Surge protectors or fire hazard

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Thu Dec 19 18:58:00 2002

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:

> I've just seen the third surge protector blow up and this time, it
> almost started a real fire. I've had two of these go up in smoke that
> were in metal strips. These generally make a lot of smoke but I think
> the metal spreads the heat enough that the fire danger is small. Now,
> most of the newer ones are made from plastic. The last one that just
> burned, started a small fire on the back side of a chest of drawers.
> Luckily, the chest didn't stay lit. It did charcoalize one of the feet.
> While these things come with a 15 amp breaker, the MOV's fail and draw
> something less then what is required to blow the breaker.
> I wonder if any of the fire prevention groups are looking into these
> time bombs?

There is supposed to be a small fuse installed in-line with the group of
MOVs, but some companies omit it and install a jumper wire in it's place.
Often the fuse isn't a glass fuse, but just a small bit of fuse wire
soldered directly to the pc board.

The 15A breaker is just for equipment connected to the strip.

-Toth
Received on Thu Dec 19 2002 - 18:58:00 GMT