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GE Spectra Stove Oven Element Fire
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MASSACHUSETTS -- Shocked they don't have a recall. VERY DANGEROUS!!! If they are so careless about something like this how do I know that any GE product won't suddenly go up in flames? Well I have a GE Spectra stove. It is a electric stove range unit. I keep the oven very clean, having read about the element fires in this stove. I thought it may be due to excessive heat from folks who use the self-cleaning option and because of that I never used the self-clean cycle. I keep my stove immaculately clean.

Approx. a week ago I was going to two small homemade cook pizzas. The recipe called for 425 degrees and I had forgotten to turn on the oven and was halfway through chopping and adding ingredients to the two pizzas and I realized. So I set the stove to 475 degrees to warm it up and then thought I will turn it down to 425 degrees.

I continued to assemble the pizzas and I heard a pop sound and looked at the oven glass door and a very strong white light was there. It was like super bright like you would see in arc welding. It was the lower heating element and I immediately shut the oven off. And I doused it with a quart of water but it would not stop burning. I used a fire 5lb extinguisher on it and it still would not stop burning.

Smoke was coming up into the kitchen through the back right small burner oven vent pipe. Smoke filled the kitchen. It continued to burn such that the heating element started burning towards the front near the oven door and worked its way back staying that blinding white light. And I opened doors and windows and got a vent fan.

The heating element continued to burn as I was dialing 911 for the fire department. I was not sure it was going to stop, but then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The acrid irritating smoke was burning my throat and eyes. And luckily I got a neighbor and we pulled the stove electrical plug out and I have left it that way pending resolution. We vented all the smoke out and I went to check for a recall and found there is none.

Really, I am shocked. This is very dangerous! I'm even more shocked because it's a GE product and for my whole life I have always found their products to be A1 and very durable and reliable and long lasting. So I am shocked that they have not recalled this stove or made it such that they will send someone to repair it. I have had numerous electric stoves for decades and never ever have I seen anything like this, never from any brand, make or model.

I have searched for a recall and found none. There are some GE recalls but this product is not included. I have not been able to reach anyone at GE or to get any help from GE. So I am giving them a BAD rating. Really I am shocked because I have 2 air conditioners and 2 radios made by GE that are over 45 years old and still working perfectly. So I don't understand why they would not attend to this. Their fine reputation is at stake here and maybe people's lives. That is just stupid and I do not reward stupidity. And so if I do not see a recall well then I just will never ever buy another GE product.

And of course all my friends and family will be notified because I do not want any GE products as gifts. If they are so careless about something like this how do I know that a new toaster oven won't do the same thing? How do I know that any GE product won't suddenly go up in flames?

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GE Spectra coil
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

We fired up the electric Bake knob to preheat for cooking. My wife noticed, through the window, that there was a fire. She thought the coil was burning off excess food on the coil. After a minute she turned off the knob, then called for me that there was a fire. Looking at the coil it was glowing red in one spot of the coil. I watched it move down the coil acting as a welding torch still burning and sparking. I pulled out the unit and pulled the plug. It then stopped glowing.

After reading that a lot of GE customers had the same problem we cannot decide to fix or replace the stove. We have purchased 1 year ago a GE Refrig/Dishwasher combo. Had nothing but troubles with both units. GE did step up after talking to a VP and replaced the units. The way GE new products have failed up I don't think we will buy a GE product for many years.

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Fire & Sparks
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

DAYTON, OHIO -- I have had the same problem as all the other reviewers complaining about flame and sparks. I was cooking French Fries. My kids and I were all relaxing after a long week, watching television. One of my kids walked into the kitchen and started yelling for me to come quick. There were sparks and flames visible through the glass window into the oven. I turned the oven off but that did not stop the flames and sparks immediately -- they stopped a minute or so later and the kitchen filled with smoke.

We opened windows and doors until the house was ventilated and I went to see what had happened in the oven. The top element looked like it had melted and pieces of it were scattered around the interior of the oven. I thought about purchasing a new element, but am unsure of the right kind to buy or the safety of doing this -- although it sounds and looks easy to replace.

Additionally, I am unable to find any stickers or other markings on the oven to tell me the actual model number. We purchased our house last year and the oven was included with the house, but we did not receive any specific appliance documents from the previous owners. With all the bad reviews and persistent fire problems for this product, a recall is LONG OVERDUE!!!!!

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Spectra Oven Fires
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

WATERFORD, CONNECTICUT -- I also have a GE Spectra oven. Mine has caught on fire every time I use the self-cleaning option. The first time it happened, I was extremely upset, as there is no way to open the door until it cools down, so had to wait for the fire to burn out. I called GE and was told this is “normal” and there were no recalls on the stove. We've had to replace the element twice and the top two burners only partial work. I also notice the enamel is burning through the bottom and around the door glass. I'm actually afraid of this oven, would NEVER buy another GE appliance, and will NEVER recommend it to anyone!

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Oven preheated by itself
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

This GE Spectra oven is in my late mother's apartment in our back yard. I was sitting on my back porch this morning and kept hearing a faint beep. I finally figured out it was coming from the apartment. When I went in, it was very hot and the oven element was glowing. The preheat light was blinking and that was the beep. I don't know how long it had been on, but the cabinet next to it was very hot.

I turned the circuit breaker off and it stopped. My husband pulled the stove out and unplugged it. The power had gone out during the week and the clock was blinking. The stove has not been used for several months. I will call GE to let them know, but not sure I will trust the stove!

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Broiler Element GE Spectra Oven
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

DULUTH -- I just read a review on this oven and had a similar experience. I was using the broiler to melt cheese on bread. After a short time I looked in to check the bread and found the element burning with a very bright light. There was a lot of smoke and the element was burning in the back. Then the left side of the element started burning in the front. I tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher but had no luck. The element finally burned through on both sides and part of it dropped to the floor and burned a hole in the floor. I realize elements do burn out but my biggest concern was my inability to put it out with a chemical fire extinguisher.

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GE Spectra Oven Started on Fire
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

NATIONAL COMPANY, WISCONSIN -- Exactly like other reviews. My circuit breaker did its job and the fire went out, but the entire element was on fire. Good news? The food was done and survived.

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GE Spectra Oven Fire
StarStarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 3/51

HAMPTON VIRGINIA -- I had been baking chicken in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour when I noticed the lower heating element was on fire. As described in other reviews, the fire traveled around the element, flaming up and down until it finally burned out. I turned the oven button off, but it kept burning. I called the fire department. When they arrived, the fire had burned out. I am 58 years old and have never had this happen before.

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Heating Element Fire
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

READING, PENNSYLVANIA -- My GE Spectra oven heating element also started on fire and disintegrated. I can't believe they do not recall these. It is such a hazard. This company should be ashamed. I will never purchase another GE product.

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My GE Spectra oven on FIRE too!!
By -

I decided to heat up a roll at 350 degrees and after a while, when I came back into the kitchen to check on it, I noticed that the baking element inside the oven was wrapped in flames (5-10 inches, and I think I also saw sparks). I switched the oven off, but the fire continued to snake around the heating element towards the back of the oven. I was afraid it will get out of the oven and into the wall. I did not know where to unplug the oven and whether I would be able to move the oven to get to the plug or if there is a plug at all.

In about 1 minute the fire stopped. When it was safe to open the oven, I was able to break the heating element by slightly twisting it with my two fingers. It was brittle, and broke apart like a piece of hard chocolate. This is a defect, for sure. The centers of the broken off pieces of the heating element are hollow--it looks like the wire(?) inside the element was defective. We bought it in 2003.

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General Electric Company Spectra Series Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.7 out of 5, based on 11 ratings and
33 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
General Electric Company
3135 Easton Tpke
Fairfield, CT 06432-1008
203-373-2211 (ph)
GE (fax)
www.ge.com
richard.wacker@corporate.ge.com
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