Maytag washers: 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 washers, 2011-2026, n=104.

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 washers 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 washers#

A hundred and four CPSC SaferProducts incident reports name a Maytag washer between 2011 and 2026, which makes this one of the smallest corpora on the site — and the component counts show it. The control board is named in 8% of reports, which is eight of them. The heating element, the motor, and wiring or the power cord are each named in 4%, four reports apiece, and the drain pump or hose and the lint trap or vent in 3%, three each. At those counts a single additional filing moves a row, so nothing here should be read as a ranking. Two of the rows are dryer parts: a lint trap and a heating element belong to the dryer half of a laundry pair and reach a washer corpus because many filings describe a stacked or side-by-side set as one appliance. Two recall notices sit on this record, published in 2005 and 2007 and reproduced below as issued.

Which parts the reports name#

Share of CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Maytag washers, 2011-2026, n=104 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 Washers: CPSC recall 05280 (2005-09-27) — CPSC, Maytag Corp. Announce Recall of Washing Machines; source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2005/CPSC-Maytag-Corp-Announce-Recall-of-Washing-Machines
• Maytag Washers: CPSC recall 07135 (2007-03-21) — Maytag® and Samsung™ Brand Front Loading Washing Machines Recalled Due to Fire Hazard; source: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2007/Maytag-and-Samsung-Brand-Front-Loading-Washing-Machines-Recalled-Due-to-Fire-Hazard

What the certified listings say#

257 Maytag washers 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#

Start with the recall check, because it is the only item on this page that is a documented finding rather than an account somebody filed. Two notices are listed above; the 2007 one covers front-loading machines and names both Maytag and Samsung brands, which is worth knowing if you are checking a machine sold under either. A recall list is a set of documents, not a rate, and it says nothing about the share of any population affected — but whether one reaches your machine is settled by the model number, and on most washers the plate is under the lid or inside the door frame.

The control board is judged by behaviour. A panel lighting selections nobody made, a cycle restarting or switching programme unprompted, a machine that fills or spins with the lid raised, or a warm-plastic smell after a run all belong to one signal. Cut power at the breaker and leave it off — a lid-lock or fill circuit behaving unpredictably is not something to test by running another load.

Motor, drive and drain narratives announce themselves together as noise plus an unfinished cycle. Grinding or squealing during spin, a drum that agitates but never reaches spin speed, a burning-rubber smell, or clothes left soaking at the end point at the same area; standing water with a running pump usually points at a blocked drain hose or filter instead. Either way, stop rather than restart.

Because the lint trap and vent reach this corpus through paired installations, give the dryer half of a stack the same attention: clear the lint screen every load and check the duct run behind and above the pair for a crushed section, a disconnected joint, or lint packed at the elbow. That is the ordinary geometry of a tight laundry closet, where a stacked set is pushed back against its own ducting and nobody looks again for years.