There has been a lot of counterfitting of circuit breakers, by the Chinese, this past year. Wouldn't be surprised if they were now into GFCI's. I'd probably notify the supply house you bought them from, and maybe Eagle itself.

I would very definately recommend replacing all GFCI recepticles in the residence after having an event such as this. My additional recommendations for the ultimate protection against this type fasilure is as follows:

1. Replace all existing GFCI recrepticles with Hubbell, Leviton or P&S brand devices purchased only through a local electrical supplier in the area and not the local hardware store, Home Depot or Lowes.

2. Install arc fault breakers on each circuit supplying the GFI recepticles and on all other 120 volt circuits supplying recepticles and lighting in the residence.

3.The 2008 NEC has expanded requirements for arc fault protection on additional circuits in new residences. Although upgradeing of existing residences is not required by the NEC it would be provide a higher degree of protection against this type failure in the future.

I would expect this from this manufacturer. I have never used Eagle in any installations. Just looking at their devices tells the story, why would anyone use these devices in their home or any customers is beyond my comprehension. I am just happy to hear that life and property were safe. A learning experience for future refrerence, cheap is cheap! Sorry to be so harsh, but it certainly needed to come out a some point.

I would look at two or three other receptables and if they show the same thing and if they are made by eagle and made in china that should tell you where the problem lies.

I have also experienced GFCI receptacles that have looked like the one in your picture. Several items must be considered. Was the device exposed to moisture ( either direct spray or condensing? ( such as in an exterior wall where the inside is warm and the outside is cool and damp?)) Were there any power surges in the electrical system ( either external to the house and or internal to the house?). As electricians we need to be aware that all GFCI's, ARC fault's etc. have electronic components internally , and as such will have failures over time. The new "weather resistant" GFCI's should reduce the moisture failure issues ( I hope!). MP

After seeing the photo submitted by Anthony it reminded me of two ocassions where I replaced Gfci receptacles both Eagle with the same type of damage. Paul.

I've never had a problem with Eagle products, that I recall anyway. What kind of load did you have on it? Did it get wet? Not enough info to take a stab at the problem!

Tony:

Change them All out IMMEDIATELY! Goto WWW.UL.com and find your Listing and the control # Along with the photo and TAKE this to your Local INSPECTOR

Contact the Mfg also with photo

Bruce

I think they are all made in China no matter who manufacures them I've had cases of bad Gfci's right off the shelf.

Brand name isn't important I have a P&S that looks like this , THEIR ALL made in China (probably at the same factory.) I think the problem is the moisture and electronics , I'm switching to gfci breakers and WR outlets to be safe. If anybody knows of any that r made in the USA that would be interesting.

andy

I noticed in the picture that the indicator strip between the neutral & hot on the load side was not removed upon installation. My experience with leaving them on and taking them off when installing are indeed different. When they were left on I would recieve more nuisance trippng. Having said this, one might assume that may be a cause for the problem. Over heating but not tripping

Does the GFCI have a UL (or other National Recongnized Testing Lab) listing / Label? If so I would contact that agency and see if they are interested in investigating further. If the device does not have a UL listing / Label, then your installation violates the NEC. This could also be casued by a loose connection. In this case, the GFCI would deteriorate by the increaed heat over time and represents an istalltion or maintenance issue, assuming you are not overloading the circuit.

I would not use that brand. I use Leviton.

WOW! That was a close one.

I found an issue with the Eagle brand light dimmer switches. I recently installed 4 on some track lighting. My wife noticed that the lights would flicker. I took the cover plates off and immediately noticed that they were very warm. The switches were so hot I could not touch them. I turned off the lights and let them stand for 30 min to cool down and went shopping for replacements. Did I do something wrong?

Several years ago a very large shipment of counterfit GFCI's from somewhere in Asia were intercepted by Customs here in CA. (upside down L on the UL label) Some of the same GFCI's were turning up in home improvement stores for a period of time.

I had a Levington one do the same thing, completely melted the back off of it. I suspected water caused the problem but it stayed energized to melt it before ever tripping the circuit. I saved it and will try to post a picture.

I can't say i have ever seen a GFCI do that before. But if we implement regular testing we can reduce things like this. And i don't mean testing with a GFCI plug test. I have a meter that can test the fault loop impedence, trip time and trip current. Like i said it is not a cure all but regular house or facility testing might prevent some things like this.

I had one of these GFIC burn up on an outside wall of a store with nothing plug into it. i will loook for the photos.

I have had a similar problem at my parents house. There was an Eagle brand outlet on the outside of the house thast had burnt up. I noticed an electrical smell and traced it to this outside outlet.

I had a similar situation with a GFI receptacle, the brand name I do not recall but it was a 20 amp which was installed in my kitchen. This GFI receptacle arc so bad that it melted an area around the hot screw and half way up the wire still inside the plastic box. I replaced it with a new GFI and took the rbad receptacle to an electrical vendor I happen to do usiness with. He looked at it and then contacted the manufacturer to figure out what went wrong. The problem he was told was that the screw with the burnt wire had come loose which eventually caused the arcing around the screw. The vendor commented that it was a good thing that I replaced it when I did. He gave me a new GFI receptacle which I still have in the box.

22yr electrician-union electrician. buy american! cheap garbage from third world and communist countries that hate our us butts love to send that trash to us and laugh when it kills kids and us citizens! it may cost a little more because we don't use 8yr olds to make our quality stuff, but it won't cost as much as replacing your home, huh? you won't see that refuse in my house, just a thought. i wouldn't fly on a plane whose pilot was a musslim either- go figure? God bless! hope it works out for you.

Mike, it would be highly helpful if NEC issues a list of "approve makes" for various domestic products so that the public may purchase safe products eaily.

Looks like this may be an issue. I just replaced 3 of tht wer burnt exactly the same way. i switched to pass/seymour and probably will not purchase any eagles in the future.

Anthony, This is undoubtedly anothter "made in China: fiasco. I would contact the CPSC to alert them. They may also know about this already and have issued an alert. What is worse is that there may be millions of these units out there already. I have had to replace countless GFCI's that do not work correctly or sometimes not at all. I have found that the greater problem with these are when they are located in damp locations and is not limited to just this one manufacturer. Most have been manufactured in China but not all. Swapping the others is a best safety idea, but you should at least check the others immediately. It is likely that all of these units are the same in the dwelling which means a high risk level

I had this problem 4 or 5 years ago in a house we wired. Some issue, had found out that eagle had recalled some GFCI's and they paid for the replacement.

I recently replaced a GFCI at my home and the burning looked very similar. I didn’t look at the model so I can’t tell you who manufactured it though.

I have never had any problems with eagle brand but wouldn't take a chance; I would replace them all, especialy in my home and I will not use eagle brand again. It's not like they make the only one available is it?

I pulled 3 from stock and all are made in China.Cooper,Hubbel and Leviton and all state Made in China on the boxes.We use in industrial applications in shops and temporary power.Work ok till they get moisture..Happy New Year

I have a GFCI receptable by a different manufacturer looks just like this one. It also was an exterior installation, and was still "working" when found, with a bit of "charring" around the outlet. It was removed several years ago. A side note, the siding and cover didn't allow for a tight seal, plus the box was a "bell box style" so water would fill the box and submerge the receptacle.

If this GFCI was picking up a load on the load side, it could possibly be a loose connection at the GFCI

Unfortunatley Chinese products will start to fail more and more. If you were not made aware of that thru various avenues then your head has been stuckin a place where foul smelling gases are stored and released. If you are an Electrical Contractor and know that the product was made in China, were warned about the inferiority of the product but installed it anyway you should be forever barred from ever working in the electrical industry. Yes, while I have lost numerous bids to the ( I just got my license and pedro is my helper working out of his garage and newely annointed contractor) I still have enough work to,and here's the most extremely important part, (sleep well at night) knowing I used quality components and devices and properly installed them. I truly believe that the small clause " same as or equal to" shoul be removed from any and all device take off sheets and building plans. Once again, corporate greed and the almighty profit margin win.

I had several gfci receptacles in my house. after 3 months, they quit woking. i replaced them, and they quit again. i now have gfci breakers. i check them on a regular basis. still going. I will not use gfic receptacles again.

I would definately notify Eagle {even though they'll probably blow it off} & U L of the problem.The more complaints they get the more interest they'll take. I wouldn't be surprised if alot of counterfeit devices "slip under the radar" at U S customs. Good luck, and Happy New Year to all

Thank you Anthony for brining this to our attention, my company from now on will when possible install a GFCI in the panel instead.

Good Luck this Year Guys, Nathan Poland

I have seen this many times, I'm not suprized to see it. i find it outside on boat davits and recepticals on boat docks in wet locations with salt enviorment.

I attended a OSHA Safety Training course a few months back and the class was told of 5 letter word countries to not to buy from: 1. China 2. Italy 3. Korea 4. India 5. Japan

If there was any electrical devices from any of these countries i would not be using them. No matter what is stated on the box or device.

William T. Anderson Master Electrician Arkansas

mike i am a electricial contractor from indiana.we are too having the same thing with eagle outlets.i have called eagle rep /he said there is nothing wrong with the outlet but we have to seal the cover to the wall.but it is still happening even after we do that.

For quite some time, I have been installing GFI outlets at every exterior location feeling that it was an added layer of safety. Now I question whether this was the best thought I've ever had or not. However, I always use Hubbell or P&S devices, commercial grade is the low-end, nothing less, Spec grade where the job allows.

After viewing the picture and reading some of the posts, I tend to agree with the comments of Dan in that the GFI devices should be installed indoors and feed downstream exterior outlets. Not a bad thought, but I'm old school, and still like the extra feel-good of having protection at the device. I also would question if the device picture were in a weather proof box, how did excessive amounts of moisture get to the device? A leaky gasket perhaps?

Was there something with a large load pluged in ,such as Chritmas lights ?

I've seen this happen on leviton devices as well. The cause is damp moisture combined with loose terminal connections, and a nice constant load. Try to use silicone around the weather proof box and cover after youve installed your new device.

I have seen this same problem. Most of them didn't have the correct cover, that is the in use cover. They were weather proof but not the in use cover. One that i remember the wires were just about burned into the wall. I notice that they had a transformer for outside lights plug into it so I think water just got into it.

That's why you're supposed to have AFCI's. To protect those poor manufacturers from lawsuit. I have another question. If this would have caused a fire would you be limited on your lawsuit due to the fact there was no AFCI? Remember YOU stated you were a 20 year electrician.

Mike or Anthony,

I've come across several of these. I don't recall if they were the Eagle brand or if they were made in China but in all cases they were installed in an exterior location. That leads me to think that it was a moisture problem that caused this defect. As far as the device being made outside the USA, and contrary to what we'd like to believe, many are anyway even though they have an American brand name. You can try contacting the manufacturer but unless they have an abundance of complaints regarding these defective units I think it will fall on deaf ears.

I too have seen this in several gfci's. I've been waiting for a class action modern gfci sucks a high failure rate.

Makes me start to think of using GFCI breakers instead of outlets, ultimitly the customer pays for the extra cost and we can all sleep better at night at seeing that these outlets are a big problem. I'm a one man shop and i have at least 12 of these over the last couple of years(only one that bad the rest failed before that level) Let's start a trend to use breakers that way every ones price goes up the same. Everyone benefits high cost item high profit, less warrantee calls, customer is safer.

I had the same problem with GFCI on the outside of houses.. What I have found was that the moisture/ water caused most of the problems.. In the several cases that I have had the GFCI was burn similiar to the picture and did not trip the circuit.. The wiring also melted back in the box.. I have had this with other brands beside Eagle.. Once was when the Brick layers where washing the brick...

Nee-min how Nee how ma Xie Xie boo ke chi zai jian thank you for buying our Chinese products-made from pure rice

We had similar issues with GFCI outlets and use Eagle (Cooper Products) but it is always with outlets that are outside under "weather proof" covers. I believe it is a moisture problem and all outside GFCI outlets are candidates for this problem. I takes very little moisture on a printed circuit board with line voltage to cause arcing and carbon traces that only agravte the situation further until there is the real possibility of a fire. We had a similar situation and have quit placing GFCi receptacles outside. We always put the protective device ( GFCI Receptacle or a GFCI breaker) in an interior dry environment and then wire downstream to the outside receptacle for protection of it. Weather proof covers are seldom weather proof unless they are periodically checked for proper sealing against the surface they are installed on. Even then with quick temperature changes there is the possibility of condensation forming on the circuits inside the outlet.

That's my 2 cents...

By all means, I would report this to the manufacturer, as a favor to them. I'd also strongly advise informing U.L., assuming that this is a U.L. listed device.

I can supply contact info. at U.L. if desired.

Best wishes to all for a Great 2010 New Year.

Regards . . .

I have found several of the cheaper receptacles regradless of manufactur that they all have a fatal failure rate. several have started fires or have been the indirect cause. you were very lucky. since staring my job over 4 years ago (electrical inspector) i have changed all receptacles in my house to the better brand. i have also made a inspection of receptacles in my house a part of a monthly program. I have been in the electrical field for over 40 years and have had several positions in the trade..

I have seen the same happen a couple times but never really thought anything of it because they were in exterior boxes. I wrote it off to moisture shorting it out and we get ALOT of ants in electrical boxes in L.A. for some reason.

I'll be watching this thread.

I have never had that problem with Eagle, but I have had it at least 3 times with an inferior product. There was a supply house that gave us great prices on no name GFCI's. After having to go back and replace a few that looked like yours, we only buy name brand now. Also we have found many old GFCI's that would allow the current to flow, but were not protecting the circuit when you tested it.

I believe this is a moisture problem. I have seen this on other name brands also--Leviton, Hubbell, P&S.

Condensation builds up insid ethe GFCI and then poof! Arc fault burns it up. I've seen this in bathrooms and could safely say moisture because of the dampness in the bathroom. Teenagers and showers!

Have not seen the phenomenon of degradation to this point, but isn't this one of the reasons the 2011 NEC now includes new requirements that receptacles be rated for "Exterior Locations"?

I have had several problems with Eagle devices, especially GCFI's I have replaced all of them in my house, and my relatives too, I recommend checking at the very least, replacement of device if needed.

I am a Forensic Electrical Engineer investigating electrical fire causes. I have had fires that appeared to have started at a GFI receptacle, but due to heavy damages have not been able to confirm that cause. Would it be possible to get that receptacle or any others like it sent to me? I would like to get some x-rays, then dissasemble it to see what happened.

Thanks, George J. Hogge PE

It like as a moisture problem with a false contact inside device, you most to check all them if you find someone hot remove and change it.

Mike Holt is an educator- he is not the manufacturer, not an electrical safety organization and definitely not a product certification laboratory.

Please submit all the details about this incident and the photo to Eagle and to the Consumer Product Safety Comission and to the listing laboratory (UL).

as I always said we need to start buying american. Is this product UL Listed.Doubtfully!!!!! Buy American. Stop supporting Foreign Imports. You get what you pay for!!!

We don't use Eagle devices but I have had similar problems with a few Leviton GFI's. Since Leviton started producing these devices in China we have had many defective units. I have also had 2 (that I recall) that have burned/melted similar to the one shown, but not as severe. Maybe we caught it sooner or we just got lucky. I did speak to a Leviton Rep about it once but he wasn't to entusiastic to deal with it. If I get any more device failures I'll save them and contact this post or Leviton. I am really fed up with all of these Chinese made devices. They have costed our company allot of call backs this year!

I've seen this with a bunch of eagle GFI's they're just crummy devices.

If you are an electrical contractor for 20 years, Do you really need to ask if you should change these out? Always use Leviton or a comparable substitute. Saving a buck wont work if the customers building burns down. Think you would be out the $3-$4 you saved buying junk.

If you are confident in your installation of the device,I would at least bring it to their attention. I would give a once over on other receptacles for any indication of failure and consider changing GFCI outlets. If not all at once at least in phases.

It looks like it might have been the surge suppressor, I have seen surge suppressors become less resistive in time -lower resistance caused higher current and it finally tripped the breaker but was very hot when it did trip. I tell my students that depending on where they live and how many local lightning hits they get it may be a good idea to replace these units periodically and perhaps yearly if in a high EMI/ESD area.

I have found that the new weather resistant GFCI receptacles are far more rugged and seem to be much safer for outdoor installations, and they are required by the NEC. Also, I always encounter these types of problems when the pressure connection is used. My company requires us to loop the wire around the screws. This seems to cut down on arcing effects.

I worked at a vocational school once, and a GFCI didn't trip out. It got wet and just laid there and smoldered and set off the smoke detector. It wasn't a ground fault, it was an arc fault. This was back in 2001 when arc faults were just coming out and I had done some research on it. So, it could be and arc fault.

Use P. S. for great quality, no worrys. Some cheap versions even fake the UL label. If you install it, you are liable.

We have seen this issue with numerous manufacturers in the restaraunt industry. Most issues are from not being used with the correct weatherproof cover in wash down areas. We have seen them arcing and actually burning with no load applied. Were there any water issues involved at the installation location?

Have not had that experience with an Eagle receptacle. But I had a customer last week that pressure washed his home and sprayed water into a Pass & Seymour GFCI receptacle and it caught fire and the back of it blew out just like the picture you showed. Lucklly the box contained the fire, otherwise his home could have gone up in flames. That was the first time I had seen a GFCI burn quite like that.