Had a new Whirlpool Cabrio clothes Dryer delivery from Lowe’s yesterday. The delivery guys set it up in the laundry room along with a new washer. (They delivered the wrong washer and dryer the previous week btw)

When my wife came home, she went to give it a try, but an F4 error code kept popping up. I googled it and it appeared that it’s a voltage issue. I assumed it was the wiring in our house that was the problem, but didn’t really explore further since I had other things on my mind and would save this issue for the next day.

So fast forward to 11pm last night, I’m laying in bed and can’t sleep, I go down stairs and decide to give the dryer a try myself to see what’s wrong. I push the ON button and a blinding flash goes off and now there’s an electrical fire behind the dryer.

Taken by surprise, I scream “HOLY SHIT”! Thank God that I had the presence of mind to remember that there was a fire extinguisher in the cabinet above the dryer that I grabbed to put it out. (My dad who passed away in May actually put it there when we moved in this house 2 years ago. Thanks dad)

I put out the fire and yank the cord without touching the dryer. Wife is now up from all the noise. Very scary incident that goes to show that like a gun, a fire extinguisher is something that you don’t appreciate till you really need it.

Again, I figure this is due to wiring in our house being fucked up somehow. We had our electrician come by today and he said he’s never seen anything like it. The dryer vent tubing was all blown apart and the back of the washer was blacked from the electrical fire. He tested the outlets which were fine. He then removed the back plate of the dryer and discovered that the (forgive me if I mess the part up) “hot” wire was connected to the ground which is what caused the fire. He said we were very lucky because there’s several ways we could have been seriously harmed.

The way I understand what happened is that Lowe’s screwed up the plug wiring. When the dryer was delivered, the guys never function tested it. When I pushed the ON button for the dryer, the current went down through the vent tube, which was in contact with the metal on the washer, completing a circuit and starting a fire. Thank God that extinguisher was there and that it was me there and not my wife or mom using the washer (they sure as hell wouldn’t have known about that extinguisher).

So anyway, it’s good to have a fire extinguisher. The damage is minimal, some smoke, and ash in the laundry room. Things could have been MUCH worse.

What’s your opinion about how I should handle this with Lowe’s?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RAMIUS,

Your electrician should have left it alone or at the very least you should have taken pictures of how it was wired.

I would call your Lowe's store, speak to the store manager, tell them what happened, make them replace the dryer with a new one and if your washer got effected from the fire, replace that too, and pay for your electricians expense...…..

I have photos and the electrician is writing up a report. We haven’t touched or altered the wiring.

Written report from electrician as to their finding. Make a list of what you want Lowes to do.
Schedule a meeting with head of service dept. and store manager.

Damn lucky, buddy. Glad all are alright. And, thanks to your Dad.

Electrician should have also replaced the breaker. Something doesn't pass the smell test here. A dead short which is what you are describing should have instantly tripped breaker.

Do you have pictures?

I’m not sure why the breaker didn’t trip. The electrician explained it, but I’m not going to attempt to try and write it.

I admit, I’m an idiot when it comes to all things electrical.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
... “hot” wire was connected to the ground which is what caused the fire.

That's almost too incredible to believe. I mean seriously, what kind of a moron...

I have photos, I’ll try and post them tomorrow.

Glad nobody got hurt.

Wondering what happened at the end of the install.

Most installers would have gotten it running before they left. Most of the time I've had appliances installed, not only do they do that, the installers want me to sign that the job was completed acceptably before they go.

I'm surprised the delivery guys were allowed to set it up. Generally a dryer, whether electric or gas, will be left along with the gas line or electrical plug for you to have a qualified installer install. IOW, they recognized after some fires like yours the guys on the truck weren't that.

Was the install part of the purchase, or did you work a side deal with the delivery guys?

The install was part of the purchase from Lowe’s.

I'm confused by what you did differently than your wife?

You said

"When my wife came home, she went to give it a try, but an F4 error code kept popping up. I googled it and it appeared that it’s a voltage issue"

Then

" I go down stairs and decide to give the dryer a try myself to see what’s wrong. I push the ON button"

Was she not pushing the "on" button?

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
... “hot” wire was connected to the ground which is what caused the fire.

That's almost too incredible to believe. I mean seriously, what kind of a moron...

Yep. The hot was connected the ground and the ground was connected to the hot.

So which new gun are you going to buy with the settlement munny?

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
I'm confused by what you did differently than your wife?

You said

"When my wife came home, she went to give it a try, but an F4 error code kept popping up. I googled it and it appeared that it’s a voltage issue"

Then

" I go down stairs and decide to give the dryer a try myself to see what’s wrong. I push the ON button"

Was she not pushing the "on" button?

No idea. When she did it, the F4 thing came up. The only thing I can think of is that when I pushed the dryer back a bit further to the wall, the vent tube contacted the washer. When she did it, it wasn’t touching the washer.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
I'm confused by what you did differently than your wife?

You said

"When my wife came home, she went to give it a try, but an F4 error code kept popping up. I googled it and it appeared that it’s a voltage issue"

Then

" I go down stairs and decide to give the dryer a try myself to see what’s wrong. I push the ON button"

Was she not pushing the "on" button?

No idea. When she did it, the F4 thing came up. The only thing I can think of is that when I pushed the dryer back a bit further to the wall, the vent tube contacted the washer. When she did it, it wasn’t touching the washer.

As someone who diagnoses problems such as this for a living. None of this adds up. Looking forward to pics any any extra details you can remember.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
Glad nobody got hurt.

Wondering what happened at the end of the install.

Most installers would have gotten it running before they left. Most of the time I've had appliances installed, not only do they do that, the installers want me to sign that the job was completed acceptably before they go.

The delivery took about 10 minutes. The guys came removed the incorrect dryer, replaced it with this faulty one, I signed the paper, and they left.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
I'm confused by what you did differently than your wife?

You said

"When my wife came home, she went to give it a try, but an F4 error code kept popping up. I googled it and it appeared that it’s a voltage issue"

Then

" I go down stairs and decide to give the dryer a try myself to see what’s wrong. I push the ON button"

Was she not pushing the "on" button?

No idea. When she did it, the F4 thing came up. The only thing I can think of is that when I pushed the dryer back a bit further to the wall, the vent tube contacted the washer. When she did it, it wasn’t touching the washer.

As someone who diagnoses problems such as this for a living. None of this adds up. Looking forward to pics any any extra details you can remember.

Well, the electrician did say he’s never seen anything like this before. The weirdest thing is where/how the vent tube blew up/caught fire. Which is where it was touching the washer.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
So which new gun are you going to buy with the settlement munny?

Ha! If only there was more damage! Maybe we’ll get a free washer and dryer out of it or something.