H1 susceptible to catch fire - contact NZXT

[LukeSavenije]

Summary

NZXT is recalling all H1 cases due to a design error where one of the screws can cause sparks, making the case able to catch fire under normal use. If you have a H1 currently, contact h1support@nzxt.com for further assistence. NZXT didn't leave any details to the problem, gave no solution outside of contacting them and is only hinting to making a kit to solve the problem.

 

Quotes

Quote

We do need to halt sales due to the fact that a top screw has caused 1 case screw on the case to spark and possibly catch fire. We do have a fix for this, but we would need to halt sales for this product until we are able to get you guys the screw per units that you do have. If you have already purchased the unit and are experiencing the issue, please contact the NZXT customer service team (https://www.nzxt.com/customer-support) directly to get the screw and receive a tutorial on how to fix the issue. Our first step today was to put a full stop on all sell through of this model and quarantine any inventories in the channel. We will be reworking all units to quickly put them back into a saleable position. The modification is a very simple replacement of one single screw; but something that we need to do nonetheless.

Quote

While we believe this issue only impacts a small percentage of cases, we are playing it safe and have paused sales of the H1 and are developing a simple-to-use repair kit that H1 owners can install themselves without having to ship their cases anywhere.

Quote

I've been building PC's since the old Cyrix DX4-100 days, I've built water cooled rigs, this is the first time ever that I've had flames coming from a case during a power on.

The above pictures are of the PCI riser card that seems to have had a short, the video card works fine, the motherboard is a little dirty (going to get so isopropyl alcohol to clean it up) but the riser is completely gone.

I went over the build properly, ensured no kinks in cables etc but this happened.

I'm just not sure here, was it dumb luck, what did I miss? this is a £300 case that I purchased on Thursday that arrived today and its useless now.

My thoughts

I personally think NZXT's response to this is lackluster. It's a good thing they've set up a separate support, halted sales and made some public feedback, but in this they didn't even detail the problem itself or link to the second post that discovered it around 20 days earlier than them coming out with it. I understand that looking into this issue takes a couple days, especially right now, but that doesn't excuse you from hinting at so many things without giving a proper breakdown of the problem in my eyes. Especially considering we're talking about a 350 dollar case here. I hope they do work things out and that current H1 users get compensated for this serious design error.

 

Sources

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9bAEH7EYHhQJ:https://www.centralcomputer.com/nzxt-h1+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d

[Mateyyy]

The screw catches fire? Just take it out - or sorry, I mean

[Guest]

In case of fire hazard, break tempered glass.

[Sir Asvald]

WOW, a new feature!  

 

 

/s

[soldier_ph]

LN2 is your friend.

[LukeSavenije]

5 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

The screw catches fire? Just take it out - or sorry, I mean

This made my day

[truecrafting]

13 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

Summary

NZXT is recalling all H1 cases due to a design error where one of the screws can cause sparks, making the case able to catch fire under normal use. If you have a H1 currently, contact h1support@nzxt.com for further assistence. NZXT didn't leave any details to the problem, gave no solution outside of contacting them and is only hinting to making a kit to solve the problem.

 

Quotes

My thoughts

I personally think NZXT's response to this is lackluster. It's a good thing they've set up a separate support, halted sales and made some public feedback, but in this they didn't even detail the problem itself or link to the second post that discovered it around 20 days earlier than them coming out with it. I understand that looking into this issue takes a couple days, especially right now, but that doesn't excuse you from hinting at so many things without giving a proper breakdown of the problem in my eyes. Especially considering we're talking about a 350 dollar case here. I hope they do work things out and that current H1 users get compensated for this serious design error.

 

Sources

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9bAEH7EYHhQJ:https://www.centralcomputer.com/nzxt-h1+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d

its more of a feature u know to highlight the airflow 

[AndreiArgeanu]

I was wondering for a second how does case on it's own catch fire, then I remember the H1 is that weird small case that comes with a preinstalled PSU.

[truecrafting]

4 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

I was wondering for a second how does case on it's own catch fire, then I remember the H1 is that weird small case that comes with a preinstalled PSU.

"One Redditor claimed that the problem could be attributed to a tiny screw that specifically secures the PCIe graphics card riser mount. The screw is reportedly shorting out the system and causing it to not work properly. The same Redditor shared his experience that his system would automatically reset if there is any pressure on the portion of the case where the graphics card is housed. "

[Bitter]

Sparks are the new RGB?

[leadeater]

Anyone else initially as confused as I was about how a computer case can catch fire? 

[LukeSavenije]

51 minutes ago, leadeater said:

Anyone else initially as confused as I was about how a computer case can catch fire? 

would've said the same if I didn't have context lmao

[realpetertdm]

Quote

We will be taking customer information and providing early repair kits as soon as this upcoming week. These kits will allow users to make the repair at home by replacing both screws that attach the PCIe assembly to the case. Customers can reach out through our H1 dedicated contact channels included below for more information.

https://blog.nzxt.com/details-on-h1-case-safety-issue/

No, no, NO NZXT, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU DEAL WITH A SAFETY HAZARD.

What you do is recall all the cases. Not send out "repair kits" and make users fix problems caused by design flaws. At the very least offer free repair for customers.

[Kisai]

19 minutes ago, realpetertdm said:

No, no, NO NZXT, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU DEAL WITH A SAFETY HAZARD.

What you do is recall all the cases. Not send out "repair kits" and make users fix problems caused by design flaws. At the very least offer free repair for customers.

They're probably doing it this way so it costs them less money to ship, and costs you less time to repair.

 

Like identifying the problem (screws) and how to remove them is enough to get people to band-aid the problem initially and then ship the parts needed, however "fire" ? am I mistaken in believing that these screws must be the wrong length and are coming in contact with something? (the PCIe Riser)

6 hours ago, leadeater said:

Anyone else initially as confused as I was about how a computer case can catch fire? 

Yeah kinda. I looked up an image of the case and noticed it was one of those wacky Mini-ITX designs.

My guess is (see where those four bands are in the middle of the picture) the screws there made contact with the PCB.

 

[realpetertdm]

15 minutes ago, Kisai said:

They're probably doing it this way so it costs them less money to ship, and costs you less time to repair.

 

Like identifying the problem (screws) and how to remove them is enough to get people to band-aid the problem initially and then ship the parts needed, however "fire" ? am I mistaken in believing that these screws must be the wrong length and are coming in contact with something? (the PCIe Riser)

 

 

Even if it costs them (and the customer) more, they should still be offering to fix them for free, not just send out repair kits and make customers do the fixing. At least have an option for someone to fix it for them, give customers a choice. Offloading all the work to customers is wrong, even more in this case (lol) when it can be an actual fire hazard. 

 

Edit: Also, sending out repair kits and having hundreds of emails from customers who don't know how to fix them is going to be expensive too

[realpetertdm]

Also, Gamers Nexus sent out a tweet yesterday asking NZXT H1 owners to contact them, so... coincidence? 

[Trik'Stari]

6 hours ago, realpetertdm said:

Edit: Also, sending out repair kits and having hundreds of emails from customers who don't know how to fix them is going to be expensive too

I'd like to think that most gaming PC owners know enough about computers to be able to replace a screw. It's just about the easiest thing you can do to a computer besides turning it on.

 

It's easy enough The Verge could do it. Maybe.

[Kisai]

7 hours ago, realpetertdm said:

Even if it costs them (and the customer) more, they should still be offering to fix them for free, not just send out repair kits and make customers do the fixing. At least have an option for someone to fix it for them, give customers a choice. Offloading all the work to customers is wrong, even more in this case (lol) when it can be an actual fire hazard. 

 

Edit: Also, sending out repair kits and having hundreds of emails from customers who don't know how to fix them is going to be expensive too

Let me re-phrase this. 

 

Do you really want to rip apart your build to send the entire thing back? I'd say most people do not, particularly since the PSU is part of it. If you bought the case from a physical store, you could of course just pick up another chassis, or put the entire thing on a test-bench, but what if it takes NZXT a month to receive and ship you a new one?

 

I'm not defending NZXT's process here, but it seems that at worst, since the problem is identified, it can be fixed without causing a too much disruption to the user's use of the system. It would surely suck for a systems integrator who chose to build and deploy a few thousand of these things however. 

 

I'll also re-state my opinion on mini-ITX/ITX/mATX builds. These systems are not intended to be high end systems, they are more typically designed to be something one step up from a SFF all-in-one, and if people are using high-power GPU's in them, then that risk of fire was already a design flaw by having the PCIe riser cross the cooling path.

[williamcll]

19 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

The screw catches fire? Just take it out - or sorry, I mean

No nut november isn't even over yet.

[Trik'Stari]

42 minutes ago, Kisai said:

It would surely suck for a systems integrator who chose to build and deploy a few thousand of these things however. 

Oh dear god.

 

*Sheldon Cooper voice* The horror....

[Dominik W]

3 hours ago, Kisai said:

10 hours ago, realpetertdm said:

Even if it costs them (and the customer) more, they should still be offering to fix them for free, not just send out repair kits and make customers do the fixing. At least have an option for someone to fix it for them, give customers a choice. Offloading all the work to customers is wrong, even more in this case (lol) when it can be an actual fire hazard. 

 

Edit: Also, sending out repair kits and having hundreds of emails from customers who don't know how to fix them is going to be expensive too

Let me re-phrase this. 

 

Do you really want to rip apart your build to send the entire thing back? I'd say most people do not, particularly since the PSU is part of it. If you bought the case from a physical store, you could of course just pick up another chassis, or put the entire thing on a test-bench, but what if it takes NZXT a month to receive and ship you a new one?

 

I'm not defending NZXT's process here, but it seems that at worst, since the problem is identified, it can be fixed without causing a too much disruption to the user's use of the system. It would surely suck for a systems integrator who chose to build and deploy a few thousand of these things however

There are two sides two this, as stated by both of you. I really wouldn't want to rip out all my components just to get a small fix, but this is a fire hazard (the screw part). There is definitely a good chunk of people who bought a gaming computer from someone and have no clue how to even open a case, and so relying on them to try and fix this could be dangerous, they might install it incorrectly and bam, you got yourself a house fire.

 

On the other hand, you got people like you and me, who can at least open a case. This is probably a bigger section, a much bigger section, and NZXT could do more to make instructions clear. I don't know exactly how they are planning on providing instructions, but if it is by phone, that is not that good either. We've seen in the Secret Shopper videos how tech support by phone can be a bit bad sometimes. And if it's paper instructions, there is a possibility of them being unclear and confusing.

 

But who knows, maybe it's a super easy fix. But they should be more transparent in how they want to go about solving this issue. More info at the moment would be great.

[VeganJoy]

At least NZXT has acknowledged the problem. Buddy of mine got a bequiet dark base pro 900 rev.2 and the psu switch on the back (weird little extension thingy, not the switch on the psu itself) doesn't actually work; it's always live and providing power to the components if it's plugged in. Bequiet's solution was to send him a replacement with the same problem and deny a return of the case. Pretty unfortunate how customer service for a 300 dollar case is so poor... and they don't seem to even care about the defect!

[trag1c]

I don't see anything wrong with how they're handling this. They investigated the problem and they came up with a fix. Now they're getting the logistics together to get it out to customers. Sounds like a screw is probably slightly too long. As far as fires go I highly doubt that anything actually caught fire, ,more likely explanation is that there is slight charring from arcing. 

 

Recalls and their subsequent fixes can be a hell of lot worse. Just look at automotive manufactures. *cough cough Ford Pinto cough cough GM ignition cylinders*

[marcolopes]

Are there any H1 cases on the market without the SAFETY issue? https://blog.nzxt.com/details-on-h1-case-safety-issue/

If so, HOW CAN I CHECK if the cases are NOT affected by this problem?

Thanks

P.S.: I contacted nzxt but no response whatsoever!! (the community is non existent! https://support.nzxt.com/hc/en-us/community/topics

[StDragon]

2 hours ago, marcolopes said:

Are there any H1 cases on the market without the SAFETY issue? https://blog.nzxt.com/details-on-h1-case-safety-issue/

If so, HOW CAN I CHECK if the cases are NOT affected by this problem?

Thanks

P.S.: I contacted nzxt but no response whatsoever!! (the community is non existent! https://support.nzxt.com/hc/en-us/community/topics

"1/7/21: The H1 has been updated to address the safety issue and is once again available for sale. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we resolved this matter."

 

Typically old stock takes awhile to cycle out of retail. Unless the recall also instructed resellers to pull excess inventory as well. But buyer beware.

 

When in doubt, it's always a good idea to contact the merchant to ensure you're obtaining the updated product revision.