Dicon Global Inc. Warns of Potential Electrical Hazard in Carbon Monoxide Detector

MARKHAM, Ontario, April 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dicon Global Inc. is notifying consumers that the carbon monoxide detector CO800 manufactured by American Sensors Electronics Inc may expose live parts when the rotating plug feature is extensively used.

  Name of the product: Single Station Carbon Monoxide Detector, model CO800

  Units: Approximately 2,300,000 distributed in the United States and Canada

Manufacturer: American Sensors Electronics Inc., Toronto, Canada (bankrupt in 1997)

Date of Manufacture: June 1995 to January 1997, correlated with serial numbers printed on the back UL labels.

Hazard: If the rotating plug is extensively used or rotated more than 90 degrees, the plug may separate from the back housing and expose the plug blades and the soldered 120V AC wires. There is a risk of electrical shock if the user attempts to unplug the unit without adequate protection.

Identification:

On the product: On the back UL & cUL( part numbers 1301-0043 (REVA) or 1301-0043 (REVB)) there is an unique serial number printed on the same line with the model number CO800.

The following ranges of serials numbers may be correlated with the hazardous units: R-143001 to R-743000, V- 217001 to V-1000000, W- 1 to W- 417000, AJ-654001 to AJ-754000, AJ-987001 to AJ-1000000, and AK-1 to AK-387000

A round "Warning" label that warns about overturning the plug is placed in the immediate vicinity of the rotating plug.

What you should do: If the serial number from the back UL label is included in the ones specified above (see "Identification"), we recommend that users should stop using this product. For further information contact Dicon Global Inc.

Dicon Global Inc. recommends replacing carbon monoxide alarms every 5 years.

To check the serial number, the consumer should carefully unplug the unit from the receptacle, without attempting to rotate the unit to verify the rotating function of the plug.