Defender Safety System® Informational Brochure

Beginning July 1, 2003
Bradford White is proud to introduce its Defender
Safety System
™
, a new combustion technology that resists
the ignition of flammable vapors that can occur outside
of the water heater. The introduction is scheduled for
July 1, 2003 to meet the new American National
Standards Institute’s (ANSI) standard for residential gas
water heaters.
The Bradford White Defender Safety System
™
maintains outstanding efficiency, a long service life and
very low NOx emissions. Best of all, it provides
maintenance free operation while meeting the stringent
ANSI standard for residential gas water heaters.
How The Safety System Works
During normal operation, air for combustion is drawn
into the water heater through the opening in the jacket.
This air travels down and around the combustion
chamber and enters through holes in the very bottom of
the corrosion-resistant combustion chamber. The air then
travels up through the oriented flame arrestor plate
louvers, where the velocity of the air is
increased and its direction altered. The air
then mixes in a normal manner with
the supplied gas and is efficiently
combusted, producing very low
NOx emissions.
In the case where trace
amounts of flammable vapors
are present in the air flowing into
the combustion chamber, the
vapors are harmlessly ignited by the
burner/pilot flame. If flammable
vapors are in sufficient quantity to
prevent normal combustion the
burner/pilot flame is shut down.
Should the flammable vapors
continue to the burner, the flame
arrestor plate prevents the flames
from traveling backwards and
igniting vapors outside of the
combustion chamber.
The calibrated, multipurpose thermal
switch recognizes this and shuts down the pilot and main
burner. This switch also deactivates the burner and pilot
in the unlikely event of restricted airflow caused by severe
lint, dust or oil accumulation on the arrestor plate.
Do not store
or use gasoline or other
flammable, combustible,
or corrosive vapors and
liquids in the vicinity of a
water heater or any
other appliance.
The Bradford White
DEFENDER Safety System
™
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