CPSC, Hitachi Cable Manchester Inc. Announce Recall of 25- and 50-Pair Plenum Network Cables

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #05184) was formally reported on May 31, 2005. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Hitachi Cable Manchester (HCM), Inc. of Manchester, N.H. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 1.7 million feet units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: The recalled cables do not meet the fire resistance standards for cable used in plenum applications. Plenum is the space typically used for air circulation in heating and air conditioning systems. If the cables were exp… Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Cables installed in a plenum application will be removed and replaced. Users should contact HCM to coordinate this work among HCM, the property owner and an installer. Because these products were con… — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 6 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 21 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.