Goodman furnace & plastic vent safety recall:

This document provides residential heating furnace safety information about the Goodman Furnace Heating Vent Safety High Temperature Plastic Vent HTPV Recall By Goodman Manufacturing, a Houston TX air conditioning and heating firm.

To be clear, Goodman did not itself manufacture the HTPV piping but rather obtained it from other HTPV manufacturers. Nonetheless, the Goodman HTPV vent is a serious safety hazard because it risks release of dangerous, potentially fatal carbon monoxide gas in buildings if this defective furnace vent has not been replaced.

Goodman Plastic Heater Vent HTPV Recall Notice, Contact Information, Details

Goodman plastic heater vents were recalled by the company originally in 1998 and in an updated notice in 2009 (as Plexvent™ or Ultravent™) , because of the possibility of carbon monoxide leakage hazards.

Cracks in the flue venting system were reported due to corrosion and cracking. Our literature review indicates that there were about 10,000 Plexvent & Ultravent HTPV flue gas venting systems used to vent combustion products from some Goodman mid-efficiency furnaces that were in turn manufactured between October 1988 & July 1994.

Identification & Images / Photos of Goodman HTPV Plastic Heater Vents

• Heating equipment model & brand 
  
  using recalled Goodman HTPV: the heating system models involved include GUP, GDP, GUPS, GDPS, GUPI, GDPI, GUPX, GDPX, GMP and GMPV. Goodman-manufactured heaters to which this recall pertains were sold under the brands of Goodman: Janitrol, GMC, Hamilton Electric, Franklin, Liberty & Sears or Kenmore.
• HTPV location, installation method, & appearance 
  
  or color: Goodman HTPV vent piping may be found installed vertically up thorough a building's roof or horizontally as a side-wall direct vent instllation.
  • Gooodman HTPV pipe in the [few] we've seen is a plastic vent piping that is black or gray in color.
  • Goodman HTPV pipe is usually marked with a stamping along a side of the plastic pipe with the imprint of the brand Plexvent, Plexvent II, or Ultravent . These brand names may also appear on stickers affixced to the flue vent connectors such as elbows or couplings.
• Goodman HTPV photos:
  
  [If you can provide us with a photo of the Goodman HTPV that was the subject of this recall, please Contact Us.]

US CPSC Notice: Goodman Announcement of Recall to Replace HTPV Pipes

For Immediate Release   Contact: Jane Francis
February 24, 1998    (301) 504-0580 Ext. 1187
Release # 98-073

CPSC, Goodman Announce Recall to Replace HTPV Pipes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Since August 1996, Goodman Manufacturing Company, L.P., of Houston, Texas, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has been conducting a program to replace high-temperature plastic vent (HTPV) pipe used to vent about 8,000 Goodman mid-efficiency gas furnaces. The HTPV pipe used in these vents could be susceptible to corrosion, cracking and joint separation, which could result in the release of carbon monoxide into living areas, presenting a deadly threat to consumers.

Although Goodman did not manufacture HTPV pipe, some models of Goodman furnaces were vented using HTPV material produced by other companies. Goodman voluntarily undertook its replacement program to help ensure the safety and comfort of its gas-appliance customers and has already replaced many HTPV systems.

For each Goodman furnace that is horizontally vented with HTPV pipe, Goodman will continue to arrange for replacement of the vent with a new, approved vent at no charge. Alternatively at the homeowner's option, Goodman will continue to replace the entire furnace and vent with a brand new, high-efficiency Goodman furnace and suitable vent for only the manufacturer's price for the new furnace itself, with no charge for labor, associated materials or dealer markup.

Owners of Goodman furnaces that are vented with HTPV pipe should contact their local heating contractor for more information or call Goodman at (800) 394-8084.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number.

Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov or via Internet gopher services at gopher.cpsc.gov. Consumers can report product hazards to info@cpsc.gov. To establish a link from your web site to this press release on CPSC's web site, create a link to the following address: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml98/98073.html.

022498,CPSC, Goodman Announce Recall to Replace HTPV Pipes

Recall & Warranty or Claims Coverage for Goodman Plexvent or Ultravent Recalled venting systems

• Goodman HTPV Claims prior to 1 October 2009:
  
  For Plexvent or Ultravent installations for which a valid claim was submitted on or before 10/1/2009 and with repairs completed and documented by 1/1/2010 the homeowner could receive a new venting system installed by a professional at no cost or [depending on un-stated variables] a new high-efficiency Goodman heating system and venting system for the manufacturer's price of just the furnace - that is, you buy a new heater and the vent system is installed free
• Goodman HTPV Claims after 1 October 2009:
  • Plexvent 
    
    vent system owners may receive up to $400 as a credit towards the purchase and installation of a new vent system or towards the purchase of a new Goodman furnace that does not require an HTPV vent.
  • Ultravent
    
    vent system owners could receive a rebate of up to $250. towards a replacement HTPV vent system or or towards the purchase of a new Goodman furnace that does not require an HTPV vent.

TECHNICAL NOTES on the Plastic Heating Vent Safety Concern:

Ontario, 1-2 yrs ago, 3 mfgs:

• Plexvent
• Celvent (selvent?)
• Ultravent

Coming apart at cemented joint and also general pipe cracking on plastic vents used on mid-range efficiency gas furnaces and boilers.

They had an 8/96 deadline to replace all units - as the entire unit incl. vent was listed as an entire unit, couldn't just replace the vent so replaced a bunch of entire systems. Thousands done that way.

Class action lawsuit against manufacturers, Ontario New Home Warranty Program, &c

Each manufacturer had to get its unit re-listed, some went to stainless steel vents, most went to a new plastic with an exterior additional induced draft fan so even if cracks inside, flue gases won't leak into the house.

OPINION: some furnace blower fans defeat the furnace's heating efficiency by exhausting heat from the house. Some thoughts that are adding complexity - second fan, but it's probably interlocked so will shut down heat if fan fails.

2/7/97 tc Daniel Friedman with Giddings at CPSC:

• Flexco, Hardin Cooley, mid efficiency furnaces and boilers,
• GE Resin - Ultratemp - failed in 2-6 years;
• AGA certified furnaces and boilers -
• He estimates in US they are in 350,000 homes - boilers in Northeast and Furnaces in more temperate areas.
• St first boiler mfgs supplied the vent with the heater
• Later the material was "specified" but not included with the heater

The Fix for these Plastic Heater Vents:

• Stainless steel and power vent
• Ontario first observed the failures - before in US
• a second-generation - 1993-4 - pipe performed better but has no data to prove it's long term performance is ok - UL has changed its standards. Radel -- is a replacement pipe.

How to Identify the problem Plastic Heating Vents:

• Plex-vent is marked - the revised mix is Plex-vent-2 - both are black
• Ultra-vent - see date code on the pipe - gray pipe - new is post 8/93
• CEL-vent - black pipe - revised mix is Celvent-2

CPSC sees fewer field failures with the new stuff - but no long term data yet. Says the second-generation plastic is no longer specified by the heater mfgs.

• Chevron Sued GE
• Consumer class action ongoing in Tennessee

He (Giddings) sent ASHI a letter 9/96 - to Paterkevich - will re-fax to me got a mumbled reply from some unknown ASHI guy

Typical cost to cure defective or unsafe plastic heating vent pipes is $400-$600.

Other information sources on the plastic heater vent safety recall:

• Carson Dunlop tech notes
• the CPSC letter to ASHI
• GAMA - Gas Appliance Mfgs Assoc - or maybe AGA or Dan's reference - Doug DeWerth
• UL had meetings in June '94 on problems with plastic vent piping and the UL Standard 1738 - what were the pre and post revision standard texts?
• Don Fugler, at Canadian Meeting Association of CMHC - Research and QA - per Steve Bliss at the Journal of Light Construction?
• Don Fugler, CMHC Canadian Home Mortgage Corp? - 613-748-2658 in Ottowa - ?? what's this note about

2/8/97 Actions Taken by DF

• ASHI Reporter article (done)
• Internet article(done)
• JLC Article - poss extra exposure in tract homes (done)
• get info first from varied sources and review my notes with CPSC &C

 

...

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