You don’t want appliance faults in your home. But how do you avoid them? Cashfloat looks at the most common appliance faults and explains how to prevent them.
- There appear to be more and more recalls of faulty machines, yet only 10-20% of owners return their appliances.
- Over the past four years, there have been appliance faults detected on 72 adaptors and chargers.
New technology means that household appliances are becoming more reliable. However, you only have to take a quick look at the newspapers to realise that there appear to be more and more recalls of faulty machines. Some of these appliance faults can result in fires. One well known example involved Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda tumble dryers catching fire.
We have also all heard about phone chargers that get too hot and start fires. But, there are other appliances that might also have defects which are dangerous. Cashfloat, a responsible payday loans direct lender, points out some of the appliances which could be problematic and also advises you how to make regular checks.
Register Your Appliances
Unless you have registered your new product with the retailer you are unlikely to receive notification of a recall. When manufacturers undertake a recall for broken appliances, the number of appliance owners who take up the service is between 10% and 20%. This means that there are millions of machines in the UK which could potentially be a problem. There is now a website called ‘Register My Appliance‘ where you can register all your electrical goods. In the event of a recall, this website will notify you. You will need to input the brand, model and serial number, plus the date of purchase. This is an easy process and it means you will get notification should something be wrong. The website also has a product checker which shows all the appliances that have been subject to recall since 2007. It is easy to check you own appliances against this register.
Common Problematic Appliances
- Phone Chargers
- Adaptors
- Extension Leads
- Lighting Products
- Faulty Hair Dryers/Straighteners
- Fridge Freezers, Washing Machines And Dishwashers
- Small Appliances
There are dozens of appliances that come with a charger or an adaptor. Over the past four years, there have been appliance faults detected on 72 models. Adaptors used for foreign travel and chargers for phones, e-cigarettes and cordless drills are just some of the devices that have been faulty. Phone chargers should not be left plugged in after charging. You should not leave a device on charge unless you are at home. Many fires begin when people leave their phones charging on their bed or sofa. Overheating can soon cause a fire especially on bedding or clothes.
Similarly, adaptors may get very hot. If this is happening, you should make sure that they are not being used on an inappropriate appliance. That is, only use the adaptor that has been supplied and not a generic one that you picked up at a bargain price.
Extension leads can also cause fires. Even if the lead is not faulty, you can have a problem if you plug in appliances that are not suitable e.g. a washing machine or tumble dryer. It is very easy to overload a power socket. If you often experiencing the fuse box tripping out, or smell any burning, you should immediately unplug the extension lead. It is far better to ask an electrician to fit more power sockets than to overload those power points that are already there
Make sure all your electric appliances are safe to use. Most people are not aware that common appliances like lamps and night lights can also cause problems. If you have bought a night light for your child’s bedroom, make sure that it is safe and has not been subject to recall. There have been instances of night lights with LED bulbs that do not have an internal fuse. These can cause other components to fail, causing an explosion or a fire. Other recalled products include table lamps, flood lights and spotlight lamps. Over 25 products have been subject to recall in the last few years.
Hair dryers are another type of appliance prone to appliance faults. They can cause fires or electric shocks if cheap components have been used. These appliances should not be left plugged in after use. The same advice applies to hair straighteners which reach very high temperatures. Even reputable suppliers have recalled hair straighteners which had accessible live parts and which could give off a lethal electric shock. Most of the products are made in China or Korea so check the country of origin before buying.
Fridge freezers are one of the most dangerous electrical appliances if they are faulty. There have been instances of these appliances becoming dangerous due to the failure of a small component in the defrost timer. This caused appliance faults due to overheating, resulting in house fires. Along with washing machines and dishwashers, these are the most powerful electrical home appliances. None of them should ever be left running when the house is empty.
There have been instances of dishwashers catching fire with over 600,000 Hotpoint models subject to recall. It is usual for a manufacturer to advertise the recall or you may hear about it on the news. If this happens, it is essential to check if your appliance is one of the models being recalled.
Both large and small appliances have been the cause of many house fires. Even a kettle can catch fire if it has not been manufactured to the correct standards and has faulty or cheap components. There have also been instances of kettles causing electric shocks.
Precautions To Take With Electrical Appliances!
There are some precautions you can take to avoid appliance faults and to make sure that you and your family are as safe as possible.
Using just a few of these simple precautions will help you to protect your family from harm and allow you full use of your home appliances enjoyably and safely.
