Scary Recall by General Electric

This is a "small" recall when you consider the number of products, but definitely an eye-opening one: General Electric Corporation, in accordance with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), is recalling 470 GE Monogram® Pro Rangetop with Grills, due to the danger of…Explosion. Yes, explosion. The rangetop with grill was manufactured in Mexico by Leiser, and imported to the U.S.

General Electric – Appliances of Louisville, Kentucky, has received six reports of units operating on LP gas, exploding and some reports of damage to adjacent kitchen cabinets. Fortunately, to-date, no injuries have been reported. All Liquid Propane (LP) gas models and only natural gas models that have been converted for use with LP gas are included in the recall. The danger is that the burners on the rangetops operating with liquefied petroleum ("LP" or propane) gas may fail to ignite or light if the gas control knob is left in a position between OFF and LITE, posing a risk of delayed ignition or explosion.

The CPSC describes the units this way:

• The Grill units operate on liquefied petroleum ("LP" or propane) or natural gas.

• The Rangetop units are either 36 or 48 inches wide with a stainless steel finish and the GE Monogram® badge located on the front center of the unit.

• The burner control knobs are located on the front panel that overhangs the cabinet.

• The model and serial numbers are located on a label located behind the far left burner knob, or on the bottom of the unit.

The model and serial numbers are listed as:

These appliances were not inexpensive and were sold by General Electric authorized dealers and distributors throughout the country from May 2008 through August 2011 for between $3,400 and $4,700. GE will notify known owners of natural gas units and provide a free repair for any consumers who converted their Rangetop with Grill to LP gas.

To view photos of the recalled Rangetops, please visit the CPSC website:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12021.html

For additional information, contact General Electric toll-free at (866) 645-3956 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website at

www.geappliances.com/products/recall

Epilogue: This recall notice should serve as a warning to the American manufacturing industry and business community in general. It should be sending up red flags throughout the consumer population. It’s not just that there are 470 of these defective ranges out there in people’s kitchens which could explode under certain conditions–it’s that excellence in manufacturing and quality control used to be the hallmark of General Electric and other major U.S. manufacturing corporations. Manufacturing reliable and safe products for sale to the American public and the world has been and should continue to be America’s economic lifeline. Should we continue to import manufactured products that are defective, slap our U.S. labels on them, and expect U.S. manufacturing companies to succeed in the U.S. or the world markets?