SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20190815-75DD0-2147379260. Severity: Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received. Product: A.O. Smith HP10-50H45DV (From Lowes: Item # 816193 Model # HP10-50H45DV A.O. Smith Signature Premier 50-Gallon Tall 10-year Limited 4500-Watt Double Element Electric Water Heater with Hybrid Heat Pump). Incident: I received an electrical shock from the water heater listed below, in May, 2019, and determined there is a possible grounding flaw with the design, that can cause injury or death. I shipped the unit back to the manufacturer in May, 2019, for evaluation of this issue and they notified me on 8/15/2019, that they are refusing to test the grounding; with my old unit which is in their possession or one of their new units. ([REDACTED] of A.O. Smith, Claims Manager sent me an email on 8/14/2019 stating that "If you feel our design that UL approves is faulty there are steps to bring it to UL�s attention. There is nothing more I can offer you.") Prior to that, I had spent several hours on the phone and email exchanges explaining my concern to my first their tech support department, then my risk management contact, [REDACTED], and she apparently referred the case to [REDACTED], who emailed me for the first time with this news that they are unwilling to test the grounding. The test would take about 1-minute and will confirm that there is no electrical continuity between the metal jacket, other metal surfaces, and the green equipment ground screw. This would confirm that the unit is not properly grounded. Per [REDACTED] request, I sent them several pages of emails and photos, as well as several phone conversations explaining my concern and exactly how they can perform this simple test. The unit was purchased from Lowes: Item # 816193 Model # HP10-50H45DV A.O. Smith Signature Premier 50-Gallon Tall 10-year Limited 4500-Watt Double Element Electric Water Heater with Hybrid Heat Pump My a