In a remote corner of an industrial park in the south, rusty iron door behind the pungent smell of burnt plastic. Reporters disguised as buyers sneak in, before the eyes of a mountain of scrap cable shell is being workers with an axe split, copper wire in the oil-strewn ground drag, mixed with mud and oil. The person in charge of the cigarette bragging: “These recycled copper per ton cheaper than electrolytic copper 8,000, made out of the line as usual over the test!”

The "magic" show on the assembly line 

2.5 square millimeters diameter core was deliberately flattened to 1.8 square, wrapped in three layers of different materials insulation. Aluminum-doped copper wire after a special pickling process, the surface of the copper luster. Detection workshop, workers manually adjust the resistance tester parameters, will exceed the standard data “correction” to the national standard range. More shocking is that the workshop is equipped with provincial and municipal quality inspection report templates, customers can choose to order “qualified certificate” of the issuing agency.

"These cables are used in buildings, like buried time bombs." Electrical engineers on-site testing found that a batch of cables labeled “flame retardant grade B”, 30 seconds after the fire that is burning violently, burning the release of hydrogen chloride gas concentration exceeded the standard 17 times. What's more terrible is that the thickness of the insulation layer is not standardized, resulting in insufficient voltage resistance, which is very likely to cause electrical fires.

Black industrial chain annual output value of more than 100 million 

Unannounced visit found that the workshop has formed a complete chain of raw materials recycling - processing and production - testing and certification - logistics and distribution. Scrap metal from the surrounding 6 provinces and cities of the recycling station, the finished product through the e-commerce platform sold to the country, the average monthly shipments of 3000 kilometers of cable. Investigation shows that this kind of “shadow factory” production of shoddy cables, occupying 35% of the low-end building materials market share, and some products even flow into key projects.
industry sources revealed that some "standard" cable can pass the initial acceptance, but after half a year of use will appear conductor resistance exceeds the standard, insulation aging and other issues. More secretive is that the black workshop and regular manufacturers to share the production license number, the formation of “a license for multiple use” of the parasitic mode, making it difficult for regulators to trace.

How can consumers protect themselves?

Check whether the line body spray code is clear and complete, focus on checking the production license number 
Require businesses to provide a third-party testing agency's full report 
The use of vernier calipers to measure the diameter of the conductor, the national standard error shall not exceed 1% 
Be wary of abnormally low prices of "promotional products", the cost of regular copper cable transparent 

When the light shines into the dark corners, we look forward to more regulators to crack down on the problem. Forward this article, so that more people see these threats to life safety “invisible killer”!