GE Profile convection/gas double oven review: plastic stove knobs melting 54

Hi - my Mother purchased the same stove (model number PGB918SEM1SS) and we have the same problem. I was doing a internet search to see if there was any solution. Our symptoms are as you've described. I know that my Mom has replaced the knobs once, but was hoping there was a more permanent solution than constantly replacing the knobs! Argh.

I agree to above complaints - the knobs are cheap crap. Just send me real stainless knobs and quit lying to us all. GE says these are only "available knobs" made for this stove. I say BS, I have never owned a stove ($2, 000) that had fake plastic to look like stainless.I now am sorry I spent thousands on new kitchen appliances (all GE) and be treated this way!

(Steven C) I have been having the same problem with the knobs melting; two techs have been out to my house. Knobs have been replaces three times. We are getting tired of the run around on this 2300.00 range. Are there any stainless steel replacement knobs, even from a difference Model Range?

Is problem only with the stainless steel model? I'm interested in the white-on-white model #PGB918DEMWW.

Bought GE Cafe 30" Model CGS980SEM3SS free standing stove. There are rings around the knobs. When I use the oven, these knobs get very hot to touch after about an hour. I think the oven was used about 1/2 dozen times when we looked from underneath the knobs. The rings (skirt - that's what GE service call these parts) were melted, crinkled up.

The GE rep came out, replaced these skirts and also put some shims in the oven door. The knobs still get very hot. Haven't used the oven enough to see the melted rings around the knobs.

Does anyone else have this problem with the GE Cafe range?

What a disgraceful company GE has become! This is an an obvious material flaw that should have have never made it through the design phase; any reputable company would have immediately rectified this condition.

I will never ever buy another GE appliance. Have the same problem as everyone else, knobs are melted, cracked and broken. One of them broke at the stem and won't turn the gas off. I have to put the gas lock on so that we don't all die from the gas leak. Additionally the heat seal around the door pulled out while cleaning and won't go back in. The refrigerator (Profile) also was a waste of money. The ice machine quit working properly within a month.

I am experiencing the same problem with the knobs as well. I also wonder if there are replacement knobs I could buy the are stainless and not plastic. If anyone knows, I'd really like their help.

I am having the same problem with my knobs..I agree I will never buy ge appliances again. I purchased all new ge profile appliances last year and having been discovering that thet were made so poor there are problems with all of them.
GE you are a disgrace...

I just wanted to add to this as we have been having the same isue with out Profile dual fuel stove. I have contacted both our retailer as well as GE and have been given the run around by both...essentially they offer to sell us new knobs at $36 EACH!

Doing some investigation in to our own stove, there is MUCH more to this and there is a specific cause for the knobs melting. The door does NOT close correctly. The knobs are indeed cheap, but the root cause is a door fitment issue. The door seal comes no where near the stove box, letting the hot air simply pour out the front of the stove...

As is typical of this kind of large corp. it is cheaper and easier (lazier) for them to through knobs at people that address the real cause of the problem (door mfg/design)

Yep...same problem! $36 per plastic replacement knob...plus shipping!?

I also had a problem with the matching microwave! While cooking in the oven, the turn plate just cracked in half...WHILE cooking...it wasn't bumped, dropped or anything. The cost to replace the microwave plate is $105 plus shipping!

This is rediculous! I am shopping on Ebay for these items. Looks like I will have the plate replaced for about $25, including shipping.

Does anyone have a solution to this issue?

Again, we bought an expensive GE profile gas convection oven and have had the knobs replaced 3 times. Yes four knobs per replacement is around $180.00. Then you get the same cheap knobs again. The problem is obviously a design problem and customers need to think again before buying GE ranges. The knobs were very jagged and sharp from the melting. Hands and fingers can easily be cut. This is America people, let's boycott the company until they rectify this problem or give our hard-earned money back!

I have a GE Profile 5 burner SS stovetop with black plastic knobs. Two knobs are now partially melted by heating a skillet on the high-capacity burner. I guess they never envisioned anyone using their stovetops to generate heat. Hmmmm. Crappy design for a very expensive unit. Recall this garbage and supply your customers with solid SS knobs.

The plastic knobs melt and deform. Although advertised as stainless knobs they are plastic with a stainless appearing coating so they melt then the fake coating starts flaking off. Do not buy the GE profile series products. Piece of Junk. The Profile series microwave arched and sparked and it took weeks to get GE to replace the defective Profile microwave. GE wanted the repair contractor to repair the microwave and accept liability if further issues were encountered. He refused. Junk Junk Junk for an expensive appliance.

I have the same problem with the knobs. Also, my oven door does not close properly on the right side it is which lets a lot of heat out of the top of the oven and therefore the knobs on the right side are much worse then on the left. The fake stainless steal has chipped completely off the knob revealing the crappy plastic underneath. This is a disgrace.

I was told by GE that they are now shipping the new units with steel knobs? Can anyone confirm they've been able to replace their plastic painted knobs?

I have had the exact same problem with the oven knobs melting, to the point where they won't turn the gas off. I thought it was MY fault somehow, and am glad to see that it is actually a product defect. Discouraged to hear that this will happen again, and I will again be faced with a gas emergency at some unknown time in the future. I am also unhappy with our GE Cafe dishwasher (seal has come unglued), GE Cafe microwave (glass plate chipped) and GE Profile refrigerator (ice maker has a design flaw that makes ice overflow all over the floor every time you open the freezer drawer. I thought paying up for nicer appliances would solve all my kitchen problems! Very disappointing...

I have had the same problem. What a rip off. I purchased my expensive stove about a year ago. The repairman came out and said they were not covered for replacement. He told me if I was cleaning the oven or using the oven at a high temp. to take the knobs off. I've never heard of such a thing in my life. What happened to the dependability of GE products? If I would have known this was how they stand behind their products, the new GE products I purchased for my kitchen makeover, stove, micro, refrig and dishwasher woukld still belong to GE.

Same issue for a GE profile double over model PEGB918SEMSS I bought in Nov 2008.
GE & their warranty servcies company Assurant told me it is all cosmetics! In fact I even dstarted seeing a dent on top burner round "disk". Yet they insisted it is all cosmetics!

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!

THE HEAT FROM THE OVEN PEALS AWAY THE SILVER PLASTIC ON THE KNOBS AND THE OUTSIDE ARE THAT THE KNOBS GO INTO.

GE WILL NOT STAND BEHIND THIS. AS LONG AS YOUR OVEN AND STOVE WORK, IT DOES NOT MATTER THAT THE PLASTIC PEALS AWAY.

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT. THEY DO NOT STAND BEHIND IT.

THANKS YOU-

I purchased the PGB910SEM3SS in November 2009. Last night was the first night that I cooked a large meal using the front and back burners. When I finished I noted the melted knobs. I could not imagine that cooking on the top of the stove would generate that kind of heat in front of the range. My husband asked me if I had cooked something in the oven and left the door open. I told him I did not cook anything in the oven. Sadly, as I was trying to find replacements today, I came upon the NUMEROUS complaints and realized it was a matter of quality, design and craftmanship that caused the melting. I am in disbelief that comments date back two years ago and STILL GE has not remedied the problem. My husband picked out the oven and thought he was making an excellent purchase. I will never buy GE again, if this is how they handle a problem that originates with their design. How very frustrating. I plan to call a GE repairman tomorrow for replacements, but I doubt that I will have any better luck than those who commented before me. GE, I will make sure I let others know you refuse to back up your product.

Not yet having this problem but don"t use the over much. Same modle However, the oven started smoking, insided and coming out top, when preheating setting of smoke alarm. Only used oven six or seven times Contacting local store now but likely out of warranty. Anyone else having this probelm?

I experienced the exact same problem with the GE Monogram series gas stove top Model # ZGU385N. I wonder if a complaint to the Better Business Bureau would result in any kind of assistance. I find this to be disgraceful. I have used my stove top a a little over a year and the knob simply came off in my hand as I went to turn it off. GE should be ashamed! Has anyone purchased the replacement knobs? I was quoted 62.25 for a plastic knob. Simply disgraceful!

I had a GE profile gas range installed last night. I wish I had seen this before I did. Having the oven on for 30 minutes at 350 degrees made the knobs heat up so much that you couldn't touch them without risking a burn. An hour after the oven was shut down the knobs were still way too hot to handle. I am now looking forward to huge amounts of hassle trying to get this stove taken out of here and replaced with a different brand.

And here I thought buying a GE appliance was a sure bet for quality. Well shame on me.

GE tech just left my home. Same problem as many on this thread. The oven overheats the front panel (GE Profile gas convection range) to where it is too hot to the touch. The tech said when he saw the reason for the service call he was expecting to see melted knobs. He called the GE repair mothership and they told him that the knobs WILL heat up to at least 167F but that's not a problem because it meets UL standards. Nevermind that you can burn your skin at 130F. The tech said there was nothing he could fix because that is just how the stove operates. He also told me that there used to be a service bulletin about this range and the melting knob problem and they used to install a shim kit on the door to try and seal off the heat, but that is no longer being given to the techs as an option. He searched for any recent service bulletins and there were none.

GE sucks. That's a given. What I really would like to know is why someone like Consumer Product Safety Commission or some state's Attorney General's office hasn't taken notice of all the complaints and done something about it. Not the fight begins with the appliance store to get a refund and get this piece of crap hauled out of here. I'm sure that is going to be a big fat bunch of drama because if there is one thing that you can take to the bank, it is that American business practices are all about cheating the consumer. GE is one of the gold-plated examples.

I've also had the same damage to my stove knobs, and blamed myself until reading these comments. Fortunately, I don't have any complaints about my French door GE Profile Frig/freezer or GE Profile Microwave.

Same problem here. The inside of the knob has melted/cracked, making it so dangerous because we cannot turn off the gas. I've searched their website to see if you can get a replacement knob and don't see them listed. HELP!

From what I've read on this forum, I will NOT purchase this gas convection range, though I have my heart set on it and it's in the $1600 range as of June 2010. If anyone has definitely learned that the plastic knobs have been replaced with true stainless steel, please post. This is the only reason I am not purchasing this range at this time. Someone listed in another forum the number for an executive at GE and I plan to call that number tomorrow and hope to learn if indeed these cheap plastic knobs have been replaced with quality stainless steel. I thank each of you for voicing your opinions because it will help me not to make a mistake at this point. I've begun researching other manufacturers of gas ranges, but I still want this one for its look.

I have not experienced this myself, but it is June 2010 and I had chosen this particular gas range online to be purchased in my local Lowe's. Because of the melting knobs, I will call GE tomorrow to see if the knobs have been changed to genuine stainless steel. If so, I will purchase; if not, I absolutely will not purchase. GE cannot make a refrigerator, or at least the icemaker for its refrigerators. Our icemaker was a lemon from the first year and it's now six years old. We just purchased the 29.0 cu ft Samsung because of the consumerreports.com report that it was a wonderful refrigerator. This particular GE gas range also is rated highly on consumerreports.com. Obviously, what has happened to many of you did not occur in their test kitchen. I bought the frig because of the report, but I will not purchase this range unless GE acknowledges its knobs are now stainless steel. Thanks for the heads up. I so appreciate this forum.

We have the same issue. We are now replacing the knobs for the 3nd time... just because we used the broiler. DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM GE! This is obviously a design flaw that they are not fixing. We did not abuse the oven in any way, just tried to broil something in the oven. It's funny for us to think that we should be able to broil something without braking the oven and have to spend $180 to repair it, but live and learn right? What I have learned is that I will never buy anything from GE again. We have $15, 000 worth of appliances in our home from GE, but will tell everyone we know to avoid GE. It seems like such a simple issue to fix this design flaw, and do the RIGHT thing be doing a RECALL on the knobs, but big business doesn't do the right thing, they do the MONEY thing.

It would seem to me that GE is large enough to bribe all the government officials to ignore their design flaws. So, once again, it is really your government that let you down. GE's job is to sell ovens & make money - your governments' job is to protect the consumer from dangerous products, etc. GE did their job - your government didn't.

I'm in the market to buy a gas range. I have looked at GE and LG and the one thing that I noticed at the store was that the knobs on both GE and LG were peeling off. I asked a salesperson why is that so and he couldn't really explain it. It's a crying same because LG and GE put out some appealing appliances, but if this is what is happening in showrooms imagine in your kitchen with everyday use. Sorry GE and LG you lost a customer because of your crappy knobs.

Add me to the list. Had the same problem with the knobs melting. And people wonder why we stop buying American products? Shame on GE! Especially given this isn't rocket science!

I have a GE dual fuel range convection, and small lower oven, (6) knobs on this unit have rippled up like they are delaminating, it looks like i will be calling The problem Solvers Channel seven Detroit regarding this problem. I wonder if GE would like this type of negative advertising being put out over the airways, especially in the current markets

I have a GE Profile gas oven. Model # PGB916SEM2SS and all of my knobs now have crinkled silver foil.

I too have the same problem and used the broiler and the plastic coating melted and so did the bottom of the knobs. We had 2 service companies look at our GE gas range and both said it was a design flaw. The front panel also gets so hot that someone could get burnt. Ge is going to replace the stove and send different knobs. I was made to think that in 1000's of stoves sold mine was the exception- not anymore after reading so many complaints! Lisa

I'm about to receive a 4th set of knobs for my GE Profile gas range (Model#PGB918SEM3SS). The part numbers on this set are different than the part numbers on the first 3 sets. I was assured by the consumer relations rep that the knobs have been modified with better insulation to prevent melting. The warranty on this range has been extended for a total of 9 months because of this melting knob problem. If the problem still persists, I plan to sue GE in small claims court for the price of the range.

I have a free standing Stainless GE Profile that was bought about 7 years ago. (about 1200.00) Two of the knobs melted within the first 4 months of owning the range. I decide not to buy new ones since GE. The lack of accountability for this issue is pretty typical of the big corporate greed that has prevailed. GE will never address this unless someone gets hurt, the mainstream media raises the issue. or a huge class action lawsuit is formed. Maybe a legal warning should be issued to all of GE's major distributors (included all the model info & #'s) so they cannot say that they did not know about the issue when selling the ranges. Maybe the distributors can also be named in the lawsuit after proof of having this knowledge. Something of that magnitude only way GE is going to address this issue (obviously). the I can't believe this has gone on for just short of a decade. I'm sure the "Profile" line has made GE millions. The products are not inexpensive.

Same issue, looking for replacements...cannot believe this! I put mine in the dishwasher and the tape is coming off! TAPE? I paid two thousand dollars for plasic knobs with tape on them? Junk, just junk! I will never purchase another GE product...ever! My dishwasher and my refridgerator are GE too! Ice maker doesn't work half the time and no matter what I put the humidifier on in the veggie drawer, it freezes everything.