Maytag dishwashers: what CPSC incident reports show

What this page is counting#

Every number on this page is a share of CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Maytag dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=228.

The CPSC SaferProducts database records reports of harm, not a census of units in service. It is a safety reporting channel: people report what is dangerous, so fire, smoke and burn hazards dominate it. Nothing here is a failure rate, and nothing here says how often Maytag dishwashers break — only what was reported, and in what proportion of those reports each part is named. A narrative mention of a part is not that part failing. Method: /methodology.

What CPSC reports say about Maytag dishwashers#

Two hundred and twenty-eight CPSC SaferProducts incident reports name a Maytag [dishwasher](/blog/repair-or-replace-dishwasher) between 2011 and 2026, and two parts sit almost level at the top: the control board at 25%, fifty-seven reports, and the heating element at 23%, fifty-two. Two percentage points across a corpus this size is a handful of filings, so treat those two as a pair rather than as first and second. Wiring or the power cord follows at 13%, twenty-nine reports, and then the list drops away — the motor at 3%, the thermostat or sensor and the water valve or line at 1% each. Three recall notices sit on this record, published between 1995 and 2010 and reproduced below as issued. Nothing here measures how often a part gives out.

Which parts the reports name#

Share of CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Maytag dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=228 whose narrative mentions each part. A report naming a part several times counts once.

Method: /methodology.

Recalls on record#

Recall notices CPSC has issued for this brand and appliance, listed as published. This is a list of documents, not a rate: it says nothing about how many units were affected as a share of any population.

• Maytag Dishwashers: CPSC recall 10255 (2010-06-03) — Maytag Recalls Dishwashers Due to Fire Hazard; source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2010/Maytag-Recalls-Dishwashers-Due-to-Fire-Hazard
• Maytag Dishwashers: CPSC recall 07094 (2007-02-01) — Maytag Recalls Dishwashers Due to Fire Hazard; source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2007/Maytag-Recalls-Dishwashers-Due-to-Fire-Hazard
• Maytag Dishwashers: CPSC recall 96005 (1995-10-17) — CPSC And Maytag Announce Recall To Inspect And Repair Dishwashers; source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1996/CPSC-And-Maytag-Announce-Recall-To-Inspect-And-Repair-Dishwashers

What the certified listings say#

50 Maytag dishwashers are catalogued in the certified-product listings. A certified-product census is not a census of units in service, and these specs are unrelated to the incident reports above.

Method: /methodology.

What an owner can act on#

The heating element is the one you can look at, and it takes a minute. Pull the lower rack out and run your eye along the element on the tub floor: it should be an even dark tone from end to end, with no bright scorched band, no blistered or swollen section, and nothing melted fused to the metal. If you find plastic on it, check the underside of the lower basket for where it came from — a lightweight item dropping through during a cycle is the usual route. A scorched or deformed element is a stop signal, not a cleaning job.

The control board is judged by behaviour instead. A console lighting a pattern nobody selected, a cycle restarting itself or jumping programme, a keypad answering some presses and ignoring others, a machine that will not cancel, or a warm-plastic smell around the door after a run — any one of those is the signal. Cut power at the breaker rather than at the cancel button and leave it off.

Wiring sits third here with twenty-nine reports, more than most corpora of this size carry, so it earns a real look. On a hard-wired install, check the terminal block behind the toe-kick for discoloured or brittle insulation and brown heat marks around the screws; on a corded one, the cord jacket and plug face. A breaker that trips partway through a heated-dry cycle is describing a condition, and resetting it repeatedly is not a repair.

Three recall notices appear above, from 1995, 2007 and 2010, two of them fire-hazard notices. A recall list is a set of documents, not a rate, and it says nothing about the share of any population affected. Coverage is set by production ranges, so only the model number answers it; the plate is on the inner edge of the door, and an older machine is exactly the one worth checking.