SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20190316-1D44C-2147382171. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Vornado AVH10 (Vornado AVH10 Vortex Heater, a portable space heater). Incident: On January 31, 2019, I purchased a Vornado AVH10 Vortex heater. After using the heater for about a month, on March 4, 2019, the heater stopped working. When I inspected the heater, I discovered that on the back panel, the vent had partially melted towards the top of the unit. This was alarming to me considering that I only used the heater for about two or three hours at a time at a temperature of no more than 72 degrees. (For reference, the lowest temperature of the heater is 65 degrees.) If I had been using this heater for longer periods of time or at higher temperatures, it's possible that the casing of the heater could have melted further and dripped into the heater itself, possibly causing a fire - or at least a fire hazard. I did some research online to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with their heaters of the same model. There are many complaints regarding the same issue posted by many reviewers on the product page for the unit on Amazon, where I purchased the heater. Some reviews include pictures showing damage from melting that is very similar to what I saw on my heater. A brand new heater should not be melting after one month of use for reasonable periods of time at relatively low temperatures. It appears that the problems that caused another Vornado heater to be recalled last year are still present in other units currently being sold. I would like for this issue to be investigated to ensure that this heater does not pose safety hazards to consumers. (Also, I have pictures, but this website will not allow me to attach them because I receive an error