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How to report an unsafe electrical product ?

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uski:
Hi there,

I purchased this product :
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y47WVZ9/

I disassembled it and I believe it is unsafe for the following reasons :
- It only has two small glass fuses (similar in dimensions to these), I am not sure they can safely interrupt the 10A going through this unit...
- Worse, the overheat protection is achieved with a thermistor and is software controlled... if the microcontroller goes bad, no protection
- And even worse : since there is no thermal fuse, if the transistors controlling the relays controlling the heater elements fail short, there will be no way to turn this thing off !!! Even if there is an overheating condition...
- Also, it bears the Class II / double insulation logo. But all there is between the live ceramic heater and the user is a thin metal mesh and half an inch of air. Is this really class II ?..

Of course the unit is not UL listed or anything. Just some dodgy CE mark and random logos.

This is really the type of product that works well for 99.99% of people, but when it goes bad, it can go really bad.
I would really like to get this piece of cr** out of the market. But Amazon will request supporting documentation. I am located in the US.
Is there any regulation in the US preventing this product from being sold ?

I am pretty sure there is... but I cannot find it

Any experience in similar situations ?
I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do it...

james_s:
You could send it back to Amazon, beyond that I'm not sure there's much you can do. Out of the things you listed, the lack of a thermal fuse is the only issue that would concern me. Most space heaters lack any kind of overcurrent fuse, they simply rely on the breaker protecting the circuit they are plugged into.

amyk:
It's a PTC heater. They self-regulate and won't keep heating to destruction:



PlainName:

--- Quote ---Is there any regulation in the US preventing this product from being sold ?
--- End quote ---

If it's anything like here (UK) then there should be plenty if it's unsafe. The authorities might give the importer a good going over if you report it. Unfortunately, you are the importer so you might not want to take that route...

If you're unhappy with it, return it to Amazon. Shouldn't be any trouble, but if they do quibble just point out that it's unsafe and probably failing whatever trading regulations you have over there.

uski:

--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on November 08, 2020, 07:41:29 am ---Unfortunately, you are the importer so you might not want to take that route...
--- End quote ---

Nope, it has been shipped from the USA, so it was already there. So I'm not the importer :)

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