Shady emergency lights (CPC!)

I think that might have been a copy and paste error in their flyer. The other lights do have about 50 LEDs in them.

Big Clive

Another thing: the description said it used 50 LEDs.... I only spotted 20 LEDs!

Got an email from CPC today regarding these lights being recalled: Dear Customer, CPC has found the two products to be non-compliant with the requirements for emergency lighting and have taken the decision to withdraw these from our customers. If you have bought either of the below products, we need to arrange a return of the item. Order Code Model Description LA06672 PHAROSD NM Bulkhead LED LA06673 PHAROSD M Bulkhead LED Non-maintained Please remove the item from use – switch the power to the unit OFF and remove the product from use. Please email our contact centre on customersupport@cpc.co.uk and quote the reference “BULKHEAD” and advise which of the above items you have. We will contact you to arrange collection. Full support and advice – if you have any concerns relating to this product, please email our contact centre on customersupport@cpc.co.uk using the reference “BULKHEAD” - we’re here to help.

Jon Weston

Very interesting item. A year ago I installed a driveway light to make it easier for my spouse to back out. It was solar charged, bank of leds and controlled by daylight (off during the day) and motion. It died recently so I dared to assume a BC posture and tore into it. A nice solar panel putting out 5v working well. 3 nice 1500 mAh 18650s, LEDs worked if powered from bench supply. Circuit board in main box to control battery charging etc and then another board in the light/motion control box. This was the last bit to check. Had to saw and spudge my way in to the box only to find it loaded with fire ants!! The board with several components including 16 pin chip and three mini pots were completely destroyed by the ants. They brought in their own moisture etc and that was it. So I have a nice solar panel! I enjoy all the li-ion, led, power bank etc stuff that you do. But I like everything else too!!

I've been talking to them. They do full in house tests on their own branded stuff, but expect material supplied by British importers to be made to our standards. They have removed that item from sale.

Big Clive

Yes a very sad state of affairs when CPC / Farnell sell this rubbish. Loath to use them when they do not carry out the most basic of checks on the products they sell.

John Russell

circuit continuity exists through the tungsten filament of emergency lighting lamps where appropriate.

the luminaire is connected and the charge of the battery is being maintained

According to BS EN 60598-2-22-2014 section 22.7.7 Self-contained emergency luminaires shall have adjacent to them or incorporated in them a device for charging the battery from the normal supply and an indicator visible in normal use, for example a lamp, which shows the following conditions:

I'm amazed people would try to make things this bad. They must be counting on nobody checking if they work the way they are supposed to. And how can they mis-spell ion? I can see some more obscure words getting scrambled. But li-ion batteries are common enough that the name should be familiar.

Nani Isobel

Maybe I have too high standards, but I like to ensure I am as annoying as hell if something isn't as advertised (even more so if the picture looks nothing like the item ordered!). Chinese sellers on eBay must love me! CPC are pretty responsive to stuff like this. I wonder if the light was one of one that's missing the battery?

Marmite

I'd say raise this with Farnell / CPC - they're usually pretty good suppliers I find. Be interesting to see their response and if they take it off the shelves, given it doesn't seem to be compliant at all.

Adam 'RDL' Taylor

The thin cardboard boxes combined with an Unreliable Parcel Service (UPS) has put me off CPC for most things unless I can't get them elsewhere. For example, in 4 or so orders I placed with them this and last year, every one arrived in a badly damaged taped-up box, of which one had half the contents missing. On the other hand, their after-sales is generally very good. The only misleading product I bought before was a 100m roll of satellite cable. It had an outer aluminium braid/foil shield despite the photo clearly showing copper braid/foil, so partly my fault for expecting what appeared in the picture as the description didn't mention the braid/foil material.

Seán Byrne

Bought some of these off of CPC earlier this year as a cheap bulkhead light for a back-of-house distro room for a show and too was shocked by the crappy quality. Don't tend to trust CPC much any more for their cheaper stuff. Had crappy copper-coated cables and fake fuses from thier stuff before. Their packaging is crappy too and doesn't stand up to the usual UPS chucking about

Jon Weston

Aside from fluffed video starts followed by profanities, all mid-video bloopers go in.

Big Clive

There are other LED EM lights on the market using Li-Ion cells, I have come across some already which failed because the JB plug didn't make good connection then the voltage dropped below 2v, this resulted in a batch failing and an argument with the MD of the company, eventually got a recall and replacement units of a new design. You can see why all the big boys are still using Ni-Cd, tried and tested.

The Tinkering Shed

They don't even meet basic UK wiring regs, you can expose live mains connections without the need to use any tools or keys. Absolute junk, definitely a product recall needed here.

The Tinkering Shed

On the subject of different videos, I would love to see a blooper reel.

Charles Bruckner

Your brochure says 50 LEDs. My eyes say 20 LEDs.

evilution

This crap coming up in an inquest would kill the company that sold it. You're correct, I wonder how many are out there and need to be recalled. Odds are CPC has no idea they're being ripped off by the supplier. It's the kind of thing you probably don't notice till an emergency, unless you do routine emergency testing.

Hmmm I understand the circuitry being re-purposed for this application, but how long will they last being in service 24-7-365? -that's the question. I would think that the dips, surges, and other randomness found in general building power systems would do this in in less than 2 years...maybe much less, depending. ...and then there is the battery... I'm imagining a building full of these and cringing in horror

Michael Thompson

Wonder how many low rent apartment complexes have emergency lighting with no battery? Shades of Grenfell Tower?

Robert Sanges

maybe you should raise this with CPC and see what they have to say for themselves? Who knows, thye might even see the video themselves

GL_1_Code1_1A

That's more than a bit worrying !!