HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

The local electricity board I would put my money on it. Fridge motors don't catch fire for no reason, shit offset mains with loads of DC can do it by overheating the motor, and our mains is getting worse and worse and worse, and they refuse to acknowledge it.

So probably not a terrorist act which was my first though on hearing of the fire.

This will of course depend on your definition of start and fire . Which are important from a legal perspective in establishing cause.

from the current info , I do not consider there will be any legal liability for the Fridge catching fire ,which will be labelled force majeure, however the spread of the fire and eventual deaths is an entirely different matter.

There will be no facts I suspect which could blame the owner , hotpoint or the electricity board for its inception .

BUT we all own one, mostly motors just fail by going open circuit, and we put it down to cheap Chinese motors, its not, the quality of our mains is culpable. It is possible for the whole coil to short and the insulating varnish on the wire to flame. CE says that should not propogate, so at the very least we have a CE prosecution.

Anyone see the similarity to a certain Wilson Benesch speaker driver (which is an audio motor) doing the same thing.

How about a BBBMU just before the consumer unit for all the house except the hifi. Then an additional ordinary BMU for just the hifi.

Make everything last longer and bring safety as well ?

Not a BMU, this is what you need http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Cased-4 ... 2750.l2649

I bought it but I got my junctions wrong it is way the other side of London, anyone want to collect it and pay for it. It will do a whole house.

You need a more logical series of questions:

a) why did the Fridge motor go on fire? Plainly, overheating is the most credible response. Then comes the question:
b) what overheated? The motor is the most obvious culprit but the compressor in the unit may be at fault - friction heating.
c) why didn't the fuse blow to protect the device if it was an electrical fault - maybe someone else can answer that? I know that fuses are not all that accurate and will stand significant overload before blowing. e.g. if loaded slowly I believe a 13A fuse will stand up to about 20A.
d) why did the fridge catch fire? If a recent device , the refrigerant may well be a hydrocarbon which is flammable or ammonia which is also flammable - introduced to avoid CFCs (related compounds are used in fire extinguishers).
e) why did the fridge fire propagate? That's outside my limited expertise but speaks of inadequate fire precautions. We still have a dry powder extinguisher in our kitchen. Fortunately, we've never had to use it.
f) Why did the fire propagate to the outside of the building? Not a difficult question I think but I don't know enough even to make informed speculation.

The bottom line is that each of these will have a series of possible answers that will need to be addressed based on definitive evidence and quality professional opinion. Anything else is speculation. Makes good conversation which can be the start of misleading rumour. The press make a living out of it and the public thrives on it.

There are two simple questions in my experience - what is the conspiracy? Usually there isn't one because the answer to the second question is positive. Would incompetence explain it? Most often the second question is really searching and I suspect the blame will end up being laid at the door of the insulation panel standard that hasn't changed in years. However, that is not the full story as the questions above indicate.

Hope this helps even if it doesn't answer the question.

Dr Bunsen Honeydew wrote:Not a BMU, this is what you need http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Cased-4 ... 2750.l2649

I bought it but I got my junctions wrong it is way the other side of London, anyone want to collect it and pay for it. It will do a whole house.

Very close to me Doc.

Can you get it for me and we can sort it at Newport Pagnell services next Sunday week. Try it yourself in the meantime, if you want to keep it you can I can get another one. BUT if you want a safe house this is important which is why they use them on building sites and hospitals. No DC can pass across, only inducted AC voltage, so it isolates your house from the street mains. It doesn't balance so any AC distortion signal will get through which is what a BMU removes, but BMU should only be used on Hi-Fi / audio visual gear.

Much better . Is proper insurance. Make sure you are fully insured for catosphrie.

One of the things about grenfell tower is the total abacence of insurance.

I think the title of this thread should exchange the word "who" with "what." You should probably change "started" to "caused" too. At the moment it reads like you think it's possible to ascribe the deliberate action of setting the fire to a single person. "What Caused The Grenfell Tower Fire" gives you much more latitude for baseless speculation.