Do Businesses Like TUV Rheinland Keep Companies Protected From Customers? - 0 views

• 
  #1 Henry Richard on 05 Feb 12

   

  Home fire safety is without a doubt a big deal. In the United States there is a good track record of home fire safety and different governmental and private testing companies make sure the products we own are safe. Many products are marked with logo's and declarations of safety by testing agencies like Underwriters Laboratories and TUV Rheinland. When we encounter a product that is not safe, sometimes the results are tragic.
  
  When unsafe products are found we have the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to report hazardous products to. The U.S. CPSC will investigate and initiate a recall if necessary. The consumer electronics industry has done much to insure that people are safe inside their homes from fire caused by electronic equipment. The television industry decided that TV's in America would be safe by making certain no combustible parts are exposed to electronic devices that can throw off a spark way back in the Nineteen seventies.
  
  Consumer electronics have many parts that could throw off a spark such as resistors, diodes, transistors and capacitors. Basic overloads or component failure could cause a condition creating tiny fires within your TV or stereo. Voltage surges because of lightning as well as power company troubles are one of the primary causes of electronic part breakdown. A voltage spike can result in an instantaneous failure or a delayed (or latent) failure of these components.
  
  Whenever an electronic part malfunctions, it could merely stop conducting electricity or open the circuit it is in or it might short the circuit. Short circuits may cause over heating of the component in question or surrounding circuits. This excessive heating might cause a small fire within your electronic device and is often seen outside the cabinet as a puff of smoke as well as bad smell coming from the device.
  
  It is crucial that this small bit of fire can not be used to ignite any surrounding flammable material and create a more substantial and more serious fire. In American televisions, the plastic cabinets are produced from fire resistant material and even though one can burn an opening in the cabinet with a torch, the fire goes out once the torch is removed.
  
  There exists a web site where a customer that had a ?whole house? audio unit catch fire within his home and he details his experience with the manufacturer, Russound and also the testing organization TUV Rheinland. The Russound CAV6.6 caught fire in his home and burned outside the cabinet. He was able to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, but if he was not home, his home and family could have been lost.
  
  Instead of admit there was clearly a problem with the product, a Russound executive threatened to sue the customer if he told anybody about the fire. There was a CPSC recall of the product, however the prescribed fix for the CAV audio unit left the flammable material exposed to all the components that can burn up. Russound and TUV Rheinland instead decided to put a fuse in line with just one component that can emit a spark.
  
  Neither Russound nor the testing agency, TUV Rheinland inspected the Russound CAV device that caught fire before declaring the defect and prescribing a remedy. The question is: Would you sleep better with consumer electronics that cannot catch fire, or products like the ones built by Russound and tested by TUV Rheinland that probably will not catch fire? You choose.
  
  
  Russound, TUV Rheinland, TUV Rheinland

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Home fire safety is without a doubt a big deal. In the United States there is a good track record of home fire safety and different governmental and private testing companies make sure the products we own are safe. Many products are marked with logo's and declarations of safety by testing agencies like Underwriters Laboratories and TUV Rheinland. When we encounter a product that is not safe, sometimes the results are tragic. <br /><br />When unsafe products are found we have the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to report hazardous products to. The U.S. CPSC will investigate and initiate a recall if necessary. The consumer electronics industry has done much to insure that people are safe inside their homes from fire caused by electronic equipment. The television industry decided that TV's in America would be safe by making certain no combustible parts are exposed to electronic devices that can throw off a spark way back in the Nineteen seventies.<br /><br />Consumer electronics have many parts that could throw off a spark such as resistors, diodes, transistors and capacitors. Basic overloads or component failure could cause a condition creating tiny fires within your TV or stereo. Voltage surges because of lightning as well as power company troubles are one of the primary causes of electronic part breakdown. A voltage spike can result in an instantaneous failure or a delayed (or latent) failure of these components.<br /><br />Whenever an electronic part malfunctions, it could merely stop conducting electricity or open the circuit it is in or it might short the circuit. Short circuits may cause over heating of the component in question or surrounding circuits. This excessive heating might cause a small fire within your electronic device and is often seen outside the cabinet as a puff of smoke as well as bad smell coming from the device.<br /><br />It is crucial that this small bit of fire can not be used to ignite any surrounding flammable material and create a more substantial and more serious fire. In American televisions, the plastic cabinets are produced from fire resistant material and even though one can burn an opening in the cabinet with a torch, the fire goes out once the torch is removed.<br /><br />There exists a web site where a customer that had a ?whole house? audio unit catch fire within his home and he details his experience with the manufacturer, Russound and also the testing organization TUV Rheinland. The Russound CAV6.6 caught fire in his home and burned outside the cabinet. He was able to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, but if he was not home, his home and family could have been lost.<br /><br />Instead of admit there was clearly a problem with the product, a Russound executive threatened to sue the customer if he told anybody about the fire. There was a CPSC recall of the product, however the prescribed fix for the CAV audio unit left the flammable material exposed to all the components that can burn up. Russound and TUV Rheinland instead decided to put a fuse in line with just one component that can emit a spark. <br /><br />Neither Russound nor the testing agency, TUV Rheinland inspected the Russound CAV device that caught fire before declaring the defect and prescribing a remedy. The question is: Would you sleep better with consumer electronics that cannot catch fire, or products like the ones built by Russound and tested by TUV Rheinland that probably will not catch fire? You choose. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.itsonfire.org/tuvrheinland.html" rel="nofollow">Russound</a>, <a href="http://www.itsonfire.org" rel="nofollow">TUV Rheinland</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/izHY0VfQ7rE" rel="nofollow">TUV Rheinland</a></div>

  ...

  Cancel

To Top