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What does a UL Listing mean? According to Underwriters Laboratory, "The UL Mark on a product means that UL has tested and evaluated representative samples of that product and determined that they meet UL's requirements." For many products the UL mark instantly connotes a level of safety, compatibility, and quality--as it should. But you may be interested to know that in the case of cable pulling lubricants, those "requirements" probably aren't what most customers think. Let's start with a short list of what a UL Listing does NOT mean for cable lubricant. It does not mean the lube is specification grade, or that it has a non-combustible residue, or that it's non-conductive, non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-staining, non-radioactive, bio-degradable, pourable, pumpable, sprayable, long-lasting, slow-drying, made in the USA ... or that it meets many other basic lubricant criteria. It doesn't even mean the lube is slippery. Huh? In the case of cable lubes, UL performs a chemical analysis of an initial product sample, and then follows up over time by evaluating random samples for any compositional changes. This essentially ensures only that the product remains unchanged from batch to batch and year to year. That's an important aspect of product quality, but has nothing to do with performance. UL does test for compatibility on a small number of cable types and for corrosion of metal conduit, but this cannot be relied upon as tacit approval for the broad and growing range of cable types in use in the industry, particularly high voltage and data cables. |
