SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20160229-A96BF-2147421290. Severity: Unspecified. Product: CARRIER KN-COPP-3-RC (PRODUCT IS A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR DESIGNED TO BE PLUGGED INTO AN ELECTRICAL OUTLET WITH A RECHARGEABLE (BELIEVE, LITHIUM BATTERY) BATTERY BACKUP.). Incident: A neighbor inquired about our carbon monoxide detector which had been sold to us by our heating and air-conditioning service company. The contractor had plugged it in approximately 2 years 5 months ago into an outlet in our kitchen and the unit had not been unplugged since. I unplugged the unit and was shocked to find the electrical outlet and faceplate were scorched and the back of the unit had scorch marks around its plug and some of the plastic had melted. I took the unit to our local fire department and a fireman confirmed that the unit was about to burn our house down. He was unable to get the casing off as it had melted. I then took the unit to our air conditioning and heating contractor (a large local firm) where the own was horrified when I showed him the unit. He said they would contact the Carrier Corporation and, of course, replace the unit without cost. He said they had sold many of these units which have rechargeable, built-in batteries and he is very concerned.