PLEASE contact the US Consumer Product Safety Commission if you have experienced the bulb housing melting/potential fire problem with your Kenmore Trio refrigerator. Please file a report even if you experienced the problem months or years ago, and even if your problem was fixed under warranty or if you paid to have it fixed.
You can file a report at their website at:
https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx
or you can call them toll-free at 1-800-638-2772
or by send an e-mail to [email protected]
I have already called to file a complaint, but more people need to do so if Kenmore is going to do the responsible thing and fix these dangerous units.
Sears/Kenmore is clearly aware of this safety problem, but they will not repair it for free as they should. Kenmore wants $500 to fix this problem.
If enough people complain to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the manufacturer of this product will be forced to recall/fix the product.
Please file a complaint before someone loses their home, or someone loses their life because of this defective product.
I experienced the same bulb housing melting/potential fire problem with my Kenmore Elite Trio refrigerator ( Model #79577549600) that I purchased in April of 2006. The first time it happened was in July 2008. I smelled burning plastic when I opened the fridge and noticed the bulb housing was extremely hot. The only way I was able to unscrew the bulbs was to unplug the fridge for a while until the bulbs cooled down. Unbeknownst to me, by unplugging the fridge, I reset some CPU board (or something) and the problem corrected itself. However, the lighbulb sockets were blackened and the plastic housing started to melt, so that was damaged. Because the problem corrected itself, I second guessed myself, thinking that perhaps I left the door open and the Alarm was off (even though it was on, but I dumbfounded). Then this past Sunday, 9-21-08, it happened again. This time, even worse. The plastic housing is completely destroyed because of the melting, the lightbulb shattered and the sockets are burnt. Thank goodness I decided to check about similar complaints before calling Sears. I can't believe all the incidents of this extremely dangerous hazard. Of course, the Sears 1-800 number offered no assistance since I didn't purchase an extended warranty. They recommended calling Kenmore. They were even worse. Finally, after reporting it to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, I decided to call the salesman directly who I purchased it from. He stated he never heard of that problem. However, he told me to call One Source at 1-800-479-5899 to see if they could help me with my "product failure". He warned me that they might not be quick to help, but to be persistent. I was all ready for a fight when Jim answered the One Source phone. When I told him my problem, he immediately stated he knew about the problem and he'd get a tech out as soon as possible to replace the necessary parts. He stated that this problem was "rampant", but that they were correcting it at no charge to the customers. I now have a tech coming on 10/2 (the earliest opening) and a case number. I would recommend still reporting this problem to CPSC, but then try One Source.
Wow I have the same problem! I never smelled anything hot, but these are pictures of what happened....http://clearbee.imgur.com/
I have files a complaint with the CPSC so we will see where that takes me.
11-18-11 I own a Kenmore Trio Rfrigerator Model #795 77552600 and the bulb housing melted the housing and the wire coating. I called a repairman who is coming to replace it. Said there is no class action lawsuit as of this date. This is so scary.
I too was told to go to One Source and tthey were NO help......I not only have the scorch marks and meltdown that occurred but I continue to have the probl;em with the water draining from my ice maker connection down into the produce drawer. I bougght the refrigerator in "03 and have the samme problem over and over. Thankfully I bought the extended warranty but everytime you arrange a service call it is doubled with another call after the parts come in. You have to be home for a window of four hours IF they show! And as far as fixing the scorched meltdown........they "fixed" it and put silver tape over the mess! Why on earth can we not get a class action suit against these people. It's obvious there are more people out there that have been duped. Is it any wonder this country is in a state of economic collapse? Liars and cheats!!
I just had the same problem too & have reported to CPSC & Consumer Reports
I too own a Kenmore Trio model 795 77309600, purchased in august,2006. I too smelled noxious burning to find food quite warm and the interior lightbulb housing scorched and melted and the lightbulbs REALLY hot and almost impossible to remove without breaking. I just submitted my CPSC report. I now use it without the lights although the light housing is sagging at an angle in the top shelf. Waiting for a class action lawsuit.
I was appreciative of finding this page on the internet. Last night when I opened my Kenmore Elite Bottom Freezer Refrigerator it smelled like electric wires were burning. I called my husband downstairs and he tourched the plastic light cover and burned himself. We realized that the plastic was melting because of the extreme heat and that our lights were not going off after we shut the doors. He was able to disconnect the whole light unit with much difficulty and now we will proceed with complaints to the proper agencies, etc. Thanks for all the links and the phone numbers. Our Kenmore is model #795-7725-3600. I believe we bought it in 2006. I'm glad we didn't go to sleep and let that melting continue that could have resulted in fire. The lids and tops of all the items in the upper part of our refrigerator were hot to the touch.
We had the same issue with ours...it took MONTHS of phone calls...-and the local Sears store where we purchased it was no help. We kept at them and finally had the parts shipped to our home...and then waited again t have someone come a fix it...now the darn thing won't stay cold...this has to be the worst appliance we have ever purchased!
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The lights in my Kenmore Trio melted the casing. I complained to the CEO of Sears Holdings, The Better Business Bureau, My State Attorney General and the Consumer Products Safety Board. I am awaiting a response. This is a very dangerous situation and Sears/Kenmore should be held accountable.
inside lite never goes off the lite gets so hot that the plastic housing turned black.checked both top switches tst ok.i remove the lite until i can get a wiring diagram.
I stumbled onto this site while I was looking for information about recalls for this problem.
Our Kenmore Trio is about 2 years old, we just got back from vacation and when my wife opened the refrigerator she noticed all the items on the top shelf where hot. When I looked into it, I saw the clear cover that goes over the bulbs was miss-shaped from the heat and my first thought was that something had gotten in the way and kept the door from closing completely, so the light had been on the whole week we were gone. I rearranged some things and made sure the door was closed and came back a 1/2 hour later to find no change. I started playing around with the door switches and found that the light never went off, so I was going to remove the bulbs. When I tried to take the clear cover off, I found that it wa s beginning to melt together with the light assembly. I got it off and got the bulbs out and am now trying to figure out what my options are.
Good thing we were not on a 2 week vacation, we might not have a house.
Add me to the list also. Bulbs do turn off when doors are shut, melted the housing and warped the top of the refrigerator. Filed a complaint with US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Found this elsewhere on the site:
829292
posted by cHANNELKEN
If you have a Sears model with the model number beginning with 795 the unit was built bt LG. You can check with LG. However, if you have the problem with the interior light staying on, LG and Sears will honor that problem as a warranty call going back 3 years. No cost to you. call Sears and arrange the call.Â
Comment by cHANNELKEN, posted on Sep 03, 2008
Officially, there is NO "recall" on the unit. It was only the beginning of august that a Service note was distributed. Call Sears at the "1-800 -4- my home" number and tell them you have your lights staying on and you want it repired under their Service flash "sf46-515" that says this particular problem is covered going back 3 years. I hope your unit was bought in the last 3 years. There is no charge for this, however, you may be quoted service charges as it may initally be set a collect call.
I have the exact same issue. Sears and LG will do nothing to help me. Sears recall dept states they understand this is a common issue but there is no recall, and they will do nothing until there is a recall. They also do no reimbursement should there be a recall after I get it serviced.
What to do? This is very unethical business, in my opinion.
Someone with info - please help!
Thanks.
Erik
The internal lights remain on when the door is closed. Causing heat damage. I tried to manually press the door switches and the lights stay on, I even set the door alarm. Had to take the bulbs out to avoid a melt down.
My 82 year old mother who lives alone discovered that her Kenmore Trio model #795.77552600 refrigerator smelled like plastic burning every time she opened the door. She couldn't see what was happening. A neighbor came over and saw the plastic housing was melted black and took it off. The lightbulb housing was charred. This is an obvious fire hazard and PLEASE report it to United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) online or call them. Sears must be held responsible to RECALL these units or someone will die.
We have the Kenmore Elite Trio manufactured 2-2007. Our light assembly also overheated and melted. The sockets are charred the liner of the fridge is warped the plastic cover was partially melted to the metal light fixture and the food was overheated. I removed the entire assembly from the fridge for now. I called the "my home" number and they said there were no recalls,but they could sell me a 300 dollar 12 month parts and labor warranty or I could call the parts department and see if they could help me find out how much the part is to replace. Truly, would I want to replace a defective design with the exact same defectively designed parts. Um let me think about that..... nooooo. I want it fixed so I don't have to worry about the house burning down on us. Seems silly to me that we spend nearly 2k for a fridge that is hazardous and the company can't fix the product to ensure the safety of my family and home. Not ethical! I just pray nobody loses their home or worse. Clearly this is not an isolated incident.
Yes, on Thanksgiving Day we also had a charring meltdown of the bulb housing unit. The lights would not shut off and overheated. We are giving thanks that it happened while we were at home. I called Sears, Kenmore service centers and was told that it was out of warranty but they would be happy to schedule a service call at my expense. No, they do not know of any other problems like this. I was pretty much given a run around and told to call various departments. After looking at this website, I called the OneSource number and they will reimburse parts up to $100.00 and labor up to $150.00, but I must first pay up front and then call after service is scheduled and completed, call again to get my reimbursement. Another service company said parts and labor would amount to $205.00. We'll see how much Sears overcharges for their services. I called the government product safety line and left a message. I will call again during business hours. This is definitely a problem, and Sears, Kenmore etc. DOES NOT CARE!
Hi,
My name is Sabrina Dela Rama, and just had the same experience this morning. The whole underside of the inside of the refrigerator burnt. The housing that held the bulb melted and also melted several items in my refrigerator too. It was so hot that we had to shut the breaker off to pull the housing apart to remove the bulb. We purchased the refigerator in Feburary of 2007.
Can someone help me, for had I not opened the refrigerator in time it would have caught on fire. I believe this should be a urgent recall!!!!!!!
add me to the growing list for this frige!! for $2400.00 I should not have this problem my light melted out and burned holes in the refrigerator lining, that was in november of 07 while i was away thank goodness i came home in time to discover it! we could have lost everything, now about a month ago (11/08) the freezer door just fell off!! and I have always had the problem of the freezer handle unscrewing and sliding off (making a big arced scratch on the face of its stainless steel door)I would laugh if it were not so disturbing and still no resolution from sears, one source or the manufacturer. I have contacted my homeowners insurance and they seem to be able to help. SHAME ON YOU KENMORE & SEARS!
Add me to the list also. Kenmore should be completely embarrassed with this product. We have the 795.7757 and had the same experience that is described on this site over and over. The area around our lights was so hot it melted the light cover and started to smoke. I have three small children at home and thank God we noticed this problem before a fire started. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Dave - Michigan
kenmore trio elite 795.77579600 bulbs ran while door was closed, burnt off the plastic housing. I am going to test the temperature of the bulbs tomorrow at work; they are too hot to be placed into a fridge. Currently we are not using the lights in the fridge, the switches do work now --so this problem is intermittent. I do not waant a replacement fix because I have concerns of safety -- a FIRE Hazard. Door alarm kept silent
We actually had the same problem the second week of December. The lightbulbs in the refrigerator melted the plastic unit surrounding it. This happened on a Thursday and couldn't have a someone service the refrigerator until the next Monday. Needless to say, we had to unplug the it to prevent a fire and lost all of the food in it. Sears did pay for the service call and $250 in food loss, but only because we purchased the extended warranty. Earlier this week, we had yet another problem. The mullion fell off. (That is the strip on the door that seals the two doors when closed) When the the service man came to repair it, I informed him of all the problems we have had in the past year. Problems with the ice maker, lightbulb unit burning, motherboard needed replaced and then the mullion strip. Under the Lemon Law, if you have four problems within a 12 month period, you are entitled to a new refrigerator. Well, I called the 800 number and they started the process for us to recieve a new refrigerator. If you have had 4 problems with one year... definitely call.
Have more issues to worry about than the bulb hosing. Mine overhead within days of purchase so I just pulled out the bulb. But then a wire shorted out near the compressor, caught the unit on fire, and burned my house down killing my dogs in the process. The Trio has been recalled mutliple times for fire issues, supprised they still make it.
Product - Kenmore Elite Trio - model 795.77573600
After detecting a strong electrical fire odor and realizing that the food in the refrigerator was warm we discovered the problem - as have many other Kenmore Elite trio owners. The lights do not go out when the doors are closed. Plastic cover over lights is melted as is the top of the refrigerator under the mount. Like others, I am glad we realized what was going on before it caught fire. As it is weekend we have not contacted Sears yet, but have printed out 40 pages of complaints from other trio owners. We hope to be ready when they tell us they have not encountered this problem.
Kenmore Elite - Trio Model Number 795-77543600 - Strong electrical burnt smell, scrotched light fixture and everything on the first 2 shevles hot or melted. Yes, the same thing just happended to my 2 year old refrigerator. I am shocked after reading all this that Sears can no longer be trusted to protect it's clients. SHAME ON SEARS! I will never spend another penny at Sears. I did not pay for an extended warranty because it is so new, who would have thought. So this is not covered so I wasted $2200 on a refrigerator 2 years ago and will now have to buy a new one - not from Sears. I do not trust this one to be fixed after all these issues. I will file a complaint and will contact a friend who is a safety product attorney to see what can be done.
Wow. First the Maytag Quiet Series dishwasher circuit panel and now the Kenmore Trio. I guess I chose the wrong appliances for my kitchen remodel.
My Kenmore 795.77559600 light bulbs were stuck "on" long enough to melt/char the plastic housing and spoil food on the upper two shelves. I am noticing massive ice build-up in the lower freezer but I can't tell if the bulb is on when the drawer is closed because I'm too big to crawl into it and shut the door while I'm inside. I reported my problem to the CPSC and will be calling Sears tomorrow to complain.
Add me to the list...Went to bed last night and woke up to a electrical burning smell. Opened the fridge and everything on top shelf was hot, the light housing started to melt and black soot around both light fixtures. I'm wondering if I had overslept would I not have woke to a house fire. Call Sears that couldn't do anything since I didn't buy the extended warranty so I called Kenmore and they immediately acknowledged the problem, set up a service call and said it was a known issue and everything was at no charge to me. What happens if the replacement unit malfunctions? I think we should have the right NOT to keep this dangerous fridge in our houses. I too am submitting a complaint to BBB, State Attorney General, Our Local News Station and the Consumer Products Safety Board. They (Kenmore AND Sears) need to reassure us that this will never happen again.
i had the exact same problem...the cover melted some and it cause it to fall. I called the retail, sears and told me that i needed to buy the replacement part
We've had our Kenmore model 795 for about a year. We haven't had the "meltdown" problem yet but both lights in the frig went out at the same time yesterday, however, both bulbs are good. I did notice that the plastic area around where the bulbs screw in are indeed scorched. I guess now I'm concerned that perhaps some wires have burned in two or something....although I haven't smelled any electrical burns. I'll dig deeper tomorrow to see if I can find the cause for why the lights won't burn.
We've had our Kenmore model 795 for about a year. We haven't had the "meltdown" problem yet but both lights in the frig went out at the same time yesterday, however, both bulbs are good. I did notice that the plastic area around where the bulbs screw in are indeed scorched. I guess now I'm concerned that perhaps some wires have burned in two or something....although I haven't smelled any electrical burns. Will have to dig deeper.
We have had our Kenmore Elite tri 2 years and have repeatedly had problems with upper light housing unit. 2 times the cover and the surrounding area have melted. We contacted Sears with no help what so ever, no extended warranty, no help. We are extremely disappointed in Sears and will never purchase anything from them again. These units are a fire hazard and need to get off the market. Please report your problems to consumer recalls so we can get this refrig. removed!
I had both lightbulbs go out and so I replaced them. They went out again within minutes of replacement. I took out the new bulbs and put them back in the sockets. They came back on so I closed the doors and I could see light from within the fridgerator. After a minute, the lights did not go out and stayed on. I found out the light bulbs were extremely hot to the touch.
I have the same problem with my Kenmore Model #795.77314600 Called SEARS and they charged me just to come to my house and look the Refrigerator $75.00 + the melted light cover (I don't wanted the "service", because it cost extra $180.00). I paid already TOTAL $125.00 SEARS are VERY BAD!!! I wrote to the BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois and they contacted SEARS. I get my $125.00 back and SEARS have to fixed my Refrigerator FREE. You don't need a guaranty, it was a manufactory defect, wrong design. I advise everybody to write to the BBB they very good, and help you.
I have the same problem with my Kenmore Model #795.77314600 Called SEARS and they charged me just to come to my house and look the Refrigerator $75.00 + the melted light cover (I don't wanted the "service", because it cost extra $180.00). I paid already TOTAL $125.00 SEARS are VERY BAD!!! I wrote to the BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois and they contacted SEARS. I get my $125.00 back and SEARS have to fixed my Refrigerator FREE. You don't need a guaranty, it was a manufactory defect, wrong design. I advise everybody to write to the BBB they very good, and help you.
We bought a trio french doors and double drawer freezer and had it delivered 12-01-08. This last week the fan motor sounded like a garbage disposal and burned up. We tried to call an emergency number. My husband said we were worried about fire. The girl at Sears said, "call the fire dept." Unbelievable! The repair man came out and said it was never set up right. The tracks are worped and said the fan motor had burned out. Sears referred us to 1 Source. They are no help.
How did anyone get any satisfaction. I told them to take it back and replace it and they won't.
What is my recourse?
Julie & John in Florida
I called a recall hotline # 888-294-5782 and they are ordering the replacement part to us and sending a technician to do the repair work.
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