Openreach modem sparks

[#1]

Today our Openreach FTTC modem started showering sparks and smoke all over the place! There's now a hole in the powered adapter. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing?
Hopefully just a one off and not an issue with the boxes...

[#2]

Looking through your account I suspect you've got one of the original modems that were prone to overheating.
Obviously we'd want to get that replaced for you but it would need a engineers visit to swap them over as unfortunately we can't just send another out
Do you know when you'd be available for a engineer to come around?

[#3]

I've already phoned up there's an engineer coming round tomorrow. I thought they replaced those dodgy modems? I just assumed we had a newer one.
No good just leaving them in people's houses if they're so dangerous.
Strange as I'm leaving in two weeks as there's no FTTC at my new address, I think initiating the self-destruct on the modem was a bit of an extreme cancellation method haha 

[#4]

@Matthew,
A known problem?  Indeed sounds like a known potential fire hazard.  Surely BTOR know where they've deployed these and should be running a managed recall / replacement programme?
If this customer's unit had not 'failed safe' and there had been a fire, who would be liable - the quip meant supplier (BTOR) or the organisation from who the service had been purchased - PlusNET.  Is there any version identifier by which customers can determine ther exposure to ths potential risk?
Looks like another inter divisional issue for Andy to take up....  

[#5]

The issue in question was quite a few years ago and was due to a faulty chip that could cause the modem to overheat
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4999-bt-to-replace-faulty-openreach-fttc-modems-due-to-overheatin...
At the time there was a letter sent out to all affected customers offering a visit from a Kelly's Communications engineer to swap the modems over.
There is a loose chance that this modem might tie into the same issue but based on what the OP has said it appears the modem has been swapped over already
Unfortunately i'm not in the office at the moment so I can't confirm that. I believe the models affected was theHUAWEI EchoLife HG612 v1
The liability side of things is a good question and unfortunately my area of knowledge doesn't go that far I'm afraid!
I'm confident that one of the DCT guys will be able to advise further on this tomorrow

[#6]

Just to clarify, as far as I remember we've not had anything replaced since the installation in March 2012 - I do remember reading something about that issue at the time but I thought we had a newer version (think that v1 issue was in 2011?)
Also it appears my fireworks came from the power adapter rather than the modem itself so could be a different problem?

[#7]

Here's what's left of the power adapter:

And the back of the modem if that helps anyone identify if it is the initial dodgy version:

[#8]

Speaking as an electronics engineer, the modem overheat problem would most likely be a different issue to the power supply self destructing.
Even an overcurrent situation (i.e. short circuit) on the modem should not cause that issue on the PSU and hopefully BT will investigate it's failure mode. Often as power supplies age, capacitors dry out and put extra strain on the rectifiers and other component which then fail.

[#9]

Thanks for letting us know that an engineer has been arranged for the Modem to be replaced.
Please let us know how the visit goes and if the engineer mentions anything about your Modem specifically. As Matthew has mentioned above, Kelly Communications did send information to affected customers at the time to request the Modem be replaced.
I don't think this is linked to the same issue though as the Modem's were replaced as they overheated and caused the connection to drop, which I don't think has happened here.

[#10]

Quote from: Matthew

The issue in question was quite a few years ago and was due to a faulty chip that could cause the modem to overheat http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4999-bt-to-replace-faulty-openreach-fttc-modems-due-to-overheatin...

According to the article they replaced modems "shipped before August 2011" and I only had FTTC installed March 2012 so I don't think there's an issue there.
Can't find any reports of anything similar online so hopefully I was just unlucky!

[#11]

...actually lucky this did not lead to a fire!
Good to know though this is a different issue, not one which should have been covered off by a known recall.
Reading elsewhere on the forums today of the variable performance from Kelly Communications, can we be confident that they will get the failed devices back to BT for a full fault / safety inspection?  Would this matter be more securely managed by returning the failed units back to BT via PN?

[#12]

It could be done that way, however as Kelly Communications are contracted to carry out the required work, they should be doing all that's required and necessary to ensure the modem is replaced and that the faulty Modem is returned to BT Openreach who are responsible for this piece of equipment.

[#13]

The engineer has been and we now have internet access again so good turn-around on that front
Apparently he said it's an old model and should have been replaced (not sure why - he also said he'd seen boxes overheating when on carpets but never seen the plug have a hole in it).
He's taken the old modem so hopefully it will get looked at by Openreach at some point.

[#14]

Quote from: Chris

I don't think this is linked to the same issue though as the Modem's were replaced as they overheated and caused the connection to drop, which I don't think has happened here.

Chris,
It looks as though there are still some if those modems out there...
Any possibility of proactive measures to identify said models / serial numbers and get PN users to double check, less someone be not so lucky as this user?
Cheers,
Kevin

[#15]

It would be great if we could.
We don't hold any records of customers particular Modem Serial Number or Model either. It would mean contacting our entire customer base. We don't know if this is a wide-spread issue - it could be a one-off, if this is the case it's very unlikely that BT Openreach will replace the models unless they can identify what the root cause is.