"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
mm wrote:
My friend is having trouble lighting the pilot on his gas water
heater.

I've looked ont the web and so far only found instructions for when
things are going well, which doesn't apply here. It has a built=in
sparker, like a gas grill. Should we be able to see
the spark that the sparker makes while looking through the hole?

If the sparker doesn't work, can I use a match? In that same hole?
Do I need s really long match? I have none. Can I light the straw
from a real straw broom?

He's been trying to sell this house for a year, finally has, and the
walk-through is on Monday. We're hoping to light the wh Sunday so the
water will be warm in time for the walk-thru. We had the red button
pressed all the way down for at least a minute
(not realizing it wasn't lit) but never smelled any gas. All the
valves in the supply pipe appear to be turned on, and the stove works.

Should we have smelled gas in just a minute? Thanks a lot.


If the line's been off or otherwise has air in it, it can take a long long
time to bleed by holding that pilot button. But yes, you should be able
to see the spark, and yes, you can use a match, straw broom straw, rolled
up news paper, candle lighter, propane torch, etc. I actually held a
flame in one long enough to heat up the thermocouple and i didn't even
have to hold the button after that, just wait for the air to bleed. You
should be able to see the air 'blow' your flame sideways a little if
infact the valve is being opened to allow gas to flow. no, you may not
smell it after just a minute. Pilot circuits use very little flow. like
i said, it may take a while.

I used to do the same thing when I had to light gas fireplaces that had been
off for months (sometimes years). I would hold the flame on the thermocouple
until I could get the gas burner to open up then keep the flame near the
thermocouple and pilot until all the old gas/ air was bled out and the
burner fired up (usually only a fraction of the time it would have taken if
I held in the pilot starter button).