SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20200519-77AA4-2147372260. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: A. O. Smith Corporation G6-T4035NVR 400 (A. O. Smith, 40 Gallon, Tall, Natural Gas Residential Water Heater). Incident: I purchased an EO Smith Gas Water Heater from Lowe's ([REDACTED]) on March 14, 2020 and self installed the unit the following day. On May 16, 2020, after waking up to no hot water, I went to check the unit. The unit is in the garage, and sometimes when the garage doors are open, a strong enough draft is created that it blows out the pilot light. Prior to re-lighting the pilot light, I inspected the unit and noticed that the mesh screen (air intake dust screen) around the bottom ring of the unit was heavily melted and completely detached from the ring (picture included). The bottom of the unit was very hot to the touch. I immediately shut off the unit, closed the gas valve, and contacted the manufacturer. I informed the customer service representative that inside the access panel area of the bottom of the tank, the insulation between the tank and the outer steel jacket was hanging down at least an inch (see picture). As I relayed to the customer service rep, the insulation appeared to be restricting airflow for proper ventilation, which had in turn made the bottom ring so hot that it melted the mesh screen. The customer service rep. stated that the issue posed a safety risk and advised me to shut off the unit and replace it with a new one. The agent provided a replacement ID # to take to Lowe's so that I could swap it out. I went to exchange the unit at Lowe's the following day, May 17, 2020. When I returned home, I found the replacement unit's insulation was hanging down even lower, was at a significant angle, and a section of the insulation was hanging over the little wind