I have a 9 year old State 50 gal hot water heater. One day we noticed a smell in the room. It smells like my direct vent fireplace only stronger. I cleaned out the burner assembly, inner flue, and the power vent. It is better, but still there. When the water heater is on and the power vent is going, there is no smell. It is when the blower and burner turns off that the smell and hot air escapes from the top around the dome of the power vent. The CO2 meter is reading 0. The water heater itself is working just fine. I did not visually see anything in the exhaust vent and I tried blowing out the vent wth my shop vac. Besides, as I said, it is actually after the blower is off that the smell starts to escape.
Any suggestions as to what the smell is and how to eliminate it?
Any suggestions as to what the smell is and how to eliminate it?
