lumberjack
New Member
I put in a replacement gas water heater recently; the installation went well, and the heater works great. It's a Whirlpool N40S61-403 natural gas model with a Honeywell control unit. I obsessively leak checked all the gas line connections to the heater several times with no issues found. Unfortunately, if you put your nose right next to the control valve unit, there is a light whiff of gas. This is in an attic, with a lot of airflow, so you really have to get close to the control valve to notice the gas. A foot away, there is no odor. It's obviously a minor leak, but not acceptable.
I ordered a gas detector/tester, and got up to the attic to do some testing today. As expected, the gas lines and all connections are fine, but the detector begins clicking faster when I put it near the top seam of the plastic cover of the control unit. I took the cover off for more detailed testing, and was able to pinpoint the leak to a molded "spout" (for lack of a better word) on the front of the control unit. It has what looks like a pressed in plug with a small orifice (a little bigger than a pinhole) in the middle. If I had to guess, I'd say it's part of a valve or relief. There's also a concentration of gas coming from the back of the unit, but it is likely spillover from the main leak.
I am going to call Whirlpool tomorrow and see what they can do for me under warranty -- I assume I will need to install a new control unit. But I was wondering if anyone has run into an issue like this before, and if there's anything else I should check or test. I might be inclined to tighten up the manifold and pilot tube joints going into the control unit, but they really don't seem to be leaking according to the tester, and I hate to randomly re-tighten a fitting without a good reason.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Al
I ordered a gas detector/tester, and got up to the attic to do some testing today. As expected, the gas lines and all connections are fine, but the detector begins clicking faster when I put it near the top seam of the plastic cover of the control unit. I took the cover off for more detailed testing, and was able to pinpoint the leak to a molded "spout" (for lack of a better word) on the front of the control unit. It has what looks like a pressed in plug with a small orifice (a little bigger than a pinhole) in the middle. If I had to guess, I'd say it's part of a valve or relief. There's also a concentration of gas coming from the back of the unit, but it is likely spillover from the main leak.
I am going to call Whirlpool tomorrow and see what they can do for me under warranty -- I assume I will need to install a new control unit. But I was wondering if anyone has run into an issue like this before, and if there's anything else I should check or test. I might be inclined to tighten up the manifold and pilot tube joints going into the control unit, but they really don't seem to be leaking according to the tester, and I hate to randomly re-tighten a fitting without a good reason.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Al
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