16th September 2014 News: Faulty products spark cable origin warnings

Product recalls by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the US and electrical retailers and wholesalers in Australia have prompted the Approved Cables Initiative (ACI) to stress the importance of checking carefully Chinese origin cable and adopting third party approval as part of their cable procurement process. Last month more than six million power leads were recalled by HP following 29 reports of power cords overheating, melting and charring, resulting in two claims of minor burns and 13 claims of minor property damage. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that the power cords were fire starters.

The defective AC power cords, with a moulded “LS-15” mark, were sold with HP and Compaq laptops (notebook and mini notebook computers) and docking stations in the US and Canada between September 2010 and June 2012. The advice from HP is to stop using the product immediately and to contact HP for a free replacement cable.

Meanwhile in Australia Infinity and Olsent branded Infinity cables have failed to meet electrical safety standards due to poor quality plastic coating. Now 18 electrical retailers and wholesalers have recalled the cables which may expose around 40,000 homes in Australia to a risk of electric shock or fire. Infinity Co PTY Ltd has gone into liquidation.

The cables affected, which were manufactured in China, do not comply with the ageing requirements of the electrical safety standard, AS/NZS 5000, and expert advice is that they may become prematurely brittle and break if disturbed, exposing the internal conductors and potentially causing electrical shock or fires.

An ACI spokesperson said: “Faulty cable is a worldwide issue and UK distributors and wholesalers need to be heedful when making their cable choices. Once again we are looking at cables of Chinese origin that have failed to meet national safety requirements. The importance of purchasing and importing cable products that carry the appropriate national, European and International standards should not be overlooked and the reassurance third party approved cables provides should be recognised.”

More information about the HP recall is available at http://h30652.www3.hp.com/ while information concerning the Infinity and Olsent recall can be found at

https://www.accc.gov.au/update/infinity-cables-frequently-asked-questions.

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