Showmate 2 Video Systems (Bell & Howell) – product issue (1988)

Check Your Product

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

Reason for Recall

As stated by CPSC

Showmate 2 Video Presentation System Recalled By Bell & Howell NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 17, 1988 Release # 88-69 Bell & Howell Recalls Showmate 2 Video Presentation System WASHINGTON, DC - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bell & Howell Company, Skokie, Illinois, today announced that it is seeking to contact remaining owners of the company's Showmate 2 Video Presentation System, model No. 6427, as part of a voluntary recall of the product. To date, the company has contacted 4,400 owners and has replaced switches on 3,000 returned units. Bell & Howell previously attempted to contact all owners to alert them that the product may present an electric shock hazard if the main power switch became defective. There have been not reports of any customers experiencing a shock. However, if a switch fails during use and short circuits to the metal chassis, the potential for electric shock and bodily injury exists. More than 200 Showmate 2 units were returned to Bell & Howell due to switch failure. For those 400 customers who have not yet responded to the recall, Bell & Howell is offering to replace the defective switch with a new switch. Bell & Howell advises those owners to discontinue use of their machine until the switch is replaced. These owners are requested to call Bell & Howell toll-free at 800-522-8969 to make arrangements for free shipment of their unit back to the company, replacement of the switch, and return of their unit. (Within Illinois, owners may call 312-470-7656 collect.) The Showmate 2 is a combination seven-inch screen color video monitor/receiver and VHS format video tape recorder. The product weighs about thirty pounds, has a carrying handle and an eight and one-half foot long three-wire power cord. It was sold nationwide from April 1985 to December 1986, for about $500 per unit. Approximately 3,000 units were sold by one cable television shopping service. Audiovisual dealers sold most of the other 1,800 units.

Recommended Action

Per CPSC guidance

The CPSC advises consumers to stop using the product. Contact the manufacturer or return the product to the place of purchase.