Conair HP08 Massaging Heating Pad

List Price: ~~$39.99~~
Category: Health Care
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Conair HP08 Massaging Heating Pad Details

Manufacturer: Conair
Brand: Conair
Model: HP08
Product features:

Vibrates, heats to massage and warm muscle aches and pains
24 by 11-1/2 inches
Self-adhesive belt holds pad in place
Vibrations can be adjusted to high or low
Can be used for massage or for heat alone

Customer Reviews of Conair HP08 Massaging Heating Pad

Customer Review: Caught on FIRE !!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars

Please read the entire review ... but I'll get straight to the fire as it is the most important information. Over-all review afterwards.

This is difficult for me to give a rating number because prior of the circumstances. I would say prior to my pad catching fire I would have given it a 3 1/2 for what I needed it to be Everyones needs / hence ratings are of course going to be different due to their circumstances, wants and needs so keep that in mind when reading reviews.

Post fire? I have to give it a big fat 0. It terrifies me thinking about how quickly and "silently" it malfunctioned, caught fire and did so much damage in such a short time...with me sitting right there!!!!

Let me start by saying I've used quite a few, of this exact heating pad, for about 7 years...faithfully. During those years I've probably bought a new one every 3-6 months with the time frame of them dying varying for no apparent or particular reason. My useage habits have always been the same, some pads just last longer than others but none have ever lasted a year! (Unfortunately, I'm not even rated fair when it comes to registering my products nor keeping warranty information - so yeah, I've paid for each & every one of them) I would guesstimate that I've bought at least 4 a year, sometimes more, never less; so I feel I'm a very qualified reviewer of this product.

What happens just before they "die":

1) The massage on high setting acts as if it is on low, eventually barely any massage.
a) During this slow death of the vibrators, sometimes the heat still works, sometimes not, sometimes there's just a minimal amout of heat & sometimes HOT HOT! When the vibrating death is final, the heat usually doesn't work either but I can't say it's always that way because at that point, I usually have a new one and have thrown the dead one away.

2) The vibrators won't turn on at all and then randomly and sporadically they'll just start working at all speeds but you are totally out of control, it has a mind all it's own.

THE FIRE

I had just bought a brand new heating pad directly from conair's website two weeks prior. I used it every day, several hours a day, off and on, which is normal usage for me. Starting from day one, the pad acted the way all of the others act when they are starting to die. I pretty much figured I had gotten a lemon and planned on contacting conair about getting a replacement. But after a few more days I wasn't noticing the "dead spots" anymore. It seemed to have worked out its problems for the most part and worked as it "normally" worked.

On this particular day (FIRE DAY) I was having a really bad back day. I propped myself up on a bunch of pillows behind me on my bed with the heating pad on. (which is how I always use it) I didn't have it strapped around me, it was just placed between my lower back area & a pillow.

I was using heat and the high setting of vibrate...off and on...approximately every 10 minutes I would have to turn it off. The reasons for doing so is because the heat, after a short time, becomes too hot, especially in the area around the vibrators and the low setting of vibrate was just too low and offered no relief. Also, the high setting is annoyingly loud and when the pad is new, I find the high setting to cause my eyes to jump around from the vibrations to where it keeps me from being able to read, get on my laptop computer or watch tv. Finally, because my back problems can cause my lower back and spinal area to become sensitive & painful to the touch, So, I'm frequently moving the pad around to change where the vibration hits my back and turning the pad on and off.

I was home alone (insert scene from the movie AAARRRGGHHHHH - lol) that day and I *thought* I smelled something that smelled like a few things but the main odor was that of burning plastic. It wasn't strong at first but it was something that definitely caught my attention. At one point I felt extreme heat, more than I ever had before...actually a burning feeling on one side of my back, right around the vibrator area. It was so hot it kind of made me jump but I really didn't get too excited or think much of it because this is a very typical problem that I've experienced with ALL of the pads I've owned and used.

I reached around to move the pad yet again and felt my back...it was HOT! so I turned the pad completely off (heat & vibrate) and got out of bed. When I returned to my bedroom the air looked a little hazy to me and I could smell that plastic burning smell a little stronger. I sniffed around the entire house but the only place I could smell the odor was in my bedroom.

Scared and determined to find out what was burning, I started checking the floor to see if I had dropped a lit cigarette or hot ashes had fallen and was slowly burning something but I couldn't find anything or feel anything warm or hot. I then decided that it must be something outside and started to get back into bed. But to be safe, before getting into bed, I wanted to check my bed to make sure the same hadn't happened there.

That is when I pulled the blanket back and saw black and brown scorch marks and then parts of the blanket that were matted into black ashes. At the same time, because I had pulled the blanket back, I saw smoke and could strongly smell something burning. I pulled on the heating pad and saw a big part of it missing! I grabbed the cord and unplugged it, tossing it onto the floor. I panicked and grabbed the pillow that had been up against the pad...it had a huge hole in it..all the way through the pillowcase and the foam pillow and my top sheet had a small burn hole and a large area that had been scorched .

I rubbed my hand over the bed in that area and it was so hot that my hand jerked away. I ran into the bathroom, got a glass of water and threw it on my bed. Luckily, it hadn't yet burned my mattress. I took the pillow and heating pad outside and stomped on them to make sure the fire was out. I checked my back and on that side, it was extremely red and tender.

I guess the reason I didn't realize or feel it on fire was because when I had felt that intense heat on my back and turned the pad off before getting out of bed, I had moved the heating pad more to the left so that particular vibrater wouldn't be up against my back...which I normally do each time I use it because of it becoming so hot around that specific area and the vibrator hurting my back as I mentioned before.

I still don't know what caused the fire. It wasn't an actual blazing red fire that I could see. I had used the heating pad that morning for about 2 hours off and on and after faintly smelling the plastic burning odor, I had turned it off which tells me it continued burning even after I turned it off. It completely melted the plastic vibrator and melted/burned a large section of the pad itself around where the vibrator had been. It also melted/burned a small hole in my blanket and left 4 separate dark scorch/burn marks as well as dark scorch marks on my sheet. The foam pillow was smoldering and I could see red down into the pillow. It had burned about 1/3 of the pillow...burning straight through the pillowcase.

As I mentioned, I was home alone that day. It terrifies me to think of what might have happened if I hadn't declined my husband and daughters offer to go out to eat (which is why they were gone) Would my entire house have burned down? I was also comtemplating taking prescribed pain medication and laying down for a nap. Thank goodness I decided against that.

This heating pad had been my favorite all these years because:

~ it has the massage feature on it and the high/low vibrate setting
~ it is larger than most regular heating pads
~ the soft material it is made of and it being lightweight
~ it is completely different than the standard heating pads
~ its buzzing noise from the vibrators although annoying, is quieter than some of the other massage pads I've used. (but that's not bragging)
~ I've tried other heating & massage pads, ones that have a cover on them and those end up being scrunched together and smooshed out of shape, almost into a lob-sided ball & unable to flatten it back out - this pad is flat, thin and stays flat and those other heating pads vibrations would rattle your teeth...even on low.

The things I don't like about it:

~ the power supply is unbelievably large and heavy - it takes up your entire outlet and at least 2 outlets on a power strip if you plug it in on the end plugs but then half of it hangs off of the power bar.
~ the cord running from the pad to the power supply cord is an irritating length that should be shortened or lengthened; preferrably lengthened. I always used my pad in bed and the cord length wasn't long enough to set the controller on my night stand or on the floor (it would just dangle and that caused me concern that perhaps the tension of cords hanging could be a fire hazzard over time) but was too long to set it next to me on the edge of the bed. The excess cord would be bunched up next to me and the controller would always falls off of the bed, hence disconnecting the pad from power.
~ the plastic controller would get hot to the touch...that can't be a good thing. The controller is also uselessly large
~ you can't clean the pad
~ the velcro straps. At first I tried using them around my torso but it wouldn't stay in place if I moved so I eventually started cutting them off because they were only in the way and ....
~ the velcro straps are stiff and sharp/rough along the edges. If my arm rubbed across it, it would scrape my skin abd the edges of the end of the velcro strap are pointy and hurt if poked by one of them.
~ no control of the heat and it would become intense around the vibrators inside of the pad
~ there are only two small vibrators, one on each of the outer sides of the pad, therefore it's really not a good purchase if you are trying to relieve back pain like I was doing.
~ the low massage setting was useless. Someone else mentioned it was like that of a cell phone set on vibrate...my experience adds this: a cellphone that needs to be recharged.
~ the high massage buzzing when the pad is new is loud enough to keep my husband annoyed when he's lying next to me trying to sleep
~ the vibrators stop working at top performance too quickly
~ the entire heating/massaging pad doesn't have a long enough life span. I realize I use it more frequently than the average user but I feel that because it does have a 1 year warranty (even though it doesn't state how often or how much you can or can not use it for that warranty) I still feel that I should at least be able to get half-life of that one year out of it before it stops working and that has NEVER been the case.
~ It is quite a bit more expensive than most others

You may be asking..."Why did she keep buying it?"
Answer...because there aren't a lot of choices that I'm aware of and this one was better than the others I had tried.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!

I strongly advise that if you use this heating pad, always always always unplug it from the wall after each use and if you are leaving your home just after using it, put it somewhere that should it catch fire, it will be somewhat contained.

I've contacted Conair by email but have not heard back from them as of yet regarding my heating pad catching fire. I plan on calling them Monday morning.

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Description of Conair HP08 Massaging Heating Pad

Heating pad With massage 12 inch by 24 inch soft polyester on thin foam cover; self-adhesive belt 2 heat settings Vibrating massage settings 2 powerful vibrating massaging motors Conveniently sized for easy use on any sore musc

Massage and heat relieve muscle aches and pains, and this electric heating pad delivers both. Measuring 24 by 11-1/2 inches and outfitted with a self-adhesive belt so it stays in place, the pad both heats and vibrates to relax tight muscles and help heal damaged ones. A control switch permits adjustment of the massage function between high and low. And either the vibrations or heat can be turned off so the pad can deliver one without the other. --Fred Brack