Horror Stories
My family has had a few:
1. Mother's first tumble drier, a reconditioned Bendix was drying a load in the kitchen. Mum was in lounge, entertaining grandparents; I was hoovering the hallway. A large cloud of acrid smoke billowed out of kitchen. Drier motor had stopped, but was still heating the clothes. Took months to get rid of the smell in the kitchen...
2. ...So Mum bought a new Hoover 'Logic' drier, which promptly fused when switched on. It turned out to be the cover for the thermostat spade-connectors had never been assembled properly, hence the short circuit. My brother still has this machine.
3. Mum's Hoover 'New Wave' washer was active at 7am one morning. Suddenly, two loud bangs issued from it, and the ring circuit fused. Turned out to be a small nick in the door seal; water had been forced through during spin-burst phase; water-detergent bridged the heater terminals= BANG! Heater blew, plug fuse blew, circuit breaker flipped. This machine was subject to a recall, to fit a shield to prevent this.
4. I had the top model of AEG washer in 1998. I tended to run it on the overnight cheaper electricity most of the time. In 2001, I happened to rise one morning whilst it was on its final spin, and was aware of a hot metallic smell. There were also little grains of what looked like charred metal on the floor (base plate had pre-moulded holes, I think). Bearings had given out.