SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260509-D0EB8-2147319571. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: GE Model GTD48EASW0WB (GE 7.2 -cu ft Capacity Electric Dryer Model GTD48EASW0WB, White, W27inxD29.4inxH44in). Incident: I bought a brand new GE Electric Dryer model GTD48EASW0WB from Lowe's on April 6, 2026. 2 weeks later on April 21, 2026 while using it I heard "pop pop" and it blew a fuse. I reset the fuse, turned the dryer back on and it immediately popped and I saw a flash and it blew the fuse again. Luckily I was near the dryer to ensure there was no fire. It scared me as I have never had this type of thing happen before. I searched the internet and found many references over the years to "the purple wire", and many professionals claiming it's a design flaw. So now, while GE has just replaced my Dryer (after 2 hours of "discussion"with GE Consumer Relations), I am quite skittish and feel I need to be near the dryer when it's in use in case this happens again. I have moved my fire extinguisher to be near the dryer. If this truly is a design flaw, it should be recalled and corrected, not just fixed with electrical tape as the GE repairman did or even use a "repair kit" that seems to be available. For me this was a FIRE HAZARD caused by a defect, not just the dryer not heating anymore as some reports claim.