Are BOX fans dangerous????

[ransley]

You should have asked him about the other 1000 causes of fires.

[Sonny]

One of 10,000 plus causes! And what was the ranking of box fans on this list of causes?

If box fans are so deadly, why do "agencies" give them away free, to those in need, during extra hot weather times?

Maybe one should look at the responsibleness (or is that irresponsibleness) of the user, rather than blame the box fan.

Sonny

[Jeff The Drunk]

Like clothes dryers, toaster ovens, kitchen stoves..etc..all major causes of home fires. Should you not have any of those items either?

[RicodJour]

Please explain why an insurance adjuster would lie about such a thing. To impress people? Please, it's a fooking fan. There's no snap, crackle and pop to that story.

All your years and all your fans...what does that mean? How many fatal car accidents have you been in? Your cars? Does that mean there's no such thing as a fatal car accident? Your logic is flawed. Did you even read what the OP wrote, or are you just fond of going off half-cocked? He wrote: "I recently had a conversation with an insurance adjuster who told me one of the causes of fires in a home are these box fans" One of the reasons. He didn't say every fooking fan burned, and it doesn't sound like some Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling schtick.

More to the point - do you think that a $20 Chinese fan is a quality product in _any_ way shape or form? Do you know how many 'almost' fires I've had happen? A fair number - and I only reported one to Underwriters Laboratory. The manufacturer refused to own up to it, but they did reconfigure the light fixture because of it. I wasn't out any money, I didn't sue, I just wanted to make sure someone didn't die in a fire.

I realize you're playing your role of newsgroup tough guy, and that's fine, but have you ever watched a house burn down with people you know in it? I did - across the street. Things like that stay with you. People thinking there's a negligible chance of fire happening to them is one of the reasons people don't think about things and do stupid things. That's one of the reasons that in the not too distant future I'd expect all of us will be paying for it in the form of mandatory residential sprinkler systems.

R

[AZ Nomad]

and 100% irrelevent

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/8/2010 12:12 PM RicodJour spake thus:

All I can say is that my own experience exactly mirrors that of "notbob". I've used cheap box fans to ventilate places for a couple decades now too. Last place I was in I had two of them semi-permanently installed under a skylight to exhaust hot air. Ran continuously for hours with nary a problem, in a very dusty environment.

Hell, one of the fans' front plastic grille completely disintegrated from exposure to sunlight--just flaked into a jillion little pieces--and the fan kept on just humming away.

My dad used to install window fans in the attic of our house as a whole-house ventilation system in the summer. The fans he used were a little better than the cheap Laskos one buys nowadays; I seem to remember they were made by Bernz, but basically the same type of fan, run by a fairly cheap induction motor. They lasted many seasons and never failed.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/8/2010 2:43 PM AZ Nomad spake thus:

But it is funny (snicker, snicker).

[clare]

Sadly past experience is no predictor of future performance since most of what is being sold here NOW is made in China - and of poorer quality than what was sold even last year. They make it cheaper and cheaper every year because Wallmart (and others) demand a reduction in cost from year to year in order to continue doing business. US retailers and inspectors (as well as Canadian) are not keeping up with inspections - so much of the product sold has no UL cerification

- and what does have a sticker on it, a large percentage are bogus.

That said, generally it is not the fan itself that is the problem - it is the neglect of the fan. So the fan is a bit noisy, or it takes 5 minutes to come up to speed???? As long as it continues to move air, it is kept running, whe a cleaning and a bit of lubricant most often would make it run safely for another year or so.

[notbob]

And being alive is the most sure way to suffer death. It's a freakin' box fan, not a terrorist device, ferchrysakes!

nb

[Teredo]

We've been importing most of our housewares and minor electonics/ electricals from China for well over two decades. And you cannot effectively lubricate permanently lubed bearings on a box fan motor. So what can you do? Keep the air inlets free of debris. And listen to it. For 20 bucks if it starts making unusual sounds or the performance degrades, replace it. 20 bucks for a new fan is a good insurance policy in itself. I have a whole house circulation fan in an attic window. It is

10 years old. When temps are lower than 85 it runs 24/7. It has the same type motor as a box fan, just more power. I keep it clean of debris and it chugs along ventilating the whole house. I prefer that to air conditioning. I can draw air from the rear of the house that is completely shaded by large maples and oaks and my lot ends into a densely wooded area. This makes the air at least 10 degrees cooler giving me natural air conditioning for the price in electricity of a 1/8 hp fan motor.

[DD_BobK]

I don't see why people are supporting the position "box fans don't / can't / haven't caused house fires". I've had some get very close to that point.

They are cheap electrical devices often neglected and run for hours unattended. I've abused a fair number of these units; old metal ones & newer cheap plastic units.

Several units have just stopped working & been brought back to life by dropping them on their faces. Clean them? Why bother... as long as they run, run 'em 'til they stop.

One overheated & all the internal smoke leaked out but no flames. :)

Reported cases of 42 serious malfunctions. How many unreported? 10x? 100x? even at that rate they don't seem all that dangerous.

But knowing that they "could be a problem", let's us be a bit more careful with how they are used (if we choose) My "work around" is to only use new units unattended and never leave the "beaters" running alone.

I wondered how many of the "failed" units were abused or misused?

I more amazed that they don't cause problems way more often considering the way see them used / mis-used.

cheers Bob

[Ron]

Tell that to the mobile home that I was renting back in the early 80's that burnt to the ground after I left a box fan running while I was at the grocery store.

[Teredo]

So you don't use a box fan now?

[Pat]

I don't see why people are supporting the position "box fans don't / can't / haven't caused house fires". I've had some get very close to that point.

They are cheap electrical devices often neglected and run for hours unattended. I've abused a fair number of these units; old metal ones & newer cheap plastic units.

Several units have just stopped working & been brought back to life by dropping them on their faces. Clean them? Why bother... as long as they run, run 'em 'til they stop.

One overheated & all the internal smoke leaked out but no flames. :)

Reported cases of 42 serious malfunctions. How many unreported? 10x? 100x? even at that rate they don't seem all that dangerous.

But knowing that they "could be a problem", let's us be a bit more careful with how they are used (if we choose) My "work around" is to only use new units unattended and never leave the "beaters" running alone.

I wondered how many of the "failed" units were abused or misused?

I more amazed that they don't cause problems way more often considering the way see them used / mis-used.

cheers Bob

I had one burn up in my bedroom window one night. When the wind is right I think they can be overloaded causing them to fail.

[notbob]

I don't see why people are too stupid to turn off a box fan when they leave the house.

It occurs to me that perhaps the people who leave them on and abuse them are the ones suffering all the fires and other problems.

Gotta be smarter than the tool.

nb

[Noahbuddy]

"jimmy" wrote in news:i3mqsk$9oh$ [e-mail]:

You should have asked why.

[AZ Nomad]

Sure. The frayed extension cord had nothing to do with it.

[Stormin Mormon]

I've seen box fans dry out, and run slowly. But, I'm not familiar with any thermal protection.

[Stormin Mormon]

Except for those which start by ignition of flammable materials.

[Stormin Mormon]

Was that the box fan kicked over by Mrs. O'Leary's cow?