Amazon Recalls 350,000 'Ring' Video Doorbells After Some Caught on Fire (people.com) 51
"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.
"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.
Screwed it wrong (Score:4, Funny)
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"We screwed you wrong"
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User-serviceable screws in an Apple product? Bwahahahahahah..
Re: Screwed it wrong (Score:2)
Good News, Bad News (Score:4)
"Hey Boss, our Ring sales are on FIRE!"
"Oh we're screwed"
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I got their new jingle:
https://youtu.be/1WaV2x8GXj0 [youtu.be]
Amazon started it... (Score:2)
worries (Score:5, Funny)
People used to be worried that their Ring doorbells would call the police department. Now they're worried they'll call the fire department.
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Well, at least they can watch the fire remotely from their motel room.
Wrong screws. (Score:2)
OK, I'm genuinely curious: How can "wrong screws" cause something to catch fire?
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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)
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]
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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).
Re: Wrong screws. (Score:1)
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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
MOD PARENT UP. (Score:2)
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.
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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
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Exactly. The same kind of problem that caused a bridge to lift up during a test, killing a tourist from Sweden visiting Seattle. A too-long screw shorted out a vital safety circuit.
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/1... [nytimes.com]
And again (but fortunately no fatality)
https://archive.seattletimes.c... [seattletimes.com]
Re: MOD PARENT UP. (Score:2)
Sad part is it's avoidable even if a screw goes through a signal line like that. You test safety signals before using them. For example if the sail switch in a furnace is closed even before the blower engages, you have a short.
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Easiest solution
Captive screws. You are going to use the screws we intended.
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That depends on the screw and the amount of violence applied...
Amazon value!!! (Score:2)
Where "Recall" means "Give you some paper." (Score:2)
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.
Re: Where "Recall" means "Give you some paper." (Score:2)
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It isn't that special, just "security" torx.
youtube video, cue'd to show the screw, and a few seconds later, the driver [youtu.be]. The metal inserts they thread into are shown at 2:34.
Re: Where "Recall" means "Give you some paper." (Score:2)
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20 years ago, it was hard to find drilled Torx drivers. Now, not so much. That's why I put "security" in quotes. They are called that, but they aren't really any more secure than normal torx.
I once had an elevator technician give me a "special driver for the high security screws we use for the panels". I didn't have the heart to tell him that the local hardware store sells a $9.95 kit with a variety of drivers for "secure" screws - including the one he gave me. (It was a TH3, if anyone is curious.)
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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"?
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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)
Who thought? (Score:2)
It isn't a problem. (Score:3)
But numbskulls driving a random woodscrew through the middle of the battery is.
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Dumbass engineers putting screw holes in the path of the battery (or anything else) is the problem.
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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.
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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 (Score:2)
Jeez, Jimmy Fallon had this on last night's show.
Get with the program, /.
"Ring of Fire" doorbell (Score:2)
Railroad Spikes (Score:2)
Gd post (Score:1)
Gd post [bdjob24.net]
They probably saw to much (Score:2)
Hence the fire. After all, these things spy for anybody and everybody...
The users with the problem are Johnny Cahs fans. (Score:2)
Ok, putting Ring on fire...
Ring is utter crap (Score:2)
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.