The Worst Possible Faulty Product? Faulty Fire Extinguishers

If your TV doesn't work properly it's annoying. If your air conditioner breaks during a heat wave this is both annoying and possibly dangerous. But when a fire extinguisher fails, that's a disaster.

There are 40 million potential disasters in North America right now. That's how many fire extinguishers were recalled by Kidde, a North Carolina-based fire safety company and a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. Since there are about 1.3 million fires per year in the United States, that is a lot of people at risk.

The issue isn't trivial. When people tried to use them, the fire extinguishers didn't work, either because they were clogged or it was difficult to squeeze the trigger hard enough to discharge the contents of the cylinder.

There have been 391 failures that were reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. These included one death, 16 injuries, and 91 cases of property damage.

A list of the recalled models can be found here. The company is offering free replacements but you need to contact them.

Plastic handle fire extinguishers: The recall involves 134 models of Kidde fire extinguishers manufactured between January 1, 1973 and August 15, 2017, including models that were previously recalled in March 2009 and February 2015. The extinguishers were sold in red, white and silver, and are either ABC- or BC-rated. The model number is printed on the fire extinguisher label. For units produced in 2007 and beyond, the date of manufacture is a 10-digit date code printed on the side of the cylinder, near the bottom.  Digits five through nine represent the day and year of manufacture in DDDYY format. Date codes for recalled models manufactured from January 2, 2012 through August 15, 2017 are 00212 through 22717.  For units produced before 2007, a date code is not printed on the fire extinguisher.

Push-button Pindicator fire extinguishers: The recall involves eight models of Kidde Pindicator fire extinguishers manufactured between August 11, 1995 and September 22, 2017. The no-gauge push-button extinguishers were sold in red and white, and with a red or black nozzle. These models were sold primarily for kitchen and personal watercraft applications.