SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20170618-2E4E1-2147399614. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Armstrong Air/ Lennox/ Ducane/ AirEase/ Concord A96UH2E030B08S-01 (See previous description). Incident: Description of product; Gas Changeover Kit - natural to regulated LP/Propane. Manufacturer; Allied Air Enterprises. Manufacturer's part #13X57. This kit is used on some gas fired residential central heating systems. In my case, furnace model #A96UH2E030B08S-01 installed on 5/05/17. The problem is that the gas valve inlet brass fitting supplied with this kit, split open on the morning of 6/18/17, allowing LP gas to leak into my home. The installation instructions are quite specific as to the tightness of inlet pipe and fitting and not to use a channel lock pliers or pipe wrench on the brass fitting. I believe I followed the directions when installing it. My qualifications are that I had my own heating contracting business for 35 years until 2015 and was a licensed plumber for 25 years until 2016. The problem with the brass fitting easily splitting open can be understood by a visual inspection of the failed part. The material used is not substantial to begin with. Then a 1/2" pipe thread is tapped into the fitting at the factory, whereby more of the brass material is removed, thus further weakening the fitting. I believe this fitting should be immediately recalled and replaced by a fitting with a greater wall thickness.