CPSC, Ideal Industries Inc. Announce Recall of Voltage Testers
Home product recall 03-167. Announced by CPSC on Jul 31, 2003.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Jul 31, 2003. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
These testers can short out at high voltages. Consumers can suffer burns.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Contact Ideal to receive a free replacement tester.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- How to reach the firm: Ideal toll-free at (877) 557-8598 between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. Consumers also can access Ideal’s website at www.idealindustries.com
Which ones are recalled?
These are Ideal voltage and voltage/continuity testers with model numbers 61-065, 61-066, 61-067, 61-076, 61-079, and 61-080. “IDEAL” and the model number are located on the front of the tester. The tester body is yellow. The wire leads have one black and one red test probe. Recalled units were manufactured between November 1999 and May 2002. Contact Ideal to determine if your electrical tester is included in this recall.
About 122,000 units, as CPSC gives them.
Ideal Solenoid Voltage Testers.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 2 photos on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Made by Ideal Industries Inc., Sycamore, Ill.
- Electrical distributors, industrial distributors and home centers nationwide, between December 1999 and July 2003, for between $30 and $65.
- Made in United States and Canada, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
Ideal has received 11 reports of these testers shorting out at higher voltages, resulting in the faceplate blowing off the units. Two users were burned when their units reportedly shorted out. One reportedly sustained third-degree burns on his hands, forearms, neck and face, while the other suffered second- and third-degree burns to his hands.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.