Rheem water heater w/ Honeywell gas valve - faint gas odor around

[dmflyer]

I have a 50 gallon Rheem water heater in my basement. It's about eight years old and installed under previous homeowner. It's still under parts warranty with Rheem. Over the last three years, I have had replaced the Honeywell Gas valve professionally three separate times and once even the pilot control knob. Each time, I notice a very faint, but mostly consistent gas odor directly around the gas valve (both over it and under it). Sometimes, I can also smell the odor a few feet directly above the valve near where the Rheem logo appears on the picture shown below.

Gas company has come out before and they can't detect anything around any parts of the water hater or even on any of the gas lines in the vicinity including any joints. I even purchased a sniffer (TOPTES PT520A) than can detect 50PPM and above and nothing so far. I ordered another sniffer (Forensics Natural Gas detector) that goes down to 0PPM to see if there's an even lower concentration and am waiting for it to arrive. That said, multiple people have commented on noticing the odor. My sense of smell is quite sensitive and I have correctly detected previous gas leaks (confirmed by gas company visit) with an older oven and a dryer and have since replaced those. I'd rather be safe than sorry and natural gas concerns me.

Rheem states they have have no recalls on the Honeywell gas control valve. Depending on which Rheem support phone agent I speak to, some claim that it's normal to smell some gas within 6 inches since there is venting. Some plumbers have also backed this statement while others have said it's absolutely not ok to smelly any gas. All Rheem wants to do is keep sending me a new gas valve - the exact same one. Most recently yesterday another one was shipped to me that I will once again have to pay for to install. I'm wondering what would be the next logical step here. Should I just purchase a new water heater from a different company? Local plumber advised me to get rid of Rheem and go with Bradford White.

Hoping for some guidance here from more experienced folks. Just concerned for my family. Wondering if there is anything I can do differently.

 

[breplum]

Buy yourself a cheap chinese natural gas sniffer. If you have no gas leaks, at the piping joints, AND have a CO detector in that room, then stop worrying.
Hope you have a drain on that floor as T&P line is supposed to go to outdoors by code requirements.
And, single wall vent pipe is only allowed in "conditioned" spaces, ie rooms with a heating source, otherwise it is required to be double wall

 

[Twowaxhack]

There is an allowable leakage from gas valves. You test a gas control valve with gas leak detection solution.

A good detector will pick up the gas and will also detect pipe dope. So a detector isn’t 100% effective in this situation.

 

[dmflyer]

Buy yourself a cheap chinese natural gas sniffer. If you have no gas leaks, at the piping joints, AND have a CO detector in that room, then stop worrying.
Hope you have a drain on that floor as T&P line is supposed to go to outdoors by code requirements.
And, single wall vent pipe is only allowed in "conditioned" spaces, ie rooms with a heating source, otherwise it is required to be double wall

Thank you both for the responses and advice.

The gas company came out and did extensive testing and could not detect anything from anywhere. I guess I have some relief. It's a bizarre situation, but I think I've done everything on my end to cover myself here.

@ breplum - to answer your questions. There is a floor drain not pictured that is about ten feet away. The room is definitely conditioned and usually around 70 degrees F - at the lowest I believe around 62 F if not more. I'm assuming that would suffice for it to be single wall vent wipe? I'm no expert so this is all new to me. Unless you mean something entirely different?

 

[TomFOhio]

Did they put a kohlman guage on your meter. Around here there is no allowance what so ever . Did they spray leak
detector on the pilot and burner tube under the gas valve?

 

[Twowaxhack]

Did they put a kohlman guage on your meter. Around here there is no allowance what so ever . Did they spray leak
detector on the pilot and burner tube under the gas valve?

https://www.hvacrmart.com/assets/images/Resources/RHEMWHE01063_1.pdf

 

[dmflyer]

Did they put a kohlman guage on your meter. Around here there is no allowance what so ever . Did they spray leak
detector on the pilot and burner tube under the gas valve?

She did not - I was not even aware of what a kohlman gauge is. She did not spray leak detector even though they had the bottle with them. I asked about it and she said they are not allowed to spray around that specific area with the liquid, only the sniffer. She also said they only spray with solution if the sniffer picks up anything to confirm accuracy. She also did not smell anything at all during the visit either while I thought I kept smelling it standing right next to her.

 

[TomFOhio]

https://www.hvacrmart.com/assets/images/Resources/RHEMWHE01063_1.pdf

If the pressure on the kohlman guage drops any they will red tag it. I've fixed many leaks on the gas valve in order
to pass the test and get the gas back on for the homeowner.

 

[Twowaxhack]

If the pressure on the kohlman guage drops any they will red tag it. I've fixed many leaks on the gas valve in order
to pass the test and get the gas back on for the homeowner.

Ok, I guess Rheem made up the Ansi ruling.

We valve off the appliances before tests then soap the portion from the valve to the gas control.

Not trying to knit pick but it’s spelled Gauge.

 

[Twowaxhack]

It’s Kuhlman and it’s a Manometer. Geezzzzzzzz

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

She also did not smell anything at all during the visit either while I thought I kept smelling it standing right next to her.

Maybe it was her perfume?

 

[TomFOhio]

That is kinda nit pick when we don't agree with you. I'm saying that we had to put certain pressure on all the
new shut off valves to all the appliances and then open them separately to each appliance against the gas
control valve. If they didn't hold we had to replace them. Hope I spelled everything right.

 

[Twowaxhack]

That is kinda nit pick when we don't agree with you. I'm saying that we had to put certain pressure on all the
new shut off valves to all the appliances and then open them separately to each appliance against the gas
control valve. If they didn't hold we had to replace them. Hope I spelled everything right.

You didn’t disagree with me, you disagreed with the proof I posted from Rheem. You acted like that didn’t exist but it’s in black and white for you and everyone else to read.

 

[TomFOhio]

The gas company doesn't pay much attention to flyerrs with the water heaters. 220 cm at 3 hr must be so small
that a gauge would not even show it. The very bottom of the paper says to repair any leaks with soapy water and
bubble test. That is what I told the OP to check.

 

[Twowaxhack]

It’s not a flyer that came with a water heater, it’s an ANSI standard pertaining to gas valves.

This is nothing new, I’ve known about this standard for years.

 

[TomFOhio]

Ok that is always good to know....