Cisco fires off recall on fire prone switches

IE5000 industrial Ethernet devices have a short that could spark combustion

Cisco is recalling Ethernet switches that pose a potential fire hazard because of damage to the source wiring that can cause a short. The company issued a field notice last week on the situation, which affects its IE5000 industrial Ethernet switches.

Potential damage to the source wiring can cause a short to the metal enclosure/barrier. This could lead to a potential electrical and/or fire safety hazard for the end user.

The issue was observed in a single device that had not yet been shipped and not at a customer site, Cisco says. A switch was discovered to have a short in a damaged power harness cable during a manufacturing test.
Upon discovery, Cisco initiated a hardware upgrade program to replace any impacted units. Affected devices can be identified through serial number validation, and from version IDs and deviation labels on the top and bottom of the switch or from the Device Manager screen.

Cisco has already determined that IE5000 switches with version ID V02 and deviation label #D517262 are not affected by the short.