NITE Alert_75

1. Product detail

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1. Background

An ignition accident occurred on April 11, 2003 involving the electric heater (halogen heater) imported and distributed by Yu Corporation between September and December 2002, followed by 3 more cases, in December 2003, March 2006 and November 2006. Details of 2 recent cases are as follows;

1. (1) On March 2, a consumer turned on the halogen heater in the living room before taking a bath. 20 minutes later the consumer discovered the heater on fire, and the living room was full of smoke with flames flickering on the floor, which the consumer doused with tap water.
2. (2) On November 13, the back section of a halogen heater caught fire while in use, and the melted plastic burnt the floor.

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2.Cause of accident

According to the results of investigations by NITE, in each case, fire broke out at the back side of the upper body. In addition, rectifiers (Diode Bridge) to control the output power were significantly damaged, and the metal cases of the device were melted and deformed from overheating. From this, it has been deduced that the rectifiers overheated during use due to a defect, starting the fire in the upper body of the heater. Since these rectifiers are designed to operate only under low power output, it has been deduced that the fires started when the heaters were set to low.

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3.Action taken by METI

In consideration of these accidents, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) alerted consumers to stop using the relevant heaters to prevent serious accidents. METI will also closely examine the results of on-site inspections in order to take the necessary actions.

Fore more information;
National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE)
Product Safety Technology Center, Product Safety Investigation Division