A.O. Smith electric water heaters

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Jan 16, 2021 · , sent to the company Feb 9, 2021 · , published by CPSC Feb 24, 2021

   The product, in the report: The product is a gray 50 gallon hybrid water heater.

   AO Smith Water heater model number SHPT 50 100 smelled like burning plastic, when front cover was removed there was burned wiring and plastic inside. My home could have burned down with my husband, myself, and our 2 year old, and 15 month old baby inside.

   Model

   SHPT 50 100

   Serial number

   1552J004689

   Where

   Buena Park, California: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 1, Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand AO Smith, made or sold by A. O. Smith Water Products Company

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

2. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Aug 15, 2019 · , sent to the company Aug 23, 2019 · , published by CPSC Sep 9, 2019

   The product, in the report: 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

   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 assumption is that the reason that this flaw was not previously discovered is that with my unit, the heating element became corroded and caused a water leak which exposed live heating element wires and the water transferred the electricity to the jacket and other metal components; and the purpose of the ground is to protect the user and service personal from electrical shock. In this case my house ground wire was correctly terminated on the green grounding screw on the junction box but failed to ground the unit, since the junction box is not electrically connected to the jacket and other metal. With units that are working properly, the unit will function as normal without proper grounding, as the grounding is only used during an equipment failure like in my case, to protect the user and service personnel from electrical shock hazard.

   I am the owner of [REDACTED] which is a licensed electrical contractor in the State of California, California State Contractors Board License # [REDACTED], C-10 Electrical. I also have an 4-year technology degree from from [REDACTED] with a concentration in Electronics, an AA Degree in Electronics from [REDACTED] in [REDACTED] and a vocational certificate in Electronics from [REDACTED]. I graduated from [REDACTED] in 1983 and held various technical and electronics engineering positions at [REDACTED] for the next 24-years, and accepted early retirement 2007, then founded [REDACTED] shortly afterwards.

   Therefore, I feel that I am not only a consumer that received an electrical shock from a faulty unit, but I was able to verify exactly why I was shocked and determine exactly why the safety ground failed to protect me from electrical shock. I performed the testing by using a voltmeter to verify that there was approximately 120V on all of the water heater’s metal components. And obviously in that state it could hurt or kill anybody that touches it, especially since it was leaking water at the same time. I then switched off the unit and used an Ohm meter to check continuity from the green equipment grounding screw to the metal components. And what I found was an open circuit, the green equipment ground screw is not connected to the water heater’s metal components.

   FYI; I also filed a case with Lowes vendor safety department today and while awaiting their response I expect to receive next week, I will contact the City of San Diego Building Division and recommend that they test the unit for safety, prior to issuing city installation permits for this product.

   Thank you for investigating this issue. My primary concern is safety of others and I am extremely frustrated with the lack of concern from the manufacturer regarding this issue. And at the same I have spent countless hours and 3-months trying to bring this to their attention and at this point hit a “dead end”, and appreciate the work of your agency. Your agency obviously exists because of manufactures like this, that refuse to take even a few minutes to investigate safety claims of their products, even after one of their consumers gets shocked from a grounding flaw. Apparently it will take a multi million dollar claim from a death and/or a class action suit for them to take any action. My other theory is that they performed the test, determined the unit is not properly grounded and are unwilling to acknowledge the flaw to me for legal reasons. As I know the remedy will be a costly recall, and they will have to remove the products from the Lowes shelves until they correct the issue. Thanks again, [REDACTED] Cell: [REDACTED]

   Model

   HP10-50H45DV

   Bought from

   Lowes, California

   Bought

   Aug 10, 2017, about then

   Where

   La Jolla, California: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 58, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand A.O. Smith, made or sold by A. O. Smith Water Products Company

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

3. No one hurt

   Made Feb 10, 2017 · , sent to the company Feb 27, 2017 · , published by CPSC Mar 13, 2017

   The product, in the report: Commercial 40 gallon electric water heater

   Fire companies responded for an activated fire alarm at a university sports complex (stadium). Activation due to fire in utility room and was controlled by the activation of a single fire sprinkler. Fire appears to be caused by the malfunction/failure of an electric water heater, elevated approximately 6 ft above the floor, in which burning water heater components dropped down into combustibles below (mop, plastic mop bucket, plastic “WET FLOOR” sign, etc.) causing fire growth and spread in the compartment until suppression by the sprinkler.

   Model

   DEN 40 110

   Serial number

   J04M011019

   Where

   Lisle, Illinois: Place of Recreation or Sports

   Who was involved

   Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand A.O. Smith, made or sold by A. O. Smith Water Products Company

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources