Amana wall air conditioners were recalled over a circuit that can throw flames

A wall-mounted air conditioner or heat pump running quietly overnight in a hotel room or apartment is not something most people think twice about, but a recalled batch of Amana units has been flagged for a defect that can send flames out of the unit’s control board. Daikin Comfort Technologies Manufacturing has recalled roughly 4,760 Amana Through-the-Wall air conditioners and heat pumps sold across the United States and Canada after finding that a circuit inside the unit can short and ignite. The units are most often installed in hotels, apartment buildings and other commercial spaces, where they frequently run unattended for hours at a time.

The Snubber Circuit Defect

The hazard traces to a component called a snubber circuit, a part of the control board that is meant to protect the unit’s electronics from voltage spikes. In the recalled units, that circuit can short internally, and when it does, it is capable of emitting flames rather than simply failing safely. Because these air conditioners and heat pumps are built into a wall and often run continuously in occupied spaces, a fire originating inside the unit poses a heightened risk compared with a portable appliance that can be unplugged and set aside.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notice states that the manufacturer has received two reports of the control-board component shorting, though no injuries have been reported to date. About 4,633 units were sold in the United States, with an additional 126 sold in Canada.

Which Models Are Affected

The recall covers five model numbers, all beginning with the prefix PB: four air conditioner models, PBC092J00AA, PBC093J00AA, PBC122J00AA and PBC123J00AA, and one heat pump model, PBH092J12AA. The units are white, with the Amana brand name printed on most of the control covers, and the model and serial numbers appear on a white sticker on the front edge of the base pan. The affected units were sold through direct sales and distribution customers nationwide between April 2025 and June 2026, at prices ranging from $625 to $900.

Through-the-wall units like these are especially common in older motels, extended-stay hotels, and apartment complexes built before central heating and cooling systems became standard, since a single self-contained unit can be installed directly into an exterior wall without ductwork. That widespread, decades-long use across the hospitality and multifamily housing industries is part of why even a recall covering fewer than 5,000 units can touch properties across many different states, and in this case, two countries.

How Owners Can Get a Refund

Owners of an affected unit are being told to stop using it immediately rather than wait for a repair kit. To receive a full refund, consumers must contact Daikin Comfort Technologies Manufacturing directly, provide their contact information, cut the unit’s power cord, and upload a photo showing both the serial number and the cut cord as proof that the unit has been taken out of service.

The company has set up a dedicated web page for the recall alongside a toll-free phone line for consumers who have questions about eligibility or the refund process. Because these units are frequently installed by building owners or property managers rather than individual tenants, the company is also relying on commercial customers who purchased units directly to help identify and remove affected equipment from active use.

A Recurring Issue for the Product Line

This is not the first fire-related recall tied to Daikin’s Amana-branded wall units. The company has issued separate recalls of similar through-the-wall air conditioners and heat pumps in the past over other fire and burn hazards, including a heating-element defect that could keep a unit energized even after it had been switched off. The recurrence underscores why regulators recommend building owners and property managers check model numbers against the agency’s recall database whenever a unit reaches the end of its production run or changes ownership.

What Guests and Tenants Can Do in the Meantime

For anyone staying in a hotel or living in a building where these units are common, the practical guidance is straightforward: locate the model number on the unit’s base pan and compare it against the recalled list before continuing to run it overnight. Property managers bear primary responsibility for identifying affected equipment, but a guest or tenant who spots a matching model number can still flag it to building staff rather than assume someone else has already checked. Because the defect involves a fire risk rather than a slow-developing failure, the recommended response is to stop using the unit immediately rather than monitor it for warning signs first.

Fire hazards tied to electrical components inside a sealed appliance are also difficult for an occupant to detect ahead of time, since a shorting circuit typically gives no external warning before it fails. That is part of why recalls like this one rely on model and serial numbers rather than asking consumers to judge a unit’s condition by sound, smell, or visible wear, and why checking the sticker on the base pan remains the only reliable way to know whether a specific unit is included.

This article was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by an editor.

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