SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20180927-00172-1797065. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: WHIRLPOOL RTW4640YQ0 (WHIRLPOOL WASHING MACHINE ROPER MODEL # RTW4640YQ0 SERIAL # C22824051). Incident: Washing Machine has been lately malfunctioning in a hazardous manner; During the spin cycle, it will bounce around violently and cannot be shut down. The lid is locked and cannot be opened, even if the unit is unplugged. If unplugged while running, it can cause an electric arc an possibly an electrocution and fire. The excessive vibration can possibly cause injury or death to the housewife. Formerly, when this vibration occurs, the lid could be opened and the spin cycle would stop. the imbalance could be corrected by simply rearranging the clothes and restarting the machine. If this dangerous condition is not corrected , sooner or later someone, probably a housewife, may be injured or killed and/ or the home and plumbing destroyed. I have tried to contact the Whirlpool and Roper people to no avail, but perhaps your office can reach the. I urge you to use to use your influence to remedy this potentially dangerous situation. A national Recall of all Whirlpool and Roper models as named in this complaint should be done, and all Whirlpool/ Roper customers be provided with safe machines free of charge.