SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20211012-0421A-2147359194. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: GE Appliances JB250DF5WW (White GE electric range Model JB250DF5WW). Incident: The large burners on my GE electric range are intermittently and unpredictably overheating and glowing red when the knob is set for only low or moderate heat. This is a potentially lethal defect, as it could cause a fire. We intend to replace the infinite switches; however, my concern is that a cook who is unaware of this defect could leave a pot simmering on a low heat, the burner could malfunction, and the food could burn and catch fire in a matter of minutes, especially if it contains oil or fat. I no longer feel it's safe to cook dishes that need to simmer for several hours, as standing by the stove for that amount of time to monitor whether the burner is going to overheat is impractical. This range is only 4 years old. I've owned other electric ranges, one as old as 17 years, that have never demonstrated this defect. I suspect that GE has implemented a cost cutting policy in manufacturing the infinite switches that has placed profit over consumer safety. The infinite switches should have a fail safe mechanism that ensures they cannot glow red hot unless the cook has set the knob for high heat. This has been happening for several weeks, today both of the large burners malfunctioned when I was making dinner.