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No, Samsung's washing machines aren't exploding - but they are flying apart

Aftermath of a machine that flew apart

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning owners of Samsung washing machines that they might be dangerous. A number of top-loading machines made by the South Korean tech giant have “exploded”, though luckily nobody has been injured.

Samsung has been very much in the news lately because of very unfortunate developments with some of its products. The batteries inside of the recently-launched Galaxy Note7 have been literally exploding, or catching fire, posing major risk to owners and those nearby. So much so in fact, that the company’s devices have been banned on airplanes and Samsung was forced to issue a massive recall worldwide.

But now, the company is once again in the news for its “exploding” washing machines. As mentioned above, some top-loading devices manufactured between March 2011 and April 2016 have come undone when used with heavy loads

A group of customers is suing Samsung in a New Jersey federal court. Users are reporting that their machines flew apart or destroyed themselves while being used. One thing they didn’t do though is explode. This seems to be a mechanical issue, not a chemical one, as one of the support rods designed to keep everything in place fails under heavy loads. The plaintiffs' lawyer in the case against Samsung explained how one of the rods can become unfastened during spinning:

The rod can slide right out. And that’s what causes the washing machine to blow apart.

There’s no official list of affected models but you can check if yours might be affected by entering its serial number on this page.

For its part Samsung, said:

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 company then went on to recommend users only use the delicate spin cycle when washing bulky or heavy items, until Samsung and the CPSC address the problem.

Source & Image capture via ABC News

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