More than 500,000 water heaters were recently recalled after officials determined that “their gas burner screens can develop tears, posing a fire hazard.” According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the recall includes about “616,000 A. O. Smith Ultra-Low NOx water heaters.” The faulty water heaters were manufactured between April 8, 2011, and August 1, 2016.
More than 500,000 water heaters were recently recalled after officials determined that “their gas burner screens can develop tears, posing a fire hazard.” According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the recall includes about “616,000 A. O. Smith Ultra-Low NOx water heaters.” The faulty water heaters were manufactured between April 8, 2011, and August 1, 2016.
The fact that the burner screens can develop tears is a major problem because the screens act as a protective barrier to prevent fire hazards. In fact, the recall notice states that when tears develop in the burner screens, “the water heater’s burner can then create excess radiant heat, posing a fire hazard if the water heater is installed directly on a wood or other combustible floor.”
The issue itself was first discovered when employees of A.O. Smith Corp. “received six reports of fires stemming from the water heaters in cases where they were installed on a combustible surface.”
The recall includes the “30-, 40- and 50-gallon natural or propane gas-fired Ultra-Low NOx emission gas water heaters.” The majority of these water heaters were sold to retailers throughout California under the following brand names:
• Whirlpool
• American
• A.O. Smith Corp.
• Kenmore
• U.S. Craftsmaster
• Reliance
According to the recall notice, all the recalled water heaters have serial numbers beginning with “numbers between 1115 and 1631.” To see if your water heater is included in the recall, click here. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported in connection to the recalled water heaters.
Sources:
Water heaters recalled due to fire hazard
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