On Apr 18, 2:22*pm, LSMFT wrote:
wrote:
My water heater burner won't stay lit. *Here's what I know:

1. If I light the pilot, it can stay on indefinitely. *So I think the
thermocouple is actually functioning.
2. If I then turn on the burner, after a few seconds there will be a
*click*, and the whole thing shuts down. *This takes less than a
minute.

I have removed the burner assembly, and uploaded several pictures to
photobucket to illustrate the situation.
http://s150.photobucket.com/albums/s...ter%20Problem/

Questions:
1. One thread I found on the internet suggested that when the main
burner comes on, the draft pulls the pilot light flame away from the
thermocouple, causing it to cool. *Is this plausible? *If so, how do I
fix it?

If that were what was happening, it would fire up and go through one
heating cycle, then fail to light the second time.



2. If that isn't it, what else might be wrong, and what is the
solution?

Water heaters have some sort of failsafe over temp that comes
into effect if the water gets too hot. It only acts once, can't be
reset and then you need a new gas valve unit. But exactly
how the symptoms manifest after it goes off, don't know.





3. What is that element that's wired into the thermocouple (visible in
pictures 6 and 7)? *I don't recognize it, and every thermocouple
picture I find on the internet doesn't have it.

Never saw that either. It's not clear how it's wired in, but it
might be some kind of over-temp fuse that acts if the pilot
light gets to big, or flame is around it where it shouldn't be.
Is this a relatively new unit? They did add some gizmo a
few years back to prevent water heaters from blowing up
basements where you fill the whole place with solvent
fumes and fail to turn the burner off.




4. The thermocouple appears to be soldered into its bracket. *Is this
common practice?

Can't tell from the pics, but it looks like it might be spot
welded on. I would not expect it to be soldered.






BONUS QUESTION: Does anyone know what the heck that is in picture 10?
It's a tool belonging to my friend, and neither of us know what it
is. *It's two parallel edges, perpendicularly attached to a single
square tube. *The edges are lockable via the white knobs, and one has
a hinged piece on the inner side that swings out maybe 10 degrees from
the tip. *In the picture, it has swung out about as far as it's able
to. *What is it?

Had a gas oven like that. It was buildup on the thermocouple or flame
sensor. Cleaned it off and all was fine again.

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