PLEASE...check your water heater

[Cathy]

We have a 2002 Fuqua home

Our hot water heater was manufactured by State Industries. The temperature control (metal square thingy on the front) was manufactured by White-Rodgers. There is a recall of the temperature control from Oct 2002-March 2004. Here is the link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04128.html

Unfortunately, our water heater was manufactured in May 2002, and White Rodgers states that the problem is NOT due to the recalled item...THREE plumbers disagree...our home nearly caught fire! Luckily husband was home to turn off the propane! Smoke was billowing out of the water heater and there are charred areas on the insulation and a vast amount of soot buildup. This water heater has been in use 21 months (LESS than 2 years!!!!!!) and has gone out THREE TIMES!!!!!

I think it is a sad state of affairs when a company can not own up to a problem that they manufactured, especially when the problem is a danger that can threaten your home and even your life. We will be purchasing a NEW water heater (not much more $$ than replacing the temp control) and it will certainly not have any components made by STATE or White Rodgers.

I have submitted a complaint to State, White Rodgers and Fuqua...

[Frank]

I had situation similar to this in the mid-1990's. But what had happened is the plumber failed to change out the orifice when he hooked up my water heater to the LPG source. The water heaters on most manufactured homes, at least at that time, came set up for natural gas. A plumber must change an orifice and perform other actions when the heater is powered by LPG. It caused the water heater to soot up and they said "flame roll-out" is what caused my linoleum to catch on fire. I do not recall the manufacturer of the water heater.