Julie Bove posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP


I have a gas one and it is giving me fits! Our old one began leaking on New
Year's Eve perhaps 3 years ago. I can't remember for sure. Had problems
ever since with it. Would not stay lit. I called repair once and he
replaced the thermocoupler which I've been told is the most common reason
why they won't stay lit.

That wasn't the problem and I found myself lighting it over and over again
to the point where I had to light it 6 times in one day. I gave up and
called the plumber again. I had been putting this off as they charge $250
just to come out, then parts, then of course their service fee.

This time they worked on it for a series of about 2 days, replacing one
thing and another. The guy said there was some sort of updraft problem and
that the only thing they didn't replace was the roof vent.

They had one more part coming but they were sent the wrong thing so they
decided to just give me a new water heater.

Then I noticed that the older new one had dents all over it in places I
couldn't see where it was installed. The guy had a problem getting it in
the small space as the models they make these days are a lot wider. I
thought perhaps he might have damaged it in some way in installing it.

So now I have the new one. But... It too has problems staying lit! It was
going out about every 2-3 weeks. Then the last time I had extreme trouble
getting it lit. Someone (perhaps here?) suggested a website which I went to
and also ordered a book from. In the book and also on the internet, it says
to light these, you need to depress the pilot light button and then the
igniter switch 10-15 times while still holding the pilot light button down.
This after shutting it off for 5 minutes to clear out the gas.

Well, I did that and it stayed light for a long time. Several months. But
now it went out again! It's very annoying as it only seems to happen right
when someone needs to take a shower.

I just had a new roof put on, explained the problem to the roofer and asked
him to put on a new vent. Which he did. So...

Why is it doing this? I did have the garage door open yesterday for many
hours because I was doing a big clean out. But... We had hot water through
the night and early this morning. Not sure when it did go out as I didn't
get into the shower until afternoon and I could tell by the lukewarm water
that it was out again.

Do you think it could just be the way that my house sits? That somehow the
wind, even if not strong could be putting it out? Weird thing is, we lived
in this house for several years with the old water heater and it never went
out. Not sure what that one was. Never really needed to look at it until
it did have a problem.

I would call the Bradford White and ask them. Water heaters have changed
where the flame and surrounding area is "explosion resistant". It cuts the
gas if the flame is not sensed and trigger a mechanism to close, which is
not repairable IIRC. My opinion is the installing company is incompetent. I
agree it is a draft problem - at the heaters location. Is it in an enclosed
room and does it have sufficient louver area?

--
Tekkie