SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20250116-014BA-2147333859. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Rheem XE50M12EC55U1 (Electric Hot Water Heater). Incident: I called Rheem customer service on 1/10/25 at 9AM EST about the control panel beeping. I also spoke to many different customer service reps during the day about the same issue. They all told me the same thing, turn the circuit breaker off and then back on to reset the control panel. They checked to see if the control panel part was available to send me to replace it. It wasnt in stock and they didnt have an ETA for getting them back in stock. They told me to check locally and see if any plumbing supply distributors had them in stock. If so they would reimburse me for the cost. I checked multiple places and nobody had that part in stock or were expecting to get any in. I informed them of this and they told me to return the tank to the place of purchase and they would replace it. I contacted a plumber who arrived shortly after. He checked the water heater and told me they wouldnt sell or install this brand of water heater because of all the problems theyve had with them in the past and the unavailability of replacements parts for them. He ordered a different brand water heater that would arrive on January 14, 2025 and scheduled the installation for January 15, 2025. At approximately 3:30PM on January 10, 2025, I was sitting in the second floor of my home and noticed a strong, burning plastic smell. I went to the lower level and opened one of the doors at the bottom of the landing. Flames were visible 1 foot above the top of my water heater and smoke was banked down at least 1 foot from the ceiling. I yelled for my wife to bring me an extinguisher. I extinguished the fire and