Ron, Many people see a UL tag on the power cord and ASSUME that the equipment is UL-listed as well. Bad assumption! There are a gazillion products coming out of Asia that are equipped with UL-listed cord sets, but the equipment itself might be junk and not qualify for listing. Some imported equipment may have counterfeit UL labels; a genuine UL label has a holographic feature that is difficult to forge. In any case, UL only inspects the design of the product and periodic samples; when units are manually assembled by cheap labor, it is easy for mistakes to occur during manufacture.
Incidentally, UL (Underwriter's Laboratories) is not the only NRTL (Nationally-Recognized Testing Laboratory); there are a number of Listing Marks that are acceptable in the United States, and UL is just one of them. Part of the wiring problem may be due to differences in color-coding of the power cord wires. In the United States, the standard color code for 120 VAC cords is: Black for hot, White for neutral (grounded conductor), and Green for the equipment grounding conductor. International cord sets use a different color code: Brown for hot (think "warm color"), Blue for neutral (think "cold color"), and yellow/green for the equipment grounding conductor. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ron Wright Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2008 6:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: RadioShack Recalls Power Supplies Due toElectrocution and Fire Hazards <snip> I wonder how this happened. I am sure the supply is UL listed (no such thing as US approved) so looks like something got over looked or a change occured at RS manufacturing. In the US the safety ground and neutral both go back to the same place in the power panel (fuse box). Most of the time both are insulated with different color wires and often the neutral is a size larger wire (not allowed with new code), but with the RS supply this wire size would not be a problem. 73, ron, n9ee/r >From: Gary Glaenzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:glaenzer%40verizon.net> > >Date: 2008/07/05 Sat AM 08:21:43 EDT >To: [email protected] <mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> >Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: RadioShack Recalls Power Supplies Due toElectrocution and Fire Hazards > >I must have a half-dozen of these http://www.mytoolstore.com/ideal/ide05-08.html <http://www.mytoolstore.com/ideal/ide05-08.html> true, they will NOT show ground/neutral reversal, but if your panel is wired correctly, that's a non-issue ----- Original Message ----- From: Thomas Oliver To: [email protected] <mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 6:30 PM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: RadioShack Recalls Power Supplies Due toElectrocution and Fire Hazards > > > >> >> The inspector I used checked every outlet in the house, & found one in >the >> garage that had line & neutral reversed. It is tagged as such, & is now >> only used with fully insulated loads such as Christmas lights. >> >> Bob NO6B > >My brother lived in a house with two wire plugs he changed to three wire >plugs. He just jumpered the neutral and ground together on the plugs. > >It fooled the inspector with the little plug in light up gizmo. > >I highly recomend one of these to anyone working around electricity. >http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+VoltAlert.htm?catalog_name=FlukeUni t <http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+VoltAlert.htm?catalog_name=FlukeUni t> >edStates > >Best $20.00 I spent. > >tom n8ie > >No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com> Version: 8.0.135 / Virus Database: 270.4.5/1533 - Release Date: 7/3/2008 7:19 PM Ron Wright, N9EE 727-376-6575 MICRO COMPUTER CONCEPTS Owner 146.64 repeater Tampa Bay, FL No tone, all are welcome.
