SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20181217-051BA-2147383718. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Samsung NE58K9430SS (Samsung electric glass-top range. This is an inherent design flaw of this widely available new glass-top electric range, installed in 2018. The Model # is Samsung NE58K9430SS. A slightly upgraded model (NE58F9500SS) also has the same inherent design flaw. Both of these are slide-in ranges, but are identical with several additional models which all have the same design flaw.). Incident: PROBLEM: Control knobs for range top burners are easily turned on unintentionally, leading to a significant risk of burn injuries and house fires. INCIDENT: On several occasions, a person leaning toward the counter (to reach an upper kitchen cabinet, etc), has unknowingly and accidentally pushed in one of the burner the knobs and turned a stove-top burner element on with their body. This has led to the burner(s) turning on unintentionally without warning, which one one occasion, melted plastic objects on and near the stove, and starting a small fire of combustible material, which if not contained, could have led to loss of the entire house/structure. BACKGROUND: The range-top burner control knobs are lightly spring-loaded and turn when pushed in slightly with minimal pressure. Due to their location, it is easy to inadvertently push them in with the front of your body (near the person's waist). SOLUTION: One possible solution would be to retrofit these controls with a strong spring requiring more pressure to push in, to release and then turn the control knobs. This is an inherent design flaw of this widely available new glass-top electric range, installed in 2018. EFFECTED MODELS: The Model # is Samsung NE58K9430SS. A slightly upgraded model (Samsung NE58F9500SS) also has the same inherent design flaw. Sold by Home Depot, [REDACTED], and others.