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LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Company and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is re-announcing a recall of approximately 98,000 dehumidifiers marketed under the names “Goldstar” and “Comfort-Aire.”  The dehumidifiers allegedly pose a serious burn and/or fire hazard and are allegedly responsible for over a million dollars in property damage.  Allegedly, the power connector for the dehumidifiers’ compressor can short-circuit.  This poses a fire and burn hazard.  The dehumidifiers were initially recalled in December, 2009 as a result of 11 incidents, which included four significant fires.  After that recall, the company received 16 additional reports of arcing, smoke, and fire as a result of the alleged defect.  This additional information included nine significant fires.  As of September 14, 2011, no injuries had allegedly been reported.

As of September 14, 2011, approximately only 2% of the 98,000 consumers who purchased the dehumidifiers received a free repair.  The defective dehumidifiers are 33-pint portable units, white with a red shut-off button.  They have controls for fan speed and humidity and a front-loading water bucket.  If you believe you have such a dehumidifier, you should go the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website to review brands, model numbers, and serial number ranges.  The recalled dehumidifiers were sold at ACE Hardware, Walmart, the Home Depot, Do It Best, Orgill, Inc., and other national retailers from January, 2007 through June, 2008.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 9:49 am and is filed under Recalls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.