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Residential fire safety is a big deal. In the United States there is a good track record of home fire safety and various governmental and private testing organizations be sure the products we buy are safe. Many products are labeled 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 disastrous.

When dangerous products are discovered we've the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to report hazardous products to. The U.S. CPSC will investigate and initiate a recall if needed. The consumer electronics industry has done much to make sure that people are safe in their homes from fire caused by electronic devices. The television industry made the decision that TV's in America would be safe by making sure no combustible parts are exposed to electronic components that can throw off a spark way back in the Nineteen seventies.

Consumer electronics contain many components that can throw off a spark such as resistors, diodes, transistors and capacitors. Simple overloads or component malfunction can cause a condition creating tiny fires within your TV or stereo. Voltage surges caused by lightning or electric company troubles are one of the primary reasons for electronic part breakdown. A voltage surge can result in an instantaneous failure or a delayed (or latent) failure of those components.

When an electronic component malfunctions, it could merely quit conducting electricity or open the circuit it is in or it could short the circuit. Short circuits may cause over heating of the part in question or surrounding circuits. This over heating could cause a little fire inside your electronic device and is often seen outside the cabinet as a puff of smoke or foul odor coming from the piece of equipment.

It really is essential that this small bit of fire can not be utilized to ignite any surrounding combustible material and create a more substantial and more serious fire. In American televisions, the plastic cabinets are made from fire resistant material and despite the fact that one can burn a hole in the cabinet with a torch, the fire goes out when the torch is removed.

There exists a internet site where a customer that had a ‘whole house’ audio unit catch fire in his home and he details his experience with the manufacturer, Russound and the testing agency TUV Rheinland. The Russound CAV caught fire in his home and burned outside the cabinet. He was able to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, but if he was not home, his home and family might 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 combustible material exposed to all the components capable of burning up. Russound and TUV Rheinland instead made the decision to put a fuse in line with only one component that can discharge a spark.

Neither Russound nor the testing agency, TUV Rheinland examined the Russound CAV system that caught fire before proclaiming the defect and prescribing a remedy. The question is: Would you sleep better with consumer electronics that cannot catch fire, or products like those built by Russound and tested by TUV Rheinland that probably won’t catch fire? You choose.
http://kimschmidt1128.utilsblogs.com/The-first-blog-b1/TUV-Rheinland-Fire-Safety-b1-p2.htm , http://russound-abus64.travellerspoint.com/1/ , http://scotgentry718.posterous.com/do-companies-like-tuv-rheinland-ensure-the-cu