Facepalm: If you own one of NZXT's H1 PC cases, the company recommends powering it down straight away. It seems a design issue has been identified that could lead to a potential fire hazard, though the problem has currently affected fewer than ten units.
NZXT's H1 case is a vertical chassis that looks more like a high-end piece of tech or a next-gen console than a traditional PC enclosure. We liked it so much, it was one of the 'Best Mini-ITX' picks in our Best PC Cases feature, though we obviously didn't know about the fire dangers at the time.
Sadly, the H1 isn't without its faults. NZXT writes that the two screws used for attaching the PCIe riser assembly to the chassis may cause an electrical short circuit, posing a fire hazard---graphics cards are mounted vertically in their own compartment within the case. As such, the company has paused sales on its official websites and is asking resellers to do the same while its engineering team prepares a solution.
Despite the low rate of instances, NZXT advises current H1 users to power down their PCs until an early repair kit arrives, which "will allow users to make the repair at home by replacing both screws that attach the PCIe assembly to the case."
Image credit: u/evade187
As reported by PC Gamer, the first signs of a problem appeared a couple of months ago when a reddit user posted that their H1 started emitting smoke when first powered up. This was followed by another redditor claiming they saw "flames come out of the case" a few weeks ago.
NZXT says it is working closely with the US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and the proper global authorities to help its customers. You can check out the full details here.