Maple Chase Co. Recalls Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Monoxide/Smoke Combo Alarms Due to Alarm Malfunction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: FireX Branded 10000 Series Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms and 12000 Series CO/Smoke Combo Alarms

Units: About 280,000

Manufacturer: Maple Chase Company, of Plain City, Ohio

Hazard: The recalled alarms can sound a “double chirp”/fault alarm in the presence of CO, prior to going into full alarm. Upon hearing a double chirp, the Owner’s Manual instructions recommend a consumer take the alarm out of service, which could expose consumers to hazardous levels of CO and suffer injury or death.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The recall includes FireX branded 10000 and 12000 series alarms with item numbers: 10000, 12000, 12000C, 12000-6, 12200, 12220, 12400, 12400C manufactured between June 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. The date code appears on the back of the unit with a four digit year, three digit month followed by the day (ex: 2007JUN1 for June 1, 2007). Units with a manufacture date code prior to June 1, 2007 are not included in this recall.

Sold: Commercial electrical distributors and electrical contractors and builders for installation into new home construction. A limited number of units were sold at Menard’s nationwide from June 2007 through February 2008 for about $20 (10000 series) and $30 (12000 series).

Manufactured in: Mexico

Remedy: Consumers should contact Maple Chase immediately to receive a free comparable replacement alarm and make arrangements to return their recalled alarms. Consumers should not take the alarms out of service until they receive the replacement alarm.

Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Maple Chase toll-free at (888) 879-3906 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or go to the firm’s Web site at www.firexsafety.com

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

As Home Inspectors we do not inspect Carbon Monoxide Detectors but we do recommend our clients install them.  As with all products you should check them out for known problems.  I recommend going to the link above to browse recalled products or join the CPSC’s e-mail subscription list. It may be time very well spent.

All the best

Given the number of bank owned properties we have been inspecting it is no surprise we have been seeing a plethora of broken light switches. Along with broken light switches we are seeing scores of missing outlet and switch covers and missing light bulbs in fixtures.

The problem with missing light bulbs is we can not tell if the fixture is functional or not.  As a result we write it up as a safety issue.   We do not know if there is a problem with the wiring, the switch, the breaker or fuse or with the fixture.  Yes usually it is just a missing bulb, but we just do not know.

If a buyer is buying a bank owned property they may want to bring along a few bulbs and a step ladder it could help resolve some questions.  Testing simple things light light switches can be fairly complicated see our post The hidden secrets behind operating a light switch.

Best of luck out there.

Maytag® and Samsung™ Brand Front Loading Washing Machines Recalled Due to Fire Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: Maytag and Samsung Brand Front Loading Washing Machines

Units: About 250,000 Maytag-brand units and about 20,000 Samsung-brand units

Distributor: Maytag Corp., of Newton, Iowa, and Samsung Electronics America Inc., of Ridgefield Park, N.J.

Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., of South Korea

Hazard: Water leakage onto the electrical connections to the washing machine’s thermal sensor could cause an electrical short and ignite a circuit board, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Maytag has received five reports of incidents involving ignition in the circuit board. Samsung has received one report of an incident involving ignition in the circuit board. No injuries, fires or property damage outside the washing machine have been reported.

Description and Models: The recall involves certain Maytag and Samsung brand front-load washers. The Maytag washers have model numbers beginning with MAH9700 or MAH8700. The Samsung model number WF306BHW or a model number beginning with WF316. Not all serial numbers are subject to the recall. The model and serial numbers are located on a tag at the bottom of the door opening. Maytag models with a serial number ending in the last two letters identified below are subject to the recall:

Sample Maytag Serial Number: 10123456GN

Samsung models with the six-digit number 100001 through 799999 prior to a letter at the end of the serial number are subject to the recall:

Sample Samsung Serial Number: 230854AL300026B

Sold at: Major department and appliance stores nationwide from April 2005 through August 2006 for between $1,000 and $1,200.

Manufactured in: South Korea

Remedy: Consumers should immediately contact the firm for information on how to receive a free repair. Consumers should not return the washing machine to the retailer where it was purchased.

Consumer Contact: For more information, consumers can call Maytag toll-free at (800) 868-5109 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or go to Maytag’s Web site at www.washerrecall.com – Samsung customers can call (800) 515-7902 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or go to Samsung’s Web site at www.Samsung.com/washerrecall

Maytag Media Contact: Monica Teague, (269) 923-7405 or monica.teague@Whirlpool.com

Samsung Media Contact: Deborah Szajngarten at (201) 229-4090 or dszajngarten@sea.samsung.com

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Our cliets often ask if we inspect washer and dryers, the answer is no.  As home inspectors we do not inspect clothes washers or dryers however as an owner of a clothes washer or dryer you really should, A good place to start is to check with the manufacture as well as use the cpsc link above to see if there are any known problems or recalls with your brand and model.

Bosch® and Siemens® Model Dishwashers Recalled by BSH Home Appliances Corporation Due to Fire Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Bosch® and Siemens® Model Dishwashers

Units: About 476,500

Manufacturer: BSH Home Appliances Corp., of Huntington Beach, Calif.

Hazard: An electrical component in certain model dishwashers can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: BSH Home Appliances has received 51 reports of incidents, including 30 reports of fires resulting in property damage. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves certain Bosch® and Siemens® dishwashers manufactured from May 1999 through July 2005. The brand name is printed on the dishwasher�s front control panel. Model and serials numbers are located inside the dishwasher door panel on the upper right side.

Sold at: Appliance and specialty retailers nationwide from May 1999 through December 2006 for between $550 and $1,100.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the listed model dishwashers and contact the repair hotline for a free repair.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact the BSH Home Appliances at (800) 856-9226 anytime or visit the brand�s Web site at www.boschappliances.com or www.siemens-home.com

Bosch

Siemens

As Home Inspectors we do not check model #s and try to keep abreast of all recalls. Nonetheless, this caught my eye, and may be of interest and/or use to many readers.  For further information about appliances or products please visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission link under the blogroll area.