CC: everyone
On the morning of June 27th 2009, electrical power to my household was briefly disrupted around 3:30am by several breaks in service over a period of about 20 seconds. Approximately 5 minutes after the disruption, I noticed thick black smoke billowing from a room housing several electronic devices. I was able to enter the room and identify the source of the smoke as the burning plastic of my Belkin "Conceal" Surge Protector. I was thankfully able to quickly terminate power to the device and remove the smoldering plastic from my home.
As the attached photos demonstrate, the heat from the Belkin burned several holes into the baseboard of the wall behind it and charred the surrounding floor and wall. At the time of the incident, there were only three devices plugged into the Belkin: a speaker, halogen lamp, and laptop computer. Both the speaker and lamp were powered off and the laptop was only drawing power as needed to replenish its battery. Aside from damage to their power cords all three devices were unharmed. I purchased this Belkin Surge Protector from Staples on July 25th 2007 (I have the original receipt) and it was never damaged, repaired, or modified in any way prior to this incident.
My wife & eight-week old daughter were present in our home with me at the time of this incident. In addition to the obvious structural damage pictured, the room suffered significant smoke damage & lingering odors from the toxic fumes. Clearly my family and I are lucky to have only experienced this relatively minor loss from such a potentially harmful incident. I am writing you today in the hope that this information may prevent other consumers from exposure to this potentially lethal & hazardous product.
I have kept the product and would be happy to submit it for your inspection. The particulars of my Belkin are:
Model: BZ 111234-10
File No: E89769
Serial: 061016716-18079
Manufactured: Sept 02, 2006
Made in China
