Another one for the “Oops!” file:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the manufacturer, announced in mid-March a voluntary recall of about 250,000 Maytag-brand and about 20,000 Samsung-brand front-load washers made by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., of South Korea.
Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately. Water leakage onto the electrical connections to the washing machine’s thermal sensor could cause an electrical short and ignite a circuit board, posing a fire hazard to consumers. Maytag has received five reports of incidents involving the hazard. Samsung has received one such report. No injuries, fires or property damage outside the washing machine have been reported.
The Maytag washers have model numbers beginning with MAH9700 or MAH8700. The Samsung washers have model number WF306BHW or a model number beginning with WF316. Not all serial numbers are subject to the recall. The model and serial numbers are located on a tag at the bottom of the door opening. Maytag models with a serial number ending in the last two letters GA, GC, GE, GG, GJ, GL, GN, GP, GR, GT, GV, GX, JA, JC, JE, JG, JJ, JL, or JN; and Samsung models with the six- digit number 100001 through 799999 prior to a letter at the end of the serial number are subject to the recall.
The products were sold at department and appliance stores nationwide from April 2005 through August 2006 for between $1,000 and $1,200. Consumers should immediately contact Maytag or Samsung for information on how to receive a free repair.
Call Maytag at 1-800-868-5109 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. E.T. Monday through Friday, or go to Maytag’s Web site: www.washerrecall.com. Samsung customers can call 1-800-515-7902 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. E.T. Monday through Friday, or go to Samsung’s Web site: www.Samsung.com/washerrecall.