Refrigerator recall expands as more fires are reported
Filed under: Recalls, Consumer Ally
A massive recall of refrigerators earlier this year is being expanded after more consumers reported their units overheating or catching on fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.Another 46,000 refrigerators were added to the recall by Maytag Corp. and sold under the Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley brands between 2000 and 2004. About 1.6 million units were included in the initial recall in March that also included Jenn-Air, Amana and Admiral.
The recall does not include refrigerators with bottom freezers.
The CPSC said electrical failure in the relay switch that turns on the American-made refrigerators' compressors can cause the units to overheat and catch fire. So far, the company has reported 64 instances of the refrigerators igniting.
The affected model numbers and serial numbers can be found here for the initial recall and here for the expanded recall.
Consumers who believe they have one of the recalled refrigerators are urged to contact Maytag toll-free at (866) 533-9817 or go to Maytag's Web site. Maytag is scheduling free in-home repairs for those with the affected products.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-25-2009 @ 2:26PM
Nikki said...
Maytag isn't what it used to be....Growing up in the 50s and 60s...Maytag was the ONLY brand to buy. I purchased a Maytag refriedgerator about 6 years ago...last year the motor got so hot, that it just quit working. I am sure that it was one of the refriedgerators that has been recalled...I am just thankful that it did not catch fire. I will never buy another Maytag....wondering what happened to their quality.....Guess the Maytag repairman has plenty to do now huh???
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8-26-2009 @ 12:57AM
Joel Lafargue said...
"Refriedgerator"?
What an appropriate misspelling!
ROTFLMFAO!!!!!!
8-25-2009 @ 2:33PM
jdh0258 said...
Yeah, I have one of these POS Jenn-Air refrigerators. My refrigerator didn't catch on fire but there has been a ton of crap go wrong with it other than the relay for the air compressor. I had a circuit board fry on me that controls the cooling. The icemaker dispenser motor is more powerful than the screw conveyor feed for the ice thereby causing the back of the refrigerator to crack behind it. The icemaker itself went bad as well including the attachment for allowing the ice to separate in cubes. It doesn't really cool as well as my old refrigerator even with the settings up high. I spend $2000 for this POS in 2001...8 years old. Compare that to my old refrigerator I keep in the basement (a Sears Kenmore bought in 1977!!!!). Never had a thing go wrong in 32 years and keeps things nice and cold. I think I spent $300 for that one. Higher price is not better I can tell you!
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8-25-2009 @ 2:39PM
janea76164 said...
It seems to me that I read that Maytags are now produced in China. Is this true? Is this why the quality has gotten so bad?
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8-25-2009 @ 2:43PM
Melynda said...
I won't buy ANYTHING that Maytag makes, anymore!!!! We bought two of those expensive stackable washer/dryers that were one unit...the original one we bought needed extensive kits to fix the bad engineering that Maytag had on these units. Somehow, we failed to find out about the recall in time & our first unit went out 1 month to the day from the time the recall was over. We called Maytag & their response was: "You should have known about it."...It cost us over $1,500.00 to have our unit fixed!...yikes!...Yeah, we should have known about it!...As if we will EVER buy another anything made by Maytag!!! :(
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8-25-2009 @ 3:27PM
Melynda said...
I think everyone should learn from this & know that they shouldn't buy just because a name has a good reputation. That model might be crap! I guess we must learn & mark all the sites for recalls & check these regularly! Otherwise, our warranties might be no good on the models we bought or there might be problems with them. I wouldnt want a microwave or a stove or any other appliance to burn up, go off, etc. That is SCARY! And, now I heard that they are going to have "Cash for our old appliances", if we buy new & turn the old clunkers in. I think we will have to buy some of these brands, to get the money? I am starting to think that maybe it won't be worth it? "American Made"....Where is the pride?...and we all know that NOTHING is now made in America! :(
8-25-2009 @ 2:46PM
Nannerann said...
We had a terrible, traumatic fridge fire last year when our 1 month old LG fridge we purchased from Sear's caught fire at 1:30 in the morning, thank GOD my husband was able to put the fire out quickly or our home would have had serious damages. My small children were SO traumatized for months we had to deal with 2 babies having nightmares, LG, Sear's nor the insurance company, Liberty Mutual would accept responsibility AT ALL and it was clearly their fault... they had 3 engineers from Korea come and see the fridge in our garage (because we would NOT release the fridge to them until they agreed to pay for the damages and give us a new fridge, which they made us REALLY work for) Their insurance carrier treated us like the bad guys, That would be LIBERTY MUTUAL, they are awful, very insensitive, downright rude people. I told them bad news travels 10 times faster than good news and I will tell everyone I know about how they treated us and I will NEVER purchase anything made by LG or sold at Sear's and I have not!! I hope this makes a difference!!
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8-25-2009 @ 2:47PM
sher said...
What's wrong with these companie? About 12 years ago they started eliminating quality control jobs...quit testing the functional parts and rely on the suppliers....well when the suppliers are from China, Singapore, Mexico...what do you expect!!
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8-26-2009 @ 3:24PM
MSH said...
What a shame! Maytag used to be the quality brand to buy.
Now it's junk, lasting at most 2 years. It used to be a premium brand worth the extra money. No more!
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8-25-2009 @ 3:31PM
Johnson said...
We just went looking for a new fridge. We spoke with a repairman from a large local reputable company and he said the GE fridges were very hard to beat. Sorry for you non-GE fans for whatever reason. (overseas dealings?) We figured this guy works on all fridges for a living so he should have the inside scoop on what units habitually go wrong. He says buy GE?
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8-25-2009 @ 3:28PM
monica said...
Refridgerators do not have the long lifespan of older models due to Al Gore and his requirements that motors use low energy. The motors die out faster, and the appliances die. My repairman told me to keep the old Maytag washing machine in the basement, as it is far better than any new machine on the market. And the repairman has never had to fix it either - it came with the house 19 years ago!
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8-25-2009 @ 4:36PM
Brad said...
Peoples' refrigerators break doen and it is Al Gore's fault. Oh come on, grow up. I never heard anything so stupid in my life. Are you also a "birther", that believes Obama wasn't born in Hawaii?
8-25-2009 @ 3:46PM
figment said...
Possibly, Maytag isn't the only brand with this sort of problem. I've had a Whirlpool that came with my house when I bought it and it's about 8 years old (or a bit more) and ten days ago, it stopped working. Seems the compressor started overheating.
Makes you wonder, is there more to this problem than we know?
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8-25-2009 @ 4:01PM
ellie said...
I have a friend that worked at Whirlpool for over ten years until she left. Maytag has ALWAYS had a bad reputation for their appliances in the last twenty years. Whirlpool bought Maytag about three years ago. As far as appliances go, those built in the 50,60s, and 70s are or were far superior to the stuff out there. I am in the process of buying new kitchen appliances and the consumer report has been a real eye opener. An 800 dollar kitchen range got better reviews than a 5 thousand thermador. Be careful of buying for looks, status, or all the bell and whistles(more things to go wrong). The appliance companies did what Detroit did in the 1970s, built for crap
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8-25-2009 @ 10:11PM
linda rowell said...
I have a Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerator that is three years old. The icemaker broke and even though the refrigerator was under warranty, that part was not! The repairman said that this was a common problem ( $300 later) and I ended up purchasing a separate yearly warranty. Only a small plastic part was broken but they had to replace the entire unit because individual parts could not be replaced.
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8-25-2009 @ 4:12PM
Judith said...
Look up Maytag + class action lawsuit, which resulted in Maytag being bought by Whirlpool.
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8-25-2009 @ 4:31PM
Henry Mathieu said...
I have had two Whirlpool appliances and I just took the second one to the land fill today. It still had a year to go on the warranty but they would not do anything to repair it. Only repairman was over 100 miles away. Local repairman could not work on sealed units. So much for Whirlpool in the future.
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8-25-2009 @ 5:01PM
john anderson said...
Yes its sad Whirlpool has all ways had a good name,but they now own Maytag.I wonder how many of you know to vacume the condenser at the bottom of the machine,if you dont then air flow is blocked and it wont get rid of the heat as it should.Its like your cars radiator if it doesnt get air flow bad things will happen.the compressiors now are not as well built most come from overseas,I had a friend that repaired them.
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8-25-2009 @ 4:41PM
Brayden said...
Maytag is made in Korea, not America... Get your facts straight writer...
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8-25-2009 @ 5:43PM
JS said...
I do not recommend GE products. My 2 1/2 yr. GE refrigerator's ice and water dispenser quit dispensing. GE does not stand behind their product. I highly recommend Kenmore and Jenn Aire.
JS
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