Photo credit: Jim Dwyer
Your cellphone can do a lot of things. Most of them can take pictures. Most can download music and play them through headphones. Some of them can even tell you exactly where on Planet Earth you are currently standing. Some, apparently, have the power to turn on your Maytag oven!
Due to some kind of strange electromagnetic interference issue – the same kind that causes some speakers to buzz annoyingly when a call comes in – Andrei Melnikov’s cellphone can reportedly turn on his Maytag oven. At least that’s what Consumer Reports’ engineers say is possible. Melnikov was tipped off to his oven’s cellular sensitivity when he found his meat thermometer on fire.
Melnikov’s biggest concern over his “magical” Magic Chef? “Not for the material things,” he said. “I have three chinchillas.”
This particular electronic oven, a Maytag Magic Chef (Model CGR1425ADW), interprets the cellphone interference as a command to turn on the broiler – to the highest temperature, nonetheless. Strangely, Melnikov’s handset triggered other Maytag Magic Chef ovens in his building, but had no affect on GE ovens.
Maytag has offered to replace Melnikov’s oven at no cost, and will take the oven back to their lab for testing. Maytag insists that all Maytag appliances meet the Underwriters Laboratory and the American National Standards Institute’s safety standards.
If that oven in your kitchen is a Maytag, especially a Magic Chef, you might want to see if your cellphone triggers the oven to turn on. You might even get a free oven from Maytag!
Head on over to the NYT site to see a video of the oven in action.