LG's washer recall: 457,000 machines whose drums could come loose

From April 2010 to December 2012, LG sold top-loading washing machines — models WT5001CW, WT5101HV and WT5101HW, plus Kenmore Elite models 29002, 29272 and 29278 sold through Sears and Kmart — for $899 to $1,099. The design had a failure mode: an unbalanced load could make the machine shake excessively and the drum come loose during use, risking injury to consumers and property damage to the surrounding area.

The reports accumulated: at least 343 reports of machines vibrating excessively, at least 187 involving minor property damage, and one minor injury. The affected models were manufactured in South Korea between February 2010 and November 2011. On December 18, 2012 the CPSC announced recall 13-073 covering about 457,000 units.

The remedy was a free in-home repair — LG or Transform (for Kenmore brand products) would fix the machine at the consumer's home — plus supplemental information for the owner's manual and a new caution label for the washer. Consumers who had observed their machine shaking excessively were told to stop using it, and that waterproof items such as mattress pads increased the chance of an unbalanced load.