LANCHEZ pressure washers recalled over electrocution risk from missing GFCI

A ground-fault circuit-interrupter that should have been built into the plug never made it onto 329 LANCHEZ-branded electric pressure washers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says, a gap that also left the machines with a power cord the agency calls inadequate for typical outdoor use. Ningbo Lanchez E-Commerce, the importer, is recalling the affected model, KLC-BULL135C, over a combination the agency says poses a serious risk of shock and electrocution. One report of a missing GFCI has been logged; no injuries have been reported.

A safety device the washer was never given

Unlike a recall triggered by a part that failed, this one covers a part that was never installed. A ground-fault circuit-interrupter is designed to sense a current imbalance as small as about 5 milliamperes and cut power in a fraction of a second, fast enough in most cases to stop a shock before it becomes lethal. On a compliant pressure washer, that protection sits in a small module on the plug itself, with a test button and a reset button a user can press to confirm it works.

The recalled LANCHEZ washers, a 3.2-gallon-per-minute model sold in blue-and-black or red-and-black, shipped without that module. “The recalled pressure washers lack an integral ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI) and an adequate-length power cord, which may encourage use of an extension cord, posing serious risks of injury or death from shock and electrocution hazards,” the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in the recall notice it posted September 17.

A short cord that invites the real risk

The cord length matters because of what pressure washing actually involves: standing water, a running motor and, often, a household extension cord bridging the gap between an outlet and wherever the job is happening. Electric pressure washers historically shipped with cords too short for most driveways or patios, pushing owners toward extension cords of their own choosing, some rated for indoor use only or already showing wear, according to a history of the industry’s safety requirements published by the trade outlet Cleaner Times. A working GFCI is meant to catch exactly that kind of improvised, imperfect wiring before it turns dangerous; a washer with neither the interrupter nor a cord long enough to avoid the workaround leaves both safeguards missing at once.

The third GFCI-omission recall of the year

LANCHEZ is not the only pressure washer brand CPSC has pulled for this exact defect in 2026. The agency recalled roughly 3,100 Le Hao Tool electric pressure washers on April 16 for lacking an integral GFCI, and a separate batch of 50 units imported by DGIVOVO on April 30, both citing nearly identical language about shock and electrocution risk. All three recalls involve pressure washers built by small importers and sold primarily online, rather than by the handful of major power-tool brands that dominate hardware store shelves.

The three recalls together cover fewer than 3,500 washers, a fraction of what a major brand recall typically involves, but the repetition suggests a specific gap: a low-cost, direct-import product category where the built-in safety component U.S. regulators expect is sometimes simply left out before the washer ever reaches a warehouse. CPSC’s notices for all three brands describe the same missing part in nearly the same words, which points to a shared manufacturing or sourcing shortcut somewhere upstream of the U.S. importers rather than three unrelated design failures. Owners of any of the three brands can report a shock, spark or other incident directly to CPSC through SaferProducts.gov, the same database that generated the single incident report behind the LANCHEZ recall.

A refund that requires destroying the washer first

LANCHEZ washers sold on Amazon.com and Walmart.com between February and June 2026 for $88 to $266, and the recall’s remedy is a full refund rather than a repair kit. To get it, the CPSC notice instructs owners to unplug the unit, cut the power cord in half, photograph the destroyed washer with its model number visible, and email that photo to [email protected] before the refund is processed. That destroy-first process is common in recalls tied to small, direct-import sellers who have no retail return network and no practical way to verify a returned unit’s condition otherwise; a consumer who wants the refund cannot simply set the washer aside undecided.

None of the three companies has disclosed why the GFCI module was omitted in the first place, whether as a cost-cutting decision, a components shortage, or a factory error that slipped past quality control before the washers shipped. CPSC’s recall process does not require a manufacturer to explain the root cause publicly, only to agree on a remedy, which is part of why consumers researching any of the three recalled brands will find a hazard description but no account of how the defect happened.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

More from Morning Overview