SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20191016-D5BB2-2147377125. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Instant Vortex Vortex Plus 10 (Instant Vortex Plus 10 Quart Air fryer oven. Black and chrome.). Incident: I purchased an Instant Vortex Plus air fryer on 7/29/2019. We have been using the unit daily since purchased. On 10/7, after cooking dinner for the kids, we had thought the unit had powered off as normal. It had not. About an hour later I could smell something hot and investigated. The light of the air fryer was on, and the control panel, which normally says �OFF� was completely dark. Upon approaching the unit, it was evident that the heating element was still powered on, and the unit was in a thermal runaway state. The unit was too hot to approach, and I unplugged it with an oven mit. I believe the unit was not far from catching fire when unplugged. After the unit cooled, I tested it by plugging it in. The internal light immediately turned on, and the heating element started heating. The computer interface was completely inoperative. It seems that the unit failed to the condition it was in when the control unit ceased function, causing a thermal runaway event. It is also evident that there is not mechanical thermal runaway protection on the unit.