GE Hotpoint range fire hazard: it happened to us

>
> Has anyone else had or heard of anyone having problems with GE / Hotpoint
> ranges that get some kind of short in the broiler which causes it to
> suddenly light up as bright as the sun and start sparking & flaming, like a
> road flare, right at the electrical connection on one end at the back wall
> of the oven? And when you turn the oven control knob "off", and the
> electric "power" light goes off, but the broiler stays energized and you
> can't turn it off?
>
> We had this happen today. It happened all of a sudden. We had the oven
> (not the broiler) turned on on our GE / Hotpoint MODEL#: RB757 range (7
> years old).

> Good Music wrote:
>>
>> Has anyone else had or heard of anyone having problems with GE /
>> Hotpoint
>> ranges that get some kind of short in the broiler which causes it
>> to
>> suddenly light up as bright as the sun and start sparking &
>> flaming, like a
>> road flare, right at the electrical connection on one end at the
>> back wall
>> of the oven? And when you turn the oven control knob
>> "off", and the
>> electric "power" light goes off, but the broiler stays
>> energized and you
>> can't turn it off?
>>
>> We had this happen today. It happened all of a sudden. We had
>> the oven
>> (not the broiler) turned on on our GE / Hotpoint MODEL#: RB757
>> range (7
>> years old).
> There's a recall on it:
> http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04576.html

> SixGun had written this in response to
>

> :
>
>
> -------------------------------------
> Hell Toupee wrote:
>
>> Good Music wrote:
>>> Has anyone else had or heard of anyone having problems with GE /
>>> Hotpoint
>>> ranges that get some kind of short in the broiler which causes it
>>> to
>>> suddenly light up as bright as the sun and start sparking &
>>> flaming, like a
>>> road flare, right at the electrical connection on one end at the
>>> back wall
>>> of the oven? And when you turn the oven control knob
>>> "off", and the
>>> electric "power" light goes off, but the broiler stays
>>> energized and you
>>> can't turn it off?
>>> We had this happen today. It happened all of a sudden. We had
>>> the oven
>>> (not the broiler) turned on on our GE / Hotpoint MODEL#: RB757
>>> range (7
>>> years old).
>
>> There's a recall on it:
>> http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04576.html
>
>
>
> Wow just read this and yes this happened to us on New Year's Day 2009.
> The oven was turned on to keep warm some french toast and the element
> sparked and popped and starting burning like a magnesium flare. Turned
> off the oven with no effect element continued to burn like the sun.
> Poured baking soda on it with little effect. Used a fire extingusiher
> made for kitchen use and that finally extinguished it. Called fire dept
> to be sure it was really out they used a thermal imager to be sure there
> were no hot spots. The fireman had never seen this before. Bad way to
> start the New Year, but grateful it wasn't any worse. The public needs to
> be made aware of this potentially fatal flaw in this appliance. As for
> the New Year we just bought a Frigidaire Electric Range and pray this
> won't happen again to us or any one else. Tom & Laurie
>
>

> Has anyone else had or heard of anyone having problems with GE / Hotpoint
> ranges that get some kind of short in the broiler which causes it to
> suddenly light up as bright as the sun and start sparking & flaming, like a
> road flare, right at the electrical connection on one end at the back wall
> of the oven? And when you turn the oven control knob "off", and the
> electric "power" light goes off, but the broiler stays energized and you
> can't turn it off?
>
> We had this happen today. It happened all of a sudden. We had the oven
> (not the broiler) turned on on our GE / Hotpoint MODEL#: RB757 range (7
> years old). It had been on about 4 minutes preheating. Then it made a loud
> POP and lit up bright as the sun inside the oven compartment as sparks and
> flames shot out the place where the broiler coil connects to the electrical
> contact in the back wall of the oven.
>
> When the fire trucks arrived and the firefighters rushed in, they kept
> spraying it and it just kept hissing and smoking but stayed lit up real
> bright at that one point and on fire (I had turned off the control knob and
> assumed maybe there was some food stuck on it that was causing it to still
> burn, but they said no, it's still energized.). As soon as I switched off
> the breaker, the bright light and fire and hissing immediately ceased.
> There was no food on the element.
>
> They dragged the range out the front door and onto the concrete driveway and
> doused it, and said I should contact the manufacturer, which I will.
>
> But first I want to see if this has happened to others. I looked for any
> evidence on the web of this happening to anyone else; all I found is one
> person said she got "E2" or soemthing error code displayed on her range and
> the broiler would come on even with the knob in the "off" position, and had
> to turn it off at the breaker. But she didn't have the sparks and fire.
>
> Any evidence of this not just happening to us is appreciated. Thanks,
>
> - Bobby & Susan
>
>
>
>