Consumers are urged to exercise due caution to forestall fire accidents involving household electrical appliances and in particular television sets during humid weather.
This is because under high humidity, dusts in the air get wet easily and once inside a TV set, they might become electric conductor resulting in increased possibility of short circuit - and fire accident.
In the first three months of this year there already were reported in the media at least four suspected TV fire incidents caused by the traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) TV sets. Due to its high voltage components, a CRT TV set has comparably higher chance of electric discharge than LCD and Plasma TV.
A UK investigation on fire involving TV in 2001 identified the main causes of fire to be, first, solder joints ageing or damaged mains switch being subjected to high voltage or high current that subsequently caused arcing to the CRT TV; second, overheating caused by faults within the appliance.
Statistics of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department have revealed that of the 78 incidents related to household electrical appliances in 2004, 70 cases were fire accidents.
Consumers are advised to take sensible precautionary steps to prevent fire accidents related to TV sets.
As a matter of safety practice, always use the main switch to turn off the TV rather than leaving it on standby mode by remote control. This is all the more important if the TV is not to be in use for a period of time, or left unattended with nobody in the house, or during a thunderstorm. Or better yet, disconnect the appliance from the power supply completely. Other safety tips include:
- Do not use the same extension socket for TV set and other electrical appliances to avoid overloading. Also, do not put the cables under a carpet.
- Do not place TV set in high humidity, dusty, high temperature environment, or under direct sunlight, or near fire source. Allow enough space for heat ventilation.
- Follow the instruction to clean TV sets; switch off before cleaning.
- Have an experienced technician to check the TV set regularly to ensure it functions well. Switch it off once malfunctions are suspected or found.
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