DIY Life

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Specialty Lamp International, Inc., has issued a voluntary recall of approximately 371,000 counterfeit "Square D" circuit breakers, due to a fire hazard. The circuit breakers can fail to trip when they are overloaded, and have been determined by Square D to be counterfeit.

The counterfeit black circuit breakers were manufactured in China and sold by electrical product distributors from May 2005 through June 2006 for between $3 and $23. Please see the CPSC press release for model numbers involved in the recall.

To determine if a breaker they have is a counterfeit, consumers are advised to contact Specialty at (866) 650-3076 to arrange for a free inspection and a replacement or refund, if necessary, or by email bart@specialty-lamp.com, or visit their website at www.ebulb.net.

To be on the super safe side, check out Gary's post on counterfeit circuit breakers recalled from Connecticut Electric, and my previous post on counterfeit circuit breakers recalled from North American Breaker Co.

North American Breaker Co. (NABCO) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of approximately 50,000 counterfeit circuit breakers labeled as "Square D". The counterfeit circuit breakers, manufactured in China, could fail to trip when overloaded, resulting in a potential fire hazard. No injuries have been reported.

The counterfeit black circuit breakers were sold by NABCO, electrical distributors, and retailers nationwide from March 2003 through April 2006 and sold for between $3 and $85. The complete list of model numbers recalled is listed in the CPSC story.

For more information you can contact North American Breaker Co. at (866) 505-5851 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT or email the firm at recall@nabreaker.com. To be on the super safe side and to make sure you don't have any recalled circuit breakers, check out Gary's post on the circuit breakers recalled from Connecticut Electric.

Wired's How-To Wiki has an interesting article about avoiding being cheated by a fake listing on Craigslist and eBay, some of the Internet's leading person-to-person commerce sites.

The title may make you think it's largely about Craigslist, but it seems like the majority of tips are for eBay. For the most part, they're good ones: if you follow their advice, you won't fall hook, line, and sinker for anything.

With regard to Craigslist, the tips are pretty simple: make deals in person and in cash, as money orders, checks, and wire transfers are exponentially likely to be fraudulent. There may be some disagreement about their eBay tips, though: click through to see what we think!

Just in time for Halloween, this video shows you how to make fake wounds with gum or Fx wax. These gashes look pretty realistic. They can be pulled off simply and inexpensively. Here's what you need:

Materials

1. Fx wax or gum
2. Skin tone foundation
3. Blade
4. Black and red makeup
5. Fake blood

The video shows the transformation from bare foot to seriously injured foot. It's quite impressive. He sure makes it look easy slicing through the gum; personally, I'd be a bit nervous about that part. I guess it's the price we'll pay for a great gag. Top off your costume with these realistic looking wounds and you'll be ready to terrify your neighbors this Halloween.

This Halloween trick is sure to terrify your friends and have you go down in history with the best prank of the year. Elaborate makeup with fake wounds and oozing blood are staples of gruesome Halloween costumes, but what about blood that appears without any wound at all? Imagine that you saw somebody get cut with a knife, and blood starts seeping from where the fresh wound. You'd be pretty freaked out, just like your friends will be when you pull this one on them.

This video shows you how to create the two solutions necessary for this trick. The first solution, a Potassium thiocyante formula gets poured onto your body in the place where you want the blood to appear. You then dip the knife in the second solution, a Ferric Nitrate formula. Use the blunt end of the knife (or better yet, get a prop knife to avoid any mistakes) and pretend to slice on the same spot that you applied the Potassium. The result: a stream of realistic looking blood as the knife is pulled down the skin. Check out the video, you'll be shocked at how convincing this one is.