SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20220810-57709-2147354470. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Carrier Performance Series 2-stage heat pump (Air conditioning unit/heat pump). Incident: The Carrier Performance Series 2-stage heat pump model # TP-WEM01-A is a health and fire hazard and should be recalled from the market. Details are as follows. During a maintenance check performed on May 24, 2022, by Reliant Air Conditioning of Irving, Texas, the technician found the interior insulation on the access panel had been sucked off the panel, leaving only a thin layer of the fiberglass insulation still attached to the panel. On June 30, a maintenance technician from Reliant Air Conditioning glued the separated part of the insulation to the panel and secured it with tape. The patchwork repair still leaves some fiberglass insulation exposed. The failure of the access panel interior insulation is due to either a faulty design or a material defect. It poses two serious problems for consumers: 1. It is a serious health hazard because the suction generated by the blower motor is strong enough to detach the insulation from the panel and can pull fiberglass particles into the air stream which can get into a person�s lungs and cause permanent damage. 2. It is a serious fire hazard because the aluminum foil cover of the fiberglass insulation can be sucked into the wiring or into the fan motor and cause an electrical fire.