I was having problems with my water heater pilot light not staying
lit. The thermocoupler had gone out yet again. Lowes said they had
stopped making the left threaded thermocoupler for this unit and
Whirlpool had supplied a converion kit to correct the reoccuring
problem. I thought this would be the answer to my problems,so I would
not have to replace the thermocoupler once a year. I got the kit home
shut off the gas and took out the old assembly. You would think I
could just put the new assembly, but no I have to take the
burner,ignitor and the orifice off the old assembly. The orifice
would not come off. I tried and tried and it eventually stripped and
now it is useless and so is the conversion kit without the orifice.
Now on top of not having hot water,my gas is off and I have no heat.
I may could turn the gas on with the water heater off, but working
with gas makes me nervous. If it gets too cold I may try that.

I got the orifice in from Whirlpool. Put that on and continued to
follow the directions. The directions where not very good and I got
confused on what the thermocoupler adaptor actually was and I stripped
out the thermostat trying to screw it in. Now I need a thermostat. I
called Whirlpool and they are charging me $120 to send me the part. I
tried to reason with them saying they sold defective water heaters and
now they expect ordinary home owners who are not too handy to install
the conversion kit themselves. They would not pay for a plumber, so at
least they could do help the guy trying to install the conversion kit
with no experience working with water heaters. Did not work,so now my
only recourse it to not buy whirlpool products, and hopefully install
the thermostat correctly when it gets here.

If you have not heard about the problems with Whirlpool water heaters,
they have there own website and technical support phone line just to
support this model number which is below:

http://www.flamelocksupport.com/

On Feb 17, 7:46*am, Bubba wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:29:54 -0800 (PST),
wrote:





I got the orifice in from Whirlpool. *Put that on and continued to
follow the directions. *The directions where not very good and I got
confused on what the thermocoupler adaptor actually was and I stripped
out the thermostat trying to screw it in. *Now I need a thermostat. *I
called Whirlpool and they are charging me $120 to send me the part. *I
tried to reason with them saying they sold defective water heaters and
now they expect ordinary home owners who are not too handy to install
the conversion kit themselves. They would not pay for a plumber, so at
least they could do help the guy trying to install the conversion kit
with no experience working with water heaters. *Did not work,so now my
only recourse it to not buy whirlpool products, and hopefully install
the thermostat correctly when it gets here.

If you have not heard about the problems with Whirlpool water heaters,
they have there own website and technical support phone line just to
support this model number which is below:

http://www.flamelocksupport.com/

But with your thinking...........
If you had a new heart valve put in your body 1 yr ago and found out
it was defective and you could get your hands on a new one, would you
try to install it yourself having no training in the medical field?
What makes plumbing any different?
Bubba- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Really poor analogy there Bubba. In the case of the defective heart
valve, the guy would get not only the free help or installation Aaron
expects for his water heater problem, but a whole lot more. He'd get
a new heart valve installed for free, plus a huge settlement from the
manufacturer for putting the patient through the ordeal.

Update:

I got the thermostat from Whirlpool. I installed it and finished the
project. Everything looked just like the picture and I read the
directions several times making sure I did not miss anything. At this
point I was very confident and feeling a little proud of myself. I
light the pilot and I see the light through the window. Then I let go
of the red button and the pilot light goes out. I now have replaced
every gas part on this water heater and I still have the same
problem. I give up.
I called my home owners warrenty company that was bought by the
previous owner of the house when I purchased it. I regret not calling
them first. I called Whirlpool first thinking they would stick by
their product. I slipped up on one phone call and mentioned I was the
second home owner and after that they told me the warrenty was void
and they did not want to work with me after that.

On Feb 17, 6:46*am, Bubba wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:29:54 -0800 (PST),
wrote:





I got the orifice in fromWhirlpool. *Put that on and continued to
follow the directions. *The directions where not very good and I got
confused on what the thermocoupler adaptor actually was and I stripped
out the thermostat trying to screw it in. *Now I need a thermostat. *I
calledWhirlpooland they are charging me $120 to send me the part. *I
tried to reason with them saying they sold defective water heaters and
now they expect ordinary home owners who are not too handy to install
the conversion kit themselves. They would not pay for a plumber, so at
least they could do help the guy trying to install the conversion kit
with no experience working with water heaters. *Did not work,so now my
only recourse it to not buywhirlpoolproducts, and hopefully install
the thermostat correctly when it gets here.

If you have not heard about the problems withWhirlpoolwater heaters,
they have there own website and technical support phone line just to
support this model number which is below:

http://www.flamelocksupport.com/

But with your thinking...........
If you had a new heart valve put in your body 1 yr ago and found out
it was defective and you could get your hands on a new one, would you
try to install it yourself having no training in the medical field?
What makes plumbing any different?
Bubba- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For the record I would not try to install my own heart valve. I am
having trouble geting my water heater to work, but I don't think
anyone is going to die from it. No doctor would supply directions for
a patient to perform their own heart surgery, but Whirlpool is
supplying directions for home oweners to install the conversion kits.
I tried and failed, so now I am calling in the professional.

On Feb 19, 9:06*pm, wrote:
Update:

I got the thermostat from Whirlpool. *I installed it and finished the
project. *Everything looked just like the picture and I read the
directions several times making sure I did not miss anything. *At this
point I was very confident and feeling a little proud of myself. *I
light the pilot and I see the light through the window. *Then I let go
of the red button and the pilot light goes out.

Are you holding down the valve button long enough? They can take a
min or more before you can release it. And a min seems like 5 when
you're kneeling in some tough spot.





*I now have replaced
every gas part on this water heater and I still have the same
problem. *I give up.
I called my home owners warrenty company that was bought by the
previous owner of the house when I purchased it. *I regret not calling
them first. *I called Whirlpool first thinking they would stick by
their product. *I slipped up on one phone call and mentioned I was the
second home owner and after that they told me the warrenty was void
and they did not want to work with me after that.

A plumber came out today and fixed it. He took out the assembly undid
some things and redid them. He did not see anything wrong with my
work. He did find a piece of lint in the bottom of the water heater,
and he seems to think that caused my problem. He said if even a small
piece of lint gets in there it will cause the entire water heater to
stop working. When I was working on the water heater I took a vacuum
and cleaned out the compartment. He said I need to get a small mirror
to check everywhere in the compartment to make sure I get every single
peice of lint. I really do not get how a small piece of lint would
keep my pilot from staying lit. He did fix the water heater, so I
will be very happy to have my first hot shower in 10 days.