FOLKS BE CAREFUL WITH THESE PUPPIES! I HAD TO USE FIRE EXTINGUISHER LAST WEEKEND TO PUT OUT THE FIRE WHEN MY X10 XPPF BURST INTO FLAMES!
THEY HAVE NO FUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It charred the 2x4 wall stud by the outlet before I got the flames out!
This is the X10 unit (brown) sold by X10. Says UL listed on it.
I can send pictures of the damage and the destroyed unit to anyone interested - just let me know.
What happened is I had right close to a 5 amp load on it (3 sets of 8' florescent bulbs) and when the eagle eye saw me enter the warehouse, it turned on the 15amp wall switch, turning on the lites just like a hundred times before (added this filter 1 month ago). I headed for the refridge in the back to get a beer and heard crackling. I turned around and saw smoke rolling out of the filter then 2 seconds later flames about 12" high! They did not go out. By the time I grabbed a fire extinguisher 5 seconds later it had already charred the wall stud the outlet is mounted on.
The chokes inside the unit are wound on combustible plastic cores. The pcb is totally gone around the male plug pins and the case of the xppf is melted where it also burned. The chokes are not melted down inside THIS unit but the pcb is gone around the 2 male plug pins - must have been a bad solder joint and it heated until the pcb burned away.
This is one of around 20 I have all over our house, office, garage here. Have probably 10 more at another office across town. I believe this is the highest amperage load I have on any (110w bulbs x 3 x 2 = 5.5 amps or so - I may stick clamp on ammeter on and verify this).
Wondering why the fuse did not pop before the chokes (3 total, wound with looks like #18 solid copper wire) overheated and burst into flames, I took another one apart. Wow! It's chokes have the varnish bubbled from overheating AND THE PLASTIC CORE MELTED ON ALL 3! Again, no fuse!
So I guess the moral of the story is consider thoughtfully before using the X10 xppf models instead of the nice smarthome fused models. I am going to ebay right now to buy 30 smart home units to replace all mine! Hate to say it, but I got a firesale on my 30 or so xppf units - anyone want to make me an offer ??
