‘Unknown’ number of fire-risk dishwashers sold in Ireland

An unknown number of Irish families have been kept in the dark for over a year about fears their dishwashers are at risk of bursting into flames.

Manufacturer Hotpoint has issued a widespread warning about the products in Britain after confirming the equipment poses a “potential fire hazard” — despite initially failing to publicly reveal the issue.

Reports in Britain yesterday found that 71,000 Hotpoint dishwashers made between Jun 2006 and Mar 2007 could pose a risk to households, with only 7,000 located.

The firm said last night that the recall will not extend to Ireland as voltage differences mean there have been “no confirmed cases of this issue” here.

However, an “unknown” number of the machines have been sold in Ireland — with families who bought the equipment not informed of the year-long situation until it emerged yesterday.

A spokesperson for Hotpoint said that since October of last year, it has attempted to contact individual customers known to have purchased the items since concerns were first raised last summer.

However, the firm is coming under pressure to explain why it has only made the fire hazard issue public in recent days — despite 85 separate fire incidents already taking place.

The concerns centre on three machine models — FDW201, FDW601, and FDW65A — which may contain a faulty part.

They were first raised by British consumer magazine Which? on the back of official figures showing 6,000 household fires are caused by flaws in appliances every year.

The Apr 2012 Which? report noted that two fire brigades in Britain had approached Hotpoint as they “believed there was a problem”.

However, it said the firm turned down requests to further inspect machines.

Michelle Gorringe-Smith, Hotpoint marketing director, said the issues were acted on from last autumn, after “external laboratory independent tests to help us evaluate the risk”.

In a statement, a Hotpoint spokesperson added: “In agreement with the relevant industry bodies, we have been working to contact our customers directly since Oct 2012.

“Our investigations and risk assessments have identified that in exceptional circumstances there is a low risk that modules fitted to Hotpoint FDW201, FDW601, and FDW65A dishwashers manufactured between Jun 2006 and Mar 2007 may cause overheating and in rare cases a potential fire hazard.

“The affected dishwashers can continue to be used while awaiting repair. This fault can be easily repaired by our qualified engineers who will visit affected customers’ premises and fit a newly manufactured control free of charge.”

Earlier this month, German manufacturer Bosch recalled a number of its dishwasher models sold in Britain in Jul 2011.

However, no such recall took place in Ireland, despite a fire occurring in this country last October.

At least 29,000 Bosch machines were sold in Ireland between 1999 and 2005, the years which are believed to be connected to the manufacturing fault.

*Hotpoint customer service centre: 0818313232.

*Bosch free-phone number: 1800322222