On Thu, 4 Sep 2014 16:00:31 -0700, "Julie Bove"
wrote:


"philo " wrote in message
...
On 09/04/2014 09:00 AM, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote:
philo wrote:

She said the water heater is new, so it should not be dirty yet.

New is relative - in a dirty environment it doesn't take very long for
the
honeycomb filter to get dirty.

OTOH, I just realized there is something fishy about this story...
I don't think they even make water heaters with pilot lights any more.

Pilots for gas water heaters are still quite common. It's not an energy
loss
situation (like an oven range) because the heat from the pilot still goes
into
the water.




My house is nearly 120 years old and the basement is pretty dusty and I've
never had any such problem.


I've been informed that they still do make water heaters with pilot
lights, so I know the OP is not trolling.

I did just recall however that I had a gas appliance (can't recall if it
was a drier or a water heater) with a pilot light adjustment.

If it was set too low it would alway go out...I'd check that .

I had it set to the "hot" position. Well, prior to the plumber coming. I
just got so fed up and frustrated that I turned it off. Water should be
about 120 degrees at that setting.

Philo is talking about the pilot light size adjustment, not the water
heater temperature adjustment, which you are talking about.

Apparently on some or all GWH, there is a screw that adjusts the size of
the pilot flame. The screw is I read here covered by a cap. I'm
thininking mayb a plastic cap that just pushes on over the screw and
comes off by pulling, if you can get your fingers on it, or maybe by
lifting the cap at the bottom in two places, perhaps one place at a
time, if you can't get your fingers in there. Since the plumber
just changed the pilot light assembly, it seems at least one would have
had the pilot light adjustment correct, but maybe not if there is
inadquate gas pressure in general. I don't know how long it will
take the gas company to check the pressure and then fix it if is low.
Maybe you can save yourself the wait by opening up the valve a little
bit.

If you find the screw, keep track of many turns you make - by looking at
the white label on the side of a screwdriver, or by using a Sharpie to
make a line on the side of any tool you are using that doesn't have a
label -- and write it down. and if you later find that wasn't the real
problem. you can turn it back to where it was.


The honeycomb thing sounds like a lead to me. Do you have one? Did it
get changed when the pilot light assembly got changed? Is it dirty?
Was it dirty. I have to go now.


When he tested the water coming out of
the tank, it was 105 which was odd. It had been running cold and had only
been on for perhaps 10 minutes but he said that may have been enough,
coupled with our unseasonably warm weather.

10 minutes is enough to heat the water more than 105? Maybe if the
water that comes out is right where the heat is applied, but even then,
does't water convection mix the just heated water with cold water?

What wasn't right though was that 20 minutes after lighting the pilot, the
water at that setting was 145. So that wasn't good. I did have two air
fresheners sitting on the top of it. The kind in the plastic jars with the
beads inside. One new, one opened. He said those could have caused a
problem. Likely not but they could have.