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The Kitchen Table

1.7 million dishwashers recalled re fire hazard

13 years ago

Another reminder never to run the dishwasher (or clothes dryer) while you're asleep or out of the house. As I've mentioned here before, my family has experienced fires in both these appliances.

Dishwasher Recall

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Comments (7)

marlingardener
13 years ago
This is the second Maytag recall of dishwashers. There was a previous one about three years ago, also relating to a fire hazard. I was without a dishwasher for almost three months due to an "authorized repairman" being a complete bobo.
Last month the replacement Maytag started to act up, and finally quit (this was a 2 year old machine, used once a day at most). We bought another brand, thank heavens!
As the repairman told me, "Maytag used to be a good brand."
Although there were reports of only about a dozen fires out of the almost 2 million sold, I sure would have hated to be one of those poor 12 people who saw flames shooting out of their dishwasher!
glenda_al
13 years ago
Mine hasn't been used yet. Better go check!
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antss - they are not installed yet. House won't be completed til April, but we bought appliances prior to the new year before the price increase. Part of the reason I bought KA is that I needed two dishwashers and I wasn't sure I would like the Miele without the drying element. I was told that the Miele and all european dishwashers are non-standard sizes so if I bought a Miele and hated it I would have to replace it with another European brand. We have panels on our dishwashers and have fully integrated the KA's so this would be a PITA. At any rate, the KA is surely better than my current bottom of the barrel Whirlpool, which requires a through cleaning of all items before placing them in the dishwasher (even with Finish Quantum - helped some but not much).
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IMO...you need to go "public"...Consumer Products Safety Commission, TV network consumer correspondents etc This sounds as if this model should have already been recalled...and there is no better way to motivate a corporate entity to make good than to expose the fact that they are endangering the public...and taking zero steps to fix the problem...AND allowing more ranges such as yours to be sold...
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Sounds like you were outside of the warranty period, in which case they are not REQUIRED to give you a replacement -- or really anything, at least if and until there is a recall. This is that grey area where standing behind a product and customer service cross paths with the same kind of "can't exercise discretion because everyone will want it" thinking. It's the same kind of thinking that leads to ridiculous results with young students and zero tolerance policies and probably leads to as many bad results as good ones. People who get paid the big(ger) bucks afraid to make decisions -- which is exactly the kind of thing that they should be doing to justify the bigger salary. I'm glad you got to someone who decided to go up the chain and get the kind of attention you needed and someone was willing to make the call. I think folks st the top will often make the right decision if the facts get in front of them, so getting past that up front contact may be the hardest part. The majority of appliances sold are safe - even in brands that may get faulty parts -- which seems to be the issue with most failures. Doesn't sound likely that the whole batch of parts in your range model were faulty or there would likely be more problems by the time you are out of warranty, and it's even less likely that the new model will have the same kind of issue. Hope they are giving you the model I posted the photo of so it will blend in and hope you will be happy with it-- once you get past the CS PITA.
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My 2¢ on this: I'm inclined to preach about making repairs and not sending workable appliances to the landfill or recycling. Your existing DW might just have a plugged line. However, wanna guess what I did when my early-1998 SHU3xx model stopped working back in 2012? I took the discount for a replacement dishwasher. Maybe an easy decision for me as a DIY project. It really is as easy as Dan1888 says. So the installation should not be expensive if you have to pay for it. A repair will require pulling the DW out, disconnecting and reconnecting, and then putting it back in, anyway. Beyond that, my on-line research back in late 2012 was that Bosch DWs and other higher quality DW brands had average expected lifespans of 12 years but some lesser brands were only lasting 7 years on average. (Lots of posting here with much gnashing of teeth and tales of woe about DWs back then, too.) You have already replaced a motor at seven years, so it is hard to say when you might need another one. My Bosch was 15 years old and had never needed any work. It might have continued chugging along after the board replacement. Eventually, it would have needed other repairs. For instance, replacing the detergent dispenser door when the latch springs wore out. Then a new door seal. Eventually, a new pump, etc. I decided to skip the hassle and bought an SHE55xx series model as the replacement. As far as I could tell, the new one did not have any more electronics to break than the old one. However, the boards are supposedly better built now. The boards from the late 90's and early 2000's were kind of on the cheap side all across the appliance industry. With some legal pushing, Bosch owned up to the issue and upgraded its boards while instituting the program for the board replacement/discounted new units. (Whirlpool also had problems with its DW boards. According to news reports, DWs made back then by Whirlpool were blamed for several kitchen fires. Whirlpool chose to fight with customers. AFAIK, that fight is still going on.) Anyway, my replacement SHE55 runs noticeably quieter than the old SHU. (More sound proofing.) The new one does take 15 to 20 minutes longer for the regular cycles than the old one did (varies a bit between loads.) The new one has more capacity. Also, the new one allows raising and lowering the upper rack, a feature which I find very useful. (I cannot recall if the SHU4xx series had that feature or not.) So, despite my preferences for keeping appliances running, I have been pleased with the replacement.
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matti5
13 years ago
Thanks for the info! My Thermador double oven is also in a recall due to a fire hazard. It was checked out yesterday and passed inspection. My refrigerator was in a recall a couple of years ago. What next!!!!!!!!
3katz4me
13 years ago
Glad to know I don't have one that's being recalled. Unfortunatley if I didn't run my dishwasher or dryer when I'm sleeping or not home they'd rarely get used - since I'm either working or sleeping much of the time.
eccentric
13 years ago
And yet, in Toronto, Ont. they want people to use their dishwashers/dryers/washers very late at night and have implemented "Smart Meters" to determine how much you pay to use electricity with the cheapest rates being at night. The REALLY annoying thing is that a trial was/is being held and only 10,000 Toronto homes had Smart Meters installed and were subject to the 3 differing price rates -and guess who was one of two people on our street to get one? And there are just the two of us and we take care to turn off lights etc. etc. - unlike many others who are paying considerably less to operate every appliance known to man ad nauseum all day. We have also had a problem with our dishwasher/dryer/oven and there is not a chance in this lifetime that I will run the appliances at night. I checked with the appliance repairman and with the firemen I met at the grocery store and they all agreed. No way. Plastic parts melt - fires start.
glenda_al
13 years ago
Mine is ok, thank goodness. Not on the list.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
Seventy years ago - people in the city had ice boxes, with ice delivered every few days by horse-drawn wagon (and resultant water dumped from a pan in the bottom of the ice box from time to time).

Sixty years ago ... they started building refrigerators. (But - not dishwashers).

Fifty years ago ... they built a refrigerator that'd last for 40 years.

Now - they build them to last for ten years.

And when I tell this story to a number of people, they add, "Yeah - if you're lucky!"

They can build appliances with much better quality built in, plus be energy efficient, too, if they choose to do so.

Let's demand that they do.

ole joyful

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