Reports of Fires Lead to GE Zoneline Air Conditioner Recall

About 90,600 General Electric Zoneline air conditioners and heaters have been recalled following reports of smoke and fires, some of which caused property damage. 

The GE air conditioner recall was announced on June 14 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), after GE and the manufacturer, Sharp Corp., reported that they had received at least four reports of the units smoking and bursting into flames.

In at least two of the cases the resulting fire spread beyond the recalled air conditioning and heating units and caused property damage. There have been no injuries linked to the defective air conditioning and heating units.

The CPSC reports that there is an electrical component in the heating system that can fail, making the units a fire hazard.

The recall affects 90,600 GE Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners (PTAC) and packaged terminal heat pumps. The affected units have the model numbers AZ41 and AZ61, and serial numbers that begin with AT, DT, FT, GT, HT, LT, MT, RT, ST, TT, VT and ZT, AV, DV and FV. The units were manufactured between January 2010 and March 2011. The recalled air conditioning and heating units will have a GE logo on the control panel door and serial and model numbers printed on the rating plate, which can be seen when the front panel is removed.

The GE Zoneline heaters and cooling units were sold by GE authorized representatives and HVAC sellers nationwide between March 2010 and March 2011 for between $1,000 and $1,200. They were most commonly used in apartment buildings and commercial spaces.

The CPSC recommends that consumers immediately stop using the recalled air conditioning and heating units in heat mode and contact GE at 1-866-918-8771 to schedule a complete repair, or visit the company’s website at www.geappliances.com/products/recall.