I live in a townhouse and the community center was recently remodeled. A new Rheem gas water heater was installed.

When passing by the closet the heater is in, a few residents have smelled a slight gas odor. The homeowners association called PG&E. PG&E came out and left a report that there was a 0% LEL gas in the air and outside the social center. In the closet there was as .2%LEL. They also said that the gas odor was coming from the sealed chamber of the water heater. PG&E turned off the water heater which they do as a precaution, especially after the incident in San Bruno.

The plumber who installed the water heater came out the next morning, read the PG&E report and said we should call Rheem Water Heater company because it was under warranty and if he tried to fix the water heater, it would void the warranty. Rheem was called and told what PG&E had written and they said their local contractor would be out that day to check the water heater. He arrived and explained that we have a new water heater which is a closed combustion water heater with an infrared mechanism. It is not one of the older ones that had pilot lights. This water heater is equipped with a safety device and vents on the side so when it detects gas outside of the water heater it automatically shuts off. It has a lot of insulation and everything is sealed inside the chamber so gas cannot come out there. He sprayed a chemical on all the gas connections which bubbles when there is any gas. There was absolutely no bubbling. He used his lighter to check to see if the flue was drawing the gas up and to the outside. If the gas was not being drawn up the flue and was coming out the sides the flame from his lighter would have gone out. He also checked to make sure the flue pipe was hot from the gas going up it as well as visually seeing the heat come out from the chimney on the top. He said that the flue was installed properly and had the correct angle to take out the gas and that the two vents in the closet were good and proper and he checked them from the outside also.

The technician explained that since we do not use the hot water in that building very often, when the water heater goes off the gas just remains inside the water heater until it goes back on again and then it is pushed out and up the flue. Some of the gas goes out the sides of the flue when a lot has collected. When the hot water was turned on earlier today it must not have been on for a while, perhaps several days, so there was a lot of gas that had built up and was pushed out. We ran the hot water again at two different times to make sure the water heater came back on and we did not smell the gas again. In our homes we run the hot water all the time so the water heater is going on and off a lot and we don't get that build up of gas.

He said PG&E didn't have the same testing equipment that the contractor did and weren't qualified to work on the water heater. The contractor is sending us a written report stating that they found no gas leak.

When installed, the work passed all the City inspections

So, should we be concerned about this?

There is a difference between the smell of gas and the smell of combustion products. ( Although carbon monoxide itself is odorless, other products of combustion will cause an aroma in the flue gas, and it is different than the smell of gas ).

You say it is in a closet, and if so, there is required to be significant vents in the door and/or walls to provide fresh combustion air. Did anyone look at this issue?

I would say install a CO detector nearby if you do not already have it, and also if there is concern, BRK or Kidde also have a combo alarm which included natural gas detector

Thanks for the suggestion. I will pass it on to the board. But the required venting in the door is there, and passed inspection.

quote; When the hot water was turned on earlier today it must not have been on for a while, perhaps several days, so there was a lot of gas that had built up and was pushed out.

Now, if that is not a bunch of c***. If the burner is off there should be NO "gas build up", and especially NOT "a lot of gas that had built up and was pushed out".

Any "technician" who claimed the buildup of gas caused the odor either had to be kidding or he had no answer and was trying to hide his ignorance.

And even if there were a small trace of gas in the chamber, the heat that was created when it was firing, caused a draft to go up the chimney. This would also pull out any gas or combustion that was left in the chamber. Did he spray the main burner tube or pilot tube when the unit was running? Sometimes they can have a small leak, and will usually only leak when the unit is on.

"He used his lighter to check to see if the flue was drawing the gas up and to the outside. If the gas was not being drawn up the flue and was coming out the sides the flame from his lighter would have gone out. "

Seriously? Anyone else have any problems with this?

THere is proper test equipment to "sniff" for gas. A lighter is NOT one of them! I would get a second opinion. As the others have sugested, I don't think this cat knew what he was doing. You should not be getting a gas small from any gas equipment...ever! THe smell is there for a reason; to alreat you that something is wrong.

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Thank you all. I've shared this thread with our Board, and based on the comments here, they will continue to pursue this with both Rheem and the installing plumber. I'll let you know what happens.....

The light was to check for draw/draft up the chimney, (I usually use a piece of smoking paper), not for the presence of gas vapors.

i have used a lighter also but only to check for draft as hj stated

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PLUMBERS "Protecting The Health Of The Nation"

A water heaters after a certain date must be flammable vapor ignition resistant. Basically the technology involves variously configured flame arrestor screens that have precise openings. All the combustion air passes thru these engineered flame arrestor screens. When the air passes thru these screens a venturi i.e increase in velocity of the air now becomes faster than the velocity of which flames would trave lthru a flammable vapor.So if this air does contain flammable vapors this "contaminated" air will enter the combustion chamber and be ignited. The flames are trapped inside this combustion chamber and not allowed to escape.When this happens a thermal sensing device shuts down the water heater. If this happens different mfg require fixes from replacing the heater to replacing or resetting the sensor. These things can malfunction caused by dust, lint, all kinds of junk in the air. Possibly a congressman or some politian walked nearby? Who knows??