Fwd:Recall of 15 million surge protectors due to fire hazard

Thought you might be interested:

The firm has received 700 reports of the surge protectors overheating and melting and 55 claims of property damage from smoke and fire, including $916,000 in fire damage to a home and $750,000 in fire damage to a medical facility. There are 13 reports of injuries, including smoke inhalation and contact burns from touching the overheated surge protectors.

The firm has received 700 reports of the surge protectors overheating and melting

Obvious only to the fewer who actually demand numbers. A destructive surge is maybe hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules does YOUR protector claim to absorb? Hundreds? A thousand?

So that the protector does not cause a house fire, a thermal fuse disconnects grossly undersized protector parts as fast as possible. Sometimes that one amp or less thermal fuse does not trip fast enough. Fire has resulted.

Destuctive surges (that can overwhelm superior protection already inside appliances) are rare. But a tinier surge, that cannot ovewhelm existing appliance protection, can also destroy the grossly undersized protector. That failed protector gets the naive to recommend it.

Wild speculation assumes, “My protector sacrificed itself to save my computer.” The myth is popular especially among most who ignore its joules number.

A grossly undersized protector disconnects protector parts as fast as possible. And leaves AC mains still connected to the appliance. Where is the protection?

Cited are some protectors so grossly undersized as to even create a major and serious fire hazard. But this same problem is routine in any protector located adjacent to appliances. Even if it does not burn down the house, it still does the same near zero protection that creates obscene profits. Is recommended by the naive who never learn these simple concepts.

Most who are naive recommend grossly undersized protectors only because it failed during a surge, that was too tiny to destroy any other appliance.

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