Sorry, but I've never heard of the things you mention happening, but I have
seen someone die because he was too cheap to call a service company.

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
And how would you feel if the person he calls
comes to the door and shoots him dead? or the
repairman answering his call has an auto accident
and dies? or the repairman leaves his wife at
alone to answer the call and she is raped? etc. etc.

All have about the same probability as someone in
his family failing to wake up one morning.

No one argues that he needs to do something, but
let not go nuts with scare tactics.

Bob wrote:
I agree that it could be a dangerous situation, but I think he should
call
someone ASAP. It would be terrible if something happened, especially if
it
takes a few days for him to get around to doing it, and someone in his
family fails to wake up one morning.

"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
news
Dick wrote:


We had a new GE Profile Performance gas water heater installed in
April 2000. It works perfectly. However, for the last few months
every time it comes on there is a putrid smell coming out of the
burner. It's only bad because it is right next to the living room.

I had the gas company come out and check it for carbon monoxide, etc.
The technician could find no evidence of CO or a clogged vent pipe.
He did point out some debris that looks like chunks of ash on the
bottom under the burner. He said that might be the source of the
smell. Before I crawl on my belly like a reptile to try to clean it
out, does this sound like the problem? Or could it be something else?

That "bad gas smell" can be a warning of a serious problem,
even though the tech didn't find anything that day.

5 years is kind of early in the heater life, but I wouldn't rule
out a heater failure.

Yes, get in there and try to find the source of the "ash".
Might be rust from the tank flue or..who knows?

One cause of the bad smell we used to see frequently in older tanks
was collapse of the tank flue. That's the center coaxial tube
running from the burner straight up thru the middle of the tank.
Near end of life, high water pressure can actually crush the
central flue and choke off the combustion gases. The result is
poor combustion and release of the gases into the room via the
air inlet at the bottom of the heater.

The best way to see if this has happened in your case is to
pull the flue pipe off the top of the heater. Look down the
central flue in the heater. There may be a steel spiral
strip inside the flue; ignore that and look at the round
flue wall condition.

Could be other things like blocked chimney (see if cigarette smoke
will be drawn up the chimney flue) or even that the
"ash" was closing off part of the burner. Check everything;
I think it's a dangerous condition.

Jim