SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20160609-B8B7B-2147417951. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: RHEEM Professional Water Heater PROE80 2 RH86 CONFIG=82V80-RH80GEL241PN (RHEEM 80 Gallon Professional Water heater not included in current recall. Unit Information Manufacture Date: 2014-01-21 Model Number: PROE80 2 RH86 CONFIG=82V80-RH80GEL241PN Serial Number: RHQ041411764). Incident: I have a RHEEM 80 gallon water heater not included in the current recall. It began to malfunction, heating water poorly. I opened the cover over the lower heating element and found an actual smoldering fire with sparking and arcing. Upon examination, the thermal insulation material under the cover was burned as well as the hard clear plastic cover over the terminal connection and the insulation over the wiring to the lower element. Additionally, the wire was fire damaged and brittle with a brief flame up on opening but was extinguished when I turned off the power. Unit Information RHEEM Professional 80 gallon water heater professionally installed by the builder's plumber. Manufacture Date: 2014-01-21 Model Number: PROE80 2 RH86 CONFIG=82V80-RH80GEL241PN Serial Number: RHQ041411764