NORTHBROOK, IL — Recently, FRONT of HOUSE received a notification from Underwriter’s Labs, based here, of a shipment of 1,000-foot boxes of alleged Cat-6 communications cable bearing counterfeit UL markings on the packaging and cable jacket. The faux cable is missing the required flame retardants and may lead to increased fire risk.
The Full Story: Last year, FRONT of HOUSE printed an article warning on the hazards and problems caused by an influx of counterfeit Cat-5 cable, with some shipments entering the U.S. and typically sold at well-under-market rates from Internet resellers.
Cabling fraudulently marked as Cat-5/Cat-6 and bearing bogus UL approval markings on the jacketing and outside packaging have been found to be substandard product that did not meet durability, performance or fire safety standards. In tests, the insulation and jacketing of these materials exhibited increased flammability and possibly emitted toxic fumes when burned. Unfortunately, the problem persists, with more fake product still arriving on U.S. shores.
Some of these counterfeit products were made with copper-clad aluminum (or steel) conductors that outwardly look like genuine copper wiring, yet exhibit poor conductivity, problems making punch block terminations and offered too much resistance to support POE (Power Over Ethernet) applications. Other cables were mismarked as 24 gauge, and actually were non-spec 26 AWG.
Recently, we received a notification from Underwriter’s Labs of a shipment of 1,000-foot boxes of alleged Cat-6 communications cable bearing counterfeit UL markings on the packaging and cable jacket. The faux cable is missing the required flame retardants and may lead to increased fire risk.
Besides the counterfeit UL markings, the packaging listed the product as 23-gauge, Category 6 Plenum (CMP) solid- conductor Ethernet cable and “verified to UL, ETL and 3P standards” and lists fake UL number E328429. The surface of the cable jacket bore the following description:
BYTECC CAT6 PLENUM CMP UTP 4-PAIR 23 AWG EIA/TIA/ISO/UL.
As the audio industry becomes more dependent on audio over Ethernet and high-performance LAN networking, the integrity of that data is an essential part of our livelihood. We wouldn’t pass mic signals using cheap, narrow gauge coax with substandard conductors, so why turn to “just anything” in terms of Cat-5/Cat-6 cabling when your entire production is at stake. Poor quality cabling can lead to audio and data dropouts and other irregularities. It’s bad enough in a portable sound system, and can be a disaster if used in an within the walls of an installation.
Be vigilant and know your suppliers.
