SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20180506-C3FEB-2147388151. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: GE GTW680BSJWS (GE clothes washing machine. Model: GTW680BSJWS. Top-load clothes washing machine.). Incident: I purchased a GE clothes washer on 01/31/2017 from The Home Depot. Model Number: GTW680BSJWS. It was delivered new to my home on approximately 02/07/2017. I began to experience some issues with the washer including increasing noise and continuous dripping water from the inlet valves. I had requested service through GE Appliances service scheduling website on 02/10/2018. Unfortunately there were some delays in scheduling with an authorized servicer. A GE authorized service provider came to my home on 03/05/2018 and performed no repairs, despite the visible dripping of water and noise issues as described. I continued to use the washing machine after this service visit date. I had last used the washing machine the afternoon of 04/10/2018. The washing machine sat unused and powered off in my main floor laundry room, with the lid open, for more than 36-hours. I awoke the morning of 04/12/2018 to the sound of the washing machine motor running and the display panel powered on. None of the buttons on the display panel worked and the only action that stopped the machine was to unplug it. My husband and I are the only people in the home and the washing machine was found to be running in the early morning hours with neither of us having used it in more than 36-hours. After this incident, the washing machine remained unplugged, and unused, until a GE Appliances Authorized servicer could come and attempt to repair it. Any attempts to plug it back in resulted in the same unstoppable motor running and non-functioning control panel. Therefore, for our safety and that of our home, the machi