Product Alert
7-6-16: CPSC reports that Over half a million hoverboards being recalled
1-20-16: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a statement regarding dangers from hoverboards:
CPSC is looking into dozens of fires involving hoverboards, which are also called smart boards or self-balancing boards. Many of these fires occurred indoors and could have resulted in serious injuries if not for the quick actions of consumers to extinguish the fire. This is a priority investigation and CPSC is devoting the staff time and resources necessary to find the root causes of the fires.
CPSC engineers continue to test hoverboards – new models and those involved in fire incidents – at our National Product Testing and Evaluation Center in Rockville, Md.
CPSC is actively investigating the safety of hoverboards made and/or sold by:
Name of hoverboard/manufacturer, importer or distributor:
Smart Balance Wheel/One Stop Electronic Inc.
Smart Balance Wheel Scooter/Glide Boards
Hover-way Hands-Free Electric/Digital Gadgets LLC
Swagway Hands-Free Smart Board/Swagway LLC
Smart Balance Board/I Lean Hoverboards
E-Rover-Mini Smart Balance Scooter/LeCam Technology
Smart Balance Wheels/Kateeskitty
Hoverboard360.com
iMOTO/Keenford Limited
YOOLIKED
Smart Balance Wheel/Luxiyan and
Uwheels
DEYA LED/E-Rover Smart Balance Wheel /Shenzhen yuan jia jie Technology Co. Ltd
CPSC has not made any determinations to date about the safety of these brands.
OSFM Request: Ken Klouda, Asst. Chief of the OSFM Fire Prevention Bureau has requested that any fire department that has responded to a fire involving hoverboards to contact him at Ken Klouda
USFA/NFIRS: The US Fire Administration has released a statement on how these types of fires should be coded in NFIRS.
From NEOFPA:
Many of these hoverboards are made overseas and imported to the US. The fires seem to mostly be attributed to the lithium-ion battery and charging system.
Hoverboards have also now been banned on all major US airlines.
When purchasing, it is important to verify that the hoverboard components AND BATTERY are listed by a testing agency such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
Amazon is now offering full refunds to customers who purchased hoverboards. See Story.