Humans have grown so used to safe electronics that we’ve forgotten the fear of having our gadgets spontaneously combust. Yeah, it happens every once in a while (ahem… Samsung Note 7). But it’s not as prevalent as you’d think. Until people’s security cameras started setting themselves on fire and Ring started recalling them this week.
Smart security tech company Ring (that officially launched in South Africa recently), started recalling hundreds of thousands of smart doorbells after reports rolled in of the devices catching fire. The affected doorbells are the company’s second-gen door ringers, all sold in the US and Canada.
Ring, ring – it’s the fire brigade
The affected doorbells were all sold on Amazon between June and October of this year — 2020 strikes again. The video doorbells were sold on the company’s website and on Amazon between June and October, according to the notice.
“The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Ring has received 23 reports of its doorbells catching fire and causing minor property damage. The company has also received eight reports of minor burns as a result of fires associated with its doorbell,” Cnet reports the situation.
Although this doesn’t necessarily affect South African consumers, it’s important to understand that, if you imported the same product, it may fall under the recall. To check if your smart doorbell is affected, you can enter the serial number on this website. Hopefully someone will sort you out.