Korea Consumer Agency Tests Quality and Safety of 10 Products
Drilling Positions and Sizes Differ from Domestic Standards
Some digital door locks sold through overseas direct purchase on the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress have been found to either not open during a fire or have a high risk of explosion due to lithium-ion batteries.
On the 18th, the Korea Consumer Agency announced that after testing 10 types of Chinese-made digital door locks sold via direct purchase on AliExpress, 3 models could not be opened during a fire, preventing evacuation, and all 5 products containing lithium-ion batteries experienced battery ignition or explosion, requiring caution.
On the 8th, Na Eun-su, Head of the Mechanical Mobility Team at the Smart Products Testing Bureau, explained the test results of the 'Overseas Direct Purchase Digital Door Lock' to the press at the Korea Consumer Agency Seoul Gangwon Branch in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Digital door locks should be designed so that residents can open the door manually with a lever even at high temperatures to evacuate in case of fire. However, in 3 products, the manual lever melted, making it impossible to open the door in emergencies. Additionally, for the 5 products powered by lithium-ion batteries, the batteries ignited or exploded at temperatures between 170 and 260 degrees Celsius, which is lower than the test standard temperature of 270 degrees Celsius.
Currently, domestic digital door locks are not allowed to use secondary batteries as power sources, but from May 7, their use will be permitted. The Consumer Agency recommended, "When purchasing digital door locks using secondary batteries, it is advisable to choose products that have passed the 'KC Safety Confirmation' for verified safety."
The Consumer Agency also pointed out that one of the tested digital door locks could not be opened from the outside when the internal battery was discharged. Digital door locks should allow the door to be opened using an emergency power supply terminal installed externally when the internal battery is depleted, but this product lacked such a terminal, requiring damage to the door lock or door to gain entry.
Furthermore, while domestic digital door locks have standardized hole positions and sizes (drilling specifications) for the doors they are installed on, all 10 types sold on AliExpress differed from domestic standards. This caused additional installation costs and issues requiring restoration of the door to its original state when moving.
The Consumer Agency informed AliExpress of the problems with 6 products that either could not open during a fire or had explosion risks, and AliExpress reportedly blocked the search and sale of these products. AliExpress has agreed to refund consumers who purchased these 6 products. Consumers who bought these products can contact the AliExpress customer center to receive a refund.
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