Counterfeit RCBOs

[LoveRocket]

Do they exist?

Has anyone ever seen one?

Is there a good way to spot them?

I ask because it's just been mentioned on another thread that anything sold on ebay is obviously counterfeit and you should only buy RCBOs from 'reputable' (ie expensive) suppliers.

 

[bongos]

Have a look at the sixth post down on this.

 

[Steve]

Do they exist?

Has anyone ever seen one?

Yeah, do you want some? £10 each, free P&P. PM me.

 

[ericmark]

There were some MCB's which have been in trade papers but not RCBO's.
Since every RCBO has to be tested with a meter to show it works to sell plain switches in RCBO cases as was case with MCB's would be obvious as soon as you tested so very quickly they would be found out.

However the RCD does come in many types and one could get AC, A and B types swapped without picking up with tester. But unless you have supplies from wind or solar this is unlikely to be a problem anyway.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I ask because it's just been mentioned on another thread that anything sold on ebay is obviously counterfeit.

That isn't what was said - the concern is that they might be fake, and as

a) You have no way of knowing
b) A fake could kill you

you have to ask if it's worth taking a chance.

 

[plugwash]

There were some MCB's which have been in trade papers but not RCBO's.
Since every RCBO has to be tested with a meter to show it works to sell plain switches in RCBO cases as was case with MCB's would be obvious as soon as you tested so very quickly they would be found out.

However the RCD does come in many types and one could get AC, A and B types swapped without picking up with tester. But unless you have supplies from wind or solar this is unlikely to be a problem anyway.

You could also potentially make a device that had residual current sensing and associated switching (read would pass a RCD tester) but that didn't have any overcurrent/short circuit protection components.

 

[LoveRocket]

I ask because it's just been mentioned on another thread that anything sold on ebay is obviously counterfeit.

That isn't what was said - the concern is that they might be fake, and as

a) You have no way of knowing
b) A fake could kill you

you have to ask if it's worth taking a chance.

It was clearly insinuated that RCBOs bought cheaper than RRP on ebay are fake.

There is an element of chance to everything, so I'm asking this question in order to calculate the risk of buying RCBOs off ebay.

As no-one has ever seen a fake RCBO and that the RCD element will be tested, I think it is worth taking a 'chance', as I perceive the chance of buying and failing to notice a fake RCBO to be incredibly small.

The whole$alers might not like it, but I'll use ebay.

 

[Spark123]

Can you post links to the ones you are looking at?

 

[LoveRocket]

Can you post links to the ones you are looking at?

Here's an example...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAGER-RCBO-AD...UK_BOI_CircuitBreakers_RL?hash=item3efc7772a5

 

[securespark]

Just because the price is RB does not make the gear counterfeit. It could be knocked off.

Not that that's any better, but I'm saying it may not be fake.

 

[electronicsuk]

Just because the price is RB does not make the gear counterfeit. It could be knocked off.

Not that that's any better, but I'm saying it may not be fake.

Equally, this could be gear left over from excess orders, cancelled projects, etc etc. I'd be quite happy using RCBOs off eBay as long as they test out properly.

 

[martinxxxxxx]

Let's buy one and put it through it's paces.

see if they checkout.


Or better still send it to hager and ask them if it is one of theirs.

For six quid it would give a def answer.

Actually LoveRocket, why don't you do this and let us know what Hager say.

After all you are the one that wants to use them, and wouldn't it be good to be able to show that they are genuine?

If there not well you could be the one to uncover the fakes

Both ways I would take my hat off to you for finding out

Martin

 

[LoveRocket]

Thanks for the sensible replies. I might just do as you've suggested Martin.

As to Mr sheds, I had not decided what I was going to do, that's why I asked the question. If a load of pro sparkies had jumped in and said "I've seen loads of fake RCBOs and they came from ebay" then I'd be concerned. However it seems to me that the likelihood of an ebay bought RCBO being a fake is so tiny it's not worth worrying about.

As Martin has said, there are many great bargains to be had on ebay - you might not like a bargain, but I do - and to answer you question any RCBOs I buy will be tested by me, with an RCD tester.

 

[skenk]

I have bought RCBO's from ebay (and sold a few too), all tested out fine and I have no reason to suspect they were anything other than surplus stock. The RCBO linked to above is at £6.09 atm but it still has 10 hours to go so will likely shoot up (to around £15 I would guess).

 

[Adam_151]

IIRC, hager have a think on their site where you put the serial number in, and it tells you the type of device and rating that serial number belongs to. While its not guarentted to rule out conterfits, its quite likely to as I would expect counterfitters to just get a random serial number that looks correct to print on stuff.

Plugwash, Not sure that its likely that an RCBO would end up with RCD bits but not MCB in. It sounds a lot of trouble to go to and plus if they were copying, they would have to copy it and then elimate the MCB bits. I'd imagine counterfitters would have better ways to make a quick buck (like turning out ones that have nothing inside at all, and then doing a quick disappearing act before they started comming back!*)


*It happened with solar panels... there was a case of a load of modules which did not work, they turned out to be photocopies of cells in a frame