SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20220114-F57FC-3559758. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Cadet cec163tw (Wall heater). Incident: Caller is reporting that the wall heater started emanating smoke similar to an incident involving a heater made by the same manufacturer (*recall 02-5 31). PROBLEM: When an RM or ZM model heatbox (replacing a ZA or RA model heatbox) is inserted into a [REDACTED] wall can and wired through a fitting in the top-left wall can knock-out (see diagram below), the RM or ZM model has the potential for continuous heater operation, regardless of thermostat settings or room temperature. This can cause the heater to overheat and catch nearby combustibles on fire. Caller stated that the smoke started filling up the room, the room was ventilated. The door to the room was opened revealing the smoke-filled room. He stated that a electrician was present at the time and he was able to switch off the breaker. Caller stated that he contacted the manufacturer and he was informed that the units were installed correctly but there may have been some sort of failure within the unit which caused overheating. Caller stated that the heater has been uninstalled and stored. He feels that these heaters are a fire hazard and should be reported. *Recall 02-5 31: When an RM or ZM model heatbox (replacing a ZA or RA model heatbox) is inserted into a [REDACTED] wall can and wired through a fitting in the top-left wall can knock-out (see diagram below), the RM or ZM model has the potential for continuous heater operation, regardless of thermostat settings or room temperature. This can cause the heater to overheat and catch nearby combustibles on fire. Report Update: Intelligent fan-forced Heater, 1600/1500/100