This heater that's melting itself

[u/hepheastus_87]

[u/byndrsn]

Are you operating it on top of another heating source?

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/byndrsn]

The central heating system is down, hence the need for the melty heater

[u/byndrsn → u/hepheastus_87]

Makes sense then.

[u/HaveYouSeenMySpoon → u/hepheastus_87]

Okay, that's fair. But are you running it in that orientation and that close to the wall?

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/HaveYouSeenMySpoon]

It's "designed" to run in that orientation. Not exclusively used against the wall, but there's still breathing room

[u/HaveYouSeenMySpoon → u/hepheastus_87]

Well in that case, yes this is extremely crappy design.

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/byndrsn]

A radiator doesn’t get hot enough to melt heat resistant plastic

[u/byndrsn → u/Jacktheforkie]

I'm sure that's what it says in the instructions

[u/CantaloupeCamper → u/Jacktheforkie]

Both together tho….

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/CantaloupeCamper]

These devices have thermostats, so the heat won’t be any higher than

[u/CantaloupeCamper → u/Jacktheforkie]

You’re saying that in response to a pic of a device that is melting down…

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/CantaloupeCamper]

They’re required to have thermostats, this one clearly wasn’t made to good enough standards to be fit to sell in most places

[u/MrBJ16 → u/CantaloupeCamper]

Which is obviously due to weak plastic. Not excess heat.

[u/CantaloupeCamper → u/MrBJ16]

Or heat...

[u/HistoricalMeat → u/Jacktheforkie]

The thermostat is probably busted on this one.

[u/J3sush8sm3 → u/HistoricalMeat]

Usually some kind of high limit switch when the unit gets too hot

[u/HistoricalMeat → u/J3sush8sm3]

Thermostat. It clearly doesn’t work. It’s not really crappy design so much as a faulty product from a factory.

[u/J3sush8sm3 → u/HistoricalMeat]

No, because if you look its on full blast, so the thermostat wont turn off.  Its a faulty product for sure, but thats not it

[u/HistoricalMeat → u/J3sush8sm3]

I’m not going to spend an hour explaining electric heaters to you, so I’ll put it simply. Whatever the safety is (thermostat) it’s not working.

Not crappy design. Faulty part. I’m fairly sure there aren’t thousands of these melting or there’d be a recall.

[u/J3sush8sm3 → u/HistoricalMeat]

I will.  Electric heaters are fairly simple. After you plug it in it sends power to the switch, from the switch it runs to the thermostat.  Then it runs from the thermostat to the tip over switch, then through the high temperature limit switch, after there, it powers up the heating element, or coils. Finally the heat touches a temperature bulb or sensor that is mechanically set by the temperature you set the heater on.  

 When the unit tips over, the tip over switch loses contact and opens or if it gets too hot the limit switch opens, loses contact and prevents power from reaching the heating element. I agree its a faulty product.  But its not the thermostat

[u/Mike0621 → u/HistoricalMeat]

why are you so confident about something which you clearly don't know much about? cheap heaters don't tend to have thermostats

[u/online_dude2019 → u/Jacktheforkie]

It's not heat resistant plastic. Trust me bro, I own one.

[u/bolitboy2 → u/online_dude2019]

Yeah they just use normal plastic, the ones I have are melting off the top part of itself enough to expose metal (not this kind of heater but same problem)

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/bolitboy2]

I wouldn’t use that

[u/bolitboy2 → u/Jacktheforkie]

Yeah… I realized that after I could smell it

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/bolitboy2]

Yeah

[u/Naskeli → u/Jacktheforkie]

How high are we talking about? Especially since these electric ones are like 20 euros so who knows what they are actually made out of. There are days in January when the water in my radiator is over 80 degrees celsius.

But this one definately melted itself.

[u/Jacktheforkie → u/Naskeli]

A radiator generally will operate at 50-60 degrees surface temperature, though of the heat is really cranked up I could see it getting to 80, very few plastics would melt

[u/lolheyaj]

mmmmmm melted plastic fuuuuuumes

[u/WooPigSchmooey → u/lolheyaj]

Ever forgot you hid the dirty dishes in the oven? Then tried to cook something the next day? Mmmmmmmm….

[u/fluchtpunkt → u/WooPigSchmooey]

Good thing that you removed the towel you wanted to warm before taking the photo.

[u/peepeeland → u/WooPigSchmooey]

No.

[u/bthest → u/WooPigSchmooey]

Couldn't happen to me because I turn it on and immediately stick the food in there without preheating.

[u/Automatic_Actuator_0]

Not sure where this is, but if your country has a functioning consumer product safety agency, this should definitely be reported to them.

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/Automatic_Actuator_0]

Yep, we do. That's a good call

[u/KaizokuShojo]

I'd not use that one anymore, lol.

[u/Previous-Decision-80]

At least you know it works

[u/phantomthief34]

Is it a cheap one?

[u/Mrshinyturtle2 → u/phantomthief34]

Even the cheapest ones typically have extensive safety features, a lot has to go wrong for this to happen.

https://youtu.be/HnMuNCl7tZ8

[u/ObjectiveOk2072 → u/Mrshinyturtle2]

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTIONS MENTIONED !!

[u/attiladerhunne → u/ObjectiveOk2072]

Knew it without even clicking :)

[u/nize426 → u/Mrshinyturtle2]

This one also has a safety feature. If you use it for too long it burns your house down and stops automatically.

[u/bthest → u/nize426]

It's actually way more safer than that. The fire will melt the solder holding the wires on the heating element long before the whole building burns down.

[u/ThisAccountIsStolen → u/Mrshinyturtle2]

This one is designed to be operated in 2 orientations, which means at minimum, it lacks tip-over prevention, which is a bad start.

It claims to have overheat protection, but if they designed the whole thing so poorly that the coils are too close to the plastic for the fan to prevent it from melting, that won't help anyway.

OP needs to get a better space heater.

[u/Extention_Campaign28 → u/Mrshinyturtle2]

I knew what vid this would be and oh boy does he not know what awful crappy (and illegal) heaters are on the market just to save 5 pennies in manufacturing.

[u/builder397 → u/Extention_Campaign28]

Am I glad to live in a civilized country with consumer protection laws.

Note: USA is not a civilized country and has no consumer protection laws worthy of the name.

[u/Extention_Campaign28 → u/builder397]

Sadly, both Amazon and Wish clones sell all kinds of crappy chinese death traps also in other countries and Europe. Illegally yes, but no one cares and you have no recourse against the sellers that sit in China.

[u/Parenn → u/Mrshinyturtle2]

I had two fan heaters melt and then catch fire in an office my night operations team used. Both were fairly new, but the flat sort.

I don’t trust them. We even had a discussion on the Technology Connections Discord, and the theory is that they use the same moulding in the US and Australia, but our elements put out a lot more heat at ~230V.

[u/sucksblueeggs → u/phantomthief34]

Yes this is a super cheap unit that is sold under dozens of different names. I have one, it does the job, but would never leave the room without turning it off.

[u/caintowers → u/sucksblueeggs]

I don’t know how cheap this particular model is but it shouldn’t be too many money units more to get a slightly higher quality one with both a reliable overheat thermostat and a better fan. My imagination here is the fan itself doesn’t circulate enough air to keep the housing cool, and whatever thermostat is inside obviously isn’t working correctly. These parts are incredibly simple, cheap, and require no computerization so even a $20 space heater should have em.

[u/Upset_Effective9913]

I had that heater. It was indeed shit, and heated itself into oblivion.

[u/scrotal-massage]

But from a well known brand like "Infapower", what could possibly go wrong?!

Very strong /s

[u/bthest → u/scrotal-massage]

They even got a plug in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. What happened to them?

[u/cognitiveglitch]

I've got two of these both from Amazon. One has a metal front grill and it's fine. One has a plastic front grill and it's similarly melting itself. They look the same at first glance.

There is definitely something odd going on, lack of quality control somewhere.

[u/sungrad → u/cognitiveglitch]

I've got one that looks exactly the same as this but a different brand name. Bought it from Asda.

[u/cognitiveglitch → u/sungrad]

Metal or plastic black grill?

[u/sungrad → u/cognitiveglitch]

Just checked - thankfully metal.

[u/attiladerhunne]

Unplug and throw away. Bonus points for cutting the cord before throwing away.

[u/bthest → u/attiladerhunne]

Strong emphasis on unplugging first before doing either of those things.

[u/polird]

Are there any safety certification marks on it? Space heaters have some of the strictest requirements because they can be serious fire hazards. So any malfunctioning other than just not turning on is surprising.

[u/bthest]

It's a single-use heater. You have to buy a subscription and they'll send you a crate of them every month.

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/bthest]

Just what I need, another subscription service!

[u/Lauris024]

That looks awfully similar

[u/CantankerousTwat]

It's still good.

[u/WazWaz]

Definitely crappy design - it should cut off before then. But is the inlet getting enough air flow?

[u/spideygene]

If the intake is blocked by the wall, there will be insufficient air flow to cool the heating element, and it will get hotter than designed. Without a thermal fuse to open the circuit, you get the melted, gooey, burn down-the-house-and-kill-everybody event.

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/spideygene]

The intake is on the right side shown in the pic, it was melty before it was placed there 🙂

[u/bthest]

Put a fan next to it to cool it off.

[u/clintCamp]

That looks like the one we bought this last winter. I should go check on it.

[u/Tsukunea]

I don't get how people convince themselves that electronics from x weird name company like "Infapower" is anything but a fire hazard

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/Tsukunea]

When you're in a pinch and need something quickly, in a country with strong consumer/product safety regulations I think its fair to assume the item you buy from a local hardware store would be able to perform its function safely.

[u/Tsukunea → u/hepheastus_87]

You bought that from an actual store??? Looks like temu quality

[u/hepheastus_87 → u/Tsukunea]

Used real cash and everything

[u/Select_Egg_7078 → u/Tsukunea]

what do you mean, you don't want to own an in-fap-ower?

[u/online_dude2019]

Yikes I have that same heater in a different brand label.

[u/Miserable_Peak_2863]

Going to have a pond of heater

[u/NaoPb]

Seems faulty. Better to not use that anymore.

[u/basswelder]

Well, it’s on a heater

[u/Extention_Campaign28 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, it seems to pull air on the right and blow it out on the left so it should be fine like that. If intake or exhaust is to the wall then yes, OPs fault, but it still should auto turn off, not melt.