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[email protected] trader4@optonline.net is offline
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Default My water heater pilot light keeps going out


Todd H. wrote:
"phaeton" writes:

Twice tonight, I've had to restart the pilot light on my gas water
heater. It always starts right back up, and heats the water up just
fine. But this is twice now that I've had to do it. I also have a gas
boiler (with a pilot light) and a gas stove (ignitors, no pilot light),
and these two items seem to be functioning normally. The water heater
is an "A.O. Smith Promax" and the only date I can find on it is
"11/03", but I can't tell if that is installation date or a service
date. It *looks* fairly new (i.e., within the last 5 years) but I
don't really know how to tell.

What should I do?


If your water heater has a standing pilot it also has a thermocouple
that controls the gas flow. If the thermocouple isn't hot, it will
turn off the gas flow so a blown out pilot doesn't cause the house to
fill with gas. These thermocouples routinely go bad after a few
years. So that's one possibility.

Another possibility with water heaters is tank failure, and a slow
leak or condensation or something causing water to drip on the pilot.

Those are probably the two biggest causes I'm aware of for pilot
failure. Thermocouples are pretty easy to change and available at
hardware stores. Measure the length of the thermocouple that you
have and that should lead you to a decent replacement. If you're not
comfy with this, get a pro in to check what's going on, or if it's
been 10 years, just replace the water heater--it's probably due.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/



Also, since it appears to be an 03 tank, if it is the thermocouple, get
the serial # and give the manufacturer a call, as it's likely under
warranty. When I did that with my Reliance WH, they sent me a new one
for free in 2 days.