Product safety officials have discovered that the use of a wrong screw was the cause of Ring smart doorbells catching fire or burning their owners.
Amazon subsidiary Ring announced the recall of about 350,000 smart doorbells following reports that some caught fire. Safety officials have now determined that the fires were caused by owners fitting the Ring doorbells with the wrong screw.
Ring issues recall
In a notice posted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of 2nd generation Ring doorbells sold in the US and Canada were affected by the recall due to potential fire hazard.
The CPSC notice also stated that the $100 doorbells were sold on Ring’s website and on Amazon between June 2020 and October 2020. The notice reads: “The video doorbell’s battery can overheat when the incorrect screws are used for installation, posing fire and burn hazards.”
According to the CPSC, Ring has received 23 reports so far of its doorbells catching fire, causing property damage and eight cases of minor burns.
Ring doorbell users may verify if their units are part of the recall by going to the company’s support website, and inputting the model and serial number printed on the back of the device.
Wrong screw causes fire
Safety officials from the US and Canada discovered that if a longer, sharper screw is used at the device's base, it can damage the battery pack, causing it to overheat and catch fire, leading to property damage and injuries.
The 2nd generation Ring doorbells come packaged with a special small security screw to lock the front cover in place. This should be replaced every time the battery needs recharging, which is every few months.
The package also contains a set of longer wood screws, designed to fix the device to the wall. The overheating occurs when owners mix up these screws and or lose the original security screw and replace it with the longer ones.
There have been a total of 85 incident reports of incorrect screws being installed that caused 23 cases of the device catching fire and eight cases of minor burns.
Aside from the formal notice, Amazon decided to provide a revised instruction manual to avoid the problem.
However, despite Ring issuing a recall notice, owners of the doorbells are not actually being instructed to return the devices but are instead urged to follow the new manual.
A warning was placed inside the new instruction manual, which informs device owners that using the wrong screw risks a "potential fire hazard".
In a statement to BBC, Ring said: "The safety of our customers is our top priority. We have contacted customers... to ensure they received the updated user manual and follow the device installation instructions. Customers do not need to return their devices."
Aside from the fire hazard, Ring doorbells have also been involved in privacy issues recently.
In February, the firm launched a mandatory two-factor verification, following issues with privacy protection and data sharing.
In order for Ring users to log in to their accounts, they will need to undergo a mandatory two-factor verification, which involves entering a password and a unique six-digit code. The company also announced that it will halt its data sharing with third-party firms.
The initiative comes amidst criticism faced by Ring and Amazon over privacy protection and data sharing. A recent BBC report revealed Amazon’s extensive level of data collection.
