Consumer Product Safety

NITE Alert_72

November 15, 2006

Warning of Probable Fire and Other Hazards
Relating to Remote Controlled Electric Heaters

NITE recently implemented product tests of remote controlled electric heaters in response to information concerning their malfunctions.

  1. Examples are;
    1. (1) When a user changed TV channel with a TV remote-controller, it inadvertently switched on an electric heater with remote control function.
    2. (2) An electric heater with remote control function automatically turned on for no apparent reason.

As a result, malfunctions have been confirmed in some products which are turned on by operating the remote controllers of other electric appliances or by electro-magnetic noise.

pic

Test results

1. Test products (samples)

13 models of electric heaters which are sold in the market and operate with attached infrared remote controllers.

Test products (samples)
Sample No Name of Product Rated Power Consumption(W) Name of Importer/Distributor Model No. Country of Origin
1 Halogen Heater 500 Japan Vinegar Bottlers Co. Ltd. VG500-ABR Taiwan
2 Halogen Heater 800 Myuji Corporation Co. Ltd./Yamazen Corporation KRI-800 China
3 Halogen Heater 800 Doshisha Corporation HT-35R4 China
4 Halogen Heater 800 Interumo Co. Ltd. SR-803IR China
5 Halogen Heater 800 Amami Co. Ltd. HC-318R Taiwan
6 Halogen Heater 800 Senju Co. Ltd. PH-282R China
7 Halogen Heater 800 Shi Ai Shi Co. Ltd. YS-F803R Taiwan
8 Halogen Heater 800 MORITA DENKO Co., LTD/EPOTECH Corporation TS-806HIR China
9 Halogen Heater 800 Masao Corporation MS0-203HR Korea
10 Halogen Heater 800 SK JAPAN CO., LTD SKJ-803ARS China
11 Carbon Heater 900 MORITA DENKO Co., LTD MS-C904R China
12 Carbon Heater 900 IRON Co., LTD IR-4622 China
13 Carbon Heater 900 Apix International Co., LTD ACH-930IR China
Note:
Tested products were purchased at mass sales stores in Osaka prefecture in January 2006.

  • * The numbers of pictures above correspond to the sample number.

2. Contents of test

Two types of tests were implemented.

  1. (1) Remote controller test
    The first test was conducted to see if any malfunction of heater occurred by pressing all the buttons of infrared remote-controllers (9 kinds of 9 manufactures for TV remote-controller, 9 kinds of 9 manufactures for HDD/DVD recorder, 4 kinds of 4 manufacturers for VCR), all of which are sold by domestic manufacturers.
  2. (2) Electro-magnetic noise test <
    This test was conducted to see if those electric heaters are turned on with electric noise according to "JIS C 61000-4-4 Electrical fast transient/burst immunity test method". The JIS method, harmonized with IEC standards, simulates the noise level of an ordinary household environment.
  • * Immunity Test: This test verifies whether or not an electric appliance can work without malfunctioning under influence of various kinds and strength of electric noises.
  • * Electrical fast transient/burst immunity test: This simulates the noise that is transmitted along mains wires when an electric appliance is turned on or off.

3.Test Result

  1. (1) Remote controller test
    Two cases (No.11, No.12) of false operations out of 13 products were observed when tested with irrelevant remote-controllers. For example, ref. No.11 had false operation on its hi/low switch, while No.12 showed a variety of malfunctions such as turning on, hi/low switch.
  1. Note: These phenomena are considered to be attributable to partially coinciding
    signals (control codes) used both in remote-controllers of imported heater and domestic home appliances. In addition, electric heaters that can be turned on by remote controllers are not manufactured in Japan.
Remote controller test
SampleNo. Type of remote controller Observed phenomena
Heater was
turned on
Hi / low was
switched
Oscillation Timer function
No.11
MS-C904R
TV use
(Sony / RM-J1004)
No Yes
"volume(-)" button
No No
No.12
IR-4622
V use
(Sharp / GA226WJSA)
Yes
"menu"button
No No No
TV use
(Sharp / GA389PA)
Yes
"pose-record" ,
"stop- record" button
No No No
DVD/HDD Recorder use
(Hitachi / DV-RMDH400T)
Yes
"channel 2" button
Yes
"channel 7" button
No NO
DVD/HDD Recorder use
(Sharp / GA016TEV1)
Yes
"record programming" button
Yes
"standard/
Triple-speed" button
Yes
"channel 4 "
"cancel/reset " button
Yes
"channel 8"
button
  1. (2) Electro-magnetic noise test
    Four kinds of products (No.1, No.5, No.6, and No.7) out of thirteen samples were turned on under the test conditions.
Electro-magnetic noise test
Samples Test Level 1 Test Level 2 Test Level 3 Test Level 4
sp (Well-protected
Environment)
(Protected
Environment)
(Typical Industrial
Environment)
(Severe Industrial
Environment)
No.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes
No.5 No No No Yes
No.6 No No No Yes
No.7 No Yes Yes Yes
Electrical fast transient/burst immunity test - Test level and conditions
TestLevel Power port / Protective earth Environment type and specific examples
Peak voltage (kV) Repetition rate (Hz)
1 0.5 5 Well-protected environment Computer room
2 1 5 Protected environment Management office or computer room of a factory
3 2 5 Typical industrial environment Industrial automatic controller surroundings / power plant
4 4 2.5 Severe industrial environment Power substation / outdoor high pressure substation

Fore more information;
National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE)
Product Safety Technology Center, Product Safety Investigation Division

Contact us

 Consumer Product Safety Public Relations Division  Product Safety Technology Center  National Institute of Technology and Evaluation
Phone number:+81-6-6612-2066
Fax number:+81-6-6612-1617
Address:1-22-16 Nankokita, Suminoe-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 5590034, Japan MAP