SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20190520-DD166-2147380853. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Whirlpool NU501T122-403 (Gas Water heater model number NU501T122-403. Product number 0733326). Incident: Model number NU50T122-403 Whirlpool brand water heater is under recall. I received a letter in the mail back in February to enter the serial number of my gas water heater if it is part of the recall or not. I entered the serial number online and since my water heater has a pan underneath it is not part of the recall. I disagree with this because last Saturday we heard a loud humming sound and popping sounds. The fire on the burner is getting bigger and scared that this might cause fire because our water heater is also running on gas. This also explain why out water is sometimes scalding hot (burn hazard) even the water heater is at low. We immediately turn off the water heater and technical support confirmed that our water heater is being recalled but was told that we are not affected because of the pan. If we did not catch this, there is a potential fire and burn hazard waiting to happen. I think that all water heaters with or without pans should be fixed or replaced. We have children in the house so the probability of scalding is high.