Gas leak from gas control valve on water heater

DIYer1000 · Dec 2, 2020

Hi all, I was hoping to get some advice from those with some experience.

I had a new State natural gas 40 gallon hot water heater installed by a plumber around five weeks ago. Since the install, I have had a gas smell coming from the top right corner of the gas control valve. The gas company has been to my house three times and their equipment has shown a slight leak of 120 PPM on average coming from the right top corner under the front lid of the gas control valve (photo attached). There is no leak at any of the connection points or anywhere else. If you lean down and sniff right above the valve, you can smell it. The whole room also smells of gas when the door is closed for a bit.

The first time, my plumber called State and they overnighted me a replacement valve. My plumber then replaced it. After a few days, I noticed the same thing again, called the gas company, they found the exact same problem (120 PPM leak). This time, I called State myself, they acknowledged that there have been some problems with these valves, but then went ahead and sent me a THIRD valve (Honeywell, same model). It was then replaced.

I am now on the third valve and am having the exact same problem (called the gas company again and 120-140 PPM, connections are all fine). I know this is not a dangerous leak, I'm not worried about that. But I am tired of going downstairs and smelling gas every time that I do. Also, I don't think it's normal to be smelling gas coming out of a brand new water heater, but maybe someone can shed some light on this situation.

I was thinking about calling State again (I have a case number), but this seems crazy. Thanks for your advice (photos attached).

Geofd · Dec 2, 2020

I wonder if state would recommend another equal gas valve from a different manufacturer even if they won't pay for it it may be your fix

DIYer1000 · Dec 2, 2020

Geofd said:
I wonder if state would recommend another equal gas valve from a different manufacturer even if they won't pay for it it may be your fix

Thanks for the reply. I have a feeling that's the direction we are going. I will say that their tech support were very friendly and the guy did say "let's try one more and see." They even offered to reimburse labor costs. So I get the impression that when I call back, they'll stand by the product. It wouldn't sit well with me if I had to pay out of pocket to get this right since it's brand new. But I was definitely curious about what you all thought before I call back and if you'd ever seen an issue like this before.

TomFOhio · Dec 3, 2020

First of all if there is a gas leak on that gas valve I'm surprised that the gas company didn't red tag it and turn
the gas off to it until it was fixed properly. I would tell your plumber that you want a new and different brand of water
heater installed and to take that one to the scrap yard. Lol..

DIYer1000 · Dec 3, 2020

TomFOhio said:
First of all if there is a gas leak on that gas valve I'm surprised that the gas company didn't red tag it and turn
the gas off to it until it was fixed properly. I would tell your plumber that you want a new and different brand of water
heater installed and to take that one to the scrap yard. Lol..

The gas company said that 140 PPM is not high enough to be dangerous, so they didn't shut it off. I was surprised too. My plumber completely ghosted me after the first gas valve replacement. I actually replaced the second one myself. I guess I have to call and argue with State again....it really seems like something with the valve though. So the consensus is that I shouldn't be smelling ANY gas right ? lol