NZXT officially recalls 33,000 H1 PC cases in US and Canada

[midian182]

In a nutshell: The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced the NZXT H1 PC case is being officially recalled over a design fault that makes the vertical chassis a fire risk.

Last November, NZXT stopped sales of the H1 following reports of the two screws used for attaching the PCIe riser assembly to the chassis causing an electrical short circuit, posing a fire risk. The company says it has received 11 reports of "circuit boards overheating or catching fire worldwide, six of which occurred in the US."

NZXT has been using a temporary fix that offers owners nylon screws to replace the metal ones, but this doesn't address the problem's root cause.

Tech channel Gamers Nexus has been investigating the situation from the start. It found that the problem wasn't with the screws but the PCB design. Gamers Nexus called NZXT's behavior "appallingly irresponsible and negligent." The company eventually apologized, promising to remove the case from its stores and send out redesigned riser assemblies.

NZXT is still working on a permanent fix for the H1. Meanwhile, the CPSC and the Government of Canada just announced the official recall. Since the case was launched in February 2020, 32,000 units have been sold in the US and 1,024 in Canada. Consumers have been advised to "immediately stop using the recalled computer cases and contact NZXT for a free repair kit."

Image credit: u/evade187

It's a sad situation as the H1 case received plenty of love before the issues came to light. We liked it so much that the H1 was a 'Best Mini-ITX' pick in our Best PC Cases feature, though we didn't know about the fire dangers at the time, obviously.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/88631-nzxt-officially-recalls-33000-h1-pc-cases-us.html

 

[Loadedaxe]

Im glad I got the Lian Li TU150 instead.

 

[terzaerian]

In my view, illustrative of the consequences of prioritizing form over function. PC gaming has become obsessed with the aesthetics of components, scornful of their pedigree as electronics, and catastrophes like this will be the result, more and more frequently as time goes by.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

This is the reason I don’t mind buying a prebuilt case.

At least my cases never got recalled

 

[Austinturner]

In my view, illustrative of the consequences of prioritizing form over function. PC gaming has become obsessed with the aesthetics of components, scornful of their pedigree as electronics, and catastrophes like this will be the result, more and more frequently as time goes by.

Having watched the gamers nexus video, I thought this was just rushed, poor design plain and simple, the pcb just should have had a screw thread reinforced with a metal sleeve and it would have been fine.

 

[DZillaXx]

It's the Riser in the case that is at fault here. What is a big function on how this case works with video cards. I hope they get a replacement riser in peoples hands asap.

Regardless this case will still be one of the best ITX cases for those who want to use a large video card in a tiny box. hard to find smaller cases than this that does what this case does.

 

[hahahanoobs]

So it took someone one year to find this flaw? Great work Tech Jesus!

On a side note, I chose the Lancool II Steve wasn't too fond of, and I'm so glad I didn't listen to him. For some effed up reason he feels every case needs to be retooled to add a mesh front that doesn't have one. No Steve. Just no.

And sadly Lian Li released a modified version that was trash aside from the drop in temps from the mesh front.

I'm clearly not a fan of his if you haven't noticed. Used to be, but it seems like the Tech Jesus moniker may be something he's trying too hard to live up to. Knitpicking every little thing in his case and video card reviews gets a dislike from me every time if I watch it.

 

[terzaerian]

Having watched the gamers nexus video, I thought this was just rushed, poor design plain and simple, the pcb just should have had a screw thread reinforced with a metal sleeve and it would have been fine.

It was a rushed, poor design in the service of torturing the PC into an "aesthetic" form factor. Yes, if they'd used a better PCIE riser and tested it thoroughly, it would have been fine... but they'd of never had to use a PCIE riser in the first place if it was a regular case. And this case isn't the shape it is because it offers any practical benefit, like better cooling, or more upgrade headroom, it's completely just to ape the *****ic Xbox minifridge design in PS5 white. Making that the goal in the first place was the REAL folly from which all else followed.

 

[Uncle Al]

Never had a case get a recall ..... guess it just shows that a couple of screws can get you screwed! OUCH

 

[amghwk]

First time hearing a PC case is bring recalled.

 

[PEnnn]

But I bet the unicorn vomit, aka RGB works just fine!!

 

[OortCloud]

This is the reason I don’t mind buying a prebuilt case

Filthy casual

 

[Markoni35]

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