Sky News Australia reports this morning that Samsung is to recall 150,000 washing machines across Australia over fears the top loader washing machines are going on fire.
Samsung is recalling six models of its top loading washing machines after 15 fires involving the machines across the country.
The fires were sparked by water condensing on the machine’s motor connection, New South Wales (NSW) Fair Trading said.
NSW fire investigators raised safety concerns with the washing machines after firefighters attended six fires linked to the product since November.
Samsung sold 150,000 machines in Australia between 2010 and 2013, including almost 63,000 in NSW, it said. A further 36,000 machines have been sold in New Zealand.
Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe says Samsung will provide an in-house service to fix affected machines. In the meantime customers are advised to only do their washing if they are present to monitor it.
‘If you notice any smoke or smell coming out of the washing machine, turn off the machine at the power point,’ he said in a statement.
At this time it is not known which models are affected or whether they were sold in other teritories such as the United States, Canada or Europe.
