Maytag Recalls Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard

March 11, 2009

THE U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION, IN COOPERATION WITH THE FIRM NAMED BELOW, TODAY ANNOUNCED A VOLUNTARY RECALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONSUMER PRODUCT.

NAME OF PRODUCT: MAYTAG®, JENN-AIR®, AMANA®, ADMIRAL®, MAGIC CHEF®, PERFORMA BY MAYTAG® AND CROSLEY® BRAND REFRIGERATORS

UNITS: ABOUT 1.6 MILLION

MANUFACTURER: MAYTAG CORP., OF NEWTON, IOWA

HAZARD: AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE IN THE RELAY, THE COMPONENT THAT TURNS ON THE REFRIGERATOR’S COMPRESSOR, CAN CAUSE OVERHEATING AND POSE A SERIOUS FIRE HAZARD.

INCIDENTS/INJURIES: MAYTAG HAS RECEIVED 41 REPORTS OF REFRIGERATOR RELAY IGNITION, INCLUDING 16 REPORTS OF PROPERTY DAMAGE RANGING FROM SMOKE DAMAGE TO EXTENSIVE KITCHEN DAMAGE.

DESCRIPTION: THE RECALL INCLUDES CERTAIN MAYTAG®, JENN-AIR®, AMANA®, ADMIRAL®, MAGIC CHEF®, PERFORMA BY MAYTAG® AND CROSLEY® BRAND SIDE BY SIDE AND TOP FREEZER REFRIGERATORS. THE AFFECTED REFRIGERATORS WERE MANUFACTURED IN BLACK, BISQUE, WHITE AND STAINLESS STEEL. THEY HAVE MODEL AND SERIAL NUMBERS PRINTED ON A LABEL LOCATED ON THE TOP MIDDLE OR LEFT UPPER SIDE OF THE REFRIGERATOR LINER AND HAVE THE FOLLOWING MODEL AND SERIAL NUMBER COMBINATIONS:

&NBSP;	SERIAL NUMBERS ENDING WITH	AND MODEL NUMBERS BEGINNING WITH
SIDE BY SIDEREFRIGERATORS	AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR,AT, AV, AX, CA, CC, CE, CG, CJ, CL,ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU,ZW, ZY, ZZ	ARS, CS, JC, JS, MS, MZ, PS
TOP FREEZERREFRIGERATORS	AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR,AT, AV, AX, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW,ZY, ZZ	AT, CT, MT, PT

REFRIGERATORS WITH FREEZERS ON THE BOTTOM ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL.

SOLD AT: DEPARTMENT AND APPLIANCE STORES AND BY HOMEBUILDERS NATIONWIDE FROM JANUARY 2001 THROUGH JANUARY 2004 FOR BETWEEN ABOUT $350 AND $1600.

MANUFACTURED IN: UNITED STATES

REMEDY: CONSUMERS SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONTACT MAYTAG TO DETERMINE IF THEIR REFRIGERATOR IS INCLUDED IN THE RECALL AND TO SCHEDULE A FREE IN-HOME REPAIR. CONSUMERS SHOULD NOT RETURN THE REFRIGERATOR TO THE RETAILER WHERE IT WAS PURCHASED.

CONSUMER CONTACT: FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MAYTAG TOLL-FREE AT (866) 533-9817 ANYTIME, OR VISIT THE FIRM’S WEB SITE AT WWW.REPAIR.MAYTAG.COM

REPRESENTATIVE MODELS: PICTURE OF RECALLED SIDE BY SIDE MODEL REFRIGERATOR

FIGURE 1: SIDE BY SIDE MODEL PICTURE OF RECALLED TOP FREEZER MODEL REFRIGERATOR

FIGURE 2: TOP FREEZER MODEL PICTURE OF RECALLED REFRIGERATOR WITH MODEL/SERIAL LABEL

FIGURE 3: MODEL/SERIAL LABEL VIDEO FEED SATELLITE COORDINATES (C-BAND)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009 TIME: 10:15 A.M. – 10:45 A.M. ET SATELLITE: GALAXY 17 @ 91DEG WEST TRANSPONDER: 12C ANALOG C-BAND DOWNLINK FREQ: 3940 MHZ DOWNLINK POLARITY: VERTICAL BANDWIDTH: 36MHZ DOWNLINK AUDIO: 6.2 & 6.8 MHZ

VIDEO FEED SATELLITE COORDINATES (KU-BAND)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009 TIME: 10:15 A.M. – 10:45 A.M. ET SATELLITE: GALAXY 17 @ 91DEG WEST TRANSPONDER: 19K – SLOT: 3 DIGITAL DOWNLINK FREQ: 12077MHZ DOWNLINK POLARITY: HORIZONTAL DOWNLINK AUDIO: CHANNEL 1 & 2 BANDWIDTH: 6 MHZ SYMBOL RATE: 3.9787 MS/S

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Comments

3 Responses to “Maytag Recalls Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard”

mary carbin on March 12th, 2009 3:53 pm

I HAVE THREE REFRIGRATORS THAT I BELIEVE COME UNDER THE FIRE HAZARD RECALL
MAGIC CHEF TOP FREEZER
THANK YOU
MARY CARBIN
Peter Beyerle on March 17th, 2009 2:43 pm

Hello,
My name is Peter Beyerle and I’m working in Germany for Electrolux in the Central Quality department as a Product safety Engineer. I have heard from the trouble Maytag has with fridge and freezer caused by the start relay. You should know that I’m not happy about that a competitor has made such a failure resulting in a market intervention. It happened more or less to all manufacturers of household appliances, so also to us.
Due to my job I’m interested to understand the root cause. Can you supply me with deeper information (photo)?
Is it a PTC or a relay start device?
Is it caused by choosing wrong plastic material resulting in leak current and arcing?
Is it a failure of the PTC ceramic?

It would be great if you could give me some information

Best regards
Peter Beyerle
Deanna M Wood on March 23rd, 2009 4:05 am

In March my side by side caught fire and since it was more than 5 yrs old, I got a new one. I do not know the sewrial numbers, but I have pictures of it, What is my options??????