Quality of industrial extension leads under investigation

Market surveillance by the Approved Cables Initiative (ACI) has revealed significant quantities of substandard pre-assembled industrial extension leads on sale in the UK.

Pre-assembled yellow units, sold as industrial extension leads designed for use in harsh environments (such as construction sites), have been found marked H05VV-F. These cables are ordinary duty flex and as such are not suitable for industrial use. A sheath of yellow or blue is commonly associated with arctic grade flexibles. 

In one example of such cable, packaging clearly states that the extension lead is designed for use in `harsh environments’ even though the cable is ordinary duty flex (H05VV-F). The cable is yellow and could be easily mistaken for arctic grade flex.

Tests by the Approved Cables Initiative have shown that when the flex is subjected to the cold bend test at minus 40°C, the sheath splits open and insulation cracks exposing what would be live conductors.

Some examples of flex, purchased from a seller on eBay, also failed to meet the tensile strength requirements of an arctic grade and ordinary duty flexible. In one sample the results were more than 30% lower than required.

A further example of an ordinary duty, sold as an industrial extension lead was purchased from a Nationwide Electrical Wholesaler. When subjected to the cold bend test as an arctic grade flex, it failed to maintain its integrity, exposing live conductors. The flex, manufactured in Turkey also failed conductor resistance testing at such a severity that it would warrant a product recall as it poses serious risk of short circuiting and overheating.

In December 2017, the ACI conducted market surveillance aimed at sampling the quality of arctic grade flexibles. Significant quantities of substandard arctic grade flexibles were discovered and the ACI published a warning to the electrical supply chain at this time.

Throughout the course of the ACI’s latest market surveillance programme, various samples have been obtained; a multitude of failures have been recorded across a range of test criteria and requirements. The table below outlines the failures:

Sample purchased from

Sample manufactured by

Failures recorded

eBay

Defender Power and Light (owned by Birchwood Price Tools)

Tensile strength of insulation and failure to meet arctic grade cold bend test

Nationwide Electrical Wholesaler

KOC Kablo

Conductor resistance and failure to meet arctic grade cold bend test

eBay

Zhe Jiang Shuang Yang

Tensile strength of insulation and thickness of insulation failed

eBay

CMK Kablo

Conductor resistance failed

eBay

Ebion Kablo

Tensile strength of sheathing failed

Nationwide Multi-Channel Retailer

No manufacturers name

No manufacturers identification on the cable

The ACI is reiterating its message that suppliers and end users who need cable suitable for outdoor use, should look for cable marked BS6004 and the UK cable code for arctic grade cable which is 3183A. Cables marked with H05VV-F are not intended and should not be used in harsh environments.

Contact us

Please, don’t hesitate to contact us for additional information on our company or our products.

Other News

Our website uses cookies and thereby collects information about your visit to improve our website (by analyzing), show you Social Media content and relevant advertisements. Please see our cookies page for further details or agree by clicking the 'Accept' button.

Cookie settings

Below you can choose which kind of cookies you allow on this website. Click on the "Save cookie settings" button to apply your choice.

FunctionalOur website uses functional cookies. These cookies are necessary to let our website work.

AnalyticalOur website uses analytical cookies to make it possible to analyze our website and optimize for the purpose of a.o. the usability.

Social mediaOur website places social media cookies to show you 3rd party content like YouTube and FaceBook. These cookies may track your personal data.

AdvertisingOur website places advertising cookies to show you 3rd party advertisements based on your interests. These cookies may track your personal data.

OtherOur website places 3rd party cookies from other 3rd party services which aren't Analytical, Social media or Advertising.