SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20211101-A38B4-2147358987. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: GE PVX7300 (GE Premier Vented Range Hood Model PVX7300). Incident: We purchased a GE vented Range Hood Model PVX7300 in 2019 as part of our kitchen remodeling. Since then, it tripped the GFCI circuit often, to the point where we replaced the GFCI. THis September, It tripped again. I reset the breaker and when I restarted the hood fan, I got a slight shock and the breaker tripped and wouldn't reset agian. I had an electrician come. He isolated teh problem to the range hood. I called GE. As the unit was out of warranty, the only agreed at the time to pay or the diagnosis of the problem. Their designated technician determined that a wire was misrouted so that it laid against a sharp edge in the housing. That wwire over time stripped enough to cause direct wire-to-housing contact. When reported to GE by the technician, GE offered for me to purchase a new unit for $289 and they would pay for the reinstallation. Once they learned that I live about three hours from their own nearest service person, the changed the offer. They now want us to pay them $289, have the old unit uninstalled ahead of time to exchange with their delivery person, and pay my own electrician and carpenter to install the unit. This is a vented unit and I live in northern NH - cold outside! My direct concern is this. Is this misrouting a safety issue with a risk of serious electrical shock? I feel I was lucky, because I wasn't touching the stove or pan with my other hand, so I just got a 'tingle.' After many calls with the GE people, they stated that the $289 offer with me paying for all the work is the best that they will do.