What would cause heavy soot buildup on a propane gas water heater? The unit is a Reliance 606 / Model 640 YORS / Serial No. MO1107793. The pilot and burner were off, so I could not observe the flame color or pattern.
From the serial number, would I be correct in guessing it was built in 2001?
I was thinking that it was an improper air mixture. As a matter of fact the soot did spill out onto the outer shell. The owner made an attempt to wipe it off, but there were still signs of it on the shell.
The vent pipe on top of the roof looked O.K. could not get a close up because it was a metal roof. However, the vent pipe from atop the tank to the ceiling is not a straight run, instead it had a series of adjustable collars to route around the water inlet pipe to line up with the pipe going throught the ceiling. I would attach a picture, but I am having a bit difficulty.
Off the subject, when attaching photos is there a trick, when I click once or even twice on the Attach Image icon nothing happens.
Thanks for the tip Chris, between turning off the pop-up blocker and resizing the photo, the image manager now see’s it. Now I just hope that it actually post!
The picture was posted to show the unusual vent pipe configuration. I didn’t know if the configuration was akward enought to prevent good draft, which would possibly explain the bad air mixture causing the soot. The soot is at the bottom of the unit, and there was only a small amount left after the owner wiped it off. The heavy soot buildup was in the burner chamber. Couldn’t get a good picture of it. I did recommend to the client to have it examined by a professional gas appliance tech. The hot water heater had other issues (no TPR drain line, no drain pan). Thanks for the info.
As per install book, that model code YORS is actually a nat gas tank (possibly a YORS w/ propane conversion installed w/o gas pressure spring adjustment?).
In above case and IMHO, HWH should be placed “Out of Service” until it is determined to be set up for use with propane.
When using standard Caution, Warning, and Danger (as seen often in manufacturer install books), IMHO, an unknown gas type / product set-up would fall in the Danger Category.
Revise my original - “Needs to be looked at by service professional” to “Discontinue use until looked at by service professional”.
Full Disclosure: I am not a Home Inspector, so I do not understand what SOP would be in this case, Just offering a humble opinion based upon my limited knowledge of the difference between Nat Gas and Propane properties.