Schneider Electric IT Corp., formerly known as American Power Conversion, recalled 15 million surge protectors because of a fire danger. The SurgeArrest model Series 7 and 8 were sold at CompUSA , Best Buy and Circuit City as well as other stores nationwide from January 1993 to December 2002.
Schneider Electric has so far received 700 incident reports concerning the faulty surge protectors. The majority of the incidents involved the product melting or overheating and there were 55 reports of fires that resulted in major property damage. A medical facility had nearly $750,000 in damages as a result of one of the faulty surge protectors and a home had $916,000 in damages. There have also been 13 reported injuries which include smoke inhalation and burns from touching overheated surge protectors.
The surge protectors will say “APC SurgeArrest” and either the words Personal, Professional, Performance or Network printed on the front. If you do have an APC SurgeArrest surge protector it is recommended that you unplug it immediately and contact Schneider Electric. If you or someone you know was injured due to a faulty surge protector or other defective product please contact a product liability attorney for a free case review of a possible surge protector lawsuit.