SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20190220-39AEB-2147382586. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Calentadores de America, S.A. de C.V. Model: GSN-40T1-3-6 Natural Gas (Water Heater. See supporting documents below). Incident: On 1/29/2019. I purchased, in behalf of my daughter, a new 40 gallon gas water heater from Pyramid Pipe and Supply Co. The unit was advertised as new, full warranty, no box. However, after the unit was installed, I realized that this water heater was defective. I went back to Pyramid Pipe and Supply Co.and spoke with [REDACTED], Vice President. Mr. [REDACTED] asked me for a picture of the model number from the unit, which I did provide. He assured me that he would contact the manufacturer, American Standard regarding the defective tank. I asked him to copy me on all correspondence with American Standard regarding this matter, my concern was not only to be reimbursed for my cost to correct the defective tank, but I wanted to make sure that the manufacturer was aware of the problem I experienced. To be more specific, the inside of the tank did not contain a flue baffle. This caused the tank to become extremely overheated and set the smoke/fire alarm off in this tenant occupied property, where installed. Fortunately, no one was hurt. However, this could have been a very different outcome if this problem was not detected. I would like to make sure, that no other individuals are exposed to the potential hazards and problems with this product.