The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2025–2026
Wyze's Solar Cam Pan: the assembly instructions could puncture the battery
Wrong assembly steps let owners pierce the lithium cell: six cameras exploded, six minor burns. 321,360 recalled at $80; replace, refund or gift card.
Wyze Labs · 2026-06-04
What happened
Wyze's Solar Cam Pan (WYZESCPWH) was an $80 outdoor security camera with its own solar panel, sold through Home Depot, Micro Center, Best Buy, Temu, Amazon and Wyze's own site from October 2025 to April 2026 — 321,360 units, plus 2,560 in Canada.
The assembly instructions could lead a consumer to puncture the lithium-ion battery's metal casing, and a punctured cell overheats fast. Thirteen reports of overheating, six cameras exploding and catching fire, six minor burns. CPSC recalled the line on June 4, 2026.
The remedy is a free replacement camera with solar panel, a refund, or a gift card. The defect was not in the hardware QA but in the words that walked the user into the battery.
Why it happened
- Incorrect assembly instructions could lead a user to puncture the battery's metal casing — six cameras exploded and caught fire, six owners took minor burns
- 321,360 units sold through eight channels in seven months, Oct 2025–Apr 2026 — the distribution outran the proofreading
- The remedy set — replacement, refund or gift card — is cheap; the expensive part was shipping 321,360 kits whose instructions were the fire hazard
The lesson
When the hazard ships in the paperwork, the manual is a component — instructions that let a user puncture a lithium cell failed the same QA the camera passed.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
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Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
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