Comtrend powerline adapters - Extreme danger

Question

I would like to post a warning to all users of Comtrend powerline units. One of mine was showing a red status light showing an error condition so I attempted to reset it by unplugging it. As I removed it from the power socket the front casing came away and my fingers strayed dangerously close to the now exposed mains voltage circuit board. It would appear that the fragile plastic mounting pillars simply sheared off. Incredibly this panel is held in place by only two screws and once the pillars shear there is nothing to stop the panel coming off. It is not as if this has been exposed to undue stress, I have probably plugged it in and removed it five times or so since it was new. A photo of the unit is at http://www.thehomeofcricket.com/comtrend.jpg
I had an absolutely farcical conversation with the gentlemen at the call centre who really didnt understand the problem or the danger and wanted to know if my broadband was working, in the end he suggested that I call an electrician!
Finally when I spoke to someone at BT Vision they insisted that the only solution is to send an engineer out, they seemed unconcerned at the potentially lethal nature of these devices. As BT apparently will not tell you this I am posting this information on all boards where BT Vision is discussed in the hope that it will prevent someone getting killed.

Answer 1

I think Christine & John are right, these units certainly do run hot and I think this is the reason for the plastic weakening rather than melting. I would have thought at the very least the cover would be bonded/glued to main assembly - I think these come under the category of "no user servicable parts" so should probably never be openable after manufacture - it wouldnt be cost effective for the manufacturer to repair them anyway. They carry the CE mark which now looks fairly meaningless, I wonder how many other "hot" units such as laptop transformers carrying the CE are liable to fail and or catch fire.