Affected washing machines are the top-loading variety and were manufactured over the last five years. There does not appear to be much of a consensus on which models, however, and age does not appear to be a factor. Samsung is still investigating the situation, according to an alert on the company’s website.
“We are in active discussions with the CPSC to address potential safety issues related to certain top-load washing machines manufactured between March 2011 and April 2016. In rare cases, affected units may experience abnormal vibrations that could pose a risk of personal injury or property damage when washing bedding, bulky or water-resistant items,” the note reads.
ABC is reporting two incidents of different models exploding, sending nuts, bolts, plastic, and water everywhere. In total, 21 incidents have been reported since early 2015 and two of those people are suing Samsung. Their lawyer claims a support rod within the top-loading mechanism can come loose during the spin cycle, causing the machine to tear itself apart in dramatic fashion.
For now, Samsung is not taking responsibility for anything, claiming there can be “abnormal vibrations,” when owners load the machines with bedding, bulky items or items that are water resistant. It urges anyone who uses its washing machines to use a delicate spin cycle in those cases. It also pointed out that consumers had completed millions of washes safely over the past five years without incident.
To find out if your washing machine is potentially dangerous, head to this Samsung support page and input your unit’s serial code.
While we will need to wait for the CPSC’s investigation to discover what is causing these washing machines to explode, this could hardly come at a worse time for Samsung. Recent weeks have seen it recalling as many as a million Galaxy Note 7s for explosion fears in the U.S. alone. However, it may not even have helped, as there is a report of ‘safe’ Note 7 smartphones having similar exploding issues.
