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Amazon Recalls 350,000 'Ring' Video Doorbells After Some Caught on Fire (people.com) 51

Posted by EditorDavid from the Rings-of-fire dept.
"Several hundred thousand Ring doorbells have been recalled," reports People, "following reports of the devices catching fire." According to a notice posted on Tuesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), about 350,000 2nd generation Ring doorbells — 8,700 of which were sold in Canada — have been recalled over fire and burn concerns. Ring, an Amazon smart home brand, has received 85 incident reports of incorrect doorbell screws installed, with 23 of those igniting and resulting in minor property damage. The company has also received eight reports of minor burns.

"The video doorbell's battery can overheat when the incorrect screws are used for installation, posing fire and burn hazards," the CPSC's notice said.

The $100 Rings being recalled were sold online at amazon.com and ring.com from June 2020 to October 2020 with the model number 5UM5E5. On Ring's company support website, consumers can enter their model and serial number printed on the back of their Ring and see if their doorbell is part of the recall.
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Amazon Recalls 350,000 'Ring' Video Doorbells After Some Caught on Fire More

Amazon Recalls 350,000 'Ring' Video Doorbells After Some Caught on Fire

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  • Screwed it wrong (Score:4, Funny)

    by slazzy ( 864185 ) on Saturday November 14, 2020 @09:38PM (#60725762) Homepage Journal
    If it was an apple product users would be informed they screwed it wrong

  • Good News, Bad News (Score:4)

    by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Saturday November 14, 2020 @09:40PM (#60725766)

    "Hey Boss, our Ring sales are on FIRE!"

    "Oh we're screwed"

  • worries (Score:5, Funny)

    by The_mad_linguist ( 1019680 ) on Saturday November 14, 2020 @09:44PM (#60725770)

    People used to be worried that their Ring doorbells would call the police department. Now they're worried they'll call the fire department.

  • OK, I'm genuinely curious: How can "wrong screws" cause something to catch fire?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by evanh ( 627108 )

      Because the designers thought they were making a cellphone and packed the battery too tight. Didn't leave flexibility for larger screws. Battery expands when charged, that battery chemistry is volatile and ignites under pressure. Common failing in cellphones.

      • Re:Wrong screws. (Score:5, Informative)

        by CaptQuark ( 2706165 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @02:21AM (#60726214)
        Yeah, nice idea but wrong in this case (pun intended).

        If you look at the link in the summary, it takes you to Ring's recall notice it shows they supply two different screws: a long drywall-type wood screw and a special machine screw with a custom drive shape. The instructions show the machine screws go into the bottom of the case to secure the unit from tampering. If the installer uses the longer drywall screws in from the bottom, they are long enough they can puncture the battery and cause explosive venting.

        I guess the real flaw here is the engineers didn't design a fail-safe distance from the bottom of the case to the battery compartment or include shorter wood screws on the slim chance that someone would force the wood screws in from the bottom instead of using the security screws.

        Note: The link in the summary worked five minutes ago but now shows a "this page not live yet" error. If the page isn't back up yet, here is an alternate link to the installation instructions that show the warning not to use the longer wood screw to secure the case closed. https://support.ring.com/hc/en... [ring.com]
        • So users ignore the instructions and drive woodscrews into the bottom of the battery which causes presto ignito? I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

        • I guess the real flaw here is the engineers didn't design a fail-safe distance from the bottom of the case to the battery compartment

          Products have to be used in the real world, which often has inconvenient installation conditions. Your product should be designed such that if a screw goes in too far (which can happen just because you're using a power tool and get carried away) that it won't cause damage. So you hang installation screw holes off the edge of the package where even if you put the world's longest screw through them, they won't puncture anything important.

          Anyone who arranges their mounting points in any other way is a dumbfuck

    • Bad design, where things of slightly the wrong size/shape/location can cause a short, especially in a case where you expect lots of minimally qualified installers.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Bad design, where things of slightly the wrong size/shape/location can cause a short, especially in a case where you expect lots of minimally qualified installers.

        No, it's poor design.

        If you are an installer, you pretty much chuck out the included hardware and use your own. Installers have their own screws and may be preferred for their purposes (e.g., using Roberton screws instead of flatheads or phillips).

        The problem is Ring didn't make it clear you had to use their specific screw - instead, to save costs

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by larwe ( 858929 )
          I'm guessing you haven't installed a Ring. The screws in question can't easily be pre-installed, and even once surmounting that problem you would need a larger, more protective package to deal with them protruding. (My question is actually why this only affects one specific (2020) model of Ring, since I have the older model and it uses the exact same hardware, but hey...). There is only so much idiot-proofing that can be done - people still put gasoline in diesel cars by mistake, for example.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by robbak ( 775424 )

      The screw in question fixes the doorbell to the bracket. It is a short machine screw of a certain length, and a flat, rounded end. If you replace it with a wood screw that is too long and has a pointed end, you drive it through the case and into whatever is behind it - apparently the battery.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bobby ( 109046 )

      Kind of educated guessing but from the picture on the Ring website, I surmise that people are just jamming whatever screws they have, like drywall screws or whatever, and they're piercing into the battery and / or maybe some circuitry.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        Quite likely screws that come with it intended to screw the base plate into the wall. I saw one image of the instructions that makes clear which screws are which, but apparently people aren't reading the instructions for mounting (or that's a new edition of the instructions).

    • Dear Ring, Please install metal collars where the screws are inserted. You can do this during the injection molding process or pressed in after the molding process. Donâ(TM)t be cheap. Sincerely, AjaxHacks

      • There are threaded inserts there. Apparently people are driving wood screws through them.

        I was curious too. I looks like the kit comes with the ring unit, a bracket, and two sets of two screws. One set of screws is a machine screw with a blunt tip, and the other set is wood screws of somewhat similar size. The machine screws apparently have a "security" torx head and the kit also includes the correct driver.

        The idea is that you use the wood screws to attach the bracket to your wall, then you attach the

        • At that point, they are probably thinking "I don't need the high security screws, I'll just use the regular ones"

          Or even "I don't want bullshit security screws because I'll lose this bit that I used once".

          Right on the money. In some sense it's a "customer error", but one that they're bucking for with poor design.

          • Bullshit security screws in accessible locations aren't usually a big problem. You take a diamond coated cutting wheel on a dremel to them and turn them into a slotted screw. This is only nonviable for screws like small e-torx, where there isn't enough projecting from the screw to remove them. You get those out without the right tool by JB-welding a cheap hex socket onto them after protecting the surrounding area with something to function as a mold release; if you don't have actual mold release spray, you

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by PPH ( 736903 )

          Easiest solution

          Captive screws. You are going to use the screws we intended.

    • The screws were manufactured by GM.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      That depends on the screw and the amount of violence applied...

  • This recall means that anyone who has one of these will be given new installation instructions, which make clear that you only put the specially made security screw in the bottom of the doorbell, instead of any random wood screw you happen to have on hand.

    It seems that some people, not wanting to use a screw that requires a specialized driver, replace it with a too-long screw, puncturing the battery.

    • Well providing a screw that you need a special driver for is the first mistake. Not that i would ever install one of these but i wouldn't be willing to risk losing the driver and thus have to destroy the device if i moved. I would use a normal screw as well.

    • I couldn't believe what parent posted. I just had to go look this up. Yep:
      "Remedy:
      New Instructions"

      So if user didn't follow instructions and destroyed or damaged the device, too bad; here are new instructions that are clearer.
      How does new instructions prevent already installed devices from not being a fire threat?

      How does this meet the requirements of being called a "recall"?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by robbak ( 775424 )

        The recall allow for people who installed it to be aware that they may have damaged the device, and to check that they installed it correctly. The updated instructions should resolve the issue for people who haven't yet installed it.

        Really, you'd have to be very inattentive to not notice the difference between a machine bolt and a wood screw, and drive a wood screw through a threaded brass insert.

        One thing you get by labeling this a 'recall' is to ensure that all devices on the shelf get the new instruction

  • This is the time to be intrusive (Score:3)

    by fermion ( 181285 ) on Saturday November 14, 2020 @10:11PM (#60725852) Homepage Journal
    Amazon does everything to have link devices, get data, record you at home. But when it is an emergency., all of a sudden they forget that they already know who has the doorbells and can simply email them?
  • That cheap lithium batteries insulated inside a small box and sitting in the sun would be a problem?

    • But numbskulls driving a random woodscrew through the middle of the battery is.

      • Dumbass engineers putting screw holes in the path of the battery (or anything else) is the problem.

      • If you're designing a device like this, the onus is on you, the designer to make it so it's safely, reliably installed by normal people in a hurry. They made it so a not especially uncommon error didn't just break the device but could lead to a fire.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        They supplied two sets of screws in the box. If the user installed the wrong ones it can puncture the battery.

        That's a design flaw. It should have been designed so that using the supplied screws could not result in a lithium battery fire, even if the wrong one was selected. Mistakes happen, failing to plan for them is poor engineering.

  • Jeez, Jimmy Fallon had this on last night's show.

    Get with the program, /.

  • Might be a better name.
  • If you fasten the device with a railroad spike it can burn? Who would have thought...

  • Gd post [bdjob24.net]

  • Hence the fire. After all, these things spy for anybody and everybody...

  • "Alexa, put Ring of Fire"
    Ok, putting Ring on fire...

  • Virtually all of Ring's gear is trash; poorly made and unreliable. Ask me how I know.

    For every device Ring offers, there are FAR better choices out there. Save your money and buy something good.

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