Strong smell of gas around our rinnai v1500 water heater

Gas leak would make you feel sick More possible to be fumes again . Need to have it checked out .

Absolute danger>>>>!!!!!!!
You absolutely must call gas company immediately.
They will turn off gas to water heater immediately.
Leaking gas appliance is extremely dangerous.

If you have propane, the gas is heavier than air and will settle to floor. So you can be standing in an invisible puddle of explosive gas and never smell it.
If you have natural gas, the gas rises to ceiling. The entire ceiling cavity can be filled with explosive gas, but you only smelled it briefly before it drifted upwards.

Do not delay getting this problem repaired by professionals, or fixya might lose a customer.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

There are a couple of things that can cause this odor. But, being sure it's really a gassy odor is more important. It must smell like "rotten eggs" to be gas. If that is the odor you're smell, turn the heater of and contact an authorized Rinnai dealer for service.

If however the odor does not meet the "rotten egg smell", there are other things that cause the odor, but it's not really from the heater.

If you have painted or stained within the last 2 weeks, the heater has picked up the odor of the fumes (which you probably didn't notice) and has made time 50 times worse. The same holds true for carpet cleaning or new carpeting odors. If this fits the scenario, discontinue using the heater for a week or two until the odors subside. In the meantime, if weather allows, air the house out. Also, remove and clean the heaters filter, before restarting the heater,

I hope this helped you to troubleshoot & solve the problem.

From what you have described, it sounds like a case of delayed ignition or as the Owner's Manual calls it a "Combustion Control Fault"or "Incomplete Combustion". This can be caused by several things: A change in the gas pressure; dirty or clogged burner, electronic fault in the combustion controls.

Despite having it cleaned an services last Winter, 12 months have elapsed, with the unit just sitting and collecting dust and spiders. Portable Heating units should be serviced annually. Usually in the early Fall, before firing it up for the heating season.

Hope this helped you ... Cheers.

How strong is the smell?
The smell is usually caused because the heater to turn on the flame has to emit a bit of gas first, and then a spark is made by the heater to make the flame burn, which in turn causes the rest of the flame in the heater to heat up the water.
If it is a constant smell, then I suggest you immediately turn off the heater and stop gas flow to the heater (should have a valve close by) and call the numbers that are shown on the unit. They will help you from there.

No. it's not common. Or at least not, if it's regularly cleaned and serviced. However, I would caution you that many strong household odors are picked up by the heater and made to smell 50 times worse. If it doesn't smell like rotten eggs, it's not gas you're smelling. It's something else .... have you painted recently or stained the wood work? Have you had the carpeting cleaned or are you burning scented candles while the heater is in operation? All of those things and instances can cause the heater to smell. That's because the heater uses interior air for combustion, so whatever is floating in your household air (dust, lint, pet hair and odors) eventually goes into the heater. If you answered yes to any of the above, stop using the heater (turn the pilot light OFF) for a week or two, until the odor that i's picking up has completely disipated. Paint on the surface may feel dry, but underneath it isn't.

Now, please don't get me wrong. I have been in the hearth and home business for 15 years, now and Vent-free or Flue-less or Ductless heaters are our primary business in the Fall & Winter. They are 99.9% efficient and are totally safe, when properly used and maintained. Over 1 million Vent-free Gas Appliances have been sold and installed worldwide in the past 10 years. There has NEVER been a death related to any of these products. In fact, they have more safety features built-in to them, to shut them down if something goes wrong, than a gas water heater or a Vented heater does.

Now, lets get back to your issue. If in fact, if it is gas you smell and the odor is not caused by the things I listed above, there are a couple of things to look at. Do you only smell the odor when the heater is in operation? Do you smell it with just the pilot light burning? Or with both? How airtight is your home? If it's a recent vintage home and it's really airtight, you may be getting what's called "After Product Burn Smell". This occurs frequently in airtight, new home construction, because there's no air exchange in the house. Unless, you open a door or a window once in a while, to allow fresh air in. Also, the Btu output of your heater (38,400) may be to high for the area you have it in. Unfortunately, it's not a case of one size (Btu Output) heater, fits all.

Other causes for the gas odor can be related to the burner(s) being dirty (incomplete combustion) and needing cleaning. Old gas in the tank or a low level of gas in the tank. The inline gas shutoff valve, not being fully open.

If after reading and troubleshooting all the things I listed and the problem is not solved, you need to contact the dealer you purchased this heater from and have them make a service call to your home.
To help you further, in case you have misplaced your Owner's Manual, I have included a link to it, that you can download and print for future reference.

http://www.rinnai.com.au/images/stories/operating_instructions/Heating/Portables/Portable_Convectors_TRE_Models.pdf

I hope this helps you to troubleshoot and solve the problem. Please let me know. Thanks.

co has no odor, that's why you have a co detector. That sweet ammonia smell is a mystery (it's not gas. Gas has a rotten egg smell). So, a service call would be a great idea.

curios to find out if you had any help on this subjuct at all?

I would call him back out. It sounds like a gas line is loose or the vent is not on properly

Hi This is happening to us and I called Rinnai... they suggested that if anyone either in our apartment or an ajoining one has painted walls or varnished a floor that the convection heater picks up the smell and the only way to get rid of it is to burn it off by running the heater for several hours in a well ventalated room...

I am going to try it tomorrow.

will let you know