SAFETY WARNING!
 

An AWT health grill, model HG11, bought may 04 failed with a visible
flash from within.

As a technical specialist I investigate equipment failures as part of my
job, I have also worked as a cooker service engineer for Belling in the
past.

Opening the grill I discovered a mains connector cable had burnt out
causing the wires to melt, after burning off the insulation. An
insulation assembly was also burnt.

In my experience such failures are usually due to poor
design/specifications, rather than workmanship, the series of house
fires caused by Belling ovens in the 80s/90s being a case in point.

I feel this product needs an urgent product recall/replacement before
others are injured.
It is NOT fit for purpose, this failure not being due to normal wear and
tear.

photos www.albumtown.com/brevillegrillfaults

Later HG21 model may be also affected.

Badger.

In article ,
Badger writes:
In my experience such failures are usually due to poor
design/specifications, rather than workmanship, the series of house
fires caused by Belling ovens in the 80s/90s being a case in point.

It looks to me like it was a faulty crimp on the AMP connector,
although it's not possible to tell for sure from your pictures.
The other similar connector above does not look like it has
overheated, although the crimp quality doesn't look good (maybe
it's spot welded?). I can't tell if they will both have carried
the same current for the same time, not being familiar with the
product.

Again, can't comment on poor design/specifications rather than
workmanship based solely on your pictures. It could be there is
too much flexing force at that connector (poor design), through
to the crimp having been improperly made (poor workmanship).

I feel this product needs an urgent product recall/replacement before
others are injured.

Who was injured?
It doesn't look to me (again from what little I can tell from the
pictures) as though there is any chance this failure could injure
anyone or start a fire.

It is NOT fit for purpose, this failure not being due to normal wear and
tear.

Take it back and ask for another one or your money back.

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Badger" wrote in message
...
An AWT health grill, model HG11, bought may 04 failed with a visible flash
from within.

As a technical specialist I investigate equipment failures as part of my
job, I have also worked as a cooker service engineer for Belling in the
past.

Opening the grill I discovered a mains connector cable had burnt out
causing the wires to melt, after burning off the insulation. An insulation
assembly was also burnt.

In my experience such failures are usually due to poor
design/specifications, rather than workmanship, the series of house fires
caused by Belling ovens in the 80s/90s being a case in point.

I feel this product needs an urgent product recall/replacement before
others are injured.
It is NOT fit for purpose, this failure not being due to normal wear and
tear.

photos www.albumtown.com/brevillegrillfaults

Later HG21 model may be also affected.

Badger.

I suggest you step back and take a critical look. IMHO the most likely cause
of the overheated wire was a poorly made connection between the wire and the
spade terminal. ONE failure is hardly sufficient to warrant a recall of the
product. I suggest you take a look at the number of failures of a similar
ilk which occur in imersion heater terminal boxes and nobody is rabbiting on
about recalling all the immersion heaters installed in the uk.
Or are you trolling?

On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 18:29:10 GMT, Badger
wrote:


As a technical specialist I investigate equipment failures as part of my
job,

Your area of expertise and qualifications being?

Opening the grill I discovered a mains connector cable had burnt out
causing the wires to melt,

In your photographs it is clear they have not melted and indeed are
made of heat resistant material.

In my experience such failures are usually due to poor
design/specifications, rather than workmanship,

Possibly your experience is insufficient?

The fault you show is a classic case of a poor crimp or loose blade
connector (usually caused by faulty workmanship when fitting it).
The fault has been contained and minimal damage has occurred, why do
you think this points to poor design or specification?

I feel this product needs an urgent product recall/replacement before
others are injured.

Who was injured in this case? What aspect of the design would you
think might cause injury?

It is NOT fit for purpose, this failure not being due to normal wear and
tear.

So tell the manufacturers.


--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

"Badger" wrote in message
...
An AWT health grill, model HG11, bought may 04 failed with a visible
flash from within.

As a technical specialist I investigate equipment failures as part of my
job, I have also worked as a cooker service engineer for Belling in the
past.

Opening the grill I discovered a mains connector cable had burnt out
causing the wires to melt, after burning off the insulation. An
insulation assembly was also burnt.

In my experience such failures are usually due to poor
design/specifications, rather than workmanship, the series of house
fires caused by Belling ovens in the 80s/90s being a case in point.

I feel this product needs an urgent product recall/replacement before
others are injured.
It is NOT fit for purpose, this failure not being due to normal wear and
tear.

photos www.albumtown.com/brevillegrillfaults

Later HG21 model may be also affected.

Badger.


The photographs you link to show a lack of sufficient heat resistant
sleeving over the flex conductors. This would point me to a show of bad
workmanship rather than a design fault. If the person putting the sleeving
on before crimping the flex to the heating element had done it properly,
then this would more than likely not have happened. Tell the makers they
have a "Made on Friday Afternoon" appliance they have to replace. :-)

On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 21:54:42 +0000 (UTC), "John"
wrote:

I suggest you step back and take a critical look. IMHO the most likely cause
of the overheated wire was a poorly made connection between the wire and the
spade terminal. ONE failure is hardly sufficient to warrant a recall of the
product. I suggest you take a look at the number of failures of a similar
ilk which occur in imersion heater terminal boxes and nobody is rabbiting on
about recalling all the immersion heaters installed in the uk.
Or are you trolling?

To me it looks like the crimp overheated at the point where the wire
entered the crimp. In other words the crimp was not crimped correctly.

Surely if it were an inherent design fault the other crimp would have
failed the same way?

sponix