFCIs, and they had surge supressors inside. Mainly to protect the internal electronics, though. Depending on details of the circuitry of the electronics, the surge protector might not do anything for any connected load.

that is very strange.

I posted the following on another forum regarding this companys' phony UL labels on some of their GFIs ...
----------------------------------------------------
"
Underwriters Labs is warning consumers that Zhejiang, China-based General Protecht Ground Fault Interrupters carry unauthorized UL marks..according to UL, the products have not been evaluated for safety by UL and are not eligible to carry the UL mark....

the unauthorized label has the following info:
UL Listed; Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter; Issue No. B-386,781;E231858

stop using the GFI immediately and return it to the place you purchased it
then

Contact www.ul.com
Click on "Consumers" then click "Report a problem with a UL-certified product"
.
methinks something is askew


also, here is another link to UL and the press release regarding said GFIs

http://www.ul.com/newsroom/newsrel/nr110507.html
.

Rollie. this outfit seems to be up to no good..I found the GFI info in EC&M magazine yesterday .....!!
If I was a betting man I would say these things are not even junk

This is the hardest part about about hunting down products listing. If you try to to find a listing for a black and decker coffee maker, you will only find 1. This is because of B&D did not maufacture them. They just pay someone to put it in an B&D package. You have to find out who manufacutred it to find its listing. There are exceptions to the rules.

This looks like a controversial outlet, Randy.

http://www.dozg.com/en/index.asp

http://www.ul.com/newsroom/newsrel/nr110507.html

http://ipdragon.blogspot.com/2007/07/chinas-general-protecht-group-wins-ipr.html

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nyndce/case_no-5:2007cv00833/case_id-68741/

It seems there has been a flood of these "economy" GFI's into the market lately by all sorts of manufacturers / importers.. The company I work for installed piles of similar GFI's recently... The company I work for also got called back on almost all of them for them tripping for no reason and failing completely...Word of advice: Steer clear of these Cheapo GFI's!

A.D

about two years ago my company switched to the secure-e brand(must have gotten a deal on them). That was a mistake. I had to go on a lot of service calls to replace them. They would work for about 5 minutes after a load was put on and then trip. they learned there lesson about buying cheap GFCI's.

While on the fake Chinese GFCI subject, I came across an Arrow Hart GFCI long after Cooper had put the name to rest (at least as far as wiring devices.. The "E" file number is null as far as UL is concerned. The last version of the real AH GFI is on the left, the fake is on the right..

Trust you to find a dodgy GFI, Randy.


But, the question has to asked, what exactly are the authorities doing about all this imported foreign junk?.

As I've said here more than once, one day someone is going to get seriously injured or killed under the false sense of security, that the device they have installed, will trip upon a ground fault, I've seen some here that come from the same place and they don't do what they say they will.

This is an absolute travesty, who is going to carry the can if someone does get killed?, the installer?, the importer?, or the manufacturer (if they can be found)?

It's high time that the counterfeiting of electrical protection equipment was stamped out before something bad really does happen!

Now, I'm not conversant with the workings of UL, to my knowledge they are a test lab only, but, could they bring a case against companies overseas using fraudulent test certifications, especially where their own test certifications are being falsified?

We even get light fittings and God-knows what else here with a UL approval on them, this is looked at as dodgy for a start, because UL is not really a recognised test lab here, we usually use a NZ or Aussie one, for type-approval after importation.

It's a mine-field out there these days, and we were told globalisation would benefit everyone.

The fake Arrow Hart strongly resembles the Leviton-design GFCI. It looks like a mold insert for the back cover has been changed over to show the Arrow Hart name. I'm wondering if the fabricator chose Arrow Hart thinking that legal action might be later or never.

Mike,
I'm still wondering why this thread was moved here.
the topic is about counterfeit equipment.. not about the package it came in.

deciding this is a" photo for discussion " seems to diminish it's importance on this board. granted we are on page 2, but we could possibly be much farther along with this topic..IMHO

Recently I was told about a large batch of ceiling fans Made in China, sold in Germany in the mid-1980s. They had a UL listing - but most certainly weren't safe in any way to be sold in Germany - the sockets were ES26 and appeared fairly flimsy to my eye. What I want to say: what is legal (and safe) in one country might pose a severe hazard in another.

That listing looks like it is only for a GFCI (UL 943), and does not address the UL 498 that the package claims. My guess is that this listing is for a different GFCI made by that company, and they used the same label for this one.

Yes. The UL mark is a registered trademark, and can only be used as authorized by UL. Using it on an unlisted product is an unauthorized use, so UL could file a suit for trademark infringement.

that's the problem with this particular company.... the stickers might even be phony.... that is why UL has issued a warning about this garbage