Comments on: AO Smith ProMax Hot Water Heater = Crap

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:06:44 +0000

I feel like the newest member of A.O. Smith Anonymous…Hello, my name is Evan. And I bought an A.O. Smith water heater 5 years ago.
The pilot light on my Promax began going out 5 days ago. I would relight and relight. Finally had our gas utility come out and take a look. He took a brush to something near the burner and it stayed lit for 24 hours. Now I’ve given up on relighting and we’re “showering” with a pot of hot water and a cup! Ridiculous!
I just bought a replacement thermocouple but decided to Google before installing. That’s when I came across this blog and all your helpful responses.
Not sure what to do next. Considering a tank-less unit and kick A.O. Smith to the curb.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:41:06 +0000

Just think of how many home owners have a promax (pro max) and just call a plumber or don’t do the research or digging around to find out the real story with this company.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:36:06 +0000

I am so thankful that I got the ao smith promax heater out of my house. It and the company that supports it are a piece of junk. The water heater failed miserably and their customer support was unhelpful and disinterested in working with me at all to make the situation right.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:40:36 +0000

Hi all,

Single mom homeowner in pro max hell…This is crazy that this many people have the same problem I do. Makes me feel less alone I guess, but even more frustrated! There has to be something we can do?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:56:34 +0000

WOW! This sucks to read all these issues after my 50 gal is petering out. I had thermo couple replaced last year and now acting up again. I’m up in northeast OH and the winters are cold. Not looking forward to going home to tell the wife that we have a piece of crap that is only 3-4 yrs old. What we can do? I’ll do anything to get Promax to make things right, since I can’t afford a new one. Has anyone had any success yet with warranity or Gov help? I wonder how many others that are out there?

By: Scott Robinson

Scott Robinson — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:31:51 +0000

My AO pro max has been doing this for 2 years. It just started again yesterday, it was 6 months since I had the screen cleaned. I am calling my plumber today and telling him to get this piece of crap out of my home!!!!

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:44:03 +0000

I have two 50 gallon AO Smiths hooked up inline and having the same problem with only one of them??????Count me in for a class action suit also…

By: Dominic

Dominic — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:58:14 +0000

This is a piece of junk. Count me in for class action suit.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:28:02 +0000

So PO’ed at my AO Smith ProMax GCV50! Had ours installed around Dec 30, 2008 by a local plumber (who obviously is unaware of how poor a product this is), and have had at least 5 plumber visits after having the pilot light go out at least 10-12 times since installed. The various plumbers have basically rebuilt my water heater, replacing every working part, except the tank. Cannot identify a cause and effect for when the pilot light goes out – sometimes the air outside is perfectly calm, sometimes there are higher winds. Our original water heater, installed in 1988, lasted until Dec 2008, and I was just being proactive as there were no major issues (and the pilot light had NEVER gone out!) – I just thought after 20 years, I should replace it with a more efficient heater – now I wish I could go find my old one and put it back.

I am not sure how we all hold AO Smith accountable – anyone have knowledge about how to start a class action suit?

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:52:59 +0000

Hi,

It appears that I have inadvertently joined an elite club of folks who have been scammed by a company once known for it’s quality products. I’m a GC and residential construction consultant. I find myself in the embarrassing position of having recommended to one of my best clients that they replace a pair of hot waters heaters with AO Smith units having extolled the virtues of quality and longevity which I will now have to retract. I installed my own AO Smith about five years ago thinking I was good to go for fifteen or twenty years. Duh !!! Screwed again. Days later mine punks out and NEVER finishes a heating cycle so there I am, laying on the funky basement floor relighting the pilot just to catch a shave and a shower. Sooooooo disappointed to read these comments!!!! Remember the days when an American company made a quality American product in America for American consumers who thought they were paying for and getting the best. Give me a Bosch on demand water heater any day and let AO Smith figure out what happened to their consumer base. I think its important that folks take the time to add their experiences to these forums. Its a powerful tool that should be used. If someone is starting an action against AO Smith I will gladly join in. Thanks everyone !!!! Wayne@HouseWhispererCT.com

By: Clif

Clif — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:48:43 +0000

I would sure be intertested in a lawyer starting a class action law suit against AO Smith, I have the same problem with my ao smith piece of junk. It cost plenty to have it put in , hopeing for a quality water heater. Makes me upset to say the least.

By: same thing here

same thing here — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:21:03 +0000

Our water heater was installed brand new in 2005, and it has this exact same problem we light it 5 times every day. I cant even google a place to find warrenty info.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:17:49 +0000

Well after reading all the reply’s I’m starting to feel sick. I must be the lucky winner here..I got my A.O.Smith 6 yrs ago..I beat you all. Same problem won’t stay lit. I’m on disability so money doesn’t come easy..I’ll go clean it now..See if that works..If not I’ll be getting my friends mac 10 and have a field day.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:31:56 +0000

…started this same scenario 3 days ago….YUCK!!! I have vacuumed, brushed, cleaned, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit, re-lit,

This thing sucks. I have to limp through for about 2 months until I can afford to buy a new one…….it won’t be AO Smith or any company whose heaters are made by AO Shith…(wait, I think I misspelled it that second time…or did I?)

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 22:53:50 +0000

July 24,2011

Same problem here! We had our water heater installed in December 2008 it did the same thing with the pilot and some “arrestor” part had to be replaced in September 2010 LESS THAN 2 YEARS!!!! But now July 2011 we’re having the same problem again! just 9 months later and it’s going to cost us another $175. This is so upsetting!!!

By: Allan

Allan — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:38:17 +0000

I had a 40-gallon A.O. Smith water heater that worked fine for almost 21 years. For the past couple years it leaked a little, so 2 days ago I decided to replace it. I bought a Sears Kenmore 50-gallon water heater (made by A.O. Smith) that was except for a larger diameter the same dimensions with the same connection locations. Thus installation yesterday was simple and straight-forward. Immediately last night I experienced issues with the pilot light going out and cold water this morning. I find simply pushing slightly on the thermocouple wire between the gas control valve and the heater housing will shutoff all gas flow (both main burner and pilot). I don’t know yet if I have a faulty thermocouple or faulty thermocouple tip mounting near the pilot flame. Sometimes the pilot lights quickly and other times it takes a lot of igniter striking to light. It is also possible that thermal expansion of burner componenets misaligns the thermocouple and shuts off the gas supply. I’m supposed to have a Sears service person come to my house on Monday and it better be covered under the warranty! I (it appears falsely) assumed that A.O. Smith was still a quality brand of water heater.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:53:24 +0000

I have an A O Smith Pro Max and the same exact problem is plaguing mine. I cleaned the side screens but did not know about the bottom screen. I will try cleaning that but it sounds like that won’t do it. Thanks A O Smith for building a very low quality product and charging an arm and a leg for it. Time to call the New York State Attorney General.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:56:32 +0000

Three things, whatever.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:54:34 +0000

I have a Promax unit that is 8 years old. It started giving me fits about 3-4 years ago. Lots of cold showers in the morning. Mine would usually stay lit for some undetermined amount of time and then go out randomly. Sometimes, it gets to the point where it will only stay lit for one cycle. I fixed it with a combination of two things: 1.) Clean the screen well, and on a regular basis. 2.) Dust around the area well. 3.) Clean off the thermocouple. The thing the pilot light keeps warm is a piece of junk part and it gets covered in soot eventually. My theory is that it causes the thermocouple to malfuntion.

Even this will only get you a couple of months at a time, and make sure you cut your gas off if you try to do anything to it. Most people are probably better off paying someone to do this.

I’m problematic again after about six months of no issues and the pilot light is going out again. I’m going to be on a mission tomorrow to fix it up using the steps outlined and eventually replace it with a different model. And I can’t believe how much they charge for this brand!

By: Mat

Mat — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:39:34 +0000

This water heater is a piece of junk. I am experiencing the same problem and mine is only five years old. I tried everything and I am tired of relighting the pilot twenty times a day. On top of it my wife keeps nagging about a new water heater day in day out.
I am overfrustrated.

By: Marc Dantonio

Marc Dantonio — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:20:48 +0000

Anddddd now I enter the fray as well… My AO Smith Pro Max is 7-8 years old and is now not staying lit. I light the thing over and over and in fact just moments ago watched it go OUT while in the middle of a cycle. The screen is as CLEAN as can be…
The last time we had a problem with ‘out of warranty’ roofing products in this household, the attorney general was involved and just weeks later we had a new roof.. I am SURE AO Smith will respond to Attorney General complaints IF people all get together in this state (Connecticut) and begin the process… Anyone else in CT?
email: fxmodels@hotmail.com

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:49:45 +0000

I am a new member of the AO Smith water heater from Hell Club! We have been dealing with the hot water nightmare for nearly a month. Like Chris I was told to clean the filter. We ordered a new igniter. The heater is not even 6 yrs. old. The plumber that put the igniter on told me it will not work. He suggested taking piece of s– water heater out to the curb for the trash people to pick up and get another one. Good idea if you have the money which I don’t right now.
I just fired off a message to the co’s home office. I mentioned I was going to talk to my atty. this wek about a matter we are working on and I intend to ask what can be done about a co. that knows it has sold faulty. Thanks for the web site!
The new igniter and cleaning the filter did nothing. We are still manually lighting the piece of crap. Pat. R.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:31:54 +0000

I feel your pain. I can’t tell you how frekin frustrating it was for me to have to make sure I lit the pilot light every night before I went to bed. I would just pray it would stay on long enough to get enough hot water in there so I could take a luke warm shower in the morning. I’ll look to see what I can find, but this was / is such a problem with AO Smith that they will send you special tools for cleaning that stupid flame arrester / screen at the bottom. I mean seriously A.O. Smith ProMax water heater .. if your product is so poorly designed that you have to make a whole screen cleaning kit to deal with this, I would say there’s a design flaw. There’s a video somewhere too of how to clean the ProMax water heater. I think it’s at hotwater.com or something like that.

If I were you, and I really couldn’t afford a new water heater, I would open a warranty call with AO Smith and start fighting with them. They’ll dispatch someone, but make sure you have the person that arrives at your house make sure they take the proper readings in order to complete a warranty claim. They’ll need something like the voltage reading of the thermocouple and they’ll need the PSI of the gas line.

Good Luck. I know dealing with AO Smith Pro max and the thermocouple problems is a HUGE issue and a royal pain in the neck.

By: GameHater

GameHater — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:08:55 +0000

Going through the same issue with mine for about a month now, I have to wake up early to light the pilot so my Mom has hot water for her shower. Tried replacing thermocouple, can’t find the right replacement part because I cannot locate the model # of my heater…..there is no plate on it which identifies it……tired of lighting the pilot 20 times a day….tried cleaning out the whole gas assembly on the inside but it didn’t help either…. I don’t know what else to do at this point as I cannot afford a new heater

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:04:43 +0000

Hey Sherri. My experience with AO Smith ProMax was that my problem was NOT caused by the thermocouple. In fact, despite everyone telling me the problem wasn’t my thermocouple, I replaced it anyway, and I experienced the EXACT same behavior.

I’ll dig it up, but AO Smith is so aware of this problem that they have s special “kit” they’ll send you if you call and complain. I got the kit and it included a new “wrap around screen / filter” thing to wrap around the bottom of the water heater. It also included a brush and and adapter for connecting an angled brush for cleaning that screen at the bottom of the water heater. The screen is called the flame arrestor or something like that.

I hope you have better luck than I did. I eventually just replaced mine.

By: Sierra

Sierra — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:02:27 +0000

Interestingly enough I’m having the same problem with my pilot light…my water heater is roughly 2 years old….sounds to me like this is a product that should be recalled. I’m going to report this to Consumer Affairs/Better Busines Bureau and see what happens…anyone and everyone who’s having this same issue please feel free to join me. Looks like AO Smith is well aware of this defect and they should handle accordingly.

By: sherri

sherri — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:21:32 +0000

I’m so bummed out reading all these blogs that say that AO Smith is terrible, because I’ve had one of their water heater’s since Sept 2006 and just an hour ago the pilot light went out and won’t relight, and I’m sadly being introduced to my future struggles with this device and this company!!!! I am wondering though, since my pilot light will not re-light at all, does that make it the thermocouple?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:33:38 +0000

I finally replaced this AO Smith piece of junk!

By: Johnny

Johnny — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:24:28 +0000

This is without a doubt the worst water heater. I can’t keep it lit now. I have to relight the pilot EVERY DAY! What a piece of junk. And AO Smith won’t honor their warranty. What a joke of a company.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:39:50 +0000

My AO Smith ProMax water heater failed after only 4 years.