Recall of Furnaces in California

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Originally issued July 9, 2001
Last Revised July 11, 2006
Release # 01-189

Furnace Recall Hotline: (877) 347-6456
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052

Note: model number added and settlement of private litigation announced.
Opportunity for remedy from litigation has expired.

CPSC Announces Recall of Furnaces in California

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing a recall of about 30,000 furnaces sold in California. Seven firms are offering to repair or replace certain furnaces, which were sold under their own labels, but were manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. The units involved are gas-fired horizontal furnaces equipped with steel "NOx" rods installed above the burners and are commonly called NOx rod furnaces. These furnaces pose a substantial risk of fire.

CPSC has received 50 reports of fires associated with the 140,000 horizontal furnaces manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc. No injuries have been reported.

All the furnaces can be identified by the steel rods installed above the burners. The firms participating in this recall are Amana Company, L.P., of Amana, Iowa; Bard Manufacturing, of Bryan, Ohio; Carrier Corporation, of Syracuse, N.Y.; Goettl Air Conditioning Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz.; Goodman Manufacturing Company L.P., of Houston, Texas; Heat Controller Inc., of Jackson, Mich.; and The Trane Company, a division of American Standard Inc., of Tyler, Texas.

These gas-fired horizontal furnaces have steel rods (right) installed above the burners.

Private labelers sold these furnaces in California under the following brand names and model numbers, which are written on a label on an outside panel of the furnace.

COMPANY NAME	TRADE NAME	MODEL
Amana Company	Amana	GSE50DN3X GSE75DN3X GSE100DN5X
Bard Manufacturing	Bard	ESG040D36B ESG050D36B ESG060D36B ESG060D48B ESG080D60B ESG100D60B ESG120D60B ESG140D60B ESG050D36D ESG060D48D ESG075D48D ESG080D60D ESG100D60D ISG060D36AX ISG080D48AX ISG100D60AX ISG120D60AX
Carrier Corporation	Sunburst by Carrier Southern California	HAC 040N(D,E, or F)3RXC HAC 050N(D,E, or F)5RXC HAC 050ND3RXD HAC 060N(D,E, or F)4RXC HAC 075N(D,E, or F)4RXC HAC 080N(D,E, or F)5RXC HAC 100N(D,E, or F)5RXC
Goettl Air Conditioning Inc.	American Best Goettl	HAC 040N(D,E, or F)3RCX HAC 050N(D,E, or F)3RCX HAC 040N(D,E, or F)3RXD HAC 050N(D,E, or F)3RXD HAC 040N(D,E, or F)3RXC HAC 050N(D,E, or F)3RXC HAC 060N(D,E, or F)4RXC HAC 075N(D,E, or F)4RXC HAC 080N(D,E, or F)5RXC HAC 100N(D,E, or F)5RXC HCC 040N(D,E, or F)3RX HCC 050N(D,E, or F)3RX HCC 060N(D,E, or F)4RX HCC 075N(D,E, or F)4RX HCC 100N(D,E, or F)5RX HBA 040N(D,E, or F)3RX HBA 060N(D,E, or F)3RX HBA 080N(D,E, or F)4RX HBA 100N(D,E, or F)5RX HBA 120N(D,E, or F)5RX
Goodman Manufacturing Company	Franklin Electric Goodman GMC Hamilton Electric Janitrol Johnstone Liberty	HBA 040 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HBA 060 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HBA 080 ND 4(X, RX, XC or RXC) HBA 100 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HBA 120 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 040 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 060 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 080 ND 4(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 100 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 120 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCA 140 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 040 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 050 ND 3(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 060 ND 4(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 075 ND 4(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 080 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC) HCC 100 ND 5(X, RX, XC or RXC)
Heat Controller Inc.	Comfort-Aire	GSH40-T3N-X GSH50-T3N-X GSH60-T4N-X GSH75-T4N-X GSH80-T5N-X GSH100-T5N-X
The Trane Company	Trane American Standard	THN050A936A THN060A948A THN075A948A THN100A960A

Home, hardware and specialty stores, and independent contractors sold these furnaces in California from January 1983 through December 1992 for about $2,000.

Consumers should check to see if their furnace is part of this recall immediately. If so, or for more information, consumers should call toll-free at (877) 347-6456 anytime, or contact the recall web site at www.furnaceinspect.com. Consumers should have the brand name, model number and serial number of their furnace available when they call or contact the web site. The recall program offers free inspection and repair of the furnaces. Consumers can elect to receive a new furnace, free of charge, except for installation costs.

CPSC issued a safety alert warning about these furnaces in September 2000. Consolidated Industries (formerly Premier Furnace Co.), which was liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy laws, manufactured approximately 140,000 of these furnaces for sale in California between 1983 and 1994 under many different brand names. About 110,000 of these furnaces were manufactured and distributed under the Premier/Consolidated labels. They include the brand names Consolidated, Premier, Addison, and Weatherking. They are not covered by this recall program. After Consolidated filed for bankruptcy, class action was pursued, and a settlement was ultimately reached in early 2002. However, claimants were required to file a claim by January 13, 2003. Potential claimants who missed the deadline have no remedy available. Even though no remedy is available, CPSC staff believes that the Consolidated, Premier, Addison, and Weatherking furnaces are defective and should be replaced or repaired.

These furnaces are normally installed in attics, although some may be installed in crawl spaces. The great majority of these furnaces were installed in homes in California. Some, however, were installed in home in Nevada, near the California border.

The Commission is warning consumers to have their gas-fired furnaces inspected by a licensed heating contractor to determine whether the furnaces are subject to this safety alert. The contractor also should determine whether the burners and/or heat exchangers of units are damaged, or whether wood under or near the furnaces shows signs of damage, such as charring or blackening. If this is the case, the furnace should be replaced immediately or repaired.

Consolidated or Premier furnaces with model numbers starting "HAC", "HBA", "HCA", or "HCC" and ending with an "X" in the last three characters (e.g. X, RX, RXC, RXD) and Addison Products Company Addison and Weatherking furnaces models beginning with "GHC" and ending in either "CC" or "DX" are included in this safety alert.

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